freedom unite is the only game ive ever played where im pissed off for like the entire play session but as soon as i turn the game off im like "god what a good game im godlike at this game"
I've realized that the farther back in the generations I go the longer that feeling of anger lasts while playing 😂 3u is absolutely infuriating at times especially as a gunlance main but good God it's such a good game 😭
I still remember that I had to kill a total of 62 azure Rathalos to get 5 azure wings, to craft just 1 weapon with them. Took me ~15 hours. Imagine all the stuff you can do in 15 hours in World / Rise. Solo'ing Unite as a kid nurtured me to be a patient man.
That's pretty good, imagine a set of armor and some weapons from Lao shu long. That is one of my favorite set. Imagine how long it took me to complete it. Lol
@@artasky6093 hey a good story, my older brother tried farming for a rathalos plate for so long he even dreamt of it, his buddy told me that my brother was sleep talking exclaiming that he finally got one. Lmfao! One the greatest memories we will all have.
I’m a marine biologist because of monster hunter freedom unite, the fantastic monster designs, unique biomes and nature documentary style videos in that game completely enthralled me and filled me with a sense of wonder, curiosity and respect towards nature.
That's really cool! As a kid (and even now!), I really enjoyed the ecology videos you would unlock after defeating certain monsters. Daimyo Hermitaur's and Congalala's stand out in particular for me lol. I just wished more monsters had these ecology videos though. I also remember spending hours as a kid reading the monsters' bios that you could buy from the shop and also reading their weapon, armor, and loot descriptions. You could really tell that the designers had a lot of passion and poured in a lot of effort in creating these monsters. And I'm glad it also founded the passion you have for your occupation now! That's really, really cool!
If you haven't already I recommend Unnatural History Channel. He is also a biologist and he does ecology videos on several monsters from Monster Hunter and he also goes into speculative evolution for them.
I think it’s because we seemed like more of the underdogs in that game. An unknown hunter from a small village without all the technology and the guild coordination of the later games. I couldn’t agree more personally!
I think it's just the hyper basic ui for interfacing with anything, it requires some imagination and trying to understand it. I'd give it a try if it wasnt so whacky and just had small quality things like this.
The world/setting/aesthetic was more primitive and less tecnologic too, if you consider pre-3-4u. Less colours, flashy animations, outstanding monster designs. I like both, the old and the new, but sure the series has changed a lot.
I like that with the set of items you’d bring at 59:30, you’d still reset 10 seconds into the quest because you forgot the whetstones. Truly the old Monster Hunter experience.
I just find it really funny that this video ends up feeling like a long hour of harshly and deeply criticizing MHFU but also ends with what amounts to "this game's mechanics are so bad and frustrating. 11/10 best monster hunter game in existence."
So it’s hard to explain but I will give it a whirl. In the recent games of monster hunter have had hundreds of quality of life upgrades. Going on a hunt With out all these comforts made for a more challenging Experience. Not knowing how much damage you are doing, only way you could gage the hp was by just by reading the monster body language. You had less combos, there was no riding monsters. So for most of it, it was just me, my gratesword, and the 4-5 moves it had. It made more a more intimate fight. It would be where you complete the double diablos quest with a friend and you finish the second diablos of at 59 minutes and 46 seconds and you only have an hour. Our but holes would clenches up soooo tight when nargacuga launched up into the air. It was a harder game which awarded a great feeling of accomplishment. Also there where sooooo many monsters like so many different types of monsters. It was such a huge collection
Maybe give a little like, comment, and subscribe this holiday season if you're a real one. I didn't talk about the hitboxes like I wanted to, but I think we all understand that they suck. What really sucks is Rathalos taunt animation because it's a standing hitbox that deals huge chip damage to you and you don't realize right away. Some damage in this game doesn't actually cause an animation to trigger, so you can take an insane amount of damage and never notice. Super weird.
Having knowing that MH was special since seeing the original ps2 ad in Playstation magazine playing that solo, and Freedom Unite being the one I convinced all my friends to buy psp's for - what a magical game/time that will always be for me. The four of us coming up with bringing 20+ Flash bombs to chain stun Akantor as our only means of beating him or our first Tigrex we were all stuck on top of the mountain in the ice biome with me shooting 1 crappy charged shot that must of been doing -1 damage at that range. So funny looking back knowing how damage formulas work now. Getting them all back to play MHW/Rise and talking about the good times and the hitboxes and the chip damage was the closest I got back to being a kid. The game felt like you had to have a game plan even with 4 people - back when there was no damage formulas, hit zones or meta builds you just really, you had no idea but a general idea what worked overall. I would say MHFU might be my favorite game ever just because of the memories around it.
Yep like The Cephadrome Swimming... You Guys Ever Feel it? That When Cephadrome Fins Hit Me (when it swimming) It do a lot damage than I thought,but no red in it.
The reward for clearing every training fight like you mentioned isnt just a guild card unlock but unlocks Fatalis g-rank quest. Which then proceeds to unlock crimson and White fatalis. I was the only one in my group of 3 to grind it out which was annoying cuz the fatalis quests are rotating (plus other conditions) to make then even show up to try. Lot of memories of "sleepovers" staying up till 6 am fighting in our group of 3.
My brother was the mvp like this. He got all the gear he wanted from the Fata trio then "dragon sealed" them to having one hit on his horn and chest and being close to dead from the retreat mechanic. We would kill it fast then he would quit without saving and we got our gear fast. Good ol comradery.
I played this game as a kid. Have about 400+ hours into it and never beat the game. Here I am as an adult and I found my old PSP in a closet. It works fine and I have started playing MHFU again. Needless to say, I was quickly reminded how hard but rewarding this game is. Love it though. Gonna grind again till I finally fight a Fatalis and Ukanlos.
I solo'd Freedom Unite completely on my own and I still revisit somewhat frequently on my still working PSP along with Dissidia Duodecim and Blazblue. I did everything on my own including the Treasure Quests, the co-op Training school quests with every weapon and did G-Rank White Fatalis several times (so many time outs when you do it solo). The only rewards I am missing are the Gold and Mini crown awards but I have never gotten those in any MH game because monster sizes are just too random. I was really close to getting the Gold Crown award in W:I but then I lost all my data on the very day Fatalis dropped.
MHFU is my favourite game within the series and the one that I always come back to. It has so much charm, that regardless of awful hunts and hitboxes I just want more of it.
@@yongkysiaw6597 Annoying as that monster often was, it provided a unique challenge no other monster in MH World could have. Becasue you could never rush into a plesioth fight and expect to win which, unfortunately, is the case for 90% of the monsters in World. MHFU is the only game in which you were scared to approach a monster. Why? Because of the hitboxes! You had to be good, know the monster, have a strong gear and be prepared, also a little bit of luck. MH had already lost its charm with MHP3rd. MHFU is the lasr true MH game. So "Plesioth 👌" indeed.
@@criterion9801 yeah. Right now the hunters are way to OP to a point somewhat anime-ish. They really should make the monster tougher AND have way more health.
Can we just talk about how good a name "Freedom Unite" is tho? Freedom, because now Monster Hunter is portable and you can take it anywhere, Unite, because hunters unite to take down the G Rank monsters. Brilliant.
or it could be the name from the first two games which UNITED them having both maps on 1 and 2, a G Rank, and of course the debut of mah boi Nargacuga.
Freedom Unite makes you appreciate a lot of quality of life changes in the newer games, but there is something to be said about area variety, monster variety, and the higher demands that the older generations have. Freedom Unite still has some of the coolest and most iconic areas, and back in the day i remember being surprised and excited when high rank quests dropped a whole new set of areas to explore and even more monsters to bash your head against.
