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Tuesday, December 10, 2019

The BEST and WORST Monsters of Monster Hunter!

My favorite video game series is Monster Hunter. I like talking about Monster Hunter. So as an excuse to talk about Monster Hunter again, I am remaking one of my oldest blog posts, since my writing style has improved dramatically since I made the original "Top 10 Bosses in Monster Hunter" post. Unlike last time, where I talked about ONLY the monsters I like, I talking about both my favorite and LEAST favorite monsters. Because negativity gets more attention on the Internet, but it should be balanced out by the positive vibes of the better entries.

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For those that haven't read literally anything about Monster Hunter before, it's a series of action-RPG video games with a simple premise. You hunt down a variety of monsters based on a mixture of real life animals and mythological creatures, defeat them in battle, use the rewards for defeating them to make better armor and weapons, and repeat the process. The games sometimes have a story campaign, but the story quality tends to vary between games. Before we continue, I'd like to address a few things.
  1. The list is entirely opinion based. If a monster you like is a monster that I dislike, that's perfectly fine. Just be civilized about it.
  2. The list will alternate entries between the Bottom and Top Monsters lists. Mostly so I can end on a high note. 
  3. I made this list taking the design of the monster, its background lore, its boss battle and mechanics into consideration (my previous list was based almost entirely around design).
  4. I will be using a lot of terminology from the games as well as the community. I apologize ahead of time if some word choices seem a little strange. That's just how Monster Hunter fans talk.
With that being said, let's begin, shall we?

WORST 10...

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Shrieking Legiana. A Variant monster (Variants being stronger versions of preexisting monsters) of the regular Glacial Butterfly Wyvern, Legiana. It possesses the ability to coat itself in armor made of serrated icy blades, as well as leave a trail of freezing mist when it flies around. I will admit, it does have a beautiful design, and it has a very graceful and dignified attitude. So why do I dislike Shrieking Legiana? Because its boss battle ticks me off. My first run of Shrieking Legiana ended in a time out, making it the first, and hopefully only, monster to time me out. My second run ended in a triple-cart (Monster Hunter fan slang for a Game Over). The only reason I cleared it on my third run was because I went with my Sleep-Bomb gear (Sleep-Bombing is a tactic where you put the Monster to Sleep, plant Barrel Bombs all around it, and detonate them all at once for a massive burst of damage), and the main problem with the fight was almost mitigated completely thanks to Sleep-Bombing. That problem being? It runs away far too frequently, especially compared to other monsters. And since it's a flier, it rarely leaves tracks to follow. And when you can track it, if it changes it's flight path even a little bit, it causes the Scout-Flies to get confused and double back on themselves for a moment. Nothing about the boss fight is fun. And it doesn't even do the "icy armor" concept justice because not too long after fighting Shrieking Legiana, you get a run in with Velkhana, who also protects itself with icy armor. The only thing i can think of to justify Shrieking Legiana's existence is that it is supposed to be a watered down Velkhana so that the players have a rough understanding of how to deal with a monster with exceptional ice-related abilities.


BEST 10!

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Odogaron. The unholy love-child of Clifford the Big Red Dog and Freddy Kruger. Its skin is textured to look like exposed flesh. It has two sets of serrated claws on each foot. It is the Apex Predator of the Rotten Vale, which is honestly one of my favorite maps in the series. And its battle is a blast. Back when Monster Hunter: World first released I would use Odogaron as a sort of sparring partner/guinea pig to test out different builds. I used how easily those builds can take down everyone's favorite blood-puppy to see how good a build really was. Odogaron also gives the materials for some of the best armor prior to the Elder Dragon hunts, meaning literally every hunter ever has a full set of Odogaron armor. And not just because it's one of the most aesthetically pleasing armors in the game. The only thing you can say wrong about Odogaron is that its roar is strangely high-pitched. You see this bloodthirsty, partially burnt, hyper aggressive hell hound that lives inside the corpse of a serpent the size of a mountain range, yet it sounds too much like a cartoon hyena for my liking. Other than that, it's a fantastic monster.

WORST 9...

