Monster Hunter XX Demo -- Barioth (Insect Glaive)
2My attention wandered from the Monster Hunter XX demo that I wasn't "supposed" to have and I found my free time in the meantime totally absorbed by an unexpected alternate distraction. That is to say, an entirely different demo, the one for Monster Hunter Stories.
Personally, I had fairly low expectations as soon as it was announced for Japanese audiences for whatever reason... I think mostly, I've been burned plenty in the past by side games that merely pay lip service to a franchise without really understanding what makes it tick and creates compelling gameplay, instead deciding to try on the hat of ANOTHER game or genre without fully understanding how THAT one works...
I'm glad to report that this isn't the case. It seems to scratch an itch I never knew I had. Several itches not being scratched by several different games, in fact. That said, the demo sucked me in so much that I'm rightly rather afraid of what this could mean if I jumped in with the full thing... so I think I'll just spread the good word for now and grab it later on down the line sometime.
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What? Right! Killing! Yes! We're back to the XX demo again!
Today, we'll be featuring the Insect Glaive, introduced in Monster Hunter 4, and indeed, the exemplar of the new aerial style combat they were trying to promote... in a sense. Environments were designed with a lot more verticality in mind, allowing Hunters to run off of cliffs to jump and attack their prey in midair. The Insect Glaive proved a unique addition that allowed players to vault into the air at will, even on flat ground. In theory, this presents an interesting emphasis on the new mechanic of attacking and mounting a monster from above.
In Generations, they added four distinct styles to each weapon type, including an Aerial style that allows ANY weapon type to attempt to vault (by doing a rolling hop into the monster and bouncing off) and rain down the hurt from above.
This hunt... will not be about that style, since the Glaive can already do that whenever it wants (but it DOES get different perks if you try Aerial Insect Glaive), instead opting for the Striker style. Striker generally gives up some major complexity of a weapon type's moveset in order to stock up on Hunter Arts, a new feature to Generations, each powered by its own gauge that fills and lets you use powerful moves once full.
The big reason I like Striker Glaive is because the complexity you give up is... well, one of its normal attack buttons, which sounds like it should be a big deal, but the Insect Glaive's whole focus in a nutshell is to power it up by picking up extracts with the Insect part of the Glaive and make its regular attack string much more effective. Without your other attack button, you lose some options in ending your combos, but the most significant attacks remain intact.
The Kinsect (hah!) I mentioned is a little buddy, a living, shield-sized insect that hangs out on your offhand arm, that you can launch towards monsters. Upon making impact, it'll do damage (either cutting or blunt, depending on the Kinsect, as well as elemental damage depending on what you've been feeding it) and pick up a color-coded "extract" based on where it hit, which will depend on the monster.
Usually, attack-heavy bits like fangs and claws will give you red, attack-raising extract. Hard sections wherever there's armor will usually give you yellow, defense-boosting extract. Highly mobile bits like legs and wings will generally provide white, mobility-enhancing extract. Collecting white along with either of the other two types will boost their effects and can prolong the effects, but that's a whole story for another time. (There's also a generally rarer green extract from weaker zones that don't provide one of the other types that will heal the Hunter upon collecting it.)
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As a brief aside, the Hunter Arts at work here are:
Swarm I - summons a cloud of tiny insects that damage nearby enemies (great for extra damage to breakable monster bits, which take damage individually while in range!)
Bug Blow I - performs a combo attack that will also end by slamming a Swarm down for extra damage, consuming it
Absolute Evasion - performs a dodge with a long invulnerability period and also puts your weapon away
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Barioth, on the other hand... is totally NOT new to high-resolution visuals, having been in both the HD versions of Monster Hunter 3 games... though this IS the first time it's been possible to use all these new aerial options against one, which is particularly notable given how mobile a creature it is.
This particular combination of weapon and quarry does show that the white extract isn't ALWAYS as useful as you might want... Barioth stands rather low to the ground, so the extra altitude you gain while vaulting under its influence doesn't often line you up with its stance.
Beyond that, I played around a bit too much given how little damage Barioth was doing, and this was a way closer call than I thought.