Greetings everyone! Andrew Alfonso here once again, and this is the final, final, finaaaaaaaal blog about the localization of Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate. This is going to get pretty lengthy so let’s get right to it!

Just Hold On, We’re Going Home

Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate brings back a lot of previous monsters that didn’t make an appearance in Monster Hunter Tri or Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate, such as the Hermitaurs, Monoblos, Teostra and more. So it almost goes without saying that hunters would have to return to one of the main cities from the early Monster Hunter games, Dundorma. This gigantic city appeared in Monster Hunter 2 Dos (which unfortunately, was never localized) and then in Monster Hunter Freedom 2 in some background lore. Dundorma is governed by a giant Wyverian known as His Immenseness. The dude is biiiiig! Ironically, whenever I’ve played Monster Hunter with some of the ladies at work, they always comment on how cute he is. Maybe he’s cute in that teddy bear kind of way? I personally don’t see it, but to each their own, right?

 

 

Although this city appeared in previous games as Dondruma, the English localization team and I had a talk about the spelling of the name, because it’s obvious that the name is a Romanization of the Japanese, but it’s also kind of…not. The spelling makes the pronunciation very different from the original Japanese ( don-dru-ma versus don-dol-ma ), so after some discussion about it, we decided we needed to update the name to bring it more in line with the Japanese, hence the change to Dundorma.

 

Mighty Morphin’

I covered the Insect Glaive in one of my earlier localization blog posts, so today I’ll go over the other new weapon introduced in Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate, and my personal favorite, the Charge Blade! This amazing weapon starts off as a traditional Sword & Shield combo, but the sword charges energy with every attack. When you have enough energy charged, you can store it into your shield. What do you do after that? Well, that’s easy! Combine your sword and shield into a giant freaking axe and unleash all that stored energy with each mighty swing!

 

 

The original Japanese name was Charge Axe, but we thought it’d be better to change that to better reflect the intended play style of the weapon. You’ll spend most of your time in sword and shield mode rather than axe mode, so we thought this was a change for the better.

 

Aim of…Trick?

Something that was interesting to us when we were localizing the game was the Magala class weapons and how they liberally used English for the weapon names. For example, the Insect Glaive is called Aim of Trick (アイムofトリック) and one of the Long Swords is called The Law (THEロウ). All of Gore Magala’s weapons use the “of” naming style, while Shagaru Magala’s weapons use the “the” style. These names were kind of tough to localize because while we can obviously just transliterate them into English, the naming was done to make them seem a little “off” (in Japanese we’d call this strangeness , iwakan , or é-和感), so we had to get that part down too. What we ended up doing was novel, but I’m assuming a major pain in the butt for the European localization. All of the “of” weapons were translated into German, while the “The” weapons were translated into French. Later on there are weapons related to the “new” Gore Magala that use a slash instead of an English word, so there we combined both the German and French into one name. There are your strange, but accurate weapon names!

 

All of the Magala weapon names are supposed to make you think they’re “off”

 

To give you an example of how the names turned out, here’s a list of the Magala Charge Blades you can forge in the game:

• ãƒ-ォースofãƒ-ォール:  Elendskraft (German)
• ãƒ-ォースofルイン: Leidenskraft (German)
• ãƒ-ォースofカタストル: Unheilskraft (German)
• THEサプレッション: L’Oppresseur (French)
• THEブースト: L’Essor (French)
• THEセイヴァー: Le Salut (French)
• ブーストorãƒ-ォール: Elends/Essor (German/French)

Kind of groovy, eh? Hope that gives you some insight on how we came up with those weird names! Now, let’s talk monsters! Specifically some more end-game monsters!

 

Oroshi Kirin

As you might’ve seen, the Elder Dragon Kirin makes its return in Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate, but this time it brought along a dark, cold subspecies cousin to wreck stuff. Initially we came up with a bunch of traditional monikers based on the monster’s element of ice and its appearance, such as Frost and Boreal, but director Fujioka-san rejected all of our requests and asked us to come up with something more Asian in nature. His thinking was that Kirin is based on the Asian mythological creature of the same name, so the subspecies name should reflect that origin.

 

This is not the Oroshi we were thinking about  

So we headed back to Castle Brainstorm and came up with one suggestion for Fujioka-san, and that was Oroshi Kirin. If you talk about Oroshi with your normal Japanese person, they’d probably think about oroshi daikon (grated radish) or oroshi shouga (grated ginger), but this Oroshi is referring to the Japanese kanji character颪, which is to describe a strong wind blowing down the slope of a mountain, particularly during the winter season. The Oroshi wind is featured prominently in Japanese folklore, so we thought it was a suitable name for this mystical creature.

THIS is the Oroshi we were thinking about.

