A Hunter's Lament.

I have played World of Warcraft. I have just now played Phantasy Star Universe online. I must say that I have found myself returning to Monster Hunter as the last bastion of gaming goodness left on this Earth. It's not that the game itself has no fees to play online (the game is a bit too simple for such a thing), it's that the gameplay is so very satisfying. Something that I've never gotten out of WoW, and although the verdict is still out on PSU, I have a bad feeling that it will appear to me as shallow in the long-term as I ultimately found WoW to be.

Why do I like this game? Because good friends of mine showed it to me, let me play on their file, and let me make my infamous "Evil Indian with the Cataracts" character, something i've yet to see in any other character creator in any other game that I've played.

And the gameplay. So very challenging to become fully accustomed to, just as with the controls. But once you do, you can never go back. Never. Hitting hotkeys or getting a piece of armor with +30 Agility and +2% Crit Chance just won't cut it when your endeavours bare fruit in Monster Hunter: You wear armor made from the creatures you have killed. Your weapons are made from mineral ores you have mined yourself. Your items made from herbs and essences you yourself gathered, or perhaps traded with others. You actually fight and kill monstrous beasts; you are not in a battle of who has the better stats, the highest levels. You carve what you kill, and you turn those things into weapons and armor, whose highly detailed appearance pleasantly reflect those things which you hunt and kill. With every creature you kill and carve, progress is made. With every piece of iron mined, you are one-step closer to making and upgrading your weapons. This is the rare game where every battle you have is of importance, every creature slain a chance to craft armor and weapons to improve your performance. All blows you land are guaranteed, there are no rolling dice in this world, only Hunters, and the Hunted.

Yes, I know the controls are strange, but once you get accustomed to them, they feel almost natural, as though you can feel the effort it takes your avatar to swing his mighty Great Sword right through your thumbs, desperately trying to take down his quarry. And despite the apperant simplicity of this game, there are so many nuances, so many little things. I cannot begin to list them all, so I shan't.

I remember the first time I fought my first Velociprey, and battled recklessly against the Yian Kut-Ku, and narrowly avoided the Gypceros' Fake Death Attack. I have stared down the Rathalos and taken the tail of the Rathian, chipped the great horns of the mighty Monoblos, and have narrowly avoided death at the hands of the mammoth Plesioth. I have mined in the forbidding ash-laden plains of the Volcanic Zone, and fished in the Forest and Hills. Fought the repulsive Khezu in the carverns of the Swamp, and scoured the Jungle for mushrooms and honey. I have fought monstrosities that swim in the sands of the Desert, and defended the gates of the Fort from the advances of the Gigantic Lao-Shan Lung.

I have slain my quarry and wear their scales both as my prize and my protection. I use their bones to make flutes, which play tunes to uplift the spirits of my allies during the hunt, or to gain the attention of our quarry. Nothing we find goes to waste. Nothing. And over time, comes not just experience, but skill. Being able to read the behaviors of your quarry, being able to know when to press the attack or to ready up on your defense. Being able to know when to step aside, or to charge headlong into the midst of battle. Knowing what weapons are best suited for the task at hand. Trying to slay fast-moving prey with slow weapons just won't cut it unless you're exceptionally skilled.

And not always are you forced to kill your prey. Sometimes you must capture it alive. You must use traps and guile to prove fortuitous in such matters. And so many weapons to be made. The balanced Sword and Shield, the mighty yet slow Great Sword, the quick and precise Lance, the devastating Hammer, the lightning fast Dual-Sword, and the utilitarian Bowgun.

I lament that one day the Hunt must end, as all things must, and that another might not take its place. But I have lived, by god, I have become a greatly skilled hunter, and I wear the scales of those that I have slain as proof of it. If this is to be the last Hunt that we have, then let us that have had that precious little time to do so know that we have fought bravely, and that our exploits not go unheeded for all of eternity, louder than the cries of millions, and far too primal for those with more "refined" tastes!!!!!

(yes, I know this review got weird, but this really is about the only way I can convey how I feel about this game)