With Monster Hunter - Freedom: Unite and Monster Hunter 3 (tri) all the rage, I felt it an obligation to cover the Japan-only Monster Hunter 2 (dos). Why? Because the sun hasn't yet set on the import-only hit. Even with Monster Hunter - Freedom: Unite having sold like crazy in Japan, Monster Hunter 2 (dos) seems like it still has some fight left in it. With as much as Capcom put into it, and the amount of time it takes to do even the most simple of tasks in the game, it's easy to see why. When I first heard about the original Monster Hunter, I wasn't too excited about it looked like an RPG. I saw a few screenshots of the game in action, and my buddy told me that it was cool, but I decided to put it on the back-burner. He really liked it, so I figured it'd be cool to give him a Monster Hunter T-shirt I was offered from a local game store. I went back to the game store and told them I had decided to take the shirt, but they pulled a fast one on me and said they'd give me the shirt only if I could beat them at Tekken 5! So I laid the smack down at Tekken 5, got him the shirt, and gave it to him. He was pleasantly surprised. All in a day's work.

Monster Hunter was on the back burner for a while. So long that I ended-up playing Monster Hunter - Freedom and Monster Hunter 2 (dos) without ever having played the original one. Hell, I have trouble even finding the first one! Anyway, taking my buddy's word for it, I finally got around to trying the series out. Capcom has been known for re-defining genres, and it looks like they've did it again with the Monster Hunter series. This is one game I thought would have a definite American release, but Capcom proved me wrong and decided never to release it outside of Japan. For better or for worse, Monster Hunter 2 (dos) is one hell of a game (with an emphasis on hell). Now that I've played the game (long after release), it's easy to see how its strong points made it a hit in Japan, but MH2 fails to live up to its prestine reputation.

Splitting Hairs
First, a description of the game. In Japan, Capcom puts gimmicky genre descriptor labels on their games; for fighting games they put "V.S. Fighting," and for action games like Devil May Cry, they put campy stuff like "Stylish Action." There are a few misleading ones here and there, but the one for Monster Hunter 2 (dos) is actually pretty accurate! Instead of mislabeling it as an "RPG," they label it as its own breed of "Hunting Action." Imagine an action game broken down, then broken down again, then broken down again, and again, and again, until every single aspect of the game is mapped-out. That is what MH2 is like. If this game were a music genre, it would be considered "mathcore." Everything is broken-down into a fine science that requires an incredible amount of time to get into. In other action games, health and food items are prepared and ready to eat after purchase, or in barrels; in MH2, you have to go out and hunt for the meat, then have the item to cook it on, and then cook it. Other games let you upgrade weapons with just a wad of cash; in MH2, you need to go out, mine the necessary ores, and cough-up the cash. If your weapon has slots, special stones can be inserted to increase stats. What does all of this mean? Lots and lots of time consumption.

Unfortunately left unchanged from its predecessor, MH2 borrows the whole complicated item scheme from the token RPG, but like other titles that have done the same, features too much action to actually be an RPG. Stages are broken down into quests that range from retrieving specific items and killing specific monsters, to mining and cooking food (yes, cooking food). Don't let this fool you, though; the timing, precision, and skill needed to progress are all closer to action adventure than RPG. It's hard to call this an RPG because it takes skill and reflexes to play (unlike RPGs). Accustomed RPG players (who went out and bought this because magazines called it an RPG) were in for a rude awakening. Just the Bulldrome fight alone requires more skill than any RPG out there! MH2 doesn't have the typical stage structure of most games, though; you can fight bosses even if you haven't even killed any of the little guys in the area. For example, if you have an idea where the boss will be from the start, you can run straight through to that area and beat them to the punch with a surprise attack. And you'll need to (literally) use all the tricks and traps you can, because the cowardly bosses in this game are highly-annoying.

