JBG4

Further to my comment from last week, I did indeed end up dipping my toes into the world of Monster Hunter off the back of this blog. Not with MH3U, as I initially said I might, but with Freedom Unite on the PSP, primarily to make it easier to split my time between MH and Pokémon Omega Ruby by playing them on separate consoles (although having an excuse to give my PSP an airing is another factor). I spent my first three hours with the game doing all the training guild quests, which were surprisingly useful in terms of teaching me the game's controls, as well as the mechanics of exploration and combat. After trying all the weapons out in those quests I ended up settling on the Greatsword, mainly due to their high damage output and the ability to block attacks, but also because I love the comically oversized look of those blades. So far I've put about ten hours in, managed to craft a complete suit of Giaprey armour (which looks a lot more badass than the fluffy Mafumofu suit I was wearing before), and completed all the one-star quests, and I think it's safe to say the franchise has also managed to get its claws into me. I'm still a bit daunted by the game's mechanical depth and the lack of any clear player direction, but I'm content to take baby steps and deal with that stuff at my own pace. I guess the point of this whole rambling paragraph is that I came here to say thanks, for indirectly encouraging me to take the plunge with this franchise at long last. Cheers, duder.

I appreciate you writing these blogs, duder. Reading blogs from various people on these forums has become one of my favourite pass times on this site, and your blogs are no exception. I'm sorry to hear about your unfortunate situation, but if it means anything, the enthusiasm you show when writing about the games you play has always left a smile on this duder's face.

In regards to the question, I'd probably say Resident Evil. These days I'm a proclaimed fan of horror, but I feel like I've been spoiled with video games like Dead Space, to the point that I think I'd struggle to get into the series that effectively preceded it. I remember forcing myself to try the original Resident Evil, but to no avail. I also gave the Resident Evil 5 demo a shot, which was more up my alley, but the setting wasn't doing anything for me. That said, with the recent release of the HD version of Resident Evil on PS4, I'm thinking of giving it another shot. Even if I only end up playing the first game in the series, I don't quite want to give up on it yet.

Dang dude, I don't know what to say. I'm sorry that happened to you and this something you have to deal with. That's life though I guess, All any of us can do when fate deals us a bad hand is try to appreciate what we got and keep grindin'. Sounds to me like you do.

Fwiw You have my respect. Not sure if I can do anything for you, but if you ever need to vent to a stranger, you know where to find me.

Has there ever been a video game series that you were intimidated to try to play?

No, not really. Maybe Crusader Kings like @arbitrarywater said. But for me that's more due to old gamer man laziness of not wanting to learn byzantine mechanics, than intimidation.

I will say there are many multiplayer modes for games I just don't want to mess with because I don't feel like getting rekt and taunted. But even then a lot of times I don't care, if I'm in the mood I'll just keeping mash next until I get somewhere. Think I lost 7-8 Street Fighter matches in a row last week.

Well ok Rhythm games, I have a terrible sense of rhythm so those games are about zero fun for me.

Heh if you can get Monster Hunter, MOBAs should be a piece of cake for you conceptually. Especially for you since you like Basketball. In my opinion DOTA captures more of the co-operative free flowing feel of Basketball than any Video game basketball game like Double Dribble, NBA Live, 2K or Jam or what have you. That team aspect to the game is actually why I like it so much.

The hard part is not the game itself, but really finding decent people to play with, as having bad teammates almost guarantees a bad time.

To be fair you are probably smart to avoid them, all my friends who have become parents (I think you mentioned you were a parent before right?) pretty much have had to give them up. A game that requires dozens-hundreds of 50-60 minute matches that you basically can't pause to get proficient at it, just doesn't jive well with the realities of parenting.

But they also make a decent spectator sport, if you are into watching e-sports at all I think you'll dig it if you give it a chance.

@jbg4: Honestly I think the Insect Glaive is one of the better weapons for beginners to use. It might be a little complicated to upgrade but it's a really easy weapon to use. The mounting attack can be pretty OP at times as it can completely shut down some monsters like Kecha Wacha and is invaluable when it comes to fighting the larger monsters, not to mention you can use it to avoid attacks and position yourself behind or in front of the monster depending on where you want to attack.

If you ever need tips for using any weapons I recommend watching this guy's videos. He was extremely helpful when I was just starting out in MH3U. He also has some great basic videos that will help you understand the basics of Monster Hunter.

@jbg4: It's easy to miss, so you might have do so too, but if you go back to the 1 star missions there are weapon tutorials for every weapon in the game. Those at least get you started when trying different weapons.

@jbg4 I don't know if you know this yet but just encase you don't here is a tip from a Fellow Glaive user: The Insect Glaive has a mounting attack which is going to be your best friend for as long as you use that weapon. Just hit R+B and this will shoot you up into the air then try to hit the monster while you are falling. I recommend trying to get the red+white essence buff first before trying to mount because this essence contamination will make your air attack strike twice which is important as it always takes two mid-air hits to knock down a monster the first time.

You can also mark specific parts of a monster by shooting out pheromone with the R button. When you hit a monster with pheromone the part hit will glow a different color based on the type of essence you will get from this part. In addition your Kinsect will always try to head towards the marked spot kinda like a heat seeking missile.

One final tip is when feeding your Kinsect nectar try to increase speed as much as you can. The faster your Kinsect can move the faster you can get your essence buffs which will vastly improve your performance when fighting monsters.