 

Molten Tigrex

The rare species of Tigrex makes its debut in the original Monster Hunter 4, and was one of the bigger surprises for people because it was not revealed in any trailer. I like surprises, but surprises that let loose eardrum-searing roars and toss exploding boulders at me, I can do without!

 

 

We had a few ideas for this rare species name which centered on searing heat. We thought names like Torrid Tigrex, Fiery Tigrex and Infernal Tigrex worked well to give the monster a name with impact and power. We also came up with Sinister Tigrex because the thing just looks evil with its red and black hide. Finally, we came up with Molten Tigrex, which required some explanation for Fujioka-san so he could fully understand why we liked it the most. We had an image of molten lava, whether it was flowing slowly or quickly, simply causing anything in its path to melt and disappear. It’s one of those unstoppable forces of nature that’s best avoided because it’s impossible to contain. This is how we proposed the name to Fujioka-san, and he liked how it sounded. Now say hello to your greatest nightmare, Molten Tigrex! You’ll learn to hate this name soon enough —trust me.

 

Raging Brachydios

The final monster I’m introducing is one that doesn’t even show up in the game. Well, the name doesn’t, anyway. Much like Savage Deviljho, Raging Brachydios is a variant of the original species, so it doesn’t receive any special treatment as far as names go. All of the quests that feature Raging Brachydios only say Brachydios, but if you read the quest summaries carefully, you’ll see that the client infers that the Brachydios in question is a little bit different…a little bit more angry. Scratch that, this dude is hella angry!

 

 

Parting Words

And with that, the localization blogs for Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate are done! But I do have one small surprise for everyone! Producer Natsuki Shiozawa, Director Kaname Fujioka, lead designer Yuya Tokuda and scenario writer Shino Okamura, all have something they want to say to fans overseas, so read their comments below!

 

Producer Natsuki Shiozawa

Hey Monster Hunter fans, I’m the producer of Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate, Natsuki Shiozawa. While at work I focus on producing the MH titles while being the comedic foil to Ryozo Tsujimoto, executive producer of the Monster Hunter series.

I was also the producer of Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate, but to be honest, I’m very excited by  the warm reception from the growing fanbase this time even compared to just a couple of years ago. Obviously we had a lot of responses and ideas from the fans at that time, but this time around there seems to be even more of you, which of course makes me super happy!

As a member of the dev team, we finished working on the game and it went on sale in Japan, but ever since the Japanese release I always thought, “making the game starts now.”

Until everyone gets their hands on the game, the game isn’t truly made. Only when all of you fans turn on your systems, play the game, fight some monsters and think, “this is amazing, I just want to do one more quest! I was so close!” that’s when we can say the game is truly made.

So everyone…this is not the time to be reading this blog! LOL

Whether you’re at home or outside, turn on your 3DS system and spend lots of time delving into Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate .

We want to hear all of your feedback! Even something simple like, “I played it and liked it”, would not only justify all the years of work we put into the game, but serve as motivation as we take our next steps forward.

Thank you to all the fans for waiting, and I honestly hope you enjoy the game!

 

Director Kaname Fujioka

Hey everyone, MH4U director Kaname Fujioka here! Finally, Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate, the follow-up to Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate, is in your hands! Thanks for being so patient while we worked on the game. However, while you were waiting, the localization team was working right up to the last minute to deliver a great title, and I think that’s exactly what they did.

To welcome the release of the game, I was able to meet so many fans in both North America and Europe. It’s been such a long time since I’ve been out on a media tour, but the fans greeted me with warm, open arms and were super passionate about the game, much like our Japanese fans. The series is now in its tenth year thanks to all of the fan support, and to me it’s been an invaluable experience.

Monster Hunter was my directorial debut, and Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate is a title that is filled with memories of the past decade. You can travel across locales with unprecedented freedom, using the terrain to your advantage, and you’ll meet tons of monsters new and old. Fans of the series and of course gamers who haven’t played the previous games will be able to enjoy all the dynamic action that Monster Hunter has to offer. And for the first time ever in the series, we’re offering online and local multiplayer. We developed this game not only for the fans, but for all sorts of gamers, and we want you to enjoy this game even with friends you can’t meet face to face every day.

Even after the game’s release, we want to make great things happen with you, and I look forward to seeing you all again sometime soon! I hope we can bring all of the Monster Hunter fans together as one!

 

Lead Designer Yuya Tokuda

Thanks for reading the MH4U localization blogs, I’m lead designer Yuya Tokuda.

MH4U is finally out in all regions, and we appreciate your anticipation! I have the utmost confidence in the game we made. We created a game that has the most content in the entire series, with so many monsters and armor that you’ll never get tired of playing. We also have great end-game content in the form of Apex Monsters and Guild Quests that’ll satisfy even the most hardcore gamer, especially when you get those Guild Quests up to level 140! Let us know how your hunts turn out!

