
	Platform PlayStation Portable (PSP) Genre Action RPG Publisher Capcom Developer Capcom ETA May 2006
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Monster Hunter Freedom

When gamers got their first glimpse of Monster Hunter on the PlayStation 2 a couple of years back it was a refreshing change of pace in the realm of RPGs. The way in that players could so heavily customize their hero, making him uniquely their own was a welcome change of pace from dealing with one archetype after the next, as can often be the case in the genre. Better still was that players could meet up with their friends and play the game online, though the online capabilities of the title ultimately proved less robust than some would have liked. Regardless, Capcom has been able to enjoy some modest success with this new franchise, and are busily taking it to the world of handheld gaming with Monster Hunter Freedom for the PSP.

While this new installment for the series will encourage liberal amounts of online play, Capcom is aiming strike more of a balance between this and single player options to better accommodate those that don’t like playing with a bunch of other people all of the time. For players who would much rather play with their buddies, Monster Hunter Freedom makes use of ad hoc to allow up to four people to play together.

One thing players will be greeted with relatively quickly in this title is a large number of mini-games. Players will be able to farm, find ways to help nurture the economy of the game’s main village, and there is also a quasi-cooking area being called Felyne Kitchen, where master chefs, who happen to all be cats, will cook all sorts of exotic dishes. The more that players enlist the help of these cats, the better they get, resulting in them being able to make more sophisticated dishes for players. Each of these cats has their own “special ingredient” that adds some personality to what they cook, and when players dine on this cuisine their character’s stats are temporarily enhanced in various ways depending on what was eaten.

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When players aren’t hanging around town, though, they’ll likely be out and about in the wilderness trying to become the best hunter that ever was. Here, the combat will require liberal amounts of hacking and slashing, as players can arm themselves with a variety of weapons ranging from sharp swords, to blunt maces, and ranged bows, many of which can slowly be modified over the course of the game.

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All the while, one can expect some high production values for Monster Hunter Freedom, if available screenshots and gameplay footage are anything to go by. Looking at the media released thus far it appears that this PSP edition to the series is doing a very good job of trying to keep up with its PlayStation 2 counterparts. Of course, this mimicry also brings with it some facets of the series that not everyone was particularly taken with, like the somewhat slow animations that sometimes could make the action feel a bit clunky.

Be that as it may, there’s no denying that the Monster Hunter series has itself a very dedicated following, especially in Japan. With the sheer number of gameplay options, and top-notch aesthetics, it certainly appears that Capcom has no intention of resting on its laurels when it comes to Monster Hunter Freedom. Now it’s just a matter of waiting until the game sees a North America release, which is currently slated for May of this year.

Mr. Nash

(February 23, 2006)