Just got my first MH game last week which just so happened to be MHFU. Then I found your VOD channel and have been watching your play through while doing my own. I'm hooked on this game! And love your content too! Keep up the great work :)
You talking about not flinching Lao Shan Lung had me smile. Some friends and I once decided to try to flinch him as much as possible in Freedom 2 using the completely broken Akantor bow. We managed to trip him so much that he did not even reach the final area, leading to a really buggy looking Cutscene and basically him clipping through the walls before leaving
I have like, 2400 hours in MHFU. I've done it all. I completed the hunt "Monster Hunter." I love the game. That said, every monster in this game can fuck right off with their hitboxes. Especially the Plesioth. ESPECIALLY that bastard. G-rank white fatalis is an exercise in self-flagellation. The one-horned demon king is an act of masochism. There are worrisome outliers all over, but I love them dearly anyway
I remember that I started with a Gunlance, and it probably took me 150 hours to learn that wyvern's fire existed. When I was playing in a 3-person group, I would play a hunting horn or bow for most of the biiig bois (because I'm not going to try and play a slow-moving lance weapon with a great-sword/longsword fanatic and a dual-blades/LBG speed demon). I've since fully developed my weapon preferences, being "Hammer, Bow, S&S, and a very specific set of ailment lances", though I still make other weapons in case I get an itch to play them. MHFU horns are fantastic weapons, so I craft nearly every note combination, in case I suddenly need to support my team, who haven't played in years lol
Ayyy fellow veteran I've got just about the same time in it played it around 2010 or so and it became my favorite game after so much frustration took me a whole year to beat it
I was 9 when it first came out, MHFU is the game that challenges your wits and reading monster movements. Thats the game where I trained my mind set and utilize it with real life, the mindset of sheer willpower and advanced planning, MH world is beginner friendly, Very friendly but it has its quirks, I have yet to play Rise but eitherway DARK SOULS is pretty much the next alley way you can visit.
This has to be my favorite out of all the MH games. I remember my classmates introducing it back in 2009 and that's basically how our friend group started: PSP games. And out of all of the games we played, this was the one we played and loved the most.
This was my first Monster Hunter, and I didn't get it. Until I did. The armor sets confused the hell out of me as a kid, and once I figured it out, after struggling through bosses with shit armor, I felt like I was flying on a cloud.
So happy that I found this video, it really brought back so many memories of playing Freedom 2 and Freedom Unite on my PSP till the early mornings and the Pokke Village OST in the background really hit that nostalgia button! Amazing video!
The fact that each new game comes out and I can't set my town theme to Pokke Village hurts me every time. So many fond memories and the tune is just brilliant! It's so comforting after a long arduous hunt. Please Capcom, make it available!
i dropped my pringles any way i wanna play a working copy of mh1 cause i got a copy for christmas but it didn't want to live. love ur vids and ur 3u series
MH1 is actually legit difficult. No ko, no mounting, no captures, no longsword, no bow, no gunlance, only traps and flashbombs, everything is really expensive, gunning is pretty much unsustainable, and the AIs are lackluster. But it is precisely incredibly rewarding because of it. I remember the time I defeated my first rathalos ever. What. A. Rush! I encourage you to try it out, and don't hesitate to look for FAQs!
Hunting Horn main here to chime in about the simplicity of new weapons in MHFU. The VERY limited move pool for HH took some getting used to but then I learned to love the moves I had access to because I could focus on mastering the exact spacing for each move for each monster to get the important head smacks. You definitely want to do that no matter which iteration of the HH you're playing, but the simplicity made it more straightforward and was very satisfying. I'm sorry this comment is getting long but there's a huge caveat to everything I've said. Playing songs is incredibly, unnecessarily frustrating. It makes more immersive sense in that to do it you press R to start playing and then have to spend a second or two per note to activate the buff. And if you get hit, you lose your notes. There is a satisfying skill to pulling off songs on the same map tile as the monster but, especially with the aggression of small monsters, it's most often necessary to retreat, play your songs, and hope the monster doesn't move in the time it takes you to do it. The simplicity of the original HH almost removes the usability of the feature that's supposed to make it unique, especially as a solo player.
what you say at 30:30 reminds me so much of the nightmare that was grinding deviants in gu which in a way makes me enjoy how many damn materials you get in rise imo good video as always, Rad
i started in gen 5 and greatsword was my favorite weapon by far because of the simplicity. in going back to older games i have found i enjoy more weapons a lot more because of the simpler movesets. I've been playing 3u with longsword and its really fun.
Really love all these in depth monster hunter videos, to this day Freedom Unite was some of my best experiences in gaming, even been doing another playthrough via emulation recently
i remember playing 10-15 hrs a day ( dont have any job back then ) , i solo'd all the content , and i got 3 save file with 1k+ hr on game time, 1 file my main 1, 2nd file i only use gs, and the 3rd one i only used bowguns. really love this game :)
My first exposure to Monster Hunter was the original game on PS2. I saw the trailer and was immediately sold on the fantasy of the whole thing. I picked it up and even got a network kit for my PS2 to play online. It was probably my first online co-operative experience. I love the modern games, but I think something has been lost over time. The first game really made you feel like a hunter, you had to go out and do prep work for your hunt, spend a couple of attempts learning the monster and how it worked, it immersed you in the fantasy but it was much slower. Over time we've moved from hunting to slaying, which is undeniably very fun, but it's more fast paced and a very different experience.
The analysis of how points work was interesting because I've found myself really thinking about their utilization in most games up till now. My best guess as far as how they're utilized is just an alternative currency pool so not every expense is pulling from your pool of zenny, but it feels like the devs are also a little afraid that you'll have to rely too hard on generating points through the weird alternative means that they're usually gathered, so they also don't seem like they're designed to be entirely necessary. They're both there for the convenience of obtaining certain things but are also inconvenient, so they sit in an awkward place in the game. World and Rise may have fixed this issues though due to how much easier it is to gain points and the more interesting things that you can exclusively gain with them.
World went too far with how easy it is to generate point (and zenny). You just never run out of point, so all the service using point are really just time gated mechanic. Argosy, safary, botanical research are all thing you check every x hunt, but you never, ever, worry or even glance at the point cost.
Sorry for responding 9 months after the post but I wanted to say I played freedom unite then played a fan translation of Portable 3rd which has the farm and points In portable 3rd points are gotten much easier, there are significantly more gathering nodes in hunts, significantly more items that give points usually 1 per type of gathering node, and breaking monster parts has a chance of dropping tears which give massive points It all around makes Upgrading the farm a much more common occurrence that isn't as annoying to do
One thing a lot of people overlook when it comes to gathering ores and bugs in Pokke Farm is the fact that weapons and armor in MHFU tended to require FAR more ore and bugs to craft than they did in games without gathering in the farm. Some weapons, for example, can take 50 or even a whopping 99 iron ore to craft. Yes, you can get all the ore you need by gathering in the farm, but on average it'll take more completed quests overall to make your equipment unless you're also gathering out in the field. The devs balanced crafting costs around the fact that you could gather in the farm.
I remember getting a mod for the psp back in the day that could make you harvest all the farm in 1 button, as well as like skip cutscenes and extra time consuming stuff. Also there were like, custom maps people made, usually arena but also others which was basically user made new quests+ like, boom, 3 tigrexes in the snowy mountains cuz why not. I played this game sooo much man I got like 2000+ hours on it
Just wanted to say I'm glad you put this video out. I got Rise recently and couldn't get into it, but it made me revist 3U to try and notice what has been lost that I miss, and I think it really is move away from more simplistic and slower paced gameplay, and towards more "moderness". After that discovery though, I ended up getting interested in the Gen 2 games (in large part due to their older looking aesthetic), and have been trying to find general videos about them (discussions, reviews, gameplay), but have been kinda disappointed by what seems like a lack of content out there about them (not to say that there isn't any - especially with regards to gameplay related content. But in terms of discussions and analysises, I feel like I exhausted what was available pretty quickly). That's why I'm really grateful that you happened to put this video out. Thanks for all the effort you put into it. I really appreciate it.
Yeah, as I said in another comment, I think that's the reason I gravitated towards Gunlance in MHW, despite trying it out in eariler games and not liking it (I was a GS main in FU). Even if the GL, like any other weapon, has more tools available in the moveset than in earlier titles, the moveset still remains slow and methodic for the most part (and it seems in Rise not even the GL has that): watching the Longsword gameplay in this video felt exactly how I feel seeing my own GL gameplay in MHW
Your part on G rank and item prep is why to this day I still prep every single item I can, from mega potions to demondrugs I have 10 have each in every quest, in every MH I've played. Unite is the first MH game I complete and holy shit did it give me ptsd for making sure I am ready before every fight
I joined the MH fandom when MHworld came out because all of my friends were obsessed with it and wanted me to play with them and I downright H A T E D my first experience in the game. I came back maybe a year later and replayed it and have absolutely loved the series ever since 😭🙏❤️ I cannot get enough of it
"The first cut is the deepest" My first MH and my best experience in gaming ever. Every time I picked up my PSP to play I felt like Harry Potter in the Chamber of Secret being sucked into the diary; I was transported into is its beautiful and dangerous environs. Some of my favourite memories of the game are from playing in Ad-hoc party on the PS3 (and the reason I bought the game; 90% of the people on AHP were playing it). AHP was perfect for Monster Hunter. You could state your goal in the 'room' title. In the room you could text or voice chat and easily pick up new MH friends. The community was fabulous, overly helpful, and friendly...so much fun.
