Monster Hunter Freedom 2

Monster Hunter Freedom 2
Developer(s)	Capcom Production Studio 1
Publisher(s)	Capcom
Designer(s)	Ryozo Tsujimoto
Composer(s)	Masato Kohda Akihiko Narita Yuko Komiyama
Series	Monster Hunter
Platform(s)	PlayStation Portable
Release date(s)	JP February 22, 2007 NA August 29, 2007 EU September 7, 2007 AUS September 12, 2007
Genre(s)	Action role-playing game
Mode(s)	Single-player, ad hoc multiplayer

Monster Hunter Freedom 2 is a PlayStation Portable video game and sequel to Monster Hunter Freedom, lt is largely based on its PlayStation 2 predecessor Monster Hunter 2, which was never released outside of Japan. Monster Hunter Freedom 2 is not a direct port of Monster Hunter 2 but instead a portable update of the Monster Hunter series. New features have been added while others were removed to make the game appropriate for its portable platform. It was released in North America on August 29, 2007. Its Japanese counterpart is called Monster Hunter Portable 2nd (モンスターハンターポータブル 2nd, monsutā hantā pōtaburu 2nd).

Gameplay

Most Quests in Monster Hunter Freedom 2 involve killing one or two 'Boss' class monsters. Smaller quests at the beginning will involve gathering items and killing small creatures.

Quests are generally divided into three difficulty levels: those from the Village Chief, known as 'Elder' quests; those for a lower Hunter Rank (HR3 or lower)from the Guild; those for hunters who have obtained higher Hunter Ranks (HR4 or above), also from the Guild, and lastly there are Treasure hunting Quests given by Treshi the Treasure Hunter. Hunters can always accept quests that are available for the same or lower Hunter Rank, but cannot take quests or join quests initiated by other higher Ranked players, unless they have the required Hunter Rank (i.e. if an HR5 player initiates a quest requiring an HR of 4, HRs 4, 5 and 6 may join while HRs 1, 2 and 3 may not). There are also quests offered by the village's Training School. Quests offered by the Training school require no items or equipment; pre-made equipment and item sets are supplied. Treasure hunting quests are gathering quests with rare items that you cannot keep but are awarded points to add to your ending score, which you are rewarded for.

The quests that are taken from the Village Elder are quests specific to single player, so they are also sometimes considered "lower" rank quests. Monsters inside these quests are weakened in terms of their hit points to suit a single hunter quest, but they only offer basic materials that can only create weapons of lower rarity.

Lower Hunter Rank quests from the guild offers the same materials as Elder quests, but they allow up to 4 Hunters via ad-hoc play or XLink Kai. Monsters have slightly increased hit points in this type of quest.

Higher Hunter Rank quests are considered the most difficult in the game, and are the equivalent of 'G' rank missions in Monster Hunter Freedom and Monster Hunter G. Besides considerable hitpoint increases, monsters have greatly increased damage and can feature new attack moves, making them harder to defeat. Many of the rarest materials can only be found in this type of quest. These rare materials can be used to create rare and powerful equipment that can kill monsters easier,but in return you will start in a random area and supplies will not be delivered until the battle is nearly done.

Downloadable quests often provide special materials that can create bonus equipment that cannot be created otherwise.

Weapons

Monster Hunter Freedom 2 has the same types of weapons from Monster Hunter Freedom, with an additional four new weapons for the Monster Hunter series, which are: Long Sword, Gunlance, Hunting Horn, and the Bow. Each weapon class has its own unique feel to it, each one completely different from the other. Each weapon class has around 40 to 50 different weapons ranging from 1-8 rarity, 8 being the highest. All weapons have a certain amount of raw damage that does a set amount of damage depending on how high the raw damage is. Another characteristic that attributes to the amount of damage done is sharpness. Sharpness has many levels, with red being the worst and white being the best. (The full spectrum of sharpness from worst to best is as follows: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and white). Many weapons have elements that do more damage to some monsters and less to others. These elements include fire, water, ice, thunder, and dragon. Other weapons have secondary elements, which include poison, sleep, and paralysis.

Reception

As of March 31, 2008, the game has sold 2.15 million copies, according to Capcom.^[1] As of July 9, 2008, the game has sold 1,701,980 copies in Japan, according to Famitsu.^[2][3] As of January 4, 2009, the re-release of Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G under the "Best" brand, has sold 271,000 copies in Japan.^[4] Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G is the best-selling game of Japan in 2008, selling 2,452,111 in that year (expect "PSP the Best"), beating other major titles such as Pokémon Platinum and Wii Fit.^[5]

Critical reaction has been mixed, with GameSpot giving the game 5.0 and IGN giving the game 8.3. According to the critics, the good points include the character customization and the graphics. The bad points are the repetitive gameplay and combat system, which is a popular point of contention between those who like and dislike the game.

References