Monster Hunter fans around the world, I bring good news! Capcom has just announced the coming of Monster Hunter 5, or rather Monter Hunter Cross, for the 3DS! I would begin by saying it's a Monster Hunter game, so you know it'll be good, but this looks like it's going to be the BIGGEST MH game, not to mention the BEST MH game, Capcom has ever made.

Let's begin by saying the world is gonna be HUGE!! Like, seriously huge! It will feature returning areas from different games, as well as villages, from Monster Hunter Freedom, Monster Hunter Freedom Unite, Monster Hunter 3: Ultimate, and of course, Monster Hunter 4: Ultimate. There will also be a new forest area, which looks pretty cool! Very interest combination of areas, but I don't think it'll get boring because of all the varied areas from places we haven't been in, what, 12 years? Wow!

Yukumo Village is coming back, meaning you can bathe with ALL the hot women... and men if you're into that too!

Now let's get to the thing I think caught everyone's attention in the trailer. Every weapon (including the glorious switch-axe) will now have flashy special attack, which all look awesome! BOOM!! POW!! Explosions!! I can tell they'll be very fun to use, but Capcom will find a way to balance it out. If they don't, people will continuously spam these attacks, and the hunting part won't be as fun as it originally supposed to be. Special attacks aside, you can be happy because mounting and jumping attacks are coming back, once again adding to the fun of 3D combat. But, if it's anything I've seen so far, underwater combat will be coming back as well. As much as I bash it down, I actually didn't hate water combat in Monster Hunter Tri because I used the classic controller, making it a bit simpler for me. However, I couldn't control it on the 3DS because of the awkwardly small camera control on the normal 3DS (excluding the thing that gives you an extra circle pad). If they find a way to fix this in the new game, I actually wouldn't mind the return of underwater combat.

While you can't see it in this pic, I can assure you these attacks are awesome!

Okay, okay, now THIS is what you wanted to hear me talk about, right? The actual monsters. Well, as we can see from the trailer, all our favourites are returning. Rathalos, Rathian, Brachydios, Yian Kut-ku, the whole bunch. But what's interesting is the return of monsters such as Agnaktor and Nibelsnarf, two leviathan class monsters. If they're here, Lagiacrus is probably here too, meaning underwater combat is a bigger possibility. But I've already talked about that. Let's talk about the new folks in town! There's a green kangaroo-raptor-like monster that apparently doesn't like hunting horns, and his minions as well! But what caught my attention the most were the main four monsters shown. First, we have a green Seregios-like dude with insect wings. Possible insect wyvern class monster? But then we have the giant mammoth monster, which looks like an easier version of Duramboros. Next, the Bubble-Lagiacrus as I like to call it, shaped like a Lagiacrus but shoots bubbles from its mouth, making your hunter seemingly slip around. New blight? Probably. But then we have what I can only imagine is the flagship monster. It's basically a carnotaurus on steroids, with a sharp tail and a fiery breath. If this IS the flagship monster, I could only imagine what it could do to us...

This new "Flagship Monster" is terrifying. Probably even more-so than the Gore Magala.

Shockingly enough, there is actually ANOTHER Monster Hunter game coming out soon. It is known as Monster Hunter Stories, and I won't say much about it (mainly because the trailer doesn't reveal much), but I'll tell you what I know. It looks awesome!!

Right off the bat, you can tell the style has changed drastically from a semi-realistic look to a more cartoon-y and cell-shaded feel. Next up, the hunter appears, along with an interestingly designed Palico. They steal an egg, but unfortunately, the mother comes back. And its a Tigrex. Oops! They start running, but then the hunter does something interesting; he passes his egg over to the Palico. Is this a way to help with egg missions? I sure hope so! But then, something incredible happens. A miniature Rathalos swoops down and allows the hunter to ride him. HOLY SHIT, THAT'S AWESOME!! Having a monster on your side sounds SO COOL!! Will this game have a monster collection element to it, as well as hunting bigger monsters? Capcom has done bigger, so I think it will. Finally, the message "Monster Hunter RPG" appears on the screen. Now, Monster Hunter was never an RPG. It was an action game with some RPG elements, but there was no leveling up system or anything like that. I don't think there'll be a leveling up system in this game, but I do think that, with the word RPG on the screen, there will be a story to it. Well, obviously! I mean, the game is called "Stories"! But having a MH game with a full story (and a speculated human antagonist) would be a welcome addition. No new monsters have been announced for the game, but I can only speculate the new ones from Cross will make an appearance. And before any of you say that this game will never work, just remember we've had some pretty good Monster Hunter spin-off games. Remember Felyne Village? Me neither. But it was very successful in Japan!

The world looks vast and open world-like, and if its by any indication, we might be getting something very Xenoblade-like. That sounds awesome!

I am, being the Monster Hunter nut that I am, very excited about these two new releases! Monster Hunter has always found a way to make its games, which should be stale and repetitive, very interesting and engaging, and this is no exception. Monster Hunter 1 began the trend, Monster Hunter 2 continued it, Monster Hunter 3 experimented with 3D combat, Monster Hunter 4 perfected it, but this game will wipe that clean and make this fresher than apples at No Frills (a store in Canada, just look it up...)! Please, tell me your thought on these games! And don't just say "Oh, cool, I guess", give me a REAL reason! I really want to know your thoughts, so please, do that for me, okay?

Until next time, happy hunting everyone!

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