This time we also have a proper story mode along with tutorials for you to enjoy. Your Palicoes will help you out during these quests (I recommend to have five Palicoes with the Healing Forte), so even gamers who want to play at their own pace or are just diving into the world of Monster Hunter can play with ease. Of course, you can also go online to find some new hunting mates! The localization team really worked the game down to the finest detail, so it’ll be a much smoother playing experience for everyone.

We worked tirelessly on the game to ensure that you get the most enjoyment out of it (I didn’t even take any days off…) so please check out the game as soon as possible!

 

Scenario Writer Shino Okamura

Hi everyone, I’m Shino Okamura, and I worked on the scenario for Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate, dealing with the general story progression design and dialogue creation. In the past I worked on the dialogue and story for the Sengoku Basara games, and even before that I was the lead designer on Gregory Horror Show on the PS2. Oh, I also worked on Mega Man X8 as a designer. J  I’m so happy that so many fans are getting into the Monster Hunter series, and of course, Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate !

The theme of Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate is “adventure.” The story was written from the perspective of an adventure, meeting various people in each village you visit. In the story, the Caravan that keeps trucking along towards its final destination and all of the people that you encounter is but just one part of the adventure. Even after the game’s ending, you and the Caravan will continue onwards.

I hope that everyone plays the game and meets fellow hunters, fights enormous monsters, and enjoys the sense of freedom of a true adventurer when you go head off to explore uncharted lands!

Localization Director Andrew Alfonso

To everyone who’s been keeping up with not only this blog but the Monster Hunter series for all these years, I’d like to say thank you for all of your support and your comments. The franchise has made some huge strides over the past couple of years and it’s only going to get better for Western Monster Hunter fans from here on out. Even though my work on  Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate is over, I’ll still be in the trenches, making sure that the  Monster Hunter team fully understands your expectations and does their utmost to meet them.

Finally, thanks to the great people at 8-4, Binari Sonori and Enzyme Labs for all their work on the English and European localization, everyone at Capcom USA and Capcom Europe for their continued support. The launch of this game would never have been possible without everyone giving their 100% day in and day out.

Thanks for reading, and happy hunting!

We’re mere hours away from the launch of Resident Evil Revelations 2 Episode 1, which comes with not just Claire and Barry scenarios, but also your first helping of Raid Mode! Each Monday we’re going to reveal which characters you’ll be playing as in this run & gun bonus mode, as each new episode brings new characters and additional missions.

When you fire up Episode 1, you’ll be able to play as or unlock the following characters:

Claire

Moira

Barry

Gina

Jill

That’s right, Revelations 1 Jill Valentine is part of Raid Mode’s first wave! And she’s not the only familiar face you’ll see…

For more on Raid Mode check out Raid Mode Rundown [ Part1 ] and [ Part 2 ].

Episode 1 kicks off in mere hours, launching this week on Xbox 360, Xbox One, PS3, PS4 and PC!

Screens taken from the PC version

Hey guys, just a quick reminder here that if you buy the digital version of  Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate , through the Nintendo eShop, you get an exclusive theme for your 3DS… for FREE!

After your purchase, you’ll find a code on your receipt; just input that code on the Enter Download Code  option on the  Theme Shop  and claim your dashboard upgrade. It even plays the MH4U theme ! :3

This offer is only valid for purchases until March 15th, so get yours today.

– Launch the Nintendo eShop from the 3DS’s home screen.

– Once the eShop has loaded, tap “Menu” in the upper left.

– Scroll down and tap  “Settings / Other.”

– On the next screen, scroll down to and tap “Account Activity.”

– Locate Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate, then tap “View Receipt,” which will display the full receipt on the 3DS’s screen.

– The 16-digit code for the theme will be listed under “Issued Codes.”

To use the theme:

– From the 3DS menu press the upper left icon.

– Select “Change Theme,” then “Theme Shop.”

– Press the icon in the upper right, then select “Enter Download Code.”

– Once downloaded, the theme will show up in your theme list.

And here’s a little preview of the theme itself:

PS3′ and PS4′ system players in SCEA (Sony Computer Entertainment America) territories can already nab the Raid Mode Throwback Map Pack when they pre-order the Complete Season, but now you can also take advantage of PlayStation®’s Cross-Buy feature and essentially get both versions for the price of one when you pre-order either version of the game!  This offer expires at the release of Episode 1 on Feb 24, 2015.

While this feature won’t be active on launch day, those who pre-order will be entitled to both versions of the game shortly after.

Also please note that the PS3′ Complete Season pre-order page will be down for maintenance from Feb 18-21, but will be back up on Sunday Feb 22. The PS4′ Complete Season pre-order page will still be active from now through launch of Episode 1 on Feb 24.