The Grind
It is probably mislabeled as such because it borrows one of the worst attributes of RPGs: the concept of grinding. No, I'm not talking about the club girl ritual. The grinding I'm referring to is one of the concepts RPGs are built on, and in Monster Hunter 2 (d0s) this takes the form of hunting, mining, and gathering. You don't really play MH2 for a long time because you want to, but because you have to in order to progress. Items appear depending on the season (which isn't so bad), but even then they only appear sometimes (resulting in unnecessary grind). Usually, we cover games after spending a good amount of time with them, which means clearing them, and seeing what they have to offer in their entirety (which separates us from media reviewers who write articles off of demos/betas). Monster Hunter 2 (dos), however, is one of those rare games that isn't very easy to do that with. In covering the game, I knew I wouldn't be able to bust it completely open (due to its complexity), but this is just crazy. I was on the same pig boss dude forever, and I still couldn't beat him! I like boars, so I was trying not to hate the thing, but it was so damn annoying! I wasted hours and hours on weapon trial and error, looked at books, and looked at Japanese and English message boards for similar posts, but to no avail. I felt I was wasting away trying to beat this boss that just bails every time I trim its life down. At long last, victory was mine with help with support from some bros at Capcom's official Monster Hunter forum. And when I finally kill the bastard, it becomes apparent that I have to kill it again in another season to progress! So let me get this straight; one fight that took weeks to pass wasn't enough?

It's already complicated-enough with the seasons, but who would have guessed that slow-grinding equates to fun (aside from club girls)? Ultimately, more time is spent running than hunting (leading me to wonder if "Monster Chaser" would have been a more fitting title), so the absolute worst thing they could have put in the game would be a timer. Apparently, the odds weren't stacked enough against us already, so there's a timer that gives you no remorse as you run in circles looking for bosses that will just flee once you find them. Without all the weapons and armor, enduring all this cheap crap would not be worth it. Hit the boss a few times and watch them bail from area to area. It is incredibly frustrating when bosses run away and waste down the timer. They're hard to catch because you can't run fast enough with your weapon drawn, and it's believed that they even regain life! There are paintballs for tracking them as they move, but the intended accuracy sucks, and they don't last. Distinct animation cues hint at when monsters are about to croak, but exploiting this is hard when they take off like O.J. Simpson. The bosses possess a survival instinct (cheat?), and it's chaos when they maroon you in a legion of quickly re-spawning monsters. Hell, the monsters themselves even fight amongst each other, making it all even more chaotic! These situations require strict multi-tasking and calculated, split-second timing when changing weapons and items; a necessary function the control scheme barely permits.

The item equip system is all messed-up; it's awkward (with a high learning curve), and item usage takes too long. Even when you're far away and think you're safe, enemies still hit you when you are in the middle of using items to replenish your health. I'm amazed at what a hassle the item system is to use, and it's so frustrating that it's all I can do not to fling the controller across the room. I will always hate one certain thing about this series; how you have to put your weapon away before you can use an item. It's pointless. And the weapon controls aren't any better because they're so confusing that the hardest part about battling is even being able to attack! The learning curve is high, the monsters are cheap, and using items takes too much start-up animation, so even skilled players won't really "get it" for weeks. I hate it when media idiots complain about "bad cameras," but with as cheap as the monsters are in MH2, the flaky camera in MH2 needs serious help. Moving the camera shouldn't require uncomfortable contortion. The simplified controls in Monster Hunter - Freedom are easier, so fans of that game will need time to adjust to Monster Hunter 2 (dos)'s overly-complicated, uncomfortable controls. This one has got to be one of the cheapest, hardest, and most difficult to control Capcom games ever made. Controller parts it will rain.

The bosses in MH2 are too smart for their own good, so slaying them induces an unrivaled feeling of accomplishment. Progress in this game is so slow that beating a boss is a big deal. Part of Monster Hunter's appeal is in its gradual introduction of new stuff, and in Monster Hunter 2 (dos) they really went above and beyond; there's tons of crazy shit in this game! New monsters gradually reveal themselves, as do the armor and weaponry made by the resources they provide. New items make for a dizzying number of mixing possibilities (that are just as complicated as the controls), and repeat offenders who loved MHF will love discovering all the new stuff in MH2 with ball-breaking three-item mixers. Upgrading weapons and armor is key to surviving in MH2, and there's no shortage of cool stuff to bling your character out with. In the 128-bit era, customization in Capcom games started to take-off, and in MH2 it comes full-circle. Any armor piece of any armor type can be mixed and matched with almost any weapon type, so there really is something for everyone (from stealth body suits to bulky monstrosities).