Lol I just posted this too. Yeah training was fun cause it made the game harder sometimes and allowed you to learn armor skills and weapons. Also so many different strategies you would learn
one of the best uses for the crop rows in your farm is might seeds they sell for 220 ish each and after a while you end up with stacks of them, any time you need cash sell a few stacks for a few 100k and then but some worms from granny for more fertilizer
When it comes to gathering I actually have found myself doing it more thanks to the subquests in Rise and the Bounties in World. The reward of armor spheres through this I think makes for a more engaging process. But I honestly don't mind either system.
I also still have not watched the Dos video. I’m about halfway through the video and started monster Hunter with FU on my Vita. This has been a nice nostalgia trip so far.
God I remember playing this for the first time in my 6th grade year on my psp, I was very scared of Tigrex for a long long time. I also mastered the psp claw technique.
I am a OG MH player from MHG. I've played all the non-nintendo entries and trying out Rise since its out on Steam. I gotta say... the newer games became more of Action-oriented games than Risk-reward hunting games. It was a laborious to craft a new weapon according to the next fight in FU, but that made it more rewarding when I managed to beat the monster. Now at Rise, I can kill most monsters with beginner weapon. I suggest you play Toukiden (it's actually pronounced like Toh-Key-Den). Rise reminded me ALOT of this game, since its a MH game where you slay Oni instead of monsters. I love the first entry for its story and unique gameplay and weapons. The second entry still had it but it made the game much easier with the introduction of...Onino-Te(Ghost's hand) which works almost the SAME way as Clutch claw and Wirebugs. Which I think was what killed the franchise as a whole. The new weapon moves introduced in newer entries are fine...on paper, but it only makes the game more action oriented and the monster look less menacing, while punishing players who can't adjust to the new, cool and hip playstyle of parrying and countering. I don't feel like that feeble guy in MHFU that had to face a mountain of monster 50 times bigger than me. I feel like an overpowered anime character that will eventually take down all the monsters.
If you haven't played 4U you're really missing it. It's still a great classic experience, just with better hit zones/hitboxes and adjusted monster looks and AI. It's still hard in high rank and G rank, compared to World and Rise
Got a PSP for GTA VCS and then this gem got released after a short while. Hands down one of the best games ever 😍 The grind is very balanced. That's what makes the game satisfying. The days of grinding a G-Rank black diablos just to get the Majestic Black Horn to craft the Chaotic Order Hammer and feeling good afterwards feels different from today's grind. The damage of G-Rank is nasty in MHFU. I love it. Even with full X/Z Armor upgraded to the max, a G-Rank monster hurts really bad. G-Rank made me use bowguns for the first time and it was a high risk/high reward experience. One hit and you are dead. iFrame every move with Evasion and Evade Extender or die. Items are hidden, you actually have to look closely to discover the mining veins, the plants, etc. There is no monster tracker, you have to either paintball the monster, or follow its shadow. I could go on about this game, and its a testament to how frustrating and beautiful this game is ❤
I recommend Soul Sacrifice, specifically Soul Sacrifice Delta which was an expansion on Soul Sacrifice. The game does have an online element but i'm not sure if the service is still available.
What a awesome video! And the ammount of time u put in... Freedom Unite on the PSP was my first MH game and I absolutely loved it. This game was very uncommon in my friendgroup, so it's nice to hear something about this game from another player. You gave me childhood goosebumps! Carry on!
just wanna add some info: 1. if you clear all arena quest it gives you two equipment, one of them is bow charge +1 (which is a must if you are using most charge bow that needs charge +1) so if you wanna make the meta sets for bow usually you need to clear the arena (i think its the low rank arena that gives you that headpiece and high rank arena gives you monster tracking one iirc) 2. if you wanna get into 2G/FU there's an IOS version that allows online coop. its more accessible and the graphics is better, but im not sure if the server is still up or not the game is old but i really think it age like wine and is definitely worth trying out
This is sooo refreshing I spent over a 1000hrs playing this game back in the day. collected fatalis, crimson and wht fatalis armors… not an easy job but I enjoyed. Thank u for revisiting such an epic game.
I've some small annotations and opinions. 23:34 The most important utility of the Training School is that you need to complete every solo quest in order to unlock the HR and GR Fatalis quest, also if you want to get all the trophies, you have to complete every quest with every weapon (group quests included). 27:06 The items you mention (kelbi horns and raw meat specifically) are dlc content and without that content you'll have to farm them. 30:27 I didn't feel that with Freedom Unite, but I came from a previous game and also I started playing online when I was already in G Rank, but it is a pretty reasonable feel if you came from a newer game. 58:41 Actually I'd say is best to farm G armor sets, you can upgrade high rank pieces, but it's around the same time to farm in high rank as it is in G Rank. Also I never use Ancient Potions, since you can take 7 Max Potions (5 to combine) to a quest. 1:02:00 At last I would recommend MHFreedom Unite as the best entry to 1-2 gen games (I don't think Gen 1 games are mandatory, at least not for everyone) and it could be more enjoyable when playing online and also easier to get into it, personally I recommend Hunsterverse server (discord) as it is the best way I know to play the PSP games online (I think it also has support for the 3DS games but I haven't tried it) and I've tried different ways to play those games online.
the "monster hunter effect" also applied to my love for Etrian Odyssey (dungeon crawler). When EO Untold came out I was pretty young so I was mainly drawn to the art style, and that's it. When I finally got it I was almost instantly turned off by the gameplay thinking it was a traditional RPG. I later sold it and as I grew up I fell in love with dungeon crawlers and regretted giving it away.
So this is my first monster hunter game, playing on my phone with ppsspp.. I got stuck on yun kut kut Only to find out apparently I started with the hardest game with no controller lol Your content is amazing. Always wanted to get into monster hunter but never really could
soloing monster hunter freedom unite is literally torture, I finished guild high rank and getting into G rank, could not finish, that was my limit, though it was very fun
I remember the speediest way of earning points was actually doing the Kut-Ku training school arena fight. With the bowgun you could kill him within 30 seconds consistently with my record being something like 26 seconds. Run in with pierce equipped and just boop his head over and over. That would often also just stun lock him in place as well making it even easier :D
@@reaperdestt5099 could've been those! I remember one of the ammo types was rappidfire and that was the right one :D it's been way too long since I've played it so the details elude me
Playing mhfu on psp in local multiplayer with my brother was a golden time really. Started in 2010 i think and dropped because I didn't know english at all. I guess I even started learning it for mhfu. In 2012 went back and oh man it was a game... Solo was cool but multiplayer really made it legendary
This game changed how I view hard work and grinding in video games. 🙏 I definitely pride myself in the amount of time I've spent on this game when I was a kid, hence this was my first MH game. I know other 2nd generation vets feel the same way. I remember finally trying every weapon to try and take out the kushala daora because his wind effect was gnarly 🤣 nice video bro!
SuperRAD out here making another excellent video essay on Monstie Hunter Fr though I like your structuring in your videos. They do really well on deep diving on the complicated things with any aspect on Monster Hunter, from combat, monsters and how they function, and the progression. Keep up the work homie!
I started with 4u and played every game since (4u is still my favorite but Gu is also amazing). Recently started playing the games ive missed out on, im currently playing through 3u (i love underwater combat, it needs to be brought back in the future). Ive tried out freedom unite on an emulator (i dont own a psp but i do have a copy of the game) but i thought id play through 3u first, so ill probably continue freedom unite afterwards.
I started this franchise in rise. It looked good and when I finally loaded it up I was very intimidated and I almost put it off but I instead pushed through and fell in love with it. I eventually got into world and loved it and then got into generations ultimate and love that as well. I’m looking into buying a 3ds to play previous entries as well. I love this franchise
Few weeks ago bought a pstv on Ebay to play freedom unite. Played it years ago on my brothers psp but never got further than that god damn yian garuga high rank quest. Am currently further than I had gotten years ago, and am having a blast. Freedom Unite, along with 3 ultimate and world iceborne are top 3 in the series imo.
Finally someone giving some love to Iceborne and 3U. Both were fantastic. 3U’s Stygian Zinogre haunts me, and Velkhana has ended up being my favorite elder alongside Alatreon.
The training quests do serve a progression purpose in mhfu. If you finish the any tier of the training hall quests, you get a piercing as a reward. The special training one is very much worth it because you will get the barrage piercing, which will unlock an extra charge for the bow, making the akantor bow a really powerful weapon.