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Zorah Magdaros. Canonically the largest monster in the whole franchise, clocking in at 845 feet tall when standing upright (for context, Godzilla is supposed to be 350 ft). The main driving force of the plot of Monster Hunter World. The first Elder Dragon you encounter. And... It's a total disappointment. It has a painfully easy boss battle despite its immense size and supposed power, thanks to it being relatively docile and doesn't actively target the players. It moves as slow as molasses, and the only real lose condition is letting it past the barrier. Speaking of, minor rant incoming, but am I the only one bothered by the fact they made the last line of defense a blockade made of wood, against a monster that specializes in Fire and Lava manipulation? But I digress. Zorah was meant to be the big, cinematic, last stand fight of the game (a series tradition since Monster Hunter G). But it feels a whole lot lamer than the other "Last Stand" monsters (Lao Shan Lung, Jhen Mohran, Damiyo Hermitaur, etc.). The Arch-Tempered version of the fight, where it deals much more damage to the barrier and in the first phase is accompanied by a buffed-up Nergigante, does redeem the battle somewhat, but it doesn't change the fact that the final phase is just loading up cannons and using the Binder Ballista to hold it still. At least the armor and weapons from Zorah Magdaros are good enough to carry you through a good chunk of the High Rank campaign.

BEST 9!

Image result for monster hunter  Lagiacrus

Lagiacrus. You thought that this list was going to be all World and Iceborne Monsters? You. Thought. WRONG. Lagiacrus was the main mascot of Monster Hunter Tri, the first game I ever played in the series. This slippery crocodile-eel creature was created to highlight the main gimmick at the time, underwater combat. Depending on who you ask, underwater hunts were the best thing the series, or the worst thing the series. Personally, I liked the concept, but I wasn't a fan of how most weapons lost some of their best attacks while underwater, and the ones that did keep their move sets had a gratuitous amount of end lag on the animations, which is a problem when every other aquatic Monster can swim circles around you. But Lagiacrus holds a special place in my heart, mostly for scaring the crab-cakes out of me long ago. If you played Tri as a first time Monster Hunter player, you know true fear when you see the over-sized crocodile staring dead at you as the tension-building scare chord gives way to a heart-pounding boss theme. Lagiacrus is kind of like the White Whale. Terrifying, elusive, but once you get revenge on that sucker its strangely cathartic. Yes, I know Moby Dick never succeeded in his revenge quest, but shh. Let me have my metaphor.

WORST 8...

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Congalala. It's an early game gimmick Monster. It's a walking fart and burp joke. Its design is all over the place. Honestly, I want to know what kind of fever dream the Monster Hunter team was having when they made... This thing. Congalala is a Fanged Beast, a monster type that it shares with the much more impressive Minotaur-like Rajang. And while its bigger, stronger cousin went on to become a beloved (albeit brutal) Bonus Boss to really push post-game players to their limits, Congalala is a dumb joke that leaves just as soon as it arrives. I will admit the concept of a Monster that changes its abilities based what kind of food it eats is an interesting idea, but I would rather see the idea be brought back in a monster that had more thought put into its design. 

BEST 8!

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Pukei-Pukei. It's an early game gimmick Monster. But I actually like Pukei-Pukei. It's got one of the cutest designs for a Monster ever (in a franchise that favors cool or scary designs overall). Its name is hilarious, especially when the voice actors in the English dub pronounce it with a completely straight face. What's funny about it is that its supposed to be the New World's version of Khezu or Gigginox, being creepy nocturnal predators who use various kinds of poisons to incapacitate prey, and having a mostly red-colored Subspecies designed to be more annoying than the original Monster. But Pukei-Pukei is much more comedic than the other two (Khezu looks a beheaded, skinless turkey, Gigginox looks like two frogs have been forcefully fused together). And for that matter, I'm also quite a fan of Coral Pukei-Pukei. Most of my feelings for regular Pukei-Pukei apply to the Coral version. I do gravitate more towards Coral Pukei-Pukei, mostly because Poison is one of the most frustrating to deal with Status Conditions in the game, so the version that uses less Poison is going to be inherently more likable.

WORST 7...

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Diablos. I actually have a love/hate relationship with this thing. On one hand, it has objectively the coolest roar in the series, and I used a Diablos on my team in Monster Hunter Stories (a spin-off that can best be described as Pokemon meets Monster Hunter). On the other hand, it has an annoyingly difficult fight, is prone to interrupting your desert hunts and despite having a Subspecies, it doesn't change that much from the original. Both the original and Black Diablos are aggressive brutes who attack by ramming their horns into the target, digging underground to attack them from below, and "Clobberin' Dat Dere Huntah" with the club on its tail. My main beef with the fight is that the head and tail have insane durability. You think your White Sharpness Hammer can knock this overgrown Triceratops' lights out? Well too bad, you're going to need Mind's Eye (a passive skill that makes it so melee weapons don't bounce off of the Monster if they have insufficient Sharpness) just to deal damage to Diablos' head and tail. Which becomes a problem because the head and tail are ironically the easiest parts of the Diablos to hit.. I want to like Diablos more because of the awesome design and awesome roar, but it honestly one of the most annoying Monsters to deal with, and every time I play a game in the series I dread having to deal with Diablos. It isn't any higher on the Worst Monsters list because Monster Hunter Stories is starting to redeem Diablos for me. Who knows? Maybe it might become one of my favorite monsters in the future.

