User blog:BannedLagiacrus/Discussion of the Week: Punching Bags

Hello, and welcome to Discussion of the Week!

This week we look at the first large monsters we beat up early on in Monster Hunter!

Velocidrome


Let's start with the first monster that started it all, Velocidrome! Though it was nothing really special, I mean it's a giant Velociprey, it was still cool putting your early skills in the game to the test, showing how you have progressed so far.

Giadrome


Rather than having Velocidrome be the gatekeeper to 2★ quests in Monster Hunter Freedom 2/Monster Hunter Freedom Unite, Giadrome took its place and acted as the first large monster hunters took on. It's pretty much identical to Velocidrome gameplay wise, excluding the ice spit, though I do like its color scheme a bit more. One interesting note is that Giadrome had a Rage Mode in Monster Hunter Freedom 2, but was taken out in Monster Hunter Freedom Unite for some reason.

Great Jaggi


We abused Great Jaggi so much, he just stopped appearing! Anyway, Great Jaggi acted as our first little challenge in Monster Hunter Tri. Though he isn't tough, he is when the MH Team started doing more with beginner monsters and tried to make them more complex, rather than just something we can easily beatdown.

Arzuros


In Monster Hunter Portable 3rd, Arzuros was the first large monster hunters encountered! A relatively simple monster, Arzuros's attacks were slow and predictable but still could hurt careless hunters that underestimated it. Its claws were also armored, making a hunter's attacks bounce off those parts until they at least got green sharpness.

Great Maccao


Great Maccao is really energetic! With Great Jaggi mysteriously disappearing in Monster Hunter Generations, Great Maccao takes its place as the punching bag but this one actually puts up a fight! Not only does Great Maccao move around a lot, but it also punches you with its front limbs like a boxer and jumps at you like a kangaroo! Out of all the early large monsters, I think Great Maccao easily has the most attacks out of them all.

Great Jagras


The punching bag of the fifth generation, Great Jagras never seems to catch a break when it comes to hunters and monsters alike. It gets thrown around by Anjanath and Deviljho, and is considered to be a massive joke by hunters. Great Jagras might be taken more seriously if it ever devours the Handler.

Gogomoa


Believe it or not, Gogomoa is the tutorial monster for Monster Hunter Frontier (If they changed it to another monster please let me know). A very unique Fanged Beast that is able to fire silk from its paws, Gogomoa's attacks are straight forward early on in Monster Hunter Frontier but become more complex as you reach higher ranks.

Caeserber


In Monster Hunter Online, Caeserber is the first monster that attacks you in-game. It's the only beaver-like monster in the series, and its attacks are interesting, especially the one where it rips a branch out of the ground and uses it as a weapon.

A Punching Bag's Rage


If we push these early monsters enough, they'll eventually get angry and will come back later to make us suffer from all the abuse they suffered from us. Keep that in mind the next time you hunt one!

Last Week


If you missed last week's Discussion of the Week, Hidden Remains, you all are still more then welcome to comment on it!

Questions

 * 1) Which one is your favorite? Why?
 * 2) Which one is your least favorite? Why?
 * 3) When you get a new weapon, do you beat one of these monsters with it just for the heck of it? If so, why?
 * 4) Do you feel bad beating up these monsters? Why or why not?
 * 5) Which one do you think gets abused the most in the series? Why?
 * 6) Would you like to see some of them return in the future?
 * 7) Ever hunted an LV140 Velocidrome in Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate? If so, how did it go?
 * 8) Do you like the idea of buffing these early monsters to make difficult to kill via variant, event quest, etc? Why or why not?