This game holds a heavy place in my heart even though I started off on freedom 2 I'll never forget the days for the motivation to learn Japanese just to play 2ndG because, we had no clue Unite was a thing or was even coming to the west due the prior success of MH over here. I only put in like 500hrs Unite compared to 2500 in 2ndG but I'll always feel like if unite didnt come monster hunters wouldn't be what it is right now in the states without unite
As a funny tidbit, this was my first monster hunter game and I loved it when I was a kid, so I got pretty hooked on the series, so I appreciate the deep dive into it.
Your point about how the simplicity of the older games made them harder and more rewarding really struck a chord with me. I started with Tri, and I loved it to death. I also adored 4U, but even in that incredible game, the prevalence of the cheesy rodeo god glaive builds took away from my enjoyment. Ever since that game I've found the new gimmicks of each game stop me from enjoying them nearly as much as I did Tri and 4U. Generations' wacky anime moves never really interested me like I wanted them to, and World made the hunter so OP that every other monster had to have a crazy nuke attack, or disguised animations, or be randomly immune to staggers at times (Zinogre I'm looking at you.) I haven't been able to have those moments I used to have in Tri and 4U where I felt perfectly in tune with what I was hunting, and knew my weapon front to back. The changes to movesets have ruined certain weapons for me, like hammer and SnS, two of my previous favourites. I'm hoping I'll find some of that joy in Rise when it launches on PC in a couple of weeks, but I'm not too optimistic to be honest.
Generation really feel like the moment when they jumped the shark in term of weapon moveset. From then on, our hunters are superhuman with way too many trick up their shelves. It's no longer a hunt where we need to pit human ingenuity against feral strength, now we can shoulder bash a charging Tigrex into submission.
The older Sony titles will always be the real Monster Hunter to me. I've been hunting for 17 years and have played every single Monster Hunter to ever reach western shores except for Stories. Freedom Unite is still my favorite and I still find time to play it on occasion. Back in those days we used to have communities like Skies of Crimson and Minegarde to help keep us all connected. Hell, there was an entire website dedicated to MH fan fiction. I lived on those forums for years and loved reading the stories people wrote. The overall vibe of Freedom/2/Unite was the best in my opinion. It has this charm about it that really captivates you. Everything from the maps and the music to the cinematics and the strange bits of lore throughout. Excellent game that was flat out amazing for its time.
I only have this game, on my psp not even on a vita. And man I love this game, it makes time fly by and is so satisfying to finally kill Plesiot or whatever is called the water wyvern. It's a really complex yet casual game for me.
@@fantasticfitra not really, I had to try 7 times before finally killing my first Rathian, I still have trouble killing even a single Monobolos. I don't know, still feels very casual and comfy to play this game, like as if I was sleeping in a warm bed in the middle of the winter.
21:49 I never liked gathering before gen 5 May it be because it's faster, or because you have to explore in order to find items (or both maybe), but I I have a lot of fun gathering in World and I often even do it mid-hunt.
I've just gotta say that your point at 2:05 about starting with Gen 3 making it easier as a player to play both the older and newer titles is so true. My friend group pretty much all plays Monster Hunter but I'm the only one who didn't start with World, I started with Tri. And lo and behold I'm the only one who will play any entry from before 4U, and even getting some of them to go back to 4U was hard, and in some cases impossible. Meanwhile I've completed the offline portion of almost every entry except the Gen 1 games.
Freedom Unite DEFINITELY was one of the best Monster Hunters. The simplicity of the game also made me enjoy the vibe more. It takes longer to run through cold caves in swamp or snowy mountains. You can hear the echoes of monsters and wind. Running through the HUGE desert made it feel like a damn desert especially if you ran out of a cold potion. I feel like the world immersion was more felt at the slower simplistic state you had at Freedom Unite than in the more recent titles where you can zoom through stuff. Either that or maybe I'm just super super biased.
Great retrospective my man like always MHFU is that friend for life we can always return to and revive some good times while laugh at some weird hitbox stuff i hope sometime in the future we see something, anything of a nod to that era and aesthetic again
"The challange comes from learning the counter mechanics" the fact people probably think that is depressing. Those mechinacs are piss easy and a crutch (unless your just wanting look cool as fuck, then have fun)
Huh. I think that may be why I naturally gravitated towards Gunlance in World, because even though it too has more tools than in the earlier games, the moveset is still mostly slow and methodic
Man, those earlier MH games were way more hardcore than World/Rise. I'm not complaining though, I'm glad a lot of the busywork got streamlined. But back then we had to figure everything out without knowing english/japanese, no forums, no youtube videos plus the mechanics were way tougher. And we were young 14 year old kids as well.
Looking forward to watching this! I gave FU a shot after Tri, and it didn’t quite stick, but i always struggled to stay hooked to the portable games. Maybe revisiting FU with my current experience would give me the stamina to stick with it
I still remember going with my brother to pick up this game around launch back in the day. We saw the commercials on TV and knew we needed this game. Still play it today. This game hooked us on MH
freedom unite is the only game ive ever played where im pissed off for like the entire play session but as soon as i turn the game off im like "god what a good game im godlike at this game"
Especially when fighting the plesi because that hip bump never misses no matter how far away you think you’re away from it
@@albanybestdrumlineused a guard/evade gunlance build until i got red fatalist armor & could start mixing armor sets
I've realized that the farther back in the generations I go the longer that feeling of anger lasts while playing 😂 3u is absolutely infuriating at times especially as a gunlance main but good God it's such a good game 😭
nothing pissed me off so much than MHFU. That game got me headaches, but it was so good
I see someone hasn't played league of legends
I still remember that I had to kill a total of 62 azure Rathalos to get 5 azure wings, to craft just 1 weapon with them. Took me ~15 hours.
Imagine all the stuff you can do in 15 hours in World / Rise.
Solo'ing Unite as a kid nurtured me to be a patient man.
That's pretty good, imagine a set of armor and some weapons from Lao shu long. That is one of my favorite set. Imagine how long it took me to complete it. Lol
52? Holy shit
Mhm! I remember having to spend 48hours trying to get one Ukanlos stone, old games forced you to be/learn to be patient
@@AmbrisiosDutchAD I remember killing 20-30 rathalos for his plate..... Painful...and the funny this is I got his gem more often then his plate
@@artasky6093 hey a good story, my older brother tried farming for a rathalos plate for so long he even dreamt of it, his buddy told me that my brother was sleep talking exclaiming that he finally got one. Lmfao! One the greatest memories we will all have.
I’m a marine biologist because of monster hunter freedom unite, the fantastic monster designs, unique biomes and nature documentary style videos in that game completely enthralled me and filled me with a sense of wonder, curiosity and respect towards nature.
Do you have a punching ghost that can also stop time ??
@@thegamerfe8751 No but I do wear a hat that’s basically inseparable with my head lol
That's really cool! As a kid (and even now!), I really enjoyed the ecology videos you would unlock after defeating certain monsters. Daimyo Hermitaur's and Congalala's stand out in particular for me lol. I just wished more monsters had these ecology videos though.
I also remember spending hours as a kid reading the monsters' bios that you could buy from the shop and also reading their weapon, armor, and loot descriptions. You could really tell that the designers had a lot of passion and poured in a lot of effort in creating these monsters. And I'm glad it also founded the passion you have for your occupation now! That's really, really cool!
@@johnlecavalier6199 i have similar memories, reading all those books of the monsters... easy times
If you haven't already I recommend Unnatural History Channel. He is also a biologist and he does ecology videos on several monsters from Monster Hunter and he also goes into speculative evolution for them.
i dont know what exactly it is, but the old MH games seem more mysterious and ancient. love the vibes
I think it’s because we seemed like more of the underdogs in that game. An unknown hunter from a small village without all the technology and the guild coordination of the later games. I couldn’t agree more personally!
i have an intense nostalgia for the old games, even for the first freedom on psp. the music, the lore, etc...
@@Krysstophe also the color palette
I think it's just the hyper basic ui for interfacing with anything, it requires some imagination and trying to understand it.
I'd give it a try if it wasnt so whacky and just had small quality things like this.
The world/setting/aesthetic was more primitive and less tecnologic too, if you consider pre-3-4u. Less colours, flashy animations, outstanding monster designs. I like both, the old and the new, but sure the series has changed a lot.
I like that with the set of items you’d bring at 59:30, you’d still reset 10 seconds into the quest because you forgot the whetstones.
Truly the old Monster Hunter experience.