Episode 1 launches on Feb 24, with episodes releasing each week through Mar 17.

• PlayStation Store: PS4 Complete Season Pre-Order

• PlayStation Store: PS3 Complete Season Pre-Order
  (currently down for maintenance, will return on Feb 22)

We’re less than a week away from the launch of RER2 Episode 1, which kicks off starting 2/24. Up until now we’ve seen very little of the later episodes, but today we have a trailer that recaps what you know about the early moments of the game  and  poses some rather interesting questions about the plot.

HMMMMM.

That sums up the story mode, but you can also read up on Raid Mode right here, or check out an earlier playthrough of the first Raid map.

RER2 will be available as individual episodes, as a Complete Season or as a retail disc on 3/17 (3/15 in EU).

PS3 Complete Season

PS4 Complete Season

Steam game page

Xbox 360 game page

For today’s  DmC: Definitive Edition gameplay video, I did something a little different. Hit the jump for a side-by-side comparison of the game’s original speed versus the newly added Turbo Mode, which gives gameplay a 20% speed boost across the board. The original speed is great for beginning players, but I, for one, am never going back. You decide for yourself!

And don’t forget to catch our livestream today at 5:30pm PT on Twitch !

(View in Google Chrome at 1080p60 for best results.)

0:09-0:21 – Dante races himself. Though it looks neck-and-neck for a brief moment, Turbo Dante quickly surpasses Non-Turbo. Note the differing fall rates.

0:22-0:38 – Hollow Vergil’s summoned swords sequence is essentially a choreographed evasion challenge, but note the differing rate of the sword animations. These sequences start on the exact same frame.

00:38-00:51 – A practical in-game comparison. Dante performs the same combo, starting on the same frame, but finishes several beats ahead in Turbo Mode.

00:54-3:26 – Side-by-side speed comparisons of individual moves for Dante and Vergil. All moves begin on the same frame of animation.  

Previous Vids  
– Combo Showcase
– Manual Lock-On
– Must Style
– Vergil’s Bloody Palace

Hello World Warriors! We are excited to announce the details of 2015 Capcom Pro Tour circuit. Our inaugural season last year was a great success, with record breaking numbers all over the globe that helped pushed the fighting game community to new heights. Capcom and Twitch both learned a ton of things throughout the season, and with Sony now on board to lend their support, we are all committed to making this season bigger, better, and more epic than before. Thanks goes out to the passionate fans who provided feedback on the tour and we’ve gone at lengths to help integrate those comments into the tour structure this year in order to create something that everyone can get hype for.

First things first: the game of the tour will be Ultra Street Fighter IV for this season.

Now down to the details! We had 3 main goals coming into this season:

1. Give fans more Street Fighter content to enjoy and look forward to.
2. More evenly distribute the tournaments and point totals across the different world regions.
3. Increase tournament prize pools across the board, and incentivize more players to get involved with the tour.

To that end, we are implementing several important changes to the way the tour operates this year:

• Instead of 16 spots for Capcom Cup, we are doubling the numbers of players to 32 spots.

• In order to accomplish this, we are increasing the number of Premier events to 16, and are taking the top 15 players from the point leaderboards. The final spot will automatically go to the previous season’s Capcom Cup Champion (in this case, EG Momochi).
   
• The standard rule set for CPT events will be: 2/3 games until Top 8, and 3/5 games after that.
   
• This allows for more matches between top players on finals day, which are what everyone wants to see! So in the example of a two day tournament, the entire Saturday would be 2/3 and players would qualify for Top 8, then Sunday would be 3/5 all the way through for Top 8.
   
• We will be revealing the format for Capcom Cup and other event details at a later date, so keep an eye out for that!

• We divided the world into four major “regions” in order to equalize the point distribution and provide a fair environment for every player to be able to qualify for the Capcom Cup. The four regions are: North America, Europe, Asia, and Wild Card. Here is the full list of Premier events for the 2015 season:
   
• North America
• i. Final Round – Atlanta, GA, USA
• ii. NorCal Regionals – Sacramento, CA, USA
• iii. SoCal Regionals – Orange, CA, USA
• iv. Community Effort Orlando – Orlando, FL, USA
• Europe
• i. Hypespotting 4 – Scotland, UK
• ii. Stunfest – Rennes, France
• iii. Milan Games Week – Milan, Italy
• iv. Dreamhack Winter – Jönköping, Sweden
• Asia
• i.South East Asia Major – Bangkok, Thailand
• ii. Mad Catz Tokyo Game Show – Tokyo, Japan
• iii. Capcom Pro Tour Asia Finals – Singapore
• iv. TBD Japan Tournament
• Wild Card
• i. Evolution – Las Vegas, NV, USA
• ii. Canada Cup – Canada
• iii. Brazil Game Show – Sao Paulo, Brazil
• iv. KO Fighting Game Festival – Kuwait
• You can see we put Evolution and Canada Cup as a Wild Card events. Given the large amount of international competition at these tournaments, we felt that they could be considered multinational events instead of just North American events.

