[LAST UPDATED: 11/12/2012] Howdy,
fellow Monster Hunters, and welcome to the Loc Lac Kitty Karters’
inaugural Monster Hunter Ultimate Item List & Encyclopedia. This is
basically my attempt to chronicle every item in this game in
alphabetical order and all the various ways that they can be acquired.
Why? Because I’m crazy, that’s why. That and the fact that I want to
hopefully make finding these buggers a lot easier, not just for all you
hunters out there but for me as well. Unfortunately, there is a crapton
of this stuff so lord knows how long it’ll take me. I’m really crossing
my fingers and hoping that I get to finish this stuff before the English
version of Monster Hunter Ultimate comes out. Speaking of language, I
am starting by listing the items in Japanese order because I already
know for certain what their names are thanks to my handy dandy official
guide. For items that were released after Tri, I’ll be using some rough
translations until I know what the official English names will be. Once I
do, I will also post another version of the item guide arranged
alphabetically in English. In the meantime, please feel free to peruse
the items we’ve got so far.
Lots of folks practice their hunts to perfection before recording their feats and making them available to the masses. That’s not how the Loc Lac Kitty Karters roll, however. Two weeks after marking our year-and-a-half absence from Monster Hunting with a rusty showing against Silver Rathalos, we doubled down with an even more shameful showing against Zinogre. Practice? We’re talking about practice? Forget practice, just hit the record button and let’s get the party started, people. Ooh, that didn’t quite turn out like we wanted... The good news about noob runs, however, is that they provide a great educational experience. After all, when life gives you lemons, you give them to someone else and let them have the pucker face. So what did we learn? First, I apparently can’t hit the broad side of barn. Zinogre’s weak point is his head, which I tried to hit in this run — emphasis on the word “tried.” I could almost hear a disappointed Master Yoda sitting behind me and saying there is no try, only do. Second, I really needed to get closer. Besides some of my shots not reaching their target because I was too far, this also makes the hunt less efficient if Zinogre decides to chase me and my melee partner has to cover more distance to get within striking range again (especially since we also brought Felvines to the quest). Also the “Square” button isn’t for reloading or standing up (as exemplified by the two times I healed myself without meaning to). Meanwhile, Pacman did a good job in alternating between hitting the head, back and rear leg of Zinogre but, uh, totally forgot to cut the tail. Other than ALL that, well, everything was just peachy...
READING IS FUNDAMENTAL: The last time I went to Japan during the 2011-2012 holiday season, the only Monster Hunter 3G books available only had limited information thanks to Capcom's data embargo for the game. So I went ahead and got myself a couple of armor and weapon guidebooks as well as Enterbrain's Monster Hunter 3G Rookies' Guide. Fast forward to October 2012 and I found myself setting up a Tenso.com account in the hope that Capcom would release a Monster Hunter 4 3DS LL bundle in March. The idea was that by buying a bundle directly from a Japanese store and having it shipped to my Japanese Tenso address and forwarded to the U.S., I could save some money in contrast to buying from an import shop. I needed a product to test the process with, though, so I decided to order the official "Monster Hunter 3G Guide Book" by Famitsu from Amazon Japan. The good news was that I got a pretty good deal and found the book for less than $20 and free shipping to my Tenso address to boot. The bad news? Handling and shipping fees from Tenso to my U.S. address cost about $40. Ouch. Let's just say this is one chunky book, folks. On the plus side, EMS shipping was super fast and I at least succeeded with my little Tenso experiment (I even got a free calendar and some coupons to help ease the pain on my wallet a bit). The book has some pretty good information so I will now be updating the guides I've been creating for the site. This includes adding percentages to my inaugural Moga Village Item Gathering Guide and every subsequent map I do in the future. In the meantime, folks who want to get the guide either through Kinokuniya, Amazon Japan or some other source can look it up via its identifier, ISBN978-4-04-728027-4.
RIDDIP-RIDDIP: As someone with a history of designing all sorts of Keroro Gunsou (Sgt. Frog) livery in Forza Motorsport, I have a bit of a soft spot for frogs. Apparently, I’m not the only one. Keroro. Kerokerokeroppi. Kermit. Jabba the Hut. Frogs have clearly been a staple of human popular culture for quite some time. This brings us to our first Monster Hunter 4 monster preview feature. After being relegated to Gobul bait in Monster Hunter Tri, Portable 3, 3G and Ultimate, frogs now hop up several levels in the food chain with their own signature monster. Meet the “Demon Frog” Tetsukabura, an angry-looking monster that looks like the offspring of an ornery sabertooth and a bullfrog all hopped up on Red Bull.
