Monster Hunter Freedom Unite or to those who have imported it, Monster Hunter Portable 2G is an expansion to the title Monster Hunter Freedom 2 or rather Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G bringing forth a few new monsters and even some areas though they may have been visited once before in a title not to far away.

In the world of Monster Hunter, you are a hunter who has come from your own village to another on a request, in the midst of this you are attacked on a ledge by a Monster (not known at the time but the name becomes apparent later once you fight him/her. The name of this Monster is the Tigrex). To which the monster knocks you off the cliff until you awaken. Once you have awoken you are greeted by one of the locals and are then set free to adorn some armor that has been provided. Though not great for taking down the Tigrex again it is nonetheless a good starting armor providing with some useful benefits such as Divine Protection. To which it simply reduces the damage some of the monsters do, though it runs on percentage/chances do not think it will save you every time.

Aside from the armor you (the player) are also presented with eleven weapons at the beginning. A Sword and Shield, Great Sword, Lance, Long Sword, Gunlance (essentially a lance with a gun attached to it), Dual Swords, a Hammer, a hunting horn, Light bowgun, heavy bowgun and a bow. Each of the eleven starting weapons have their own additions and subtractions sorta speak, for example, the light bowgun still allows for a moderate movement speed while it's out, while on the other hand the heavy bowgun makes your character rather sluggish while it is out. Although the heavy bowgun may make your character sluggish it does indeed hold more shoots than the light bowgun (certain models) as well as holding more power than the light bowgun. Monster Hunter offers a lot of variety in how it lets the user choose how she or he would like to hunt, their are certain weapons easier on one monster over the other, and it is up to the hunter whether they would like to make the battle easy or take the difficult challenge.

Once a weapon has been chosen it is time to initiate the quest and begin paving the road to becoming a great hunter! At the start the game does not present you with challenging quests as one of the quests consist of gathering herbs, and another presents the player with the task of gathering raw meat from a few monsters. Though as you do progress further in the span of the game, the challenges of taking down certain monsters will soon become apparent especially if a weapon is chosen that is not the easiest of the eleven choices. Spanning quite a few quests that can be tackled online or offline, Monster Hunter presents players of the game with quite a few things that can be done; not to mention their is weekly downloadable content at this point in the game's life.

Though a great game it may be, Monster Hunter has it fair share of those who detest the title which come about in a few grudges against the game. One of which consists of it's difficulty curve, Monster Hunter is one of those games in which it pits the user to go from being a Hunter-in-Training to one who would be a Monster Hunting Veteran. An example of this would be joining the military and enlisting as a trainee to only be switched to harder assignments a few days later that calls for a lot of battlefield training.

Another grudge many will have or may experience with the game if they have picked it up is the fact that it takes a lot patience to get something you need from a Monster. Some equipment pieces require quite a bit of material to be made, majority of the latter pieces require Monster Hunter with perhaps a bit of ores to complete it. The first time fighting the monster may yield the piece, but after a while the Monster may not relinquish the piece so much anymore. Causing the player to continuously battle against said Monster until the piece has been dropped. Though thanks to the specialty of certain skills within' the game some of the more rarer drops can be found easier with skills such as 'Carving Expert' which gives you more carves than the allotted three (normal) or perhaps five (other monsters). Not to mention the skill titled 'Fate' which increases the chances for more rewards (which are received after a mission has completed).

Though this may or may not count as a grudge some, but a lack of a true online feature for the game seems to have put some people off for purchase just as well. Monster Hunter a game which is more fun when playing with three other people beside you is much better than playing by oneself. Though thanks to technology today their are ways around this giving two options for people who do not have a local group of Monster Hunter buddies. One of which is a program via the Playstation 3 which is titled Ad-hoc party, found through the Japanese Playstation Store. Ad-hoc party is a feature that essentially 'fools' the Playstation Portable system into thinking that their are others around you when you make or enter into a room. The rooms themselves can hold quite a bit since ad-hoc itself can hold two and perhaps more PSPs. In the room every person is identified by a specific color so as to show up when a message has been typed. Their is also an option to use blue tooth and mute it at your leisure. Another program that allows one to connect their PSP online is a program called X link-kai, though without ever having used it and very little data on it I must refrain from posting anything about it I'm sorry to say. Though any questions or inquiries about X link-kai can be found via the capcom forums (Monster Hunter board) or a quick search in google.

With quite a few Monsters to fight each ranging in varying difficulty levels (which become apparent later on in the game), More weapons than it's predecessor and even more armor. Monster Hunter Freedom Unite is a game set to keep one glued to the PSP system if they agree to take the initial plunge. Not to mention the newest addition to the game which allows for a Felyne comrade to join your hunter out in the fields to help slay the monsters. The Felyne itself is one of the greatest additions to Monster Hunter for those who have been unable to find others to play with. Not only does the Felyne pose as a great distraction for the monster giving you quite a few good hits in, but the Felyne is also made to be either a support type of cat or perhaps an attacking cat. With the support cat lending skills such as Demon Flute (which raises your attack), and Armor Flute (Which raises your armor). The attacking type of cat can strike or slash with it's weapon and even use bombs upon the monsters, but beware as the bombs can hurt your hunter just as well!

With all things said, Monster Hunter is definitely a title to pick up, especially if you have taken Monster Hunter Freedom 2 to the max and still craving more from the series. The sound that plays for each Monster whether it be an Wyvern or Pelagus (bestially monsters). From the Monster Hunter theme to the Monster's own will leave a lasting impact upon those who venture into the world, the world in which one becomes a Monster Hunter.