Monster Hunter Freedom for the PSP, vol.1(?)

One game that I’ve recently discovered over the past week is Capcom’s Monster Hunter Freedom for the PSP.  You start out by choosing not just the gender of your hunter but also the skin and hair coloration (all the races are represented, and you can choose your wild when it comes to the latter – my hunter’s hair is an electric shade of blue); you can even choose whether your hunter should be a gunner or a blademaster.  It’s got the exciting quest-based play characteristic of RPGs, yet you need also to utilize your resources wisely not just to improve your weapons and armour, but also in order to survive the different environments where your objectives shall take you. 

Upon trying out the game, I had the unfortunate blunder of starting with the main quests too early in the learning process; I then learned about the entry-level gathering quests where you stock up not just on raw meat (that you can cook for stamina-enhancing steaks) but also on mushrooms, herbs and even bugs that you can combine to make health-boosting potions.  Seeds and bugs can be similarly combined for ammo, while monster hides, scales & bones can be used along with ores to strengthen armour and weaponry.  You try running through a vast golden field, but if your stomach’s on empty mode, you find yourself bent over panting like a dog halfway before you reach the other end.

Eventually, you could access a place in the western part of Kokoto Town (your unofficial HQ for the duration of your game: your character maintains a flat near the southern gate) where you can farm, fish, catch bugs, pick mushrooms and mine ores without interference from creatures.  All of a sudden, it becomes all Harvest Moon-y; nevertheless, you find out that monster dung makes for good fertiliser.  Continued patronage of the stores around the town allows you to set up improvements to these facilities over time.  

Right now, I am trying to line up an ideal armour set as I attempt to retry sneaking the wyvern’s egg to complete my set of first-level quests.  From a walkthrough posted at Gamefaqs.com, a trainer helm and green pants are enough, but a thread in a gaming bulletin board recommends a battle tasset and greaves along with a black belt hat (whatever that is…) .  Both, however, agree over having battle chest armour.  I also realised that the reason why I kept dropping the wyvern egg during my initial crack (baaad pun alert) at that quest was that I would run my stamina bar to the ground by panicking whenever the vespoid (big mosquito-like creature) would make a beeline for my ass while I try getting one step ahead of the rampaging Rathalos (big, winged, with a whole lotta B.A. and industrial-strength B.B.) .  

I shall keep you posted on my progress in future installments….