Here is the same breakdown of Premier events, this time in chronological order:

 

Information regarding online tournaments will be shared at a later date.

• With Sony’s help, the total prize pool for the 2015 season has been increased to a whopping half a million dollars. That’s $500,000  up for grabs throughout the year. The prize pool distribution is as follows:
   
• Premier Tournaments (excluding EVO, Japan-based events and Brazil-based events) Prize Pool Bonus: Total $15,000 split between top 8
• i. 1 ^st Place: $7,000
• ii. 2 ^nd Place: $3,000
• iii. 3 ^rd Place: $1,500
• iv. 4 ^th Place: $1,000
• v. 5 ^th~6^th Place: $750 (each)
• vi. 7 ^th~8^th Place: $500 (each) 
• Evolution Prize Pool Bonus: Total $50,000 split between top 8
• i. 1 ^st Place: $20,000
• ii. 2 ^nd Place: $10,000
• iii. 3 ^rd Place: $7,000
• iv. 4 ^th Place: $5,000
• v. 5 ^th~6^th Place: $2,500 (each)
• vi. 7 ^th~8^th Place: $1,500 (each)
• Capcom Cup Prize Pool: Total $250,000 split between top 8
• i. 1 ^st Place: $120,000 (yes, you read that correctly)
• ii. 2 ^nd Place: $60,000 (not bad for 2 ^nd place we would say)
• iii. 3 ^rd Place: $25,000
• iv. 4 ^th Place: $15,000
• v. 5 ^th~6^th Place: $10,000 (each)
• vi. 7 ^th~8^th Place: $5,000 (each)

Phew! That’s a lot of updates, but hopefully all you out there are as hype for this year as we are. As always, the Capcom Fighters Twitch.tv channel will be the home destination for all the Premier tournament action this year, so be sure to follow the stream to receive updates on when it goes live. In addition, we have renewed our official website, CapcomProTour.com , with all the above information, plus information on the various Ranking tournaments that will be going on weekly around the world. The official website will be going through some renovations this year with more consistent content updates and special features for Pro Tour fans to enjoy, so make sure to bookmark it and check back frequently for new updates.

Good luck to all our competitors this year and be sure to read up, practice up, and get ready to grab part of that $500k! It’s going to be a wild one 😉

Greetings everyone! Are you all hyped for the release of Mons …oh wait, the game is already out! WOOHOO! I hope everyone got their copy on time and spent the entire freaking weekend playing the heck out of the game. Had some crazy moments during your hunts? Liked some of the one-liners those odd Caravan peeps have? Let us know in the comments whenever you have the time!

So before we start talking about the final new village in Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate and some new monsters, I have to give you proper warning; if you haven’t progressed past Cheeko Sands and you don’t want to be spoiled, don’t read the rest of this blog. Then again, if you’ve been reading all of these blogs, you’re probably well aware that spoilers abound everywhere!

Winds of Change

After a brief stay in Cheeko Sands, you and the caravan arrive at your final destination, the village known as Cathar. This windy, mountainside village is isolated from the rest of the known world due to its location. The residents of Cathar are all Wyvernian, including the amazing Maximeld XIV. Who’s that, you ask? He’s the latest successor in a long line of melding experts! Melding lets you combine talismans you own with certain Frenzy crystals to produce even better talismans. Give it a whirl once you get to Cathar!

 

 

In the Japanese version, Cathar is known as Shinato (シナト) but we decided to make the name change because we wanted players to immediately get the meaning of the name. Shinato originates from shinato no kaze (科戸ã®é¢¨), which is an alias for Shinatsuhiko and Shinatobe, the god and goddess of wind in Japanese mythology. Another meaning for shinato no kaze is “a wind that wipes away sin and filth,” in essence a purifying wind. And what better way to express purification than catharsis?

Seregios

The flagship monster for Monster Hunter 4G in Japan is a swift and dangerous wyvern capable of shooting out its own scales to wound hunters. It also has zero problems messing with full grown Rathians and Rathalos in their own habitat! Seregios is definitely a monster you do not want to take lightly…even if it does look like a pinecone. Don’t tell it that you think that though, it’ll get even angrier.

