User blog comment:BannedLagiacrus/Monster Appreciation Week: Valstrax/@comment-4969421-20181004192805

If there's one thing I think everyone agrees on about MHGU is that its two flagship monsters are done perfectly. Valstrax has not only become a gold standard for both flagships and Elder Dragons, but of monsters done right in general.

Valstrax design might not be everyone's cup of tea but I believe it's done right. Jetpack dragon sounds silly at first, yes, but I genuinely think it pulls it off perfectly. It might have two jet engines strapped onto its back, but at the same time you can clearly see they're still just wings, with the structure and all the parts of one. To achieve a more natural design it draws inspiration from falcons, which it mostly takes its ecology and physiology from to explain its abilities, as well as sharks, also highly aerodynamic animals. Finally its color scheme is a simple, yet effective combination of silver and black, with just enough red highlights to signify it's a Dragon element monster. I personally adore these kinds of color schemes. And that's about it, actually, there's not much else going on. Which is actually a very good thing since as mentioned before a jetpack dragon is already crazy enough. It doesn't need more, it wisely stops when it has to stop. If it had more it would probably end up looking too complex and overdesigned. Also he's also cute as h*ck so what more can you ask for?

Then the fight is another shining example of how to make a monster's gameplay enjoyable. Although it forgoes special mechanics or gimmicks, it more than makes up for this by focusing on its moveset exclusively. Valstrax fights like no other monster by virtue of two things, his unique build (he might share Magala's skeleton, but the two are nothing alike) and his exorbitantly high number of moves. He mostly attacks with his wings, either by using them in simple ways like sweeps or slams, and then more elaborate attacks like a rocket punch, a rapid fire dragon bombardment, and then an attack where he forgets about finesse and just extends his lancewings (god what an awesome name) to tear his foe in two. His moveset also has room for claw strikes, pounces, bites and lightning fast charges, and his signature attack consists of crashing into the battlefield like a meteor, the impact being so strong it even messes with the background music, adding a ringing ears like effect for a few seconds.

Finally Valstrax doesn't even pale one bit when it comes to the more "minor" stuff that makes up a monster. Great sound design, both when it comes to its theme and its range of vocalizations which I particularly love. His equipment falls a bit on the gimmicky side, but his weapons can definitely put some work when used correctly. Then there's Area 9 of the Ruined Pinnacle. I like how the zone is clearly designed to be Valstrax' very own area, but is in a normal map, instead of being yet another one off arena. It is perhaps a precursor of the Elder Dragon's nest areas in MHW, and I'd definitely like to keep seeing it in the future.

All in all a wonderful monster. Can't wait to actually fight him.