Presentation
A hack and slash, strategy, adventure game released September 21st 2004 in North America. The game is a simulation of hunting in a world filled with deadly monsters. Like actual hunting, successfully killing or capturing a monster requires the use of strategy, skill and provided items. Monster Hunter sold poorly in Europe and the Americas due to being given no advertising; however, it was a huge hit in its native land, Japan.
Online Multiplayer
The game used to have an Online Mode (Town), Which would let players pick between 2 Servers (Red World and Green World), then a Town Area going from A to Z , where up to 8 players could enter and start 4 man party Quests.
After January 1st, 2008, the online servers for Monster Hunter in North America and Europe were shut down, and thus online play for the PS2 version of Monster Hunter is no longer available. With the Monster Hunter online server being gone forever, the game-play population among MH fans has greatly decreased because offline mode provides fewer choices of weapons and armor.
Expansion
An expansion to the PS2 game, called Monster Hunter G. Includes tons of new content such as sub-species and a Felyne kitchen. Monster Hunter Freedom/Monster Hunter Portable for the PSP ported the new content to the handheld.
Content
- Kokoto Village
- Offline Quests
- Minegarde Town
- Online Quests
- Guest House
- Hunter Rank
- Locations
- Armors
- Weapons
- Monsters
- Skills
- Items
- Elder Trading
- Combinations
Notes
- A total of 30 Monsters: 13 small and 17 large.
- Monster Hunter was produced by Tsuyoshi Tanaka and Noritaka Funamizu, both of whom are no longer working for Capcom.
- Monster Hunter only has a maximum of Green sharpness, though the sword at the upper left corner glows yellow.
- Monster Hunter was part of a Capcom initiative to create a series of games focused on online gaming for PS2, with the other two being Auto Modellista and Resident Evil Outbreak. Capcom wanted to get at least one to get the million sales, and eventually Monster Hunter and Resident Evil Outbreak got it.
Version Differences
Original Japanese Version
The international release of Monster Hunter saw many improvements over the original Japanese release, aimed at providing an improved experience, all of these changes carried over to future games.
- Only 5 weapon classes existed, Great Sword, Sword and Shield, Lance, Hammer and Bowgun, the last one in particular had a unique icon not used ever again.
- Items could not be auto-sorted.
- Hunters couldn't see their weapons while in village.
- The quest rewards screen featured a brown background with the fatalis emblem.
- This version features a Velociprey as the menu background.
USA Beta Version
A beta of the localization, likely handed out to test the multiplayer server, in terms of changes, it's a stopgap between the Japanese and International releases, notable differences include:
- Melynx were known as Felyx.
- Bowguns were now separated and received their modern icons.
- Quest clear screenshot remains the same as in Japanese release.
- Velociprey remains the menu background monster.
- Monster descriptions contain a few differences, most notably:
USA Retail Version
The released version of Monster Hunter, some of its changes include:
- Dual Blades were added into the game, although it was only a small handful, they were integrated into the Sword and Shield crafting paths.
- The auto-sort function was added for the inventory, item box and equipment menu.
- Felyx were renamed to Melynx.
- Players could now see their equipped weapon outside of quests.
- For the first time in the series, the quest rewards screen was changed to display a screenshot of the moment the quest was completed.
- The menu background was changed to feature a design of Ioprey, which would be carried over to G.
European Retail Version
Almost identical to the USA version, some features include:
- 50Hz display mode.
- Supports multiple languages.
- These localizations are very rudimentary, a few things like Item and Equipment names remain in english, as such, translated strings that reference items or equipment mix the localized language and the english names.
Videos
Monster Hunter Intro PS2 HD | |
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Monster Hunter Promo Video (2003) | |
Monster Hunter PS2 Trailer |
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