 

Naming a monster like Seregios is a big deal because it’s one of the main monsters in the game, and you don’t want to screw it up. At the very least you want to give a couple of solid ideas and hash things out with the director. Before we sat down with the director Fujioka-san and lead designer Tokuda-san, we were given a couple of keywords to hit when coming up with names. This included talons , legion , Rathalos’ rival, gold , scales , speed , dive bomb, and so on. The names that we came up with were

• Seregios: a Romanization of the Japanese name. I chose an R instead of an L in the middle to make it look like serre (talon in French) and serrate.
• Aurelos: a combination of aer (Latin for air), Regius (Latin for King) and a traditional Monster Hunter suffix, los. We were going for “the king of the skies to rival Rathalos” vibe with this one.
• Ceralos: a combination of celertias (Latin for high speed) and Regius.
• Aegios: a combination of aer and Legion, which the Japanese name also utilizes.
• Aurthelos: a combination of Aur (Latin for gold), and a traditional Monster Hunter suffix, thalos. We were going for “the golden rival of Rathalos”.

We probably didn’t do the other suggestions any favors by adding the Romanization of the Japanese name into the list, but we all agreed that much like Gore Magala and Kecha Wacha before it, the name itself sounded good and is easy enough for more people to pronounce (although some people might end up pronouncing it “Sir Regios”…). We also liked how the original name had this sort of cutting sound to it compared to the ideas we came up with, so there weren’t any objections when Fujioka-san decided to stick with the original Japanese name.

 

Dalamadur

If you thought final bosses like the Mohrans and Lao-Shan Lung were big fish to fry, you haven’t seen anything yet! Dalamadur is a gigantic Elder Dragon that’s over 1,400 feet in length, and it’s so big it needs two freaking Target Camera icons on the Nintendo 3DS touch screen to fight! The area that Dalamadur inhabits is called Cragtip Spear…actually, I shouldn’t say that Dalamadur inhabits Cragtip Spear; it kind of uses it as a hammock to chill while it waits for hearts-full-of-courage-but-not-much-else hunters to climb to the top of the mountain. Oh, those poor, naïve hunters.

The Japanese name for this king of serpents, Dara Amadura (ダラ• アマデュラ) is quite a mouthful to say in English, but, more importantly, it’s long enough to cause problems during localization when we come up with material names and whatnot, so we tried to brainstorm some short but similar names. One thing we learned while studying up on Dalamadur’s Japanese name is that, despite being a gigantic serpent, its name had zero connection to a snake. The name was inspired by Magdala (Aramaic for great/tower) and the Babylonian word for armor. No, I have no idea how the Monster Hunter team found a resource to translate Babylonian into Japanese, but they’re a crafty bunch. I wouldn’t put it past them to find something that obscure.

Aside from the Romanized Dalamadur, we also came up with two totally new (and short!) names for this beast. The first one was Vashira, which was based on Vasuki, one of the King serpents in Hindu and Buddhist mythology. The second one was Nadalah, which was a combination of Nahash (Hebrew for serpent) and Magdala from the original Japanese name. Oh yeah, we also came up with an alternate Romanized name, Amadulla, just in case. I personally liked Vashira the best because it’s short (easier to use for material names, etc.), has a serpent-like sound to it, and most of all, has some impact behind it. However, Director Fujioka-san wanted to stick with the Japanese version of the name, so we chose Dalamadur over Amadulla to keep it as close as possible to the original.

 

Shah Dalamadur

The new Dalamadur subspecies isn’t very different from the original species; instead of black scales it sports red ones, and it has a slightly paler look compared to the original’s blue hue. The combination of these visual changes plus the minor change to the monster’s kanji name was our starting point for the localized name. The original species’ kanji name is Jyaouryu (蛇王é¾), which literally translates to “snake king dragon,” whereas the subspecies’ kanji name is Jyateiryu (蛇å¸é¾), which means “snake emperor dragon.” The change is subtle but it was enough for us to work with. Like Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate’s Goldbeard Ceadeus, we aimed to give the monster a name that alluded to its red color but also represented power and royalty. Some names we kicked around were Tsar, Imperial and Deshret; all are related to the color red and with power or royalty.

 

 

However, the one that we were really hoping to get approved was Shah Dalamadur. We thought it had a certain exoticness that the other names we came up with didn’t, which made it the perfect name. Fujioka-san agreed with our assessment, and thus Shah Dalamadur was born!

That’s it for this time, and unfortunately my next blog will be the last one in this series. I’ll have a couple of surprises ready for everyone though, so make sure to check back next week!

Not long ago we ran you through some of the basics of Raid Mode , the run & gun bonus mode in Resident Evil Revelations 2. While the core experience is largely the same as Revelations 1 (play maps to get better loot to make better weapons to grind harder maps to get better weapons to… you get the idea), there’s a LOT of new content in the mix.

