User blog comment:BannedLagiacrus/Monster Appreciation Week: Ukanlos (4th Gen)/@comment-5020152-20160306005800

UKANLOS

Concept: The ice to Akantor’s fire, the White God that was absent in MH4 makes a dramatic comeback in 4 Ultimate. Ukanlos seems to have been designed to be the polar opposite (literally) of Akantor, with his smoother design and choice of element. The final boss of Freedom Unite and a massive roadblock on the road to G-Rank in this game, Ukanlos is a mountain that only a true hunter can hope to surmount. 8/10

Design: Ukanlos is very turtle-like, in my opinion. While Akantor is covered in spikes, Ukanlos has a much more rounded and sharper design. Ukanlos as a whole is more streamlined than his black counterpart, thanks to the huge blade-shaped dorsal fin that gives his enormous back that defined edge. His tail is also a lot smoother, filling out at the end before narrowing down to a point at the very tip. Of course, Ukanlos’ most defining feature is his head. If you look closely, you can see the serrated, beak-like jaws, but the feature that catches your eye is the huge spade-shaped chin designed to cut straight through the ice. His scales are a silvery white color, and arranged as big blocks that contribute to his thick, sturdy body – as opposed to Akantor, who looks a bit frailer. Ukanlos as a whole has a better design than Akantor. Everything just fits together so beautifully on this monster, while Akantor seems more like he was thrown together with little attention to detail. 9/10

Sound: Ukanlos’ roar is a huge, rumbling bellow with a significant intensity to it. When he growls, the sounds come out with a definite rasp. His music is absolutely beautiful. The instruments come together perfectly for a giant ice monster, while at the same time, describing the urgency and need to avoid Ukanlos’ attacks while trying to find openings in his defense. Take heed of the feelings the music instills in you, because you really need to be on your toes against this monster. 9/10

Gameplay: The battle against Ukanlos is very similar, yet very different, to the one against Akantor. Both are massive and slow, but while Akantor focuses more on charging and trying to flatten you with his jaws and tail, Ukanlos is more about ranged attacks and digging underground. His most common attack is where he swims through the ice and doesn’t stop until he reaches his target. He does this pretty much constantly. When enraged, large chunks of snow fly out of the ground and do significant damage to whatever they hit. These same snow chunks will fall from the ceiling of the arena when Ukanlos roars, and when he executes his deadliest move – the dreaded Ice Beam. The animation for this attack is pretty awesome, but more importantly it’s noticeable. When you see snowflakes swirling around Ukanlos’ mouth, RUN. The Ice Beam is almost always a 1HKO when it connects. Other attacks to watch out for are basic tail swings and charging attacks, which Ukanlos doesn’t use as often as Akantor. Ukanlos can also jump half the length of the area to try and squash you, so please be mindful of that. All in all, I definitely like fighting Ukanlos more than Akantor, especially with the music giving off that feeling of urgency that makes Ukanlos feel that much more dangerous. 9/10

New Stuff: Nothing much has changed since Freedom Unite, apart from the miniature icebergs that fall from the ceiling every time Ukanlos roars, but I do love that mounting animation. 8/10

Equipment: While Akantor’s equipment is pretty bad, Ukanlos’ is okay at best. Take the Great Sword for example – its raw damage output is ridiculous, but it only has a decent level of sharpness and awful Affinity. However, coupled with the armor (Mind’s Eye, Sharpness +1, Tremor Res, and Weakness Exploit are all awesome skills), Ukanlos weapons turn out to be well worth it now that their negative points have been diminished. 7/10

Cutscene: The hunter fights his/her way through a blinding snowstorm, only to see an enormous shadowy figure whose roar banishes the blizzard. All is peaceful until the ice underfoot begins to move, and the Ukanlos bursts out from underground. After a brief staredown, the Ukanlos slowly rears up onto its hind legs and lets out another guttural howl. Definitely one of the more dramatic cutscenes out there, so I like it. 7/10

Summary: The final boss of Freedom Unite is back in all his wonderful glory. This turtle-like monster is every bit as big and dangerous as he was in the past, from his constant digging to his ever-deadly Ice Beam. Since I never reached G-Rank in Freedom Unite, I’m happy to finally be able to hunt Ukanlos, and I count him among my favorite challenges in 4 Ultimate. Overall 8/10