Looking To The Past For The Present
By far, MH2's oddly cool design is its strongest feature. It is in its creatively familiar design that it makes up for everything it lacks in gameplay. MH2's expansive armor system combines with throwback monster designs in an eclectic fusion reminiscent of Capcom side-scrolling action titles from the 16-bit Golden Age. Monster Hunter 2 (dos)'s item chests, blades, shields, crossbows, bombs, elements, and countless variations of fire-breathing, winged terrors will send die-hards back in time to classics like Magic Sword and King of Dragons. Even without the monsters, all the broad swords, lances, hammers, dynamic armors, and medieval feasts harken back to the almighty Knights of the Round (that was for you, Headquarters). Looking back, King of Dragons had an orthodox approach in design, but the thing that made Magic Sword such a cool game was the unorthodox approach in ally characters. Everyone knew that "The Great One" was based on Conan, and that Conan was a barbarian that fought alongside hot chicks in violent movies. It wasn't so hard to imagine him fighting alongside a knight, priest, thief, or even a wizard, but Capcom made it intruiging by making one of his allies a lizard man, and then they made it even better with a ninja. Conan?! Fighting evil with a ninja?! As a kid who loved both Conan and ninjas, it was unbelieveable (until I saw monsters getting sprayed to death in a hail of ninja stars). We see this character design flair in Knights of the Round, too, and it's in the form of an incredibly powerful samurai warrior boss (with fire attacks).

The designs in Monster Hunter 2 (dos) could easily pass for evolved King of Dragons or Magic Sword sequels, and it stands-out from its genre in similar ways. Like King of Dragons and Knights of the Round, Monster Hunter 2 (dos)'s hacking and slashing brings people together; 4-Player battling for friends and strangers alike (at least until the servers are shut down). Fishing, pig-petting, arm wrestling, and other trivial activities offer variety, but offer little to truly break the monotony of the grinding missions. There are even high scores for record kills (for those of us who strive to top high-scores). The special effects in MH2 aren't what we've come to expect from recent Capcom, but what was expected of them during the 16-bit era. The blood effects look devastating (like blood hit sparks), status effects are obvious (poison, for example), and there are some memorable environmental effects (like shooting stars lighting night sky), but MH2's effects are minimal, overall. The animation, however, is what we've come to expect from Capcom over the years, and the agony hunting is all brought fluidly to life (from fatigue and barbaric slashing, to candid behavior and writhing deaths). Watching a powered great sword slice through surrounding predators in a single swipe is nothing short of brutally cool. The animation isn't just about violence and barbarism, though, and reveals humorous quarks that could make anyone "LAWL" or "RAWFUL" (including pink apes eating mushrooms off the tip of their dirty tails, colossal dinos falling on their faces, and hunters choking on the acrid failure of burned meat).

A not so funny quark, however, is how the lively jungle-themed loading screen gets suddenly interrupted by a lame, two-second black screen that just says exactly the same thing: "Now Loading." What the hell? Why? Sure, it's a small thing, but was it necessary to change something that flows so well with the game? And for only a tiny, five-second stint? What a waste. There's also some annoyingly useless "advice" that you are given throughout the game; "Where would you find the egg? Only in a nest! And where the nest is, the egg is!" No shit, you fuck! And then when you find the nest, the fucker comes out and says some shit like, "Hey! Looks like the nest is here; the egg's gotta be in there!" Yeah, and I found it (without any help from you, dick).

Complicated Simplicity
I honestly can't see how Monster Hunter 2 (dos) did better than Sengoku Basara 2, but if you're a fan of the series and you can handle MH2's frustrating flaws, then by all means, get it now! If you have a lot of time, or if you want an action game that moves at a slower pace than every other game in its genre, then those are other reasons to get it, too. MH2 is probably comprehensive as an upgrade, the awkward controls make it seem incomplete as a sequel (since they were better in MHF). Why this sequel fixed things that weren't broken is anyone's guess, but MH2 carries its flaws with blind pride, nonetheless. Its similarities with Magic Sword and subsequent Golden Era classics make it cool right out of the gates, but a ridiculous learning curve and incredibly cheap mechanics keep it from being as fun as it could be. Even for players who aren't big fans of the series, it's still worth a buy just to experience one of the most frustratingly intricate Capcom games ever made.