-SKILLS-

Each of the 15 playable characters begins the game with a small number of skills. As you grind maps and gain levels you’ll gain Skill Points and be able to unlock, equip and improve a huge assortment of abilities. Above, I’m upgrading one of Claire’s starting powers, the Exploding Bottle; it’ll now deal more damage.

Also note all the “locked” slots. These are level requirements – get the character to that level, and you’ll be able to equip additional weapons, unlock new skills and more. For example, Claire begins with two Passive Skill slots. At level 5, another slot will open, another at level 45 and so on.

And here’s Claire vs Barry at level 5. They have different Skills available at the start, making each character feel a bit different right away. Barry also gets his third weapon slot faster than Claire, which makes sense given his “buddy system” relationship with guns.

Back to Claire – I’ve unlocked and equipped Claire’s Herb Storage, while on the right you can see Shield, which will be available at level 18. This process continues well into Raid Mode, as you can see; level 92 and you’ll still be unlocking slots! The more you have, the more abilities you can equip and use to tackle some of the later, more challenging Raid maps.

–ENEMY ABILITIES–

As in the original Raid Mode, some enemies have modifiers that make them even more formidable. As seen above, these enemies will have icons that call out their powers… or you can look at them and get a good idea. While both of these enemies are larger than normal (first icon), one is on fire and another exudes electricity. The former will burn you and deal damage over time, while the latter puts you in a “shocked” state where your defense will be lowered for a period of time.

And then there’s the force field power… this guy’s shielding not just himself, but anyone directly behind him. Gotta get around that shield if you want to deal more damage…

Other abilities that’ll keep you on your toes:

“Attractor” – A mysterious light pulls your character towards them. Protect yourself using obstacles or keep your distance.

“Sprinter” – Small but fast; underestimate them and you’ll pay a painful price

“Coat of Armor” – High defense, low health. Especially weak to critical hits. Can gain a lot of exp from defeating them

“Vanish” – Invisible enemies. Find them through their dust cloud, and by setting your sights upon them

So, this seems like a tall order for our cast, no? The good news is that the Raid Mode roster can also dish out different types of damage and status effects thanks to the aforementioned Skills and new Custom Parts.

–CUSTOM PARTS–

As in RER1, you can acquire Custom Parts in each mission and use them to spruce up your ever-growing arsenal. However, this time around you’ll be able to give your guns ice and fire ammo (plus even more), or make your bullets track enemies, or give your final bullet more power or… you get the idea.

The image above shows the “combine parts” menu; here you can combine weaker custom parts into new, stronger versions that’ll be necessary for some of the harder missions. Unlock two Electric Ammo Lv.1 Custom Parts? Combine them and form a Lv. 2 version!

–IN-GAME STORE–

While most Capcom Unity readers will look at harder Raid missions as challenges just waiting to be overcome, there will be items that can help new players ease into the escalating madness that is Raid Mode.

As with RER1, you can buy all kinds of weapons and parts using the in-game currency earned by completing missions (BP in RER1, Gold in RER2), OR visit the real-world PlayStation/Xbox/PC storefronts for weapon/custom part packs akin to what you saw in RER1. There are also some items new to RER2.

Blue and Red Life Crystals allow you to respawn immediately with full health. Get 10 minutes into a map, lose and don’t want to start over? You can come back to finish the fight, but at the cost of a Blue Life Crystal. These are obtained by completing Daily Missions within Raid Mode, and you begin the game will some as well.

Should you run out of Blue Life Crystals or don’t have the time/desire to play the Daily Missions, you can also buy Red Life Crystals in the PlayStation, Xbox or PC stores. These are optional of course, and running out of either/both simply means you can’t respawn mid-mission (which was the case in RER1). Some missions don’t even allow respawning, so sooner or later you’ll have to get through on your own skill if you want to see all the missions.

Up above are some of the unevaluated “albums” you find as loot drops. Once you’re back in the hub area, you can unlock the album and gain whatever was inside (like guns, Custom Parts etc). Since these are random drops, some guns or parts will be slightly better or worse than others – basically like RER1. I tend to sell off items I don’t want or need, but if you want to amass a heaping pile of albums and weapons, you’ll be able to increase the storage capacity.

When you pick up Episode 1 on February 24 (PS3/PS4) or February 25 (360/XONE/PC), it will include Claire and Barry’s story mode content AND 54 Raid Mode missions spread across three difficulty settings. When subsequent episodes release they will also contain numerous additional Raid Mode maps – Episodes 2 and 3 will each add 36 missions to the mode, while Episode 4 tops things off with another 68 missions. All told there will be over 200 increasingly difficult missions.

