Do you know those friends with whom you communicate entirely through gifs and TikTok links? Well, last week, my best friend sent me this:
I just played a Monster Hunter game, and it was Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate on the 3DS. I was enjoying it, for the most part – I played with some friends who were much more experienced than me, and they helped me take down some of the more complicated monsters. I also had sweet Poogie with me to make it all right with your TINY BEE GHOST. Honestly, how is there not a game about Poogie? I only kill monsters to keep my son in new clothes.
Then again, there were clothes for me too – the incredible sets I would make with the various pieces of monster that I cut my prey on. Despite having a restricted gender – sometimes my friends would wear the cool armor and I would take a horrible bikini, or sometimes I would buy something amazing, and they would take, like, a teddy bear outfit – the clothes were mine the second favorite part of the game. After Poogie, obviously.
And then I faced Gore Magala, a complicated purple wyvern that I hope is in hell right now. I faced Gore Magala about five times before giving up and selling the game. I’m sorry, Poogie. I failed you.
So, I wasn’t very interested in Monster Hunter Rise, having constantly ignored the latest MH games. I prefer my wrists and fingers intact, thanks, and Monster Hunter is not exactly known to allow players to choose the easiest route.
But Capcom continues to release these small works of art that remind me of the reasons why Does like Monster Hunter games. There is a lot of humor, sweetness and light amid the killing of dragons and the crushing of eggs. And yes, my wrists aren’t going to thank me, especially if I pick up a weapon as complicated as the Insect Glaive again, but I’m just going to take breaks to roam the city with Poogie.
Wait, Poogie is definitely this one, right?