BEST 7!

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Lunastra (and Teostra). Mostly Lunastra. Teostra is a great Monster in his own right, don't get me wrong, but Lunastra is one of my favorite Monsters for how brutal she is. Oh, by the way, Lunastra and Teostra are actually the same species of monster. Teostra (the red one) is the male, Lunastra (the blue one) is the female. The two mate for life and whenever one is in danger, the other swoops in to defend their mate. Anyway, Lunastra has gained a bit of notoriety in the Monster Hunter community. Why? Because of her ridiculous boss battle. I know I complained earlier about Monsters that are annoyingly difficult but Lunastra is actually fun to fight. Does she have cheap moves? Yes. Namely, despite her mate being a Fire Element monster, Lunastra rarely deals Fire Damage. What she does use is heat damage. You know, the same damage type that only applies when you are standing on the bottom floor of the Elder's Recess? The same damage type that nobody bothers building a counter to it because of how situational it is? Well guess what? 90% Lunastra's move set consists of attacking you with super-heated air. Just standing next to her without the right build deals consistent damage to you. And her strongest move, the Super Nova, can delete half of your health bar instantly. And you wanna know the scary part? Lunastra can, and will, use Super Nova twice in a row. Meaning if you don't dodge the first Super Nova, the second will cart you just as you stand back up. Now I know what you're thinking. How can I like a monster so stupidly overpowered? Simple! Before Iceborne introduced Master Rank, facing Lunastra was pretty much the ultimate end-game challenge (not counting the crossover hunts). It's kind of like the Tarrasque from Dungeons & Dragons. A stupidly overpowered monster specifically designed to be the ultimate end-game challenge during the final steps of your adventure. And I like Lunastra as much as I do because she was the ultimate challenge. Plus, defeating her Quest-Chain results in you unlocking the Temporal Mantle, one of the best items in the game.

WORST 6...

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Lavasioth. Fun fact! Once upon a time Capcom made a China-exclusive MMORPG titled Monster Hunter Frontier. It will be shut down on December 18, after over a decade of service. What does this have to do with Lavasioth? Capcom decided to start incorporating some of the Frontier Monsters into the main series. And one of those is... Lavasioth. The number one most hated monster in World and Iceborne. Seriously, statistically speaking it is the least fought monster in the game. But why do people not like Lavasioth? Most people say that it's because of the unoriginal design, mediocre boss music, the fact that it is completely skip-able and its gear is average at best so there isn't any real incentive to hunt it. The reason I dislike Lavasioth? In addition to everyone else's problems with Lavasioth, it uses the exact same basic skeleton rigging as my eternal arch nemesis, Plesioth. It stole the magma armor gimmick from beloved fan-favorite Agnaktor. Someone at Capcom thought that out of all of the Frontier monsters to bring into the main series, that a forgettable mud-fish covered in lava was the best addition.

BEST 6!

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Ceadeus. The final boss of Monster Hunter Tri, and the monster responsible for the earthquakes plaguing Moga Village. Its lore is surprisingly tragic, as one of its horns has grown so long it completely engulfed its eye, causing it never ending pain. Honestly, killing it is an act of mercy. It gets worse once it becomes a Gold-Beard Ceadeus. At that point in the Ceadeus' life, both horns have grown so large that it is now completely blind in addition to living in agony day in and day out. It is very much a last stand hunt (that's actually fun!), with the hunters needing to inflict a Break (Monster Hunter staple, basically if you attack a specific body part enough times a scar will appear on it, weakening attacks involving that body part) on its mane before it can reach the end of the flooded corridor. Once you do that, it moves on to stage two of the hunt. There, you are in a giant cylindrical underwater room, filled with ancient ruins and special water-proof weapons that surprisingly still work despite years of abandonment. It is an awe-inspiring battle and fighting Ceadeus is honestly one of the most magical moments in the franchise. Also, the weapons and armor this thing gets you looks better than almost every other monster's gear combined.

