User blog comment:BannedLagiacrus/Monster Appreciation Week: Najarala/@comment-5020152-20150526143549

NAJARALA

Concept: Monster Hunter has needed a giant snake monster for some time now. Sure, we’ve had the Remobras for a while, but they’re little more than regular wyverns with viper heads. Now, in 4 Ultimate, we’ve finally got Najarala, one of the largest non-elder dragon bosses to date and the legendary-looking apex predator of the Primal Forest. Creating a terrifying snake monster to stalk an ancient jungle was a genius move on Capcom’s part, one that should have been implemented a long time ago. 9/10

Design: Najarala looks like something that crawled out of an ancient Aztec temple and into the world of Monster Hunter. She’s long and green, with stubby limbs to help her navigate the uneven terrain of her prehistoric kingdom. Instead of a typical snake-like face, she sports a monstrous beak with paralyzing fangs, sufficient to bite through the bones of her prey. Strangest of all, Najarala also sports a multitude of showy, colorful plates that regally adorn her neck and tail. Her color scheme is brilliant, with the tropical orange of her back plates popping out against the earthy green of her skin. In summary, she’s a cobra, a rattlesnake, and a macaw all in awesome package. If I were to design a snake monster, there’s no way it could come out as unexpected, otherworldly, and just plain creative as this wonderful jungle queen. 10/10

Sounds: Najarala is one of the few monsters that doesn’t deafen you with a roar – instead, she rattles the plates on her back and tail to create a cacophony of noise that requires High-Grade Earplugs to resist. As she slithers around, she emits harsh hisses and mechanical clanking sounds. And when she wants to let off all of her volatile scales at once, she produces a burst of sound that takes the form of a high-pitched whine. Not to mention the Primal Forest music, which seems to have been composed specifically for Najarala herself. To top it all off, her name is really fun to say (especially her Japanese name, Garara Ajara). This slippery fiend is all about sound, so it’s only appropriate that that’s where she shines. To be honest, though, the aforementioned mechanical noises are a really odd choice. 9/10

Gameplay: Alright, Najarala can be either fun, annoying, or both. While not as much so as the battle with Zamtrios, the fight with Najarala is very dynamic and keeps you on your toes constantly. She fights unlike any other monster in the entire series, always slipping and sliding around with a multitude of wicked attacks. The most unique aspect of hunting Najarala is the fact she can put down her own “Sonic Bombs” to momentarily stun you, and then cause them to explode and stun you again through any of her sound-based attacks. But on the other hand, a lot of Najarala’s attacks are extremely hard to avoid because she’s so large. As well, it’s hard to hit an opponent that’s always slithering around and trying to catch you off guard, and it doesn’t help that she does a lot of minor chip damage as she moves about. She also makes a habit of circling around you before attempting to paralyze you and then hit you for a devastating blow from below. Another thing I’ve noticed is that you can easily get stuck in Najarala’s coils until she moves, and that’s usually when she’s executing a highly-damaging attack. 6/10

New Stuff: N/A

Equipment: Something I’ve noticed is that Najarala makes really good weapons and armor. All of her weapons have really slick designs and unmatched Paralysis attribute, besides having awesome names like “Paracrux Axe” and “Paragyred Spear”. Her armor is one of my favorites in the entire game, possessing Capture Guru, Earplugs, and Negate Paralysis (some of the most useful skills in the game, in my opinion), as well as an absolutely fantastic, Aztec-inspired design. Other than the fact that I don’t typically use Paralysis weapons, I’ve got really nothing bad to say about Najarala equipment. 9/10

Cutscene: The hunter walks into the fog-shrouded clearing, only to be ambushed by a mysterious scale-throwing assailant. With a shake of her tail, the Najarala deafens the hunter with her terrible rattle before moving in for the kill. I kind of like this cutscene, since it really shows off Najarala’s sonic-based gimmicks and how differently she fights in comparison to other monsters. 7/10

Summary: Sure, she’s really annoying on a bad day, but Najarala is the bee’s knees. She’s everything I’ve ever wanted in a monster – glorious design, cool sounds, great equipment, and awesome new tricks to use in battle – and the best part is, all of those individual parts fit together almost perfectly. That unity of traits is what makes Najarala one of my favorite monsters in this game. Overall 8/10