Monster Hunter for Beginners

With Monster Hunter Freedom 3 set to release here in the next couple of months (I've been playing the shit out of the japanese version), it's going to be a perfect time for a lot of people who have never played a MH game to get on board. Consequently, if you haven't played Freedom Unite yet it's probably a great time to pick it up for cheap.

There are tons of in-depth guides out there, but if you're like me you'd rather play games than sift through all the shitty gamefaqs posts. So here are a few pointers to help you get started. These are pretty much universal for the PSP games, though I can't comment on the Wii or PS2 version.

1. Forget everything you know about button mashing. This is a third-person action game, but it's no God of War. Don't press a button without thinking about it first. It's really easy to get caught in long combo animations, and this will get you killed.

2. Pick Sword and Shield to start with. Just trust me on this one. You get tons of mobility, blocking and some good combos. Big weapons are so slow that it will be super frustrating to start with them if you're used to button mashing.

3. Patience, patience, patience. Especially when fighting a new monster, hang back and wait till they do an attack, then run in and get a couple hits and roll out. Fights in this game always take forever the first few times. It's better to take your time then get beat to shit and spend half the time trying to heal.

4. The camera sucks, get used to it.

5. Plant power seeds on your farm and fertilize them with dung. They sell for like 150 each and will get you a shit ton of money. Then just buy herbs from the main vendor. There is a travelling vendor that sells blue mushrooms sometimes. When he does, buy as many as you possibly can, combine with herbs and your health potion needs are taken care of.

6. Concentrate on one armor set at a time. Each piece will have a set of attributes that when they add up to 10 in any column they will activate that skill. Some skills like sharpness are super useful, and some are just awful. The names tell you nothing, so you will need to consult a guide to find out what they do. Find a set with skills you like first of all, you can always upgrade the defense with jewels.

7. Don't upgrade a weapon unless you're going to actually use it. Getting materials can be a pain in the ass. Don't waste them. Some weapons have very weird upgrade paths. I suggest looking up a guide because you could end up stuck on a shitty path and wasting materials.

8. Using items takes forever. Yes it is a total pain in the dick. Don't get cocky and think you have time to use one when the monster is distracted. Wait till the monster is stunned, or stand on the other side of a stone pillar. Move to the next area to heal, sharpen and get stamina back. Paintball the monster in case it runs off.

9. Chance favors the prepared. Bring literally everything you might need. A full load of potions, super potions, food, whetstones, paintballs, traps, bombs, etc. If it's a super hard fight bring honey, herbs and blue mushrooms so you can make more potions if you run out.

10. Don't give up. Just when you think you're doing good this game has a habit of drop-kicking you right in the testicles. It's frustrating to get your ass pounded straight into the ground the first time you fight some bullshit retarded monster. But it is such a great feeling when you finally kill that bastard and make his organs into a nice new hat. There's monster hunter in a nutshell...