WORST 5...

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Rhenoplos. Rhenoplos. RHENOPLOS. The most frustrating monster to deal with. It isn't a boss. It isn't even the minion of a much stronger Monster. But this Ceratopsian Crook right here seems obsessed with ruining your hunts. Gathering Materials? Rhenoplos harass you the whole time. Setting a trap for the wounded monster? Rhenoplos detonates the bombs, wasting the trap. Trying to charge up a powerful attack on an immobilized target? Rhenoplos pushes you out of the way. These guys exist only to be a video game version of a mood killer. Nobody likes them. Nobody likes to be around them. And whenever you enjoy yourself, having the time of your life, slaying fools with that special someone in your life at your side, and Rhenoplos comes along and. Ruins. EVERYTHING. 

BEST 5!

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Rathian. One of the two main mascots of the Monster Hunter franchise (the other being her king and mate, Rathalos), Rathian is one of the few monsters with the distinct honor of appearing in every single game in the franchise. Rathian is a monster I like for several reasons. First of all, it is (at least in my opinion) the first challenging monster you face (unless your name is Barroth). She isn't a complete pushover like Great Jagras or Velocidrome, having a poisonous tail spin attack and fearsome flame breath. But she also isn't unfair. Most of her attacks have a telegraph in their animations to forewarn you about what she's about to do next. Possibly due to mascot privileges, Rathian has always had nice looking armor and weapons, having a queen/rose motif that is consistent throughout the franchise. Before anyone asks, I prefer Rathian to Rathalos, most by virtue of Rathalos spending half the hunt running away, which gets annoying fast. At least Rathian sticks around long enough to appreciate the battle.

WORST 4...

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Gajalaka. These guys are somehow worse than the Rhenoplos. Why are they worse? Rhenoplos only show up in the desert, and only in some areas within said desert. Additionally, while their attacks deal huge amounts of knockback, the actual damage they deal tends to be low. The Gajalaka can appear literally anywhere once you hit High Rank, possess the ability to shoot you with tranquilizer darts, poison you, and hit you in face with literal fireworks. And it gets worse. There's a side-quest to "befriend" the Gajalaka. Unlike the previous "befriended" monster tribes (ergo, the ones smart enough to be reasoned with), which leave you alone when you help them out and will sometimes join in on your hunt, Gajalaka remain aggressive to you even after supposedly befriending them.

BEST 4!

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Black Veil Vaal Hazaak. Vaal Hazaak was already one of my favorite Elder Dragons. A Grim Reaper dragon with a symbiotic relationship with a parasitic fungus? Yes Please! Naturally, the moment I heard they were giving my precious zombie dragon a Variant, I was ecstatic. Anyway, Black Veil Vaal Hazaak is what happens when the parasite takes complete control of the host animal. Its body decomposes, never dying but always at Death's Door. The fungus has grown so rampart that it completely obscures the animal's face save for a gaping, unhinged maw, in addition to bulbous growths covering up old scars and injuries. This monster, more than any other, feels like something from a horror film and I love it for the concept alone. The battle itself is also really fun. Sure, it moves slow and is easy to predict, but the Black Veil Variant has plenty of really clever tricks up its rotting sleeves. The growths on its body can spray bacterial miasma in your face, and it can cover an area in so much life-draining fog that you can barely see your own character. And then there's the fact that the Monster Hunter team thought it necessary to give Black Veil its own version of Lunastra's Super Nova, now dealing poison damage instead of heat damage.

WORST 4...

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Behemoth. Is this cheating? Technically speaking this monster is from the cross over event with Final Fantasy XIV. Eh, its in a main line Monster Hunter game so I'm counting it. Behemoth, being a main stay of the Final Fantasy franchise, is a large monster that for the sake of translating it to Monster Hunter game play is treated the same as an Elder Dragon. But first, some things to note. First of all, I do not dislike Final Fantasy. One of the reasons why I am looking forward to the Final Fantasy VII remake is because I like the franchise as a whole but never experienced what many consider the best in the whole series. I also do not dislike Behemoth as a monster. I like its design, and I like the concept. So why is Behemoth so high on the worst monsters list? Because its battle is so broken it honestly feels like the Monster Hunter team forget to play test the fight. A large boss whose only weak point are the horns on its head. Most of the weapon types can't even reach the head unless Behemoth gets toppled. They tried to include MMORPG mechanics into the combat system, namely having a tank draw Behemoth's attention away from the healer and damage dealer. The problem is Monster Hunter wasn't really built for traditional RPG mechanics, which makes the fight feel clunky and awkward. One of the reasons I love the series is how unlike it is compared to other RPGs. Plus, the fact that most of the telegraphs for Behemoth's attacks are literally attack call outs that appear in the chat is mildly annoying to me. The whole series is based on the idea of learning your opponent's body language to predict and counter what they'll do. To have a boss with no visual cue and have to look away at the chat to see what it'll do goes against the spirit of the whole franchise. Basically, the fight feels too much like a run-of-the-mill MMORPG, instead of the co-op action adventure style that Monster Hunter is known for.

