This game turned my brain to sludge. I don't know if they were trying to make this a procedural Borderlands-like looter or what but it simply did not work for me. It worked so little for me I seriously struggle to remember the moment to moment gameplay of this, it all blends together in a terrible sludge smoothie. Nothing about this game makes sense in any way in connection to the Shadow Warrior reboot this is a sequel of, and I wasn't even the biggest fan of SW's story.

This shlock is all bloated "style" and ""funny joke"" to hide that it has nothing of interest within it. If it didn't have co-op (so I could force a friend to play it with me haha thanks buddy) I don't think I could have finished this, and that's some harsh critique considering I have a high tolerance for flawed games and garbage.

Weapons Mained: Greatsword, Lance

Played through this one on a whim a few months back (Up to Village Monoblos) and honestly didn't find it as bad as I'd heard. I still agree that there is very little reason to play this game, as it's just Monster Hunter 1 with a frosting of quality of life changes, but a lot of these changes really address a lot of issues I found myself having the first time I played MH1.

The farm, free roam gathering quests and new armor skill system are some of the more standout improvements. With the first two really helping chip away at the mindless grind the beginning of MH1 can feel like, especially for someone not well-versed in tackling old MH titles.

But as a whole, I feel there's not a whole lot to say beyond that. I've never been to Minegarde, but I've heard the HR grind can be a massive pain within 1/G. I do like the idea of the old cities/towns of old Monster Hunter, but from what I've read (I've only personally been to Loc Lac myself, albeit briefly) the HR grind is always a point of contention. For me personally, if the addition of a laundry list of content, QoL, and monsters not always juiced up to 4-player HP pools comes at the cost of losing these very soulful cities, I feel it a necessary sacrifice.

To cap it off, I'd say this: If you really want to play something within the first two generations of Monster Hunter that isn't Freedom Unite, just play Dos. But if you really want specifically first generation Monster Hunter, you can't go wrong with this game. It's not bad, it's simply outperformed in content and mechanics by the second generation titles.

Yian Garuga is pretty cool too, man should've been on the cover. He'll always be a flagship in my heart, and apparently, even in Capcoms.