User blog comment:BannedLagiacrus/Monster Appreciation Week: Ahtal-Ka/@comment-4969421-20181129164847

Ahtal-Ka follows the steps of Valstrax and just like he was one of the best flagship monsters, Ahtal is without a doubt the best Final Boss of recent MH titles. Bugs are the coolest and if you don't think that you can get out of my face in this very moment. They could make a MH game with only Neopterons and I'd play it. The more buges they add to the game the happier I am, because no matter how you pull them out they will end up being great by virtue of being buggos except seltas queen because seltas queen fucking sucks. Even more so Ahtal-Ka since she scratches that itch I had for a proper mantis monster ever since Seltas was revealed. Ahtal-Ka is a shiny gold mantis with a lovely egyptian flavour. Actually, design wise she doesn't strafe too much out of the ordinary aside from her theming, something that I however find completely fine. The species she's based on (devil's flower mantis) is already ornamented enough I don't believe her design would have turned out nearly as good if they added more stuff to it. Besides praying mantises are already gorgeous animals, so taking less creative liberties in this case is alright. However design alone doesn't mean a monster is good. Gameplay is just as important and boy does Ahtal Ka take this aspect to the stratosphere. At first she starts off with simple slashes and pounces, exactly what you'd expect from a mantis, but then she straps a Dragonator onto her back. How cool is that!? Suck it Gogmazios. And it's not only there for show, It's actually amazing how much she can do with whatever she's using at the moment. You have to account not only for the properties of each object like for example how the Dragonator has different range compared to the bridge, but also how each of her attacks behaves hitbox wise. Like she might just throw the object forward, but when she pulls it back it can fall behind her and hit you as well. Then in her other phase she turns the craziness up to eleven and builds a giant mech right before your very eyes. The fight has you climb her mech to destroy the webs that hold it together while you avoid her attacks. I'm going to go straight to the point, I love this phase even more than her base form, and it's all for one reason: The sound design. I think Ahtal-Neset has the best in the series. Seeing her mech rising from the ground and the sky darkens and her second theme starts with those slow, gloomy notes gives off a feel of despair and impending doom that no other moment in the game can replicate. The mech's sounds are also flawlessly made, all the mechanical clunking and the super loud BRRRRRROMMMMMMM when she stomps, it's honestly amazing just how perfectly they managed to get those sounds when every single other creature in MH is organical. It all comes together perfectly and as I said I don't think Capcom will be topping this anytime soon (but I'd love to see them try!).

Finally in her last phase she launches an all out offensive while you get to hear the best rendition of Proof of a Hero so far. She rolls around with her wheel, throws even more Dragonators, and even covers the entire area in silk. It's a battle that goes from crazy to crazier to craziest and it's not one bir realistic but honestly who cares? I can't see anything wrong with going over the top once in a while and Ahtal wouldn't be such a great final boss if she was more "plausible".

The Generations games perhaps weren't the greatest (nor the worst, really) but if there's one thing they did right was their Final Bosses. Both Nakarkos and Ahtal might make you question whether or not drugs were involved in their creation but are overall fantastic monsters. One of my favorite memories will always be people trying to figure out what they were before they were fully revealed.

Ahtal is both a perfect final boss and a perfect final to the 4th generation.