All in all considering that most of the game is about the endless grind of either killing monsters/dragons/wyverns/fish ect ect by yourself or should you possess the internet for your Wii with Asian people (i jest,
but all the servers are hosted in the Orient) the mere fact they managed to actually get some story in there was impressive. However fundamentally it serves as a loose introduction to game play and an even looser introduction to the foe's you would be fighting in Online Mode albeit weakened. However having played the multiplayer form of the game and having the word Noob flung at me for about 20 minutes in my mixed suit of armour I decided to at least finish the single player mode before hitting the mean streets and thus my appreciation for the story came into fruition.
It serves it purpose and the RPG element is purely in what suit of armour/weapon you choose to forge in order to increase your efficiency in killing more monsters. It's a very good system and kept fresh enough that the grind doesn't become too stale. I recently discovered that you could redo missions at any time, at the time I was stuck on a brutal mission, ironically including the Barroth and once again my brother came to my rescue and pointed out that I could do it. Thus I spent about 10 hours pointlessly grinding one type of monster to have enough raw materials to upgrade my Ax of Doom and build me a new suit of armour. It still wasn't enough and thus the tale continued.
However there is a level of interaction andemotional connection that comes watching your Hunter actually do what he is meant to be paid to do and lay some serious beat down on a Dragon-ish thing. However I will admit that the game can get frustrating to the point that I had indeed rage quit twice during the aforementioned attempt to make it through the tough difficulty scaling. I would like to make the inference that it was audience participation as I'm sure my avatar didn't approve of being flung across the map for the fourth time that hour.
Eventually the main plotline comes down to a head (
I haven't gotten that far yet, but I have read ahead) and you will come to grips with the Big Dragon that has been troubling the (insert town of choice) and all the monster's you've killed almost to the brink of extinction by that point pale in comparison to this monster, which considering it's an underwater being that uses electricity and being immune to its own attacks is not surprising! See, engrossing story...But once you've slain the beast, there are more monsters to vanquish and the roster is expanded through online play, often just harder version of the quests you've just been slogging through, except you have people to 'help' you.
A quick word on the progression, the narrative is expanded through missions, these can range through the bog standard kill X minion monster to Kill one Big Monster. However to ease the grind a capture mode is occasionally thrown in, where you have to beat the target to the point of limping, then using a trap, be it pitfall or electric bomb thing hold it in one place while you hurl balls of what I would assume is ketamine (tranquilizer) until it falls asleep normally only two. This yields higher rewards then killing the monster. Once again prooving that ethical hunting is always more efficient. Added variety are little sub tasks which once again earn you more resources thus providing more content to squeeze more game time out of you.
Once the quest is over you see what you can forge/upgrade/buy/farm/fish/hunt and then continue on your way!
But that's not all!
There is a free hunt mode and whilst the majority of the victim roster is not included within this venue a selection of beasties are available for you to hunt at your leisure while collecting the various ingredients for your own work along the way. It's limited to only one area of the five and as such only about 5-6 main big monsters available and none of them remotely useful end game material either. But you can collect all the poop you want.
Effects
Obviously it wouldn't be much of a review without a mention of the graphics and music. I was impressed, the scenery is beautiful, albeit limited to only five zones however they manage to include every single piece of cinematic landscape possible. An Island, A Desert, A forest with a lakey thing, A Tundra and a Volcano and each zone is engrossing and realistic. The forest feelings suffocating to fight in due to logs and roots everywhere compared with the wide spaces of the Tundra where you have more than enough room to move in.
The Terrain isn't buggy either. When your plucky hero gets catapulted into something he will stop moving and behave realistically. However this does involve the chance of being pwned as your within attack range once again from an angry Wyvern whose tail you just chopped off to make a new sword and you can't roll because your still getting up!
The music is likewise charismatic and fills you with a sense of tranquillity when your not lopping off tails for swords. It's ambient and not obtrusive enough that you need to play muted. Rather when you're in the mood for a fight and you see sommat that needs a good killing it'll provide you with the standard Eastern Fantasy tunes to get you through the day.
However the most impressive effects were that of the Monsters and the player equipment. Obviously it's one thing to say. "Oh ok it's a dragon". But there has been considerable work going into the design of these beasties. Everything makes sense. From the beefed up Raptor-esque Jaggi/a, Great Jaggi to the affectionately named Brute Wyverns, which are big ass Dinosaur things that like to hit you rather then breathing pansy ass fire at you. Then the Elder Dragons themselves which can be as alien as they come. A big fish with a beard and horns. Apparently it's an Elder Dragon. However the Dragon's themselves actually look like Dragons. Which is good.
The imagination into working out how bits and pieces of the victims of your genocidal rampage fits into armour and weapons is fantastic. Almost every proper Monster has an armour set and a weapon/s to go with them. Often with unique effects, such as the Ludroth/Royal Ludroth they live in water and attack using water. The armour set provides an increase in diving capacity and the weapons deal water damage. I imagine it would be like a gentle dampening in the real world as additional water damage sounds like damp. But in the Magic world it's serious business. Take the above screenshot. That dudes armour and Ax is 100% good ol Lagiacrus.
Conclusion
If your looking for a highly detailed Role Playing Game then don't play this game. There is little story to speak of and to be honest it's a passable RPG at best. However if like me you happen to feel an urge to enter a magical realm and play cat and mouse with something that has a taste for flesh. Then perhaps this is the game franchise for you. Good reflex's and the ability to forward plan exactly how you're going to heal yourself when there's no pause button to do it are highly recommended however even the people like me with the reflex's of a man far older then I am can learn the various monsters attack patterns and given enough time (in my case 22 hours) start actually playing with enough skill to perhaps make it into the non insta noob bracket online.
Overall I was highly impressed with this game and continue to put hours into it on a daily basis. Even if it's killing one oversized green chicken with flints on it's wings that uses to breath fire then so be it. And yes. There really is an oversized green chicken. Its a
to kill.