BEST 4!

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Shara Ishvalda. The final boss of Monster Hunter World: Iceborne. I played Iceborne blind, knowing only of the returning monsters and content shown in trailers and official previews. Like a good boy. Anyway, when I first saw Shara Ishvalda, I was disappointed by its design. "Its literally just a rock golem!" I thought, feeling like the final boss should be the biggest, grandest, most dangerous hunt in the game. Then it transforms into a nightmarish white-and-red dragon with fleshy tendrils replacing its wings. Its eyes bloodshot with rage, and fixated squarely on you, the player. It can use a combination of its tendrils and a special "song" to reshape the earth itself. It can do anything from burrow underground to attack you from below (a la Diablos), turn the ground into waist deep quick-sand to impede your movement, or even create concentrated beams of vibrations as a ranged attack. And then halfway through the fight it starts embracing its inner Goku and creates a Spirit Bomb style sphere of vibrations and throws it into the center of the arena, causing a massive earthquake. Its armor and weapons all look amazing, being clearly inspired by Hinduism and Buddhism. Fun fact! Shara Ishvalda is one of two monsters in the franchise with a roar loud enough to cause psychical damage to your hunter. The other being Brute/Molten Tigrex.

WORST 3...

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And here he is. My eternal nemesis. The Moriarty to my Holmes. The Joker to my Batman. The one monster I consistently meme about whenever I talk about monsters. Its Plesioth. Despite branding it my nemesis, I don't actually think that Plesioth is the worst monster ever. There are two others I consider to be worse offenders. But allow me to explain why I dislike Plesioth. Its fight is broken. No, I don't mean that its unbalanced. I mean that there are so many glitches and weird hit box interactions that Plesioth literally feels like an unfinished monster. Like, they made the models and textures, but hadn't worked out the animations and mechanics, but never bothered to clean them up. It gets worse in more recent games like Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate. The issues are still there even to modern day entries in the franchise. Is it any wonder why Capcom retired him in Monster Hunter 4? And the main reason why I like underwater hunts and wish that a more polished version of the mechanic would return, is because being able to swim after Plesioth instead of waiting for him to flop back on dry land. The saving grace of Plesioth is how much of a joke I and others in the Monster Hunter community have made it out to be.


BEST 3!

Image result for monster hunter world iceborne bazelgeuse

Did the military just order a bombing run on your hunt? Nope! Its just a Seething Bazelgeuse. Admittedly, Seething doesn't change much from the original Bazelgeuse. Both are Wyverns that attack by shedding explosive scales. Seething Bazelgeuse just does it better. It is the rival of Deviljho, the Eater of Worlds. And what better counter to a beast with insatiable hunger, than a tyrant that lords over the whole New World? Seething Bazelgeuse fights like a bomber jet, flying high, dropping bombs on your head, and crashing down. When on the ground it moves slow and clumsily. But when it takes to skies, prepare for a world of hurt. The armor and weapons look good (although the negative critical hit rate on the weapons does limit their use somewhat). Its boss theme music is amazing, and it might be my favorite New World monster. That is, if the next two positive entries didn't exist.  

WORST 2...

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Vespoid. Oh hey, yet another small annoying schmuck that is prone to interrupting larger hunts! So how is the humble Vespoid worse than Rhenoplos, or the Gajalaka? The answer is simple. They do everything the Gajalaka can do, in addition to flying. Which makes them harder to hit if you are using a melee weapon. And when they die, they explode, leaving behind no materials to salvage whatsoever. The only to collect materials from Vespoid is to hit with a Poison Smoke Bomb, or ram it with an Insect Glaive's Kinsect companion. And I will never forget the time when, during an Odogaron hunt, a Vespoid stung my character, paralyzing him, and left him at the mercy of the Odogaron. the Odogaron batted me away, and I survived... Only to take poison damage from the Rotten Vale's miasma, which dealt just enough damage to cart me. That was my last attempt at the hunt by the way. So long story short, a perfectly good Odogaron hunt was wasted because an overgrown mosquito thought it would funny to paralyze me in a room filled with toxic gas and a very angry blood-puppy.

