Monster Hunter Freedom 2 (PSP)

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Monster Hunter Freedom is neither fish nor fowl. This weird genre hybrid mixes action role-playing games, massively-multiplayer online games, and pastoral life sims like Harvest Moon or Animal Crossing. The setting is a strange and unfamiliar world of dinosaurs, cats and shrunken old people. The gameplay demands an almost obsessive preoccupation with collection and crafting, and a willingness to learn a challenging combat system, but the payoff is unique.

By way of example, this is your brain on Monster Hunter Freedom 2: "I'm about to set out to kill a giant ape, because I need its hide for a specific set of armor I want to create. I really need this armor because it will help me survive in the desert environment where I have to finish a set of quests to level up my guild rank, and therefore unlock the next level of quests. But before I plunge into the jungle to look for this giant ape, I should harvest my farm for parashrooms and huskberries, which I'll combine to make paralyzing ammo for my giant crossbow. This ammo will stun the ape long enough for me to get close and blast him with powerful pellet shots. But since the ape is likely to charge me, I really should fit the crossbow with a shield, which requires malachite ore, which I can find in the mountains. So a quick trip to the mountains is in order, followed by a hearty meal prepared by my cat chefs. What random bonus will those cats cook up for me this time? Then it's off to the jungle with my heavy bow gun, my ammo, and, oh yeah, I don't want to forget the fishing pole in case I have time for a quick stop at that pond in the save. I just hope those pesky vespoid mosquitoes don't mess up my aim this time."

Monster Hunter Freedom 2 is involved, demanding and arguably more gratifying than any MMO or RPG you've ever played. There is no story. Instead, there is a complex ecology composed of terrain, monsters, wild animals, plants, ore, bugs and fish, all tied into an elaborate crafting system. Your role is to wring from the ecology the equipment you want and use it to fight and harvest increasingly powerful monsters to get access to better resources.

To some players, it might feel like a grind. But the important difference between this and many grinds is that it's based on skill and strategy rather than repeatedly pressing a button. There are a few common complaints about the Monster Hunter series, such as being unable to lock onto a target or having a hard time using the camera to keep track of what's going on behind you. Both complaints are true, but they're an integral part of the design. Hunting is hard work, and it's almost never a sure thing. It takes planning, practice and sometimes luck.

The game world is built around a village hub. In addition to the usual non-player character vendors, the village has a farm you can upgrade to harvest free materials, and a kitchen where you employ cats to cook meals that confer bonuses for your next quest. Yes, cats. From this village, you get quests to gather or hunt. Each quest is set in one of a handful of carefully contrived dungeon-like locations: the jungle, the desert, the mountains and so on. These locations are built from interconnecting "rooms,' many stocked with weird creatures that will yield hides, fangs, tusks, meat or scales. You'll also find ore, fish, bugs, plants, eggs and so forth. Many of the quests involve hunting down and capturing or killing some über-creature who can wander freely among the rooms.