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It has been a while since I last wrote about this dangerously addictive game that has been preventing me from playing Final Fantasy Anniversary Edition and Metal Slug Complete. During this time, I have been promoted to HR 2 (Hunter Rank 2, and yes I am a late comer in the multiplayer front), sprint through the 3 stars guild quests with my brother, captured another Tigarex and a pair of Snow Lions in the snow mountains. My hours count now stands at 175 and shows no signs of slowing down as the game keep throwing newer monsters at me in the village 5 stars quests.

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Finally I am up against Tigarex, the star of the show so far and there was a worry that it’s probably too strong for me but the 130+ hours proved to be enough training. I captured the monster on my 2nd try with almost 2 hours spent, probably not the best record for the pros but a cool one for me personally. Being one of the new monsters exclusive to MHP 2nd, it’s natural that the great lizard was great looking and it’s animations are smooth. It’s attacks are creative as well, although it makes him look stupid at times, especially those sliding attacks, which turn him into an ice skater.

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Beaten my first Ancient Dragon last night, and it was surprisingly easy for a slow gamer like me as it only takes two tries to beat Kusharudaora. The first try, I got a trip back to the camp after only 5 seconds, and there’s a thought that this could be the bottle neck that prevent me from continuing the game, but fortunately its not that hard. I may even try it again later as its health are lower if you meet him for the second time.

Kusharudaora sure looks intimidating and it has this cyclone that surround it and makes me stumble if I stand too close to it, however the flash bombs not only bring it down but created a few hitting opportunities as well. Another thing that complicate the quest further is it’s wind will reduce the visibility in the area and throwing knife or the flash bomb at it become really tricky. One of the reason this is rather easy is because being a huge size monster, there are lots of time when I won’t get hurt even I am standing right beside it and there’s an old trick that always work, to go in and out of the area. This not only gives you time to pick yourself up again but also a few good hits at the monster if it happens to stop near the area entrance.

I think the real bottle neck is the next mission as I can sense the presence of a Tigarex and let’s see if I can beat him this weekend.

I have posted my strategy on the quest above in my rather simplistic Monster Hunter Portable 2nd Guide.

This game continues to occupy most of my time. In fact, I think I am spending more time on it now compares to when I just started playing last month. All my time so far are spent on the single player quests. While it was fun by itself, Monster Hunter is a game meant to be played together with friends. And I finally spread the Monster Hunter disease to my brother, who despite endless complaints on the game’s controls and difficulties, can’t help himself but get addicted to the game, and we are now starting to hunt together.

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Monster Hunter is a game of great struggles and great achievements. Sometimes you met monsters that seemingly impossible to beat and yet you decided to give it a try. What always happened to me is I usually do well on my first try, almost killing those dinosaurs in most cases but a distinct lack of concentration in the final moments alway fails me. I pick myself up, get all the items that was missing in my first try and revisit the quest immediately only to find that strangely enough, I can’t even match my first performance. However, once I’m beaten, I never really move on to other quest as revenge becomes the first priority. After a few days, I finally did it, and the moment when the winning tune start playing, every gamers should know how it feels after killing a boss with an unfair amounts of health.

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Made a visit to the Training School last night and it brings up the frustrating part of the game for me, weapons handling. This only happens in training because that’s the only part of the game where you are forced to use certain weapons. It’s tough for someone like me who prefer to attack with no guarding and have hard times remembering button sequences. So perhaps it’s not surprising that I use only the Great Swords for most of the quests, with the Bowguns being the substitute when I am having hard times with the sword.

I have to use Hunting Horn and Gun Lance to kill an electrically charged monster in one of the Individual Training and there are moments when I almost thrown my PSP against the wall. Hunting Horn, the weapon is as weird as its name, by playing certain tunes (pressing certain buttons base on a music book), you can make you or your hunting partners during multiplayer stronger or give you some special attacking effects. However, Capcom decided to make it so bulky and controls so complex that while powerful, is almost useless in real battles, when time is everything.

I am all attack and no defense during battles, so the X button for evading enemies attacks is second nature to me now. And doing that while having Gun Lancer in hand not only don’t evades but do almost nothing. There are plenty of hairy moments when I have simply too little time to think and press the always trusty button to make a last minute escape only to find out it does nothing. However, I think the developers would like us to learn the defensive aspect of the game as Gun Lance not only provides plenty of protection but you can attack while guarding and it’s certainly a cool weapon, if you remember all the button sequences that is.

I have finally completed the Village 3 Star Quests, being a slow learner and got caught up by works, this is considerably fast for me. It took months for me to do the same in the first Monster Hunter Portable. To unlock the 4 Star Quests, an emergency quest has to be completed, and it’s one of those scary moments again for me in the game.

The Snow Lion is fearful to start with, and since I never play Monster Hunter 2 on the PS2, getting to know it’s movements and the many attacking styles take a bit of time. While I did manage to kill it on my first try, it’s not before after a trip back to the camp after being hit three times in a row by the giant leader of the white monkeys. I am so glad that I get a blade with thunder effects that happens to be his weak point. The rewards for killing it are useful for weapons and armors upgrade, but I am not sure if this is a quest I would like to revisit.

This round of blog won’t tell you how deep I am into the game or how I killed a monster but a look into how the game gave (and still giving) Sony’s PSP it’s much needed exposure, especially in magazines like Famitsu, where dozens of pages are dedicated to the game. An all new PSP features tour was published two weeks ago to help those who bought a PSP just for MHP 2nd, something that DS and Wii received frequently. On the other hand, the game is perfect for strategy guides, and this is the 10th issue that Famitsu is running them now, some of them repeated a few issues. Some of the pages that featured the game after the jump.

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I am 80 hours into this amazing game and I am only just about to get promoted to HR2 (Hunter Rank, the leveling up system that MHP uses). I was busy revisiting quests to upgrade my weapons so it will be much easier latter fighting the larger monsters. I was lucky enough to have made a sword with thunder effect, it’s almost unbeatable for the Village 3 Stars Quests. Though I am not sure how much extra damages it deals to those poor monsters, I can really feel that it make the missions a lot easier for me. With that in mind, I have so far managed to create a few other weapons with special effects and with two quests left in the 3 stars quests, I hope it’s enough for the fiercer and nastier monsters in the 4 stars quests.

Note: I have written some guide to the quests that I have been through so far here, so if you are new to the game and struggle some where earlier in the game, hope this Monster Hunter Portable 2nd English guide will help.

I was sent by the village elder to the desert to kill or capture (which is always difficult to do) a giant crab last night. Spent a good amount of time just looking for it, this game sure know how to hide it’s monsters and items, it just shows how big the maps can be. The fact that the stage is set in the desert doesn’t really help either, there are just so many things to look out for. Health, stamina, those flying monsters, cold drinks and keeping your blades sharp.

The monster itself is unpredictable, I have troubles figuring out which part is his head and how he moves. He is able to switch the direction of his attacks at will and moves really fast. If you can’t avoid him, chances are you will be hurt again and again until you know how to escape. And probably the most damaging attack is when he suddenly goes underground, with the paintball ineffective, and come out right under your feet to throw you meters high, eating away 60% of your heath in the process.

I think it was lucky that I upgraded my Blade to a electric-charged one and despite wasted half of the time mining, collecting items and looking for the monster, I still manage to kill him at area 3. I am just hoping that I don’t have to ever come back to the desert to kill another giant crab again, or that’s probably too early to say.