What was your Monster Hunter journey?

[BigBoyCrisps]

I got into Monster Hunter with the rise demo. I initially could have joined sooner with 4U, but at that time I was aiming to find a game to play with friends and nobody seemed interested so I didn't get 4U. Rise demo came out and me and two other friends, Q and J played it and we had a great time. J and I eventually beat every quest in rise and all the title update content. At some point we were just waiting for event quests to play, that is until Q suggested we play GU since it regularly went on sale. J was not to keen on it since for him it was that dreaded "old school" Monster Hunter, but I was fine going in alone (also I got him a copy anyways). GU was pretty fun and I kept on playing on my own. Q got busy with other stuff so eventually J joined me we went through to fight every monster at least once.
After GU I felt motivated to try out older titles, by this point I've been going in alone since Q and other friends are busy and J is not fond of old school MH. In terms of available devices, I have a basic laptop that can handle some ps2 and psp titles and my switch. I could have played 3U and 4U if it wasn't for my 3DS dying on me right after I got a new SD card specifically to play those titles (at least I have a spare SD card). Out of my options I went with Freedom Unite. It was one of those titles I regularly saw on Reddit and YouTube as one of the nostalgic games in the series. It also had monsters that aren't in any recent games such as Yama Tsukami and Shen Gaoren. From my own experience, not much of the game is janky by any means. Hipcheck is a thing but most other moves are fair if a little generous. I have been able to stand really close to Rathian and Blangonga when they do lunges and not get hit. It may take a bit of time to used to the playstyle of the game but it is still really good. Also gen 2 Kushala is kinda nice and I like it.
This part is for games I haven't played enough of to give a complete opinion on. After FU can Portable 3rd, I only beat village and haven't gotten through hub. It was pretty fun, I like Glacial Agnaktor and especially Jade Barroth. It was a first time for plenty of third gen monsters and I like them. Jhen Mohran was really epic too. I have tried a bit of Ps2 hunter as well. For the first game, I got carted twice by bullfangos and beat Velocidrome, and it was fun. Dos I have made more progress on. So far I have repelled Kushala twice. The right was not as hard to learn as I thought it would be, and I have never found the smaller monsters more dangerous. I would go back to sunbreak, see a hermitaur, and would ready myself only to kill it without the crab fighting back.
For a lot of games if I end up loving one, I tend to want to check out more of the series. Monster Hunter has absolutely been on of these series. After playing Rise I watched a bunch of YouTube videos that talk about varying elements of the series from gameplay to lore, I joined a few sub Reddits made for Monster Hunter, and I regularly scroll twitter for art of the series. This series has also motivated me more creatively too. I have done digital art and art before, but I have never made a series of works for one series. The series I'm working on is called Deviant Drip where I have been giving the Deviants of Gen U clothing and shoes or other fashion things. My current profile pic is what I call CashMoney Crystalbeard based on that one gangster SpongeBob drawing. I have had other game franchises with me for most of my life such as Pokémon, but none have had an impact like this one. I may have only known Monster Hunter for two years now, but I have spent so much time enjoying it in these two years.

[FatherPucci]

I was friends with a kid down the street and he brought over his new PSP with a new game, which ended up being Monster Hunter Freedom. I loved it and watching him play it, so I saved up money for a PSP all summer and bought one with Freedom. He ended up moving before I saved up enough, so nobody to play co-op with. I've played every game since then. My favorite is probably Freedom Unite.

[Butter213]

When I was around 9 or 10, my brother attempted to get us free Xbox Live Gold on our Xbox 360. He was always searching for guides to get random things like that. He somehow ended up on the main page for Frontier, and the first thing I saw was a picture of Odibatorasu. Many years later, I heard about Monster Hunter from some YouTubers, but I didn't fully understand what it was until 2020 when COVID hit and I had more free time. At the time, I had heard a lot of great things about World and was curious to try it for myself. I downloaded it on my Xbox and started playing, even though I didn't understand armor skills, elements, or what affinity meant. I had a great time fighting each monster and improving slowly over time.

After a year, I watched a video by a YouTuber named SuperRad who covered the entire history of the series. My interest grew, and a few months later, I bought myself copies of 4U and 3U for my 3DS. I played those games extensively over the next couple of months and they remain my fondest memories of playing Monster Hunter. I have since played every major release of the series, including Frontier, and have just finished Tri and am moving on to MHG for the first time. I am excited to go through this game!