BEST 2!

Image result for monster hunter world iceborne zinogre

Zinogre. THE Fanged Wyvern. A werewolf fused with a Stegosaurus whose howl commands Thunder itself. This pick was my all-time favorite monster last time I made a list like this. Obviously that was years ago and my opinions have changed since then. But still, this is a monster that stands the test of time. There is a reason why the Zinogre reveal was THE most well-received returning monster announcement. Originally from Monster Hunter Frontier, Zinogre became so popular that he became a mascot for the franchise. Obviously not to the scale of Rathalos/Rathian. But think about like this. Rathalos is the Pikachu of Monster Hunter. Zinogre is the Charizard. Just as, if not more popular than the mascot, and given almost as many privileges. And it has a Subspecies in the form of Stygian Zinogre, which gives the Thundering Wolf a black-and-red makeover, in addition to harnessing the power of Dragon's Blight. In other words, its our favorite electric Stego-Wolf during a goth phase. I mean that in the best way possible.

And the WORST Monster in the series is...

Image result for monster hunter jyuratodus

Jyuratodus. It is a worse version of Plesioth. Its design is somehow more boring and generic than Lavasioth, in a franchise that prides itself on good creature design. It was the only Water Element monster in World back when it first launched, meaning if you wanted Water Element weapons for say, Uragaan, you had no choice but to fight Jyuratodus. After farming this thing for two whole weeks, I gave up because the fight is boring, the design is boring, and the whole thing is just a less funny Plesioth. If Capcom needed to put in a last-minute early-game monster for Water Element equipment, why not just bring back Nibelsnarf? Or Royal Ludroth? Or Gobul? Heck, I would actually preferred if they pulled Plesioth out of retirement just so we would have one Water Element monster that wasn't boring.

And the BEST Monster in the series is...!

Image result for monster hunter namielle

Namielle. A GORGEOUS Elder Dragon based on various kinds of sea life, namely Man O' War Jellyfish and Vampire Squids. It changes color based on its mood, starting off in darker hues of blue and purple and gradually shifting to red and orange as it gets more enraged. Its fight is incredibly fun with an interesting gimmick that keeps the fight fresh. Namielle covers the ground with water puddles. By themselves, the puddles are harmless. They don't deal damage, they don't impede movement, they don't even afflict some kind of crippling ailment to make your life harder. Then it puts one of its stingers in the water, electrifying it with a tap and making the puddle explode in a burst of steam if it keeps the stinger in the water for longer. Namielle, like Black Veil Vaal Hazaak and Lunastra before it, has a Super Nova, this time it uses a mixture of steam and electricity to make the area erupt into a steamy haze. And wherever Namielle goes, it brings a Great Deluge with it. The Keeper of the Abyss does not disappoint in the slightest, and it has earned the right to call itself the BEST Monster in the series. So far.

Oh, and here are honorable mentions for all the monsters I like, but didn't have enough room to include them fully.
  1. Gore Magala. The closest thing the series has to straight up villain. A sleek design inspired by the Xenomorph from Alien and the ability to spread a rabies like virus makes it one of the creepier monsters in the series.
  2. Dalamudur. The World Serpent. A humongous monster that I feel is a better-executed version of the Zorah Magdaros hunt.
  3. Royal Ludroth. Its armor is literally just a rain coat, but its Long Sword is a freaking chainsaw. Automatic cool points.
  4. Velkhana. The graceful Iceborne Dragon, featuring an elegant, almost cute design and managing to steal Shrieking Legiana's job just by existing.
  5. Dodogama. Its a mellow frog with a dopey facial expression and a goofy gimmick (it eats rocks, melts them, then spits them out as lava). 
And that about does it! And no I am not doing dishonorable mentions, because frankly the monsters in the "worst" list are pretty much the only monsters I actively dislike. I love most of the other monsters, and I can see why people might love the monsters dislike. That's the beauty of sharing an opinion. You get to see how varied the human experience really is. Especially when concerning fictional monsters from an admittedly nerdy video game. But anyway, did you enjoy the list? Have you ever heard of Monster Hunter before now? Let us all know with a comment or something.

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