To list it out, Raid is split into numerous Gauntlets, each of which contains six Raid missions that come in Easy, Normal and Hard difficulties. If you can clear them all, you’ll access an ever greater challenge…

EP1 : 3 Gauntlets x 6 Missions x 3 Difficulties

EP2 & 3: 2 Gauntlets x 6 Missions x 3 Difficulties

EP4:  2 Gauntlets, one of which you’ll have to finish and see what happens…

We’ll have even more Raid info soon!

Cease your salivations, for  Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate is out and can be yours  today! Good thing there’s a long holiday, amirite? 

Anyway, Yuri and I sat down to celebrate with episode 22 of our podcast, which is all about what Monster Hunter can do  4U. See what I did there? Give it a listen here if for some reason you’re not playing the game right now.

Community Question: What’s the deal with poogies? Why are they pettable? What does that do? Is there a point? Does there even need to be a point? Give us your best poogie analyses. 

One star commenter will receive this lovely copy of  Monster Hunter Illustrations 2– quite a big-ticket item!

And just like that, the best  Monster Hunter game ever created it now available for all; for you; 4 U !

Now we can all join a traveling caravan, explore the brand new environments, and more importantly, hunt awesome new monsters…  online with other hunters!

We have an epic Launch Trailer featuring some awesome review quotes and scores, but before you watch it, I’ll leave you with 2 bits of info:

1) Anyone who owns the game between now and March 15th, gets a free Starter Pack, including  early access to the  Super Mario Bros.  Palico gear;

2) If you buy the game digitally through the Nintendo eShop, you get a free  3DS Theme !

Happy Hunting!!!

Just as you thought Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate was already perfect, here’s another bonus for those of you who jump in early: starting on February 13 ^th (release date) until March 15 ^th you can download a free item pack including a selection of handy items and a little something special…

After you get your game, you should head to the Nintendo eShop and download the Patch 1.1 item listed there; that’s our free gift for you. But what exactly comes in this nice little present? Lots of super useful items! Here’s the list:

Mega Potion         x50
Honey                  x30
Mega Dash Juice   x15
Well-done Steak   x30
Max Potion           x10
Lifepowder           x20
Ancient Potion      x5
Flash Bomb          x30
Sonic Bomb          x30
Pitfall Trap            x15
Shock Trap           x15
Super Mushroom  x6

It’s a pretty handy pack, wouldn’t you say? Oh, what’s that last one…? Super Mushroom, huh?

Well, that’s our little surprise gift for you! With those 6 Super Mushroom units you can walk up to the smithy (after completing the first 2 Capital “C” Challenges from the Caraveneer) and craft either the Mario or Luigi outfits for your Palico as well as 1 matching Invincible Hammer!

HOW TO GET YOUR FREE STARTER PACK

So if you’re reading this because you just got your copy of Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate and are ready to claim your free Starter Pack, including the Super Mario Bros. collaboration items, here’s a little guide on how to get make sure you get everything:

REQUIREMENTS:

–          Internet connection

–          A copy of Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate

–          A save file with at least one hunter created

STEPS:

1)      Go to the Nintendo eShop

2)      Download and install Patch 1.1

3)      Load Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate

4)      Go to “Your House”

5)      Talk to the “Housekeeper”

6)      Select “Downloadable Content”

7)      Go to the “Gift Area” option

8)      Download the Starter Pack

9)      Exit the Download Menu

10)    Check your Item Box

Alright, now you should have your full Starter Pack with all of the items I told you about earlier in this post!

HOW TO GET THE SUPER MARIO BROS. COLLABORATION GEAR

Now that you’ve downloaded all your items, it’s time to get that special little bonus we’ve packed in for you: the Super Mario Bros. Palico gear.

CAUTION:

With the 6x Super Mushrooms, you can only make 1 set of Palico gear, so choose carefully between either Mario or Luigi. Later on, we will release the DLC quest that will allow you to make the other set of armor.

REQUIREMENTS:

–          Complete the first two quests from the Caravaneer – the Capital “C” Challenges

–          Talk to your Ace Palico and make sure it is set to “Deploy” on Palico Board

–          Buy 3 x Large Barrel from the Val Habar market (630z)

–          1300 z (Head 400z, Body 400z, Weapon 500z)

–          6x Super Mushrooms (comes with the Starter Pack)

STEPS:

1)      Download the Starter Pack (see above)

2)      Talk to the Smithy (The Man)

3)      Select “Forge Palico Gear”

4)      Select “Weapon”, then “Invincible Hammer”

5)      Select “Head”, then “Mario Cap”  or  “Luigi Cap”

6)      Select “Chest”, then “Mario overalls”  or  “Luigi overalls”

Okay, now you have everything you need. To equip all this gear, head to Your House, walk over to the Palico Board and select “Manage Equipment”.

All set then! Enjoy your useful item pack and your special new Palico gear. Happy hunting! =)