I'm not going to attach a score to this review because I don't feel like I played anywhere close to enough of this game to properly assess the quality of it, but maaaaan. So many features, weapons and QoL are just absent from this first iteration of Monster Hunter. There are only 7 weapons, Greatsword, Lance, Sword and Shield, Dual Blades, Hammer, and the Bowguns.
So, in Monster Hunter I primarily play Insect Glaive (which obviously ain't here that shit's 4th gen) and I like to play Bow too (2nd gen) so that left me without an immediate weapon choice going into Freedom. I chose Greatsword. Now there's just one issue with Greatsword in this game, and I did go in knowing this; Greatsword cannot charge, so you just get a really slow standard attack, realistically far too slow to use (I mean holy fuck have you seen Cephadrome in this game???). So I ended up devising another way of playing GS, a hit and run style where I use the unsheath attack which is shockingly fast and seems to still output decent damage. There's just one issue here, the nature of an unsheath attack is that it can only be used while sheathed (duh), so after my one (1) attack I would instantly sheath my weapon and run around waiting for another chance to get my single (one (1)) hit in.
This style was actually quite effective and fun when playing local co-op with my girlfriend, as we could split aggro and allow each other to get heals or better hits in, was genuinely very fun and engaging... But that's during local co-op, and Monster Hunter Freedom kind of necessitates the completion of low rank village (also known as singleplager content) to really have the kind of gear capable of dealing with hub low rank. Now let me tell you, this hit and run method in singleplayer was just agony, I hardly ever got my chance to swing, and the issue of this game having fucked up hitboxes is only exacerbated when there's no one else to take aggro. A very frustating experience overall. I don't think I even completed village 2 star...
Honestly though, I only played this game cuz my girlfriend is a Monster Hunter FIEND, a certifiable nut for this series, so I think I'll be skipping ahead to Freedom Unite and reunite (haha) with my beloved Bow. Though I certainly would want to return to Freedom and give it a proper crack after playing the rest of what Monster Hunter has to offer, maybe I'll play SnS instead when the time comes though...
So, in Monster Hunter I primarily play Insect Glaive (which obviously ain't here that shit's 4th gen) and I like to play Bow too (2nd gen) so that left me without an immediate weapon choice going into Freedom. I chose Greatsword. Now there's just one issue with Greatsword in this game, and I did go in knowing this; Greatsword cannot charge, so you just get a really slow standard attack, realistically far too slow to use (I mean holy fuck have you seen Cephadrome in this game???). So I ended up devising another way of playing GS, a hit and run style where I use the unsheath attack which is shockingly fast and seems to still output decent damage. There's just one issue here, the nature of an unsheath attack is that it can only be used while sheathed (duh), so after my one (1) attack I would instantly sheath my weapon and run around waiting for another chance to get my single (one (1)) hit in.
This style was actually quite effective and fun when playing local co-op with my girlfriend, as we could split aggro and allow each other to get heals or better hits in, was genuinely very fun and engaging... But that's during local co-op, and Monster Hunter Freedom kind of necessitates the completion of low rank village (also known as singleplager content) to really have the kind of gear capable of dealing with hub low rank. Now let me tell you, this hit and run method in singleplayer was just agony, I hardly ever got my chance to swing, and the issue of this game having fucked up hitboxes is only exacerbated when there's no one else to take aggro. A very frustating experience overall. I don't think I even completed village 2 star...
Honestly though, I only played this game cuz my girlfriend is a Monster Hunter FIEND, a certifiable nut for this series, so I think I'll be skipping ahead to Freedom Unite and reunite (haha) with my beloved Bow. Though I certainly would want to return to Freedom and give it a proper crack after playing the rest of what Monster Hunter has to offer, maybe I'll play SnS instead when the time comes though...