I just find it really funny that this video ends up feeling like a long hour of harshly and deeply criticizing MHFU but also ends with what amounts to "this game's mechanics are so bad and frustrating. 11/10 best monster hunter game in existence."
It wouldn't be a good monster hunter game if it didn't infuriate you
@@SuperRADLemon True, love this game to death.
@@KenjTheSnek it hurts so good
So it’s hard to explain but I will give it a whirl. In the recent games of monster hunter have had hundreds of quality of life upgrades. Going on a hunt With out all these comforts made for a more challenging Experience. Not knowing how much damage you are doing, only way you could gage the hp was by just by reading the monster body language. You had less combos, there was no riding monsters. So for most of it, it was just me, my gratesword, and the 4-5 moves it had. It made more a more intimate fight. It would be where you complete the double diablos quest with a friend and you finish the second diablos of at 59 minutes and 46 seconds and you only have an hour. Our but holes would clenches up soooo tight when nargacuga launched up into the air. It was a harder game which awarded a great feeling of accomplishment.
Also there where sooooo many monsters like so many different types of monsters. It was such a huge collection
@@SuperRADLemon as much as i hate getting 1 shotted by rathalos fireball i couldn't agreed more
Maybe give a little like, comment, and subscribe this holiday season if you're a real one.
I didn't talk about the hitboxes like I wanted to, but I think we all understand that they suck. What really sucks is Rathalos taunt animation because it's a standing hitbox that deals huge chip damage to you and you don't realize right away.
Some damage in this game doesn't actually cause an animation to trigger, so you can take an insane amount of damage and never notice. Super weird.
My hunting group had a term for it, we called it Phantom Damage. Kirin....was the WORST.
Having knowing that MH was special since seeing the original ps2 ad in Playstation magazine playing that solo, and Freedom Unite being the one I convinced all my friends to buy psp's for - what a magical game/time that will always be for me. The four of us coming up with bringing 20+ Flash bombs to chain stun Akantor as our only means of beating him or our first Tigrex we were all stuck on top of the mountain in the ice biome with me shooting 1 crappy charged shot that must of been doing -1 damage at that range. So funny looking back knowing how damage formulas work now. Getting them all back to play MHW/Rise and talking about the good times and the hitboxes and the chip damage was the closest I got back to being a kid. The game felt like you had to have a game plan even with 4 people - back when there was no damage formulas, hit zones or meta builds you just really, you had no idea but a general idea what worked overall. I would say MHFU might be my favorite game ever just because of the memories around it.
Just a small correction, 4U didn't introduce subquests. That was Dos and they returned in tri as well.
Yep like The Cephadrome Swimming...
You Guys Ever Feel it?
That When Cephadrome Fins Hit Me (when it swimming) It do a lot damage than I thought,but no red in it.
Nothing compares to slaying a narga with your best friends in the back of english class, cheering silently and not getting caught.
The reward for clearing every training fight like you mentioned isnt just a guild card unlock but unlocks Fatalis g-rank quest. Which then proceeds to unlock crimson and White fatalis. I was the only one in my group of 3 to grind it out which was annoying cuz the fatalis quests are rotating (plus other conditions) to make then even show up to try. Lot of memories of "sleepovers" staying up till 6 am fighting in our group of 3.
I remember it giving some prety neat piercings
My brother was the mvp like this. He got all the gear he wanted from the Fata trio then "dragon sealed" them to having one hit on his horn and chest and being close to dead from the retreat mechanic. We would kill it fast then he would quit without saving and we got our gear fast. Good ol comradery.
I played this game as a kid. Have about 400+ hours into it and never beat the game. Here I am as an adult and I found my old PSP in a closet. It works fine and I have started playing MHFU again. Needless to say, I was quickly reminded how hard but rewarding this game is. Love it though. Gonna grind again till I finally fight a Fatalis and Ukanlos.
I solo'd Freedom Unite completely on my own and I still revisit somewhat frequently on my still working PSP along with Dissidia Duodecim and Blazblue.
I did everything on my own including the Treasure Quests, the co-op Training school quests with every weapon and did G-Rank White Fatalis several times (so many time outs when you do it solo). The only rewards I am missing are the Gold and Mini crown awards but I have never gotten those in any MH game because monster sizes are just too random. I was really close to getting the Gold Crown award in W:I but then I lost all my data on the very day Fatalis dropped.
Same here man! Soloed everything and those 2 are the only trophyes I'm missing, spent like 700 hours on it and I would happily start a new character
Dissidia is goated 🔥
the only game I got all Gold and Mini Crowns is 4U.
the longest hunt was gypceros Mini Crown with over 350 kills lol
MHFU is my favourite game within the series and the one that I always come back to. It has so much charm, that regardless of awful hunts and hitboxes I just want more of it.
I agree and do the same.
Plesioth 👌
@@yongkysiaw6597 Annoying as that monster often was, it provided a unique challenge no other monster in MH World could have. Becasue you could never rush into a plesioth fight and expect to win which, unfortunately, is the case for 90% of the monsters in World. MHFU is the only game in which you were scared to approach a monster. Why? Because of the hitboxes! You had to be good, know the monster, have a strong gear and be prepared, also a little bit of luck. MH had already lost its charm with MHP3rd. MHFU is the lasr true MH game. So "Plesioth 👌" indeed.
@@criterion9801 yeah. Right now the hunters are way to OP to a point somewhat anime-ish. They really should make the monster tougher AND have way more health.
@@yongkysiaw6597 The Iceborne Fatalis fight, for instance, is really cool. He kicked my ass, but ultra fun.
SuperRAD : what is monster hunters genre?
Me with a heavy bow gun : looter shooter
Can we just talk about how good a name "Freedom Unite" is tho? Freedom, because now Monster Hunter is portable and you can take it anywhere, Unite, because hunters unite to take down the G Rank monsters. Brilliant.
or it could be the name from the first two games which UNITED them having both maps on 1 and 2, a G Rank, and of course the debut of mah boi Nargacuga.
The name fills me with patriotism. American ass name
Freedom Unite makes you appreciate a lot of quality of life changes in the newer games, but there is something to be said about area variety, monster variety, and the higher demands that the older generations have. Freedom Unite still has some of the coolest and most iconic areas, and back in the day i remember being surprised and excited when high rank quests dropped a whole new set of areas to explore and even more monsters to bash your head against.
Yep, it was really the variety that was great about this game
@OneFortyFour for me, that's the ancient forest, but i understand entirely if many people disagree with that and would want to tell me i'm wrong lol
AT LAST!!
Someone who appreciates Freedom Unite for the masterpiece it is. THIS is the video I've waited for since 2008.
I love the monster designs in that game, they look like they are genuinely part of the world. The ideal mixture of fantasy and realism.
Eh. It's nice to see 3 kinds of fish sorta use the same model with variations, but then you see a fucking mech looking thing in the desert.
Just got my first MH game last week which just so happened to be MHFU. Then I found your VOD channel and have been watching your play through while doing my own. I'm hooked on this game! And love your content too! Keep up the great work :)
Welcome aboard!
Be patient and become a true hunter
You talking about not flinching Lao Shan Lung had me smile. Some friends and I once decided to try to flinch him as much as possible in Freedom 2 using the completely broken Akantor bow. We managed to trip him so much that he did not even reach the final area, leading to a really buggy looking Cutscene and basically him clipping through the walls before leaving
Oh my gosh that's sounds Amazing!! Lmao
32:54
As a Longsword and Hunting Horn main I can confirm hunting horns plays very differently (and like doo doo) in gen 2.
You can't combo recitals.
I have like, 2400 hours in MHFU. I've done it all. I completed the hunt "Monster Hunter." I love the game. That said, every monster in this game can fuck right off with their hitboxes. Especially the Plesioth. ESPECIALLY that bastard. G-rank white fatalis is an exercise in self-flagellation. The one-horned demon king is an act of masochism. There are worrisome outliers all over, but I love them dearly anyway
I remember that I started with a Gunlance, and it probably took me 150 hours to learn that wyvern's fire existed. When I was playing in a 3-person group, I would play a hunting horn or bow for most of the biiig bois (because I'm not going to try and play a slow-moving lance weapon with a great-sword/longsword fanatic and a dual-blades/LBG speed demon).
I've since fully developed my weapon preferences, being "Hammer, Bow, S&S, and a very specific set of ailment lances", though I still make other weapons in case I get an itch to play them. MHFU horns are fantastic weapons, so I craft nearly every note combination, in case I suddenly need to support my team, who haven't played in years lol
Nothing is as bad as Black Gravios as a blade master in this game.
