User blog comment:BannedLagiacrus/Monster Appreciation Week: Nargacuga (5th Gen)/@comment-24734669-20200216040352

Ah, good old Nargacuga. For the longest time, this monster was just a glorified i-frame tutorial with atrociously long, time-wasting combos that everyone simply had Stockholm syndrome for; it did get quite a bit better in P3rd, but apparently they made it "too slow" in later games and then compensated for it by making it waste your time again in GU. Now, it's made its presence known in Iceborne... and it actually seems to be a bit better than before.

I love the appearance change they gave Nargacuga. While it hasn't changed a lot at a superficial glance, the biggest change they gave it is updating it to use the Barioth skeleton; this was something they should have done a long time ago, as seeing it walk like a Rathalos was just a bit too goofy. I also like how its smaller wingblades are retracted into its larger ones, unsheathing when it's fighting you; it's kinda like how cats have retractable claws that unsheath when they're attacking prey, which is a really nice touch. Finally, I love how it has iridescent fur as well as actual feline dentition; it really makes it look similar to other World monsters.

In terms of gameplay, Nargacuga has changed quite a bit. Yes, it still has many of its old attacks, such as its pouncing wingslash, tail swing, spike shot, whirlwind, and tail slam (the latter two of which it can do twice like its GU incarnation), but it seems to have gotten a massive speed increase that puts it on par with its FU counterpart as well as some new attacks, such as two new erratic lunges (one of which kinda reminds me of Odogaron's leaping tail slam); personally, my favorite has to be the one where it just rapidly shoots out spikes two times in a row, as it's a really fast attack befitting of this monster. Speaking of such, I also like how the spikes stick into the ground and inflict Bleeding if you step on them; this actually makes them a good way to cut off movement rather than just projectiles.

The biggest change, however, is that it no longer uses combo attacks, using singular attacks like Barioth instead; in my opinion, this is both a blessing and a curse. While it's good to no longer see it spam triple pouncing wingslashes or even use that horrible GU combo where it leaps sideways and performs a wingslash 2-3 times in a row, I feel that, in a similar vein to Rathalos, they kinda went too far and ended up removing one of the things that made it iconic. I feel like, at the very least, they should have kept the double pouncing wingslash, as that was probably one of its 3 least offensive combos.

Anyways, sound design is pretty OK on this one. Nargacuga still has its old roar, which is good. As well as this, it has a bunch of other vocalizations that range from being shrill to being deep and growly; I actually think they fit the monster rather than harming its design like some other veteran monsters (although the sound it randomly makes when raising the spikes on its tail, doing a tail slam, or shooting spikes sounds like it's swishing water in its mouth). I also really like the slicing noises its wing make whenever it leaps sideways, as they just sound really good. Finally, the theme has finally gotten an update, getting a faster tempo than its older theme as well as getting a small reprise of a segment from Pokke's theme; in all, I like it quite a bit better than the previous theme, which is something I can say for a few other revised monster themes (not all of them, however).

In all, while it still has its flaws, Nargacuga is noticeably improved, and I only hope that it continues to get better from there.

Anyways, why the hell is Tigrex coming next week instead of Glavenus? I'd pay more attention to the order the monsters are unlocked in rather than their announcement dates. Oh, well; at least I have something good to say about Tigrex.