User blog comment:BannedLagiacrus/Monster Appreciation Week: Nerscylla/@comment-5020152-20150426210228

NERSCYLLA

Concept: If there’s one thing that really gets the heart pumping and the lungs working, it’s the thought of a venomous, creepy-crawly spider creature that hangs out in a nest of thick white threads and is big enough to catch wyverns for lunch. Guess what? That’s exactly what Nerscylla is, and it’s exactly the kind of fear factor that the Monster Hunter series has needed for a long time. 10/10

Design: Nerscylla is disgusting. She’s a pale, icky, wyvern-eating spider that tears apart Gypceroses and wears their skins like a rubbery blanket. And yet, she’s all kinds of awesome. When you first see her, you see a mass of skin and spikes and legs with a pair of bright red chelicerae ready to pump you full of venom. And then over the course of the fight, the skin falls off to reveal a bone-white monstrosity underneath. To complete the design, Nerscylla also has a pair of red scythe-shaped claws, a mass of blue eyes, and a glowing pattern on her abdomen much like that of a black widow. The eerie eyes, scythe-claws, overcoat of Gypceros skin, and pale white exoskeleton makes it clear that Nerscylla is undoubtedly the Grim Reaper of Monster Hunter. 9/10

Sound: The variety of hisses and screeches that Nerscylla makes really adds to the “holy-crap-it’s-a-giant-spider-run-for-your-lives” vibe. I also really enjoy the clicking noise that her legs make when she moves, especially when she’s crawling along her web underneath you. And when her venomous chelicerae come together, they produce a loud snapping/squishing sound that makes it clear they dish out tons of damage. You can fight her in the Sunken Hollow and Primal Forest, but the Sunken Hollow music (as well as the spooky atmosphere) is a much better fit for her. 8/10

Gameplay: This is where things get less cool and more annoying. Tetsucabra might have been a challenge, but Nerscylla is a whole new level of hard. She’s always jumping and scuttling around you, looking for an opening while you struggle to keep up with her. Not only do her attacks come fast and furious, but most are difficult to avoid and hit almost as hard as the ‘cabra. She has high maneuverability, being able to crawl in any direction as well as use her webs to catapult herself at ridiculous speed into your face. And don’t get me started on how many crippling status conditions she can inflict on you – Poison, Sleep, and Web-Bound, and when you get to High-Rank, her venom doubles in potency. Nerscylla keeps you on your toes for the entire hunt, and even though her status conditions are annoying, it’s a really fun fight. 7/10

New Stuff: The aforementioned “breaking-off-the-outer-covering-to-reveal-the-true-monster” thing has been used in Monster Hunter Frontier before, except with a giant lobster instead of a spidery Grim Reaper. Yet another interesting touch inspired by the vast Japanese game, don’t you agree? 7/10

Equipment: I’ll say it right now – Nerscylla’s Charge Blade is the best. It has immensely good sharpness even when you first craft it, and deals massive Poison damage. Her other weapons seem to be on the same level, but a few of them use Sleep rather than Poison. The spider’s armor looks good as well, with skills such as Capture Guru and resistance to Water, Ice, and Dragon damage. I highly recommend you make at least a few of her weapons if nothing else. 8/10

Cutscene: The hunter stumbles into the web-bound lair of Nerscylla, only to get stuck in a patch of stray webbing and be ambushed from behind by the spider. She reels in the hunter and closes in, only to miss with her chelicerae when the hunter breaks free of the sticky silk. As good as this cinematic is, I somehow expected more. 5/10

Summary: Nerscylla is Monster Hunter’s first spider-based boss, and she fits her expected niche really well by slinging webs at you and dousing you in venom. Everything about her induces shivers down your spine, and you can’t even let your guard down for a second when you’re in the same area as her. I think Nerscylla was designed really well, and she definitely offers a new and interesting challenge in the form of a ghostly arachnid that ensnares bird wyverns instead of flies. Overall 7.5/10