One horned demon king at hi rank has the SAME HP AS G RANK DIABLOS. WHHHHY FREEDOM UNITE WHHHHHY
@@GeraltofRivia22 poison sns their wing tip till death, easy cheese
Ayyy fellow veteran I've got just about the same time in it played it around 2010 or so and it became my favorite game after so much frustration took me a whole year to beat it
I was 9 when it first came out, MHFU is the game that challenges your wits and reading monster movements.
Thats the game where I trained my mind set and utilize it with real life, the mindset of sheer willpower and advanced planning, MH world is beginner friendly, Very friendly but it has its quirks, I have yet to play Rise but eitherway DARK SOULS is pretty much the next alley way you can visit.
This has to be my favorite out of all the MH games. I remember my classmates introducing it back in 2009 and that's basically how our friend group started: PSP games. And out of all of the games we played, this was the one we played and loved the most.
Every wyvern with two legs in MHFU: "I see you are attempting to kill me, but I believe it is time for dance!
*Spins in place for over half the hunt*
True I got killed more times from a spin than I like to admit
This was my first Monster Hunter, and I didn't get it. Until I did. The armor sets confused the hell out of me as a kid, and once I figured it out, after struggling through bosses with shit armor, I felt like I was flying on a cloud.
So happy that I found this video, it really brought back so many memories of playing Freedom 2 and Freedom Unite on my PSP till the early mornings and the Pokke Village OST in the background really hit that nostalgia button! Amazing video!
The fact that each new game comes out and I can't set my town theme to Pokke Village hurts me every time. So many fond memories and the tune is just brilliant! It's so comforting after a long arduous hunt. Please Capcom, make it available!
It is in rise, but you have to pay.
God I miss this game. I was so happy when I crafted my auto reload set and be able to down nargacuga in under 5 minutes with an HBG.
i dropped my pringles any way i wanna play a working copy of mh1 cause i got a copy for christmas but it didn't want to live. love ur vids and ur 3u series
I want a collection so badly they should release one in every platform
MH1 is actually legit difficult. No ko, no mounting, no captures, no longsword, no bow, no gunlance, only traps and flashbombs, everything is really expensive, gunning is pretty much unsustainable, and the AIs are lackluster. But it is precisely incredibly rewarding because of it. I remember the time I defeated my first rathalos ever. What. A. Rush!
I encourage you to try it out, and don't hesitate to look for FAQs!
This was a fun watch. You might have persuaded this third fleeter to try MHFU!
Hunting Horn main here to chime in about the simplicity of new weapons in MHFU. The VERY limited move pool for HH took some getting used to but then I learned to love the moves I had access to because I could focus on mastering the exact spacing for each move for each monster to get the important head smacks. You definitely want to do that no matter which iteration of the HH you're playing, but the simplicity made it more straightforward and was very satisfying.
I'm sorry this comment is getting long but there's a huge caveat to everything I've said. Playing songs is incredibly, unnecessarily frustrating. It makes more immersive sense in that to do it you press R to start playing and then have to spend a second or two per note to activate the buff. And if you get hit, you lose your notes. There is a satisfying skill to pulling off songs on the same map tile as the monster but, especially with the aggression of small monsters, it's most often necessary to retreat, play your songs, and hope the monster doesn't move in the time it takes you to do it. The simplicity of the original HH almost removes the usability of the feature that's supposed to make it unique, especially as a solo player.
what you say at 30:30 reminds me so much of the nightmare that was grinding deviants in gu which in a way makes me enjoy how many damn materials you get in rise imo
good video as always, Rad
i started in gen 5 and greatsword was my favorite weapon by far because of the simplicity. in going back to older games i have found i enjoy more weapons a lot more because of the simpler movesets. I've been playing 3u with longsword and its really fun.
Really love all these in depth monster hunter videos, to this day Freedom Unite was some of my best experiences in gaming, even been doing another playthrough via emulation recently
My first Monster Hunter game. It changed the way I approach every game. Make adjustments instead of just raging. This video is making me miss it.
i remember playing 10-15 hrs a day ( dont have any job back then ) , i solo'd all the content , and i got 3 save file with 1k+ hr on game time, 1 file my main 1, 2nd file i only use gs, and the 3rd one i only used bowguns. really love this game :)
My first exposure to Monster Hunter was the original game on PS2. I saw the trailer and was immediately sold on the fantasy of the whole thing. I picked it up and even got a network kit for my PS2 to play online. It was probably my first online co-operative experience.
I love the modern games, but I think something has been lost over time. The first game really made you feel like a hunter, you had to go out and do prep work for your hunt, spend a couple of attempts learning the monster and how it worked, it immersed you in the fantasy but it was much slower.
Over time we've moved from hunting to slaying, which is undeniably very fun, but it's more fast paced and a very different experience.
The analysis of how points work was interesting because I've found myself really thinking about their utilization in most games up till now. My best guess as far as how they're utilized is just an alternative currency pool so not every expense is pulling from your pool of zenny, but it feels like the devs are also a little afraid that you'll have to rely too hard on generating points through the weird alternative means that they're usually gathered, so they also don't seem like they're designed to be entirely necessary. They're both there for the convenience of obtaining certain things but are also inconvenient, so they sit in an awkward place in the game.
World and Rise may have fixed this issues though due to how much easier it is to gain points and the more interesting things that you can exclusively gain with them.
World went too far with how easy it is to generate point (and zenny). You just never run out of point, so all the service using point are really just time gated mechanic. Argosy, safary, botanical research are all thing you check every x hunt, but you never, ever, worry or even glance at the point cost.
Sorry for responding 9 months after the post but I wanted to say I played freedom unite then played a fan translation of Portable 3rd which has the farm and points
In portable 3rd points are gotten much easier, there are significantly more gathering nodes in hunts, significantly more items that give points usually 1 per type of gathering node, and breaking monster parts has a chance of dropping tears which give massive points
It all around makes Upgrading the farm a much more common occurrence that isn't as annoying to do
One thing a lot of people overlook when it comes to gathering ores and bugs in Pokke Farm is the fact that weapons and armor in MHFU tended to require FAR more ore and bugs to craft than they did in games without gathering in the farm. Some weapons, for example, can take 50 or even a whopping 99 iron ore to craft.
Yes, you can get all the ore you need by gathering in the farm, but on average it'll take more completed quests overall to make your equipment unless you're also gathering out in the field. The devs balanced crafting costs around the fact that you could gather in the farm.
I remember getting a mod for the psp back in the day that could make you harvest all the farm in 1 button, as well as like skip cutscenes and extra time consuming stuff. Also there were like, custom maps people made, usually arena but also others which was basically user made new quests+ like, boom, 3 tigrexes in the snowy mountains cuz why not. I played this game sooo much man I got like 2000+ hours on it
This MadMan had the balls to wave at us while Akantor is right behind him
I completely agree with your point that MH sort of fits into its own genre.
Just got GU for Christmas so this was perfect timing!
Just wanted to say I'm glad you put this video out. I got Rise recently and couldn't get into it, but it made me revist 3U to try and notice what has been lost that I miss, and I think it really is move away from more simplistic and slower paced gameplay, and towards more "moderness".
After that discovery though, I ended up getting interested in the Gen 2 games (in large part due to their older looking aesthetic), and have been trying to find general videos about them (discussions, reviews, gameplay), but have been kinda disappointed by what seems like a lack of content out there about them (not to say that there isn't any - especially with regards to gameplay related content. But in terms of discussions and analysises, I feel like I exhausted what was available pretty quickly). That's why I'm really grateful that you happened to put this video out. Thanks for all the effort you put into it. I really appreciate it.
Yeah, as I said in another comment, I think that's the reason I gravitated towards Gunlance in MHW, despite trying it out in eariler games and not liking it (I was a GS main in FU). Even if the GL, like any other weapon, has more tools available in the moveset than in earlier titles, the moveset still remains slow and methodic for the most part (and it seems in Rise not even the GL has that): watching the Longsword gameplay in this video felt exactly how I feel seeing my own GL gameplay in MHW
Your part on G rank and item prep is why to this day I still prep every single item I can, from mega potions to demondrugs I have 10 have each in every quest, in every MH I've played. Unite is the first MH game I complete and holy shit did it give me ptsd for making sure I am ready before every fight
Can't wait for future monster hunter retrospective's really enjoyed the video keep it up
I joined the MH fandom when MHworld came out because all of my friends were obsessed with it and wanted me to play with them and I downright H A T E D my first experience in the game.