HI-HO, SILVER: Ah yes, silver, the color of space-faring surfers and werewolf-slaying projectiles. In Monster Hunter, however, silver is the calling card of the king of airborne wyverns, the リオレウス希少種 or Silver Rathalos. The majestic beast is the target of many a hunter obsessed with forging its shimmering armor (cough, Pacman and Ke$ha, cough), causing them to drag some other poor hunter (cough, Gaga, cough) to "Silver and Gold" dragon hunts over and over and over so they can complete their dragon armor set. To commemorate our return to "honster munting" after an extended break. We recently decided to test our rusty skills on this very beast by hunting a Silver Rathalos in MHP3. Now we're adding a Silver Rath guide to Loc Lac Kitty Karters' list of offerings to help out folks embarking on Monster Hunter Ultimate for the first time.
A NEW FRONTIER: So in case you missed it, Capcom posted a 20-plus minute video during the 2012 Tokyo Game Show with producer Ryozo Tsujimoto and director Kaname Fujioka discussing the new features of a certain highly anticipated game. Now some of you might be asking, “Wait, what is this ‘Monster Hunter Ho’ that Tsujimoto keeps talking about — and more importantly, how can I get in on some of that action?” Sorry to burst your bubble but that’s just his way of pronouncing “Monster Hunter 4.” Yes, I know it’s a huge bummer but I’m sure you’ll live through the disappointment and become a stronger person. Now that I’ve got the uncomfortable stuff out of the way ... so exactly what sorts of new goodies does Monster Hunter 4 have in store for its fans? Let’s start carving up the video, shall we?
THAT'S HOT: To add some extra variety to their diet, Gaga and Pacman decided to spend some time with another Capcom game, Resident Evil 6. Given that they've already finished the campaigns for Leon (very good) and Chris (not so good), our two "kitty karters" booted up the third campaign, with Pacman taking the reins for Wesker's little boy Jake Muller and Gaga taking control of the grown up Sherry Birkin. Now, if you've ever had the pleasure (or displeasure) of playing Monster Hunter online with Pac, you'll know he has a tendency to goof around. Then again, the normally laid back Gaga can be evil, too. Check out Gaga's unique take on anger management therapy after Pac kept hassling Birkin while the latter was scouring the field for bullets.
VILLAGE PEOPLE: No, no, not those
Village People. Although I reckon that there are some similarities.
Like the aforementioned ’70s icons' return in a crackin’ pistachio commercial,
Moga Village makes a comeback in Monster Hunter 3G and Monster Hunter 3
Ultimate after ceding the spotlight to Yukumo Village in Monster Hunter
Portable 3rd. This is essentially the same as the Deserted Island map
except the Moga Village version is for offline. Note that the harvesting
and mining spots have some differences depending on the time of day.
Here’s a quick guide to gathering spots.
REUNITED AND IT FEELS SO GOOD: Meanwhile, back in Loc Lac.... It’s been more than a year since our favorite “kitty karters” laced up their monster hunting boots. Even after Gaga got his grubby paws on a white 3DS and Monster Hunter 3G during a visit to Japan last Christmas, he eventually quit playing a month later because “honster munting” just ain’t the same without his two buddies. Then Monster Hunter Ultimate got announced. Like a hunter getting a second wind after being dumped like a sack of potatoes via kitty cart in camp, the old gang decided to boot up Monster Hunter Portable 3rd again for some much needed practice. Their first target? Ke$ha’s white, er, silver whale: Silver Rathalos. Given the fact that Ke$ha and Pacman haven’t hunted for more than a year while Gaga hasn’t used a bowgun for the same amount of time, the potential for noobin’ moments was as high as a dragon egg on Area 8 of the Deserted Island. The best part of the hunt? When Ke$ha carved a Rathalos Ruby from Silver Rath’s tail and started running around like an idiot while screaming “I got a Rathalos Ruby!” over and over and over. This was made even funnier by the fact that in his quest to get that one ruby to complete his Silver Rath armor set more than a year ago, Gaga and Pac -- who didn’t need said ruby because they already have their Silver Rath armor -- kept getting the gem over and over. So ‘grats, Ke$ha. Let us hope that the Rathalos Ruby is no longer your drug.
