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No. 185350
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Bought Monster Hunter Freedom Unite on the EU PSN sale. And after comparing it to the Toukiden demo, they don't actually seem that much alike. Apart from the very basic concept of mission based slaying of big monsters for little rewards. Everything in Monster Hunter is clunky and cumbersome. From the menus to the usage of items to the actual fighting. You feel like you're moving the most fragile clump of lead in existence through a sea of molasses. On the opposite you have the monsters, who are so incredibly agile and aggressive, that there's almost no way you can react in time to their moves with how slow your character is moving. It's a fight against the odds and the only way you can survive is to plan ahead. And that includes when to attack and when to dodge. You have to know that shit seconds in advance and do it preemptively. And when it doesn't go as planned Monster Hunter makes you fucking scramble. Getting out of a tough spot is incredibly difficult once you're in. But all that is what makes the game so rewarding in the end, but also so utterly unappealing to the Western market. You are not all powerful. When you get out of a scrap with your heart pounding out of your chest, you tend to think "Holy shit! How did I manage to survive that?!" and not "Holy shit! I'm so fucking badass!". And on the opposite side of that is Toukiden. Taking from their Dynasty Warriors legacy, the combat is much more free-flow and focused on instant gratification. You cut those fucking limbs off like it's nobody's business and look incredibly slick while you're doing it. And even if you manage to get in a bit of a pickle, it's quick to get out of and then back into the fight again. You're beating the monsters, not survive them. The item usage also has been simplified and made easily accessible with the implementation of the Mitamas, while at the same time adding strategic depths. Mitamas are limited to four abilities, so unlike Monster Hunter where you can just bring every kind of bomb, trap, etc. with you, you'll have to decide what abilities you value most, because four is all you're getting and most likely not in the combination you might want. It's a game that is much easier to pick up for a quick romp and have a lot of fun with, while also feeling you're working torwards a goal, because the grind for loot is still present. And while the grind is indeed present, it's not nearly on the same level of Freedom Unite. Because holy dick-shitting Christ, the grind in that is almost fucking unbearable! So yeah, Toukiden misses the certain kind of spark, that makes Monster Hunter what it is, but at the same time, it's a goddamn fun game and brings something to the table that might very well be just as good. And to be quite honest, if the game had been released on the home consoles instead of the Vita, it could possibly have been the game to get the West to care about hunting games. With all that said (and it was way more than I intended when I started writing this post), honestly, I'm not an expert on the field. Soul Sacrifice was my first hunting game. But these are the impressions I went away with after playing the demo for about 4 hours and then MHFU for about 15.
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