I came back maybe a year later and replayed it and have absolutely loved the series ever since 😭🙏❤️ I cannot get enough of it
"The first cut is the deepest" My first MH and my best experience in gaming ever. Every time I picked up my PSP to play I felt like Harry Potter in the Chamber of Secret being sucked into the diary; I was transported into is its beautiful and dangerous environs.
Some of my favourite memories of the game are from playing in Ad-hoc party on the PS3 (and the reason I bought the game; 90% of the people on AHP were playing it). AHP was perfect for Monster Hunter. You could state your goal in the 'room' title. In the room you could text or voice chat and easily pick up new MH friends. The community was fabulous, overly helpful, and friendly...so much fun.
So basically if you're a masochist you'll love this game
Yeah
Ill never forget seeing that game informer (i think) cover when monster hunter 1 came was coming out
One thing of the training school is that you need to beat all special training to unlock crimsom fatalis in g-rank if i remember correctly
Lol I just posted this too. Yeah training was fun cause it made the game harder sometimes and allowed you to learn armor skills and weapons. Also so many different strategies you would learn
I learned how to play hammer and GS the correct way because of the training back then,they had these sets with crit draw and then it clicked to me.
one of the best uses for the crop rows in your farm is might seeds they sell for 220 ish each and after a while you end up with stacks of them, any time you need cash sell a few stacks for a few 100k and then but some worms from granny for more fertilizer
When it comes to gathering I actually have found myself doing it more thanks to the subquests in Rise and the Bounties in World. The reward of armor spheres through this I think makes for a more engaging process. But I honestly don't mind either system.
I also still have not watched the Dos video. I’m about halfway through the video and started monster Hunter with FU on my Vita. This has been a nice nostalgia trip so far.
God I remember playing this for the first time in my 6th grade year on my psp, I was very scared of Tigrex for a long long time. I also mastered the psp claw technique.
I am a OG MH player from MHG. I've played all the non-nintendo entries and trying out Rise since its out on Steam. I gotta say... the newer games became more of Action-oriented games than Risk-reward hunting games. It was a laborious to craft a new weapon according to the next fight in FU, but that made it more rewarding when I managed to beat the monster. Now at Rise, I can kill most monsters with beginner weapon.
I suggest you play Toukiden (it's actually pronounced like Toh-Key-Den). Rise reminded me ALOT of this game, since its a MH game where you slay Oni instead of monsters. I love the first entry for its story and unique gameplay and weapons. The second entry still had it but it made the game much easier with the introduction of...Onino-Te(Ghost's hand) which works almost the SAME way as Clutch claw and Wirebugs. Which I think was what killed the franchise as a whole.
The new weapon moves introduced in newer entries are fine...on paper, but it only makes the game more action oriented and the monster look less menacing, while punishing players who can't adjust to the new, cool and hip playstyle of parrying and countering.
I don't feel like that feeble guy in MHFU that had to face a mountain of monster 50 times bigger than me. I feel like an overpowered anime character that will eventually take down all the monsters.
If you haven't played 4U you're really missing it. It's still a great classic experience, just with better hit zones/hitboxes and adjusted monster looks and AI. It's still hard in high rank and G rank, compared to World and Rise
Got a PSP for GTA VCS and then this gem got released after a short while. Hands down one of the best games ever 😍
The grind is very balanced. That's what makes the game satisfying. The days of grinding a G-Rank black diablos just to get the Majestic Black Horn to craft the Chaotic Order Hammer and feeling good afterwards feels different from today's grind.
The damage of G-Rank is nasty in MHFU. I love it. Even with full X/Z Armor upgraded to the max, a G-Rank monster hurts really bad. G-Rank made me use bowguns for the first time and it was a high risk/high reward experience. One hit and you are dead. iFrame every move with Evasion and Evade Extender or die.
Items are hidden, you actually have to look closely to discover the mining veins, the plants, etc. There is no monster tracker, you have to either paintball the monster, or follow its shadow.
I could go on about this game, and its a testament to how frustrating and beautiful this game is ❤
VCS, that brings me back
I must say MHFU hooked me into the series. Playing this on trips was a great memory.
Actually you don't have to remember every combination by heart, as the items you have succesfully combined are listed in the menu under "reference"
Just found this out thanks to another comment
Thank you so much for this video.
Mhfu was my first mh and i loved it so much. Such a great game
I recommend Soul Sacrifice, specifically Soul Sacrifice Delta which was an expansion on Soul Sacrifice. The game does have an online element but i'm not sure if the service is still available.
What a awesome video! And the ammount of time u put in... Freedom Unite on the PSP was my first MH game and I absolutely loved it. This game was very uncommon in my friendgroup, so it's nice to hear something about this game from another player. You gave me childhood goosebumps! Carry on!
just wanna add some info:
1. if you clear all arena quest it gives you two equipment, one of them is bow charge +1 (which is a must if you are using most charge bow that needs charge +1) so if you wanna make the meta sets for bow usually you need to clear the arena (i think its the low rank arena that gives you that headpiece and high rank arena gives you monster tracking one iirc)
2. if you wanna get into 2G/FU there's an IOS version that allows online coop. its more accessible and the graphics is better, but im not sure if the server is still up or not
the game is old but i really think it age like wine and is definitely worth trying out
Thanks, and I agree!
Wasn't the iOS version taken out of the online store some years ago?
Currently on my third playthrough of MHFU found the perfect video for my background nice vid as usual SuperRAD
My first MH game. Definitely need all the old games remastered for modern hardware. Appreciate the video.
This is sooo refreshing I spent over a 1000hrs playing this game back in the day. collected fatalis, crimson and wht fatalis armors… not an easy job but I enjoyed. Thank u for revisiting such an epic game.
I've some small annotations and opinions.
23:34 The most important utility of the Training School is that you need to complete every solo quest in order to unlock the HR and GR Fatalis quest, also if you want to get all the trophies, you have to complete every quest with every weapon (group quests included).
27:06 The items you mention (kelbi horns and raw meat specifically) are dlc content and without that content you'll have to farm them.
30:27 I didn't feel that with Freedom Unite, but I came from a previous game and also I started playing online when I was already in G Rank, but it is a pretty reasonable feel if you came from a newer game.
58:41 Actually I'd say is best to farm G armor sets, you can upgrade high rank pieces, but it's around the same time to farm in high rank as it is in G Rank. Also I never use Ancient Potions, since you can take 7 Max Potions (5 to combine) to a quest.
1:02:00 At last I would recommend MHFreedom Unite as the best entry to 1-2 gen games (I don't think Gen 1 games are mandatory, at least not for everyone) and it could be more enjoyable when playing online and also easier to get into it, personally I recommend Hunsterverse server (discord) as it is the best way I know to play the PSP games online (I think it also has support for the 3DS games but I haven't tried it) and I've tried different ways to play those games online.
What are you saying about kelbi horns exactly?
@@SuperRADLemon You're no able to buy them in the base game, u have to download extra content to have that.
Yeah I believe I state that but may be wrong
@@SuperRADLemon Well it's not that important, now I think it's more clear.
the "monster hunter effect" also applied to my love for Etrian Odyssey (dungeon crawler). When EO Untold came out I was pretty young so I was mainly drawn to the art style, and that's it. When I finally got it I was almost instantly turned off by the gameplay thinking it was a traditional RPG. I later sold it and as I grew up I fell in love with dungeon crawlers and regretted giving it away.
So this is my first monster hunter game, playing on my phone with ppsspp..
I got stuck on yun kut kut
Only to find out apparently I started with the hardest game with no controller lol
Your content is amazing. Always wanted to get into monster hunter but never really could
soloing monster hunter freedom unite is literally torture, I finished guild high rank and getting into G rank, could not finish, that was my limit, though it was very fun
I remember the speediest way of earning points was actually doing the Kut-Ku training school arena fight. With the bowgun you could kill him within 30 seconds consistently with my record being something like 26 seconds. Run in with pierce equipped and just boop his head over and over. That would often also just stun lock him in place as well making it even easier :D
you can kill it even faster while just using the normal lv2 shots, just aim for the head, kill the bird, rinse and repeat 50 times lol
@@reaperdestt5099 could've been those! I remember one of the ammo types was rappidfire and that was the right one :D it's been way too long since I've played it so the details elude me
Nostalgia kicking in
YESSIR this is the stuff we need on youtube!
wow facts
Playing mhfu on psp in local multiplayer with my brother was a golden time really. Started in 2010 i think and dropped because I didn't know english at all. I guess I even started learning it for mhfu. In 2012 went back and oh man it was a game...
