Monster Hunter Dos is the JP-exclusive sequel to Capcom’s 2004 debut title Monster Hunter. The franchise had a niche set of fans, enough to keep it going, that is until 4 Ultimate and eventually Monster Hunter World propelled it into mainstream status. But as a veteran of the series who started with 3U, I wanted to take a look back on the PS2 iterations of Monster Hunter.
Monster Hunter Dos has you acting the role of a small-town hero, who arrives in the humble village of Jumbo. The chief is thankful for your services and sends you on simple gathering missions to get your bearings in the nearby jungle. The first thing any long-time Monster Hunter fan will notice about Dos is exactly the creatures they didn’t notice before. Small monsters are highly aggressive, able to stagger you constantly, and deal large amounts of damage quickly. A single hit from a crab under the sand will take a third to half your health bar, wasting precious healing potions.
At all turns, Dos rejects convenience in favor of hard work. Gathering spots are not marked, leaving you as the hunter to gauge whether a small plant is decoration or a valuable commodity. No automated farming means every single resource you gather is due to you pressing the circle button on a gathering point during a quest. It’s brutal. You start with no money, no armor, and only a Sword & Shield. Quests cost money, armor costs even more money, and don’t even think about upgrade costs. Need mega potions? Not if it’s cold season, you’ll need to wait roughly 5 hours for Warm season to gather honey again. Seasons introduce variety, but also lock off quests, zones, and specific materials to gather. In order to change seasons immediately, you need to pay more than 8x the cost of the simple gathering quest you start with.
But here’s where it changes.
You learn. You grow. With every hunt you understand how to manage the attacks of small monsters. You learn the rotation of the seasons, understanding when to gather what resources. You accept this inconvenience not because it’s inherently fun, but because the lows can make the highs all that much sweeter. Perhaps you go online, learning the strengths of working in a group. Fellow hunters lift you up, helping guide and hone your abilities.
And with you, Jumbo grows in kind. The village expands, paying you back for the favors you performed for its residents. The once-small village becomes something more, a thriving community and a home away from home.
Really good summary ! I’ve been a fan of MH since the very first game, only missing out on the wii and 3ds games, and my most played is MH Freedom Unite on the PSP with several thousand hours…
However today, I find myself more inclined to appreciate MH World as my go to, there is so much quality of life going on, while (in my humble opinion) avoiding too much casualisation like in Wilds. Perhaps it’s just aging and all, but I find myself less and less attracted to games not respecting players or their time, while of course acknowledging that this is only a matter of personal taste.
Anyways, play Monster Hunter ! Try several, and find out which one you vibe more with, there’s bound to be an MH experience tailored for your preferences out there :)
I come to Lemmy for this kind of content. Dos is in my backlog (and alas will be for a long while) because between seasons and the town management I really want to give it deeper than a look.
Hope you enjoy when you get to it! Highly recommend playing online alongside the single-player. Makes the grind more manageable & a lot more fun
If you’re interested in playing Monster Hunter Dos, join the community! Playing online feels like experiencing a slice of the old internet & online gaming. The server is full of kind, uplifting people excited to see others hunt alongside them!
Thanks, was looking for something like this! But does “NTSC-J versions of …” means it’s Japanese?
There’s a full english translation that works perfectly, no issues from my playthrough
Oh that’s AWESOME! I’m sooo fuckin’ in. I’ve been playing MH since the first PSP game (and a jillion hours of 3rd after modding all my friends’ PSPs!) but I’ve never played the PS2 games. Thank you so much for teaching me about this! I have some PS2s I can mod that I haven’t got around to yet, but maybe I’ll just do computers, but I can for sure rope my partner into joining me!
Most people use emulators! There’s a weird bug on actual PS2 hardware that only lets 3 people do a quest at a time, plus having a keyboard for the chat at all times is really nice.
Welp that makes the choice easy! I assumed a keyboard on the PS2 would work—I remember loving EQ: Online Adventures on it hahaha.
I’ll see about getting it running on our computers today, I think. That sounds like an awesome time.
Thank you again for posting this! I like your writing style and as a longtime MH fan, I did not know this game existed. I assume it’s way more rough than even the first PSP game, but that okay with me! I like the spikiness of old MH games.
It’s rough but in an extremely charming way! The wiki is extremely helpful for pretty much every piece of info you need on the game. The MHoldschool discord is also a great resource for questions & general help - along with going online & asking folks.
