Playing Journey was one of the most moving and profound experiences I’ve ever had in gaming. I was lucky enough to play the entirety of the game in one sitting and with one partner. I knew going in that this was a co-op game. What I didn’t realize was the effect it would have on me. Truly the closest to a spiritual experience I’ve had in a gaming setting. I sobbed as we walked into the light at the end.

As we are in the pre-reveal period between generations, I’ve been looking back at previous games, their monsters, and gameplay mechanics. The one game I am most interested in is the one with the least amount of info available in English, Monster Hunter Frontier. Capcom has iterated on mechanics many times before, and as we saw with Espinas in Rise Sunbreak, they no longer seem to be adverse to the idea of bringing monsters from Frontier to the mainline games. What monsters or mechanics do you think Capcom would bring back from Frontier to MH6 and beyond? While there are guides and discord groups with information to set up Frontier ZZ, I haven’t yet played the game myself, instead relying on youtube videos like CR-Volcanic’s guides to the monsters. Other than PewPewDojo and Rain Frontier Server on discord, are there any other groups or guides available for playing Monster Hunter Frontier?

In GU there’s a higher need for material gathering during hunts and item preparation before hunts. Rise took away the need for cold and hot drinks. Whether or not that was a valid quality of life change, it is a necessity to keep in mind in certain maps in GU. Whetstones, bugnets, and pick axes also break.

Combat has more emphasis on animation commitment, timing, and placement. GU has a certain turn based sort of rhythm in combat. Punishment for breaking the rhythm is higher since there aren’t wirebugs to gain distance after getting slammed. I haven’t played in a year, but I do remember fights lasting longer than Rise. Some can go on for 20-40 minutes the first time you face a new monster. There are a lot more monsters in GU than Sunbreak. It looks like GU has 93 large monsters vs Rise with 46, Sunbreak with 27, so 73 total. One criticism I’ve read about GU is the pacing and lack of story. Since it’s a generational celebration and there are so many monsters, you don’t get the handpicked progression of power that’s present in older titles. Rise has a more coherent story, with monsters relevant to it’s progression. They missed out bringing back a few monsters, but overall Rise Sunbreak’s roster is really strong. With GUs monster roster and weapon skills, there are so many monster vs weapon/skill matchups to master that you basically have near endless content.

Another difference between games is that GU has the old school map areas that you load into, meaning you can get juggled out of the area you’re hit multiple times near the edge of the map. I’ve been juggled out of the area from multiple hits on high rank monsters a few times. It’s kind of cheesy, but it gives you a moment to heal or sharpen if needed. In Rise you can wirebug to a higher area or ride your palamute to do the same, so it’s different implementation of refreshing mid battle.

GU was my first view into aspects of the old school Monster Hunter games. After playing 150 hours it solidified Monster Hunter as my favorite game franchise.

The romanticism of flight, chivalry of air combat, and the sincere humanity throughout the series is what made me a fan many years ago.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DCoHdkaGnpU

A few years ago I had to sell my 2DS and my full Pokemon game collection, including a living dex on Alpha Sapphire, to make rent. I tried calling the store back to see if they had the Alpha Sapphire cartridge a month later, but they said it was against policy to allow me to run the games to see what was saved on each cartridge. Losing that one made me really sad.