Solo was cool but multiplayer really made it legendary
This game changed how I view hard work and grinding in video games. 🙏 I definitely pride myself in the amount of time I've spent on this game when I was a kid, hence this was my first MH game. I know other 2nd generation vets feel the same way. I remember finally trying every weapon to try and take out the kushala daora because his wind effect was gnarly 🤣 nice video bro!
Oh, and have a less condescending comment, thanks for the video, glad you like my favourite game xx
Nah the comment was fine LOL
SuperRAD out here making another excellent video essay on Monstie Hunter
Fr though I like your structuring in your videos. They do really well on deep diving on the complicated things with any aspect on Monster Hunter, from combat, monsters and how they function, and the progression. Keep up the work homie!
I started with 4u and played every game since (4u is still my favorite but Gu is also amazing). Recently started playing the games ive missed out on, im currently playing through 3u (i love underwater combat, it needs to be brought back in the future).
Ive tried out freedom unite on an emulator (i dont own a psp but i do have a copy of the game) but i thought id play through 3u first, so ill probably continue freedom unite afterwards.
1:02:20 that's a very fitting analogy.
Really cool.
I started this franchise in rise. It looked good and when I finally loaded it up I was very intimidated and I almost put it off but I instead pushed through and fell in love with it. I eventually got into world and loved it and then got into generations ultimate and love that as well. I’m looking into buying a 3ds to play previous entries as well. I love this franchise
Please do, 4U is imo the best overall MH game.
@@JeanKP14 I wanna experience these games so bad. It’s kinda hard finding these consoles in some what good condition without spending small fortune.
PPSSPP and Dolphin Emulator on PC. Only need a controller and maybe a tutorial on how to set it up. No console needed.
@@Moistmochi_ it's hard af honestly stick with world rise or ones on switch.
@@CornPop309 I got into GU just fine. Don’t gatekeep shit just because it’s hard lmao. I still plan on playing older tittles.
I still play this on my Vita (woo no need to claw thanks to the second analog stick). One of the best games ever made.
Few weeks ago bought a pstv on Ebay to play freedom unite. Played it years ago on my brothers psp but never got further than that god damn yian garuga high rank quest. Am currently further than I had gotten years ago, and am having a blast. Freedom Unite, along with 3 ultimate and world iceborne are top 3 in the series imo.
GU is the best game period. Godlike
Finally someone giving some love to Iceborne and 3U. Both were fantastic. 3U’s Stygian Zinogre haunts me, and Velkhana has ended up being my favorite elder alongside Alatreon.
The training quests do serve a progression purpose in mhfu. If you finish the any tier of the training hall quests, you get a piercing as a reward. The special training one is very much worth it because you will get the barrage piercing, which will unlock an extra charge for the bow, making the akantor bow a really powerful weapon.
This game holds a heavy place in my heart even though I started off on freedom 2
I'll never forget the days for the motivation to learn Japanese just to play 2ndG because, we had no clue Unite was a thing or was even coming to the west due the prior success of MH over here.
I only put in like 500hrs Unite compared to 2500 in 2ndG but I'll always feel like if unite didnt come monster hunters wouldn't be what it is right now in the states without unite
As a funny tidbit, this was my first monster hunter game and I loved it when I was a kid, so I got pretty hooked on the series, so I appreciate the deep dive into it.
Your point about how the simplicity of the older games made them harder and more rewarding really struck a chord with me. I started with Tri, and I loved it to death. I also adored 4U, but even in that incredible game, the prevalence of the cheesy rodeo god glaive builds took away from my enjoyment. Ever since that game I've found the new gimmicks of each game stop me from enjoying them nearly as much as I did Tri and 4U.
Generations' wacky anime moves never really interested me like I wanted them to, and World made the hunter so OP that every other monster had to have a crazy nuke attack, or disguised animations, or be randomly immune to staggers at times (Zinogre I'm looking at you.)
I haven't been able to have those moments I used to have in Tri and 4U where I felt perfectly in tune with what I was hunting, and knew my weapon front to back. The changes to movesets have ruined certain weapons for me, like hammer and SnS, two of my previous favourites. I'm hoping I'll find some of that joy in Rise when it launches on PC in a couple of weeks, but I'm not too optimistic to be honest.
Generation really feel like the moment when they jumped the shark in term of weapon moveset. From then on, our hunters are superhuman with way too many trick up their shelves. It's no longer a hunt where we need to pit human ingenuity against feral strength, now we can shoulder bash a charging Tigrex into submission.
Thankfully you don’t have to play Insect Glaive to enjoy 4U! I’ve been playing through it recently with Switch Axe and it’s been an absolute blast
The older Sony titles will always be the real Monster Hunter to me. I've been hunting for 17 years and have played every single Monster Hunter to ever reach western shores except for Stories. Freedom Unite is still my favorite and I still find time to play it on occasion. Back in those days we used to have communities like Skies of Crimson and Minegarde to help keep us all connected. Hell, there was an entire website dedicated to MH fan fiction. I lived on those forums for years and loved reading the stories people wrote. The overall vibe of Freedom/2/Unite was the best in my opinion. It has this charm about it that really captivates you. Everything from the maps and the music to the cinematics and the strange bits of lore throughout. Excellent game that was flat out amazing for its time.
I only have this game, on my psp not even on a vita. And man I love this game, it makes time fly by and is so satisfying to finally kill Plesiot or whatever is called the water wyvern. It's a really complex yet casual game for me.
casual?? wow u must be so proo at this game
@@fantasticfitra not really, I had to try 7 times before finally killing my first Rathian, I still have trouble killing even a single Monobolos. I don't know, still feels very casual and comfy to play this game, like as if I was sleeping in a warm bed in the middle of the winter.
hey hey great video! I would love to see you do another video like this one for another MH game or just any game you particularly enjoy.
21:49
I never liked gathering before gen 5
May it be because it's faster, or because you have to explore in order to find items (or both maybe), but I I have a lot of fun gathering in World and I often even do it mid-hunt.
When monster transitions zones hitting the nodes on the way to them is very helpful.
I like that some resource no longer take inventory place, so I can hit those node whenever.
I've just gotta say that your point at 2:05 about starting with Gen 3 making it easier as a player to play both the older and newer titles is so true. My friend group pretty much all plays Monster Hunter but I'm the only one who didn't start with World, I started with Tri. And lo and behold I'm the only one who will play any entry from before 4U, and even getting some of them to go back to 4U was hard, and in some cases impossible. Meanwhile I've completed the offline portion of almost every entry except the Gen 1 games.
Even if my favorite monster hunter game is 4U and Iceborne I love the foggy look the old games has
Freedom Unite DEFINITELY was one of the best Monster Hunters. The simplicity of the game also made me enjoy the vibe more. It takes longer to run through cold caves in swamp or snowy mountains. You can hear the echoes of monsters and wind. Running through the HUGE desert made it feel like a damn desert especially if you ran out of a cold potion. I feel like the world immersion was more felt at the slower simplistic state you had at Freedom Unite than in the more recent titles where you can zoom through stuff. Either that or maybe I'm just super super biased.
Imagine a world where MHFU becomes popular omg
Great retrospective my man like always
MHFU is that friend for life we can always return to and revive some good times while laugh at some weird hitbox stuff
i hope sometime in the future we see something, anything of a nod to that era and aesthetic again
Add a monster with lore reasoms for jank hitboxes. It applies a debuff that makes you unable to move when you use healing items.
"The challange comes from learning the counter mechanics" the fact people probably think that is depressing. Those mechinacs are piss easy and a crutch (unless your just wanting look cool as fuck, then have fun)
Huh. I think that may be why I naturally gravitated towards Gunlance in World, because even though it too has more tools than in the earlier games, the moveset is still mostly slow and methodic
Man, those earlier MH games were way more hardcore than World/Rise. I'm not complaining though, I'm glad a lot of the busywork got streamlined. But back then we had to figure everything out without knowing english/japanese, no forums, no youtube videos plus the mechanics were way tougher. And we were young 14 year old kids as well.
Looking forward to watching this! I gave FU a shot after Tri, and it didn’t quite stick, but i always struggled to stay hooked to the portable games. Maybe revisiting FU with my current experience would give me the stamina to stick with it
I still remember going with my brother to pick up this game around launch back in the day. We saw the commercials on TV and knew we needed this game. Still play it today. This game hooked us on MH
I don’t know how you finished this solo. I never could manage it, but I played it most back in the day on original psp hardware.
gonna hit this vid with that VIEWER INTERACTION. keep it up my man, some of my favorite stuff to watch on youtube