a red hot reminder that a game doesn’t need to have a complex plot, deep interwoven systems, or cutting edge graphics to be a masterpiece. it simply needs to let you hit a little frog with a big hammer. we lost something grand when game soundtracks moved away from that solid gold Saturday morning cartoon, super bouncy Y2K almost-ska that coated even the most inconsequential of menu screens of the games of the late PS1/early PS2 era like Super Monkey Ball, Chocobo Racing and of course the legendary Ribbit King. it’s not worth the triple digit price tag you’ll pay if you want to get it physically, but i dare you to show me a video game that is. you’re guaranteed at least a chuckle every time you line up a shot and launch that low-poly amphibian skywards (provided your brain’s synapses are still capable of firing off the neurons needed to approximate something like joy). extremely smokable game.

This was my first Monster Hunter and after dozens of hours of Kaiju-killing mayhem, I’m now a die-hard fan. The monster and armor designs are world-class. Every weapon functions as a character class and drastically changes the gameplay and what your objectives will be on each hunt. The palicoes are soooo cute!! The action is engaging and exciting but still chill enough to where you can kick back on the couch and play through a few hunts while watching trash tv. I’ll be kicking myself for years for wasting so much time not playing this series.