Going over every single monster introduced in the second generation of Monster Hunter and slapping them in a good ol’ fashioned tier list! Enjoy!
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2nd Gen Tier List
intro: 0:00:00
Giadrome: 0:05:00
Hypnocatrice: 0:08:17
King Shakalaka: 0:11:59
Bulldrome: 0:17:07
Congalala: 0:19:19
Emerald Congalala: 0:21:56
Blangonga: 0:25:16
Copper Blangonga: 0:28:41
Rajang: 0:31:30
Furious Rajang: 0:36:38
Daimyo Hermitaur: 0:41:22
Plum Daimyo Hermitaur: 0:43:32
Shogun Ceanataur: 0:46:02
Terra Shogun Ceanataur: 0:48:56
Shen Gaoren: 0:51:39
Vespoid Queen: 0:53:34
Tigrex: 0:56:11
Nargacuga: 01:06:31
Akantor: 01:13:23
Ukanlos: 01:16:41
Lavasioth: 01:18:42
Kushala Daora: 01:24:01
Rusted Kushala Daora: 01:29:06
Chameleos: 01:31:54
Teostra: 01:36:18
Lunastra: 01:44:02
Yama Tsukami: 01:48:28
White Fatalis: 01:51:55
Cleanup / Outro: 01:54:55
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In my head i've always grouped first and second gen monsters together, probably because all of the og's had gotten carried oder to the second gen games. And then they were almost all scrapped for Tri and only returned partially in future games.
But thinking about it now, there really were a lot of Solid monsters in Dos and it's portable Counterparts. Mostly solid, with some… "stinkers" in between but hey, really quite alright
I think that the reasons why Lunastra is so annoying in World is because of her wind pressure combined with the way in which her fire attacks function. So many of her attacks have wind pressure that just locks you into that animation for so long and your health will just go down constantly without any flinching. Oh, and god forbid if you just so happen to walking the wrong way when she does her supernova and a flame pit just randomly spawns right behind you. With wind pressure resistance the fight is ok, not good, because then it just feels like it’s missing something and the issues with the random fire pits still persist regardless.
11:59 I just found out that King Gajalaka was a mini-boss last month and I’ve been playing World since launch 😭
Really do hope King Shakas/Shakas in general come back someday 😥
(Also Hypnoc looks like it’s being assaulted by Copper in the list 😭)
I feel like tigrex does really need a tune up, I would like to see them do more mix ups on his triple charge so there isn't just a part of the fight where you run in a circle and wait for him to stop, like a charge with a half tail sweep to trick you up, or maybe his arm sweep into a sideways chimping lunge and then doing a big back hop to set up for his long range options
Chameleos was cooler in Dos imo when he had the unique mechanic of vocal chord paralysis which doesn't really work on the portable games due to a lack of text based communication.
The Thunderbugs are a menace in the Dos version of Yama, he can spawn a LOT of them (cut in FU due to hardware limitations).
Rusted Kushala Daora is a unique monster in Dos as he was limited to the city siege but when he shows up he is accessible to fight in Low Rank with a rank requirement of HR1 (LR elders are restricted to HR20 to join and HR22 to post typically), and for High Rank he is limited to HR31 (the rank High Rank starts at HR elders are restricted to HR38 to join and HR41 post). He had unique material drops in Dos they weren't used for many things but he at least makes funny noises.
Oh boy Shen all of the current Dos players have a love hate relationship with him as he is restricted to the Exam to enter High Rank (which you don't get carves), and can appear in the city and fortress siege but is not guaranteed to show up (we have had gaps of up to 99 days of not seeing him in the siege), which is annoying as you need his materials for some decent weapons and every single Fatalis set.
Vespoid Queen first appeared in Freedom 2 through an event quest.
King Shakalaka is a very unique creature in Dos, he does not have a specific quest to fight him, you have to search for Shaka's in High Rank after killing 3 he has a chance to spawn based on the quest and season. He isn't hard to kill in Dos but is very unique as he has a special carve for the Song of Origins, when played in the Assembly it unlocks access to the Forest and Hills local in MH2 online.
Fun fact about Rajang for MH2 he was only playtested by 1 person and was a "little" overtuned. You can capture him for Grand Tourney(PvP) but they decided to make him hard to obtain in 2 different ways, not only is he a 5% rate to keep him on capture if you are quest host, but you also need to have 50 pvp wins before hand.
Old Fatalis is referred to as White Fatalis in Japanese in MH2 viewable in your bookshelf after you get the title for slaying 30 White Fatalis. His armour also has a unique name being Miraroots which is a popular name Japanese players call him.
The second generation of Monster Hunter is where I’d argue the series really started to find its identity and how it clicked. The classifications wouldn’t be finalized until much later, but the number of new skeletons added allowed for so many legends of Monster Hunter to be born and cement their legacies. And on the subject of difficulty, I don’t disagree with the notions of monsters like Tigrex, Nargacuga, and Rajang being toned down more in base Rise given that wirebug combat allows for keeping up with them far easier than ever, and they don’t really have tools to compensate. But I love how they were still introduced to me even in their more toned down iterations because I wouldn’t have known about them until I started in Rise, so I can forgive the easier fights. Music wise I can go both ways, it’s a subjective matter, and I love the mixes that people do with the themes in Iceborne and Sunbreak. All in all, second generation owns my heart as the peak of the old style of Monster Hunter, Jank and all, I wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone curious what the PSP days were like. That or Portable 3rd, up to you.
You should check out Bulldrome's Hardcore version from Frontier. They basically just gave him a mohawk and made him huge while adding some decently dangerous new moves. He can now actually change direction mid-charge before flopping over and sliding across the zone like a bean bag.
Such a ripoff that the top three monsters in the popularity poll weren't Bulldrome, King Shakalaka, and Vespoid Queen. We were ROBBED I tell you.
Rajang just cut his balls off in rise
I love these rankings, impatiently waiting for Gen 3 and 4 because for me those are the best ones in terms of monster design.
as a 5th gen baby its pretty cool that i get to learn a bit more about these older monsters from just listening in
also i genuinely didnt know you can subside lunastras flames with water weapons lol
I completely agree with Nargacuga. I keep saying to my friends that what that monster needs is his own map made FOR him so he can be using the environment against you. It's always his speed they emphasize instead of his STEALTH and Narga is never going to reach his true potential until they lean into both.
I think a perfected Nargacuga is going to be a crafty monster who is actively hunting YOU. He should have a very wide aggro radius so he can see you before you see him and that, when he does, his AI actively tries to stay out of your sight. Nargacuga should be stalking you, hiding up in trees and/or in the cover of foliage around you waiting to pounce with lethality. Even when you DO see him and engage him in combat, he is still being avoidant and relying on his speed to get in and out of confrontation with you.
Cue the Sonic Bomb.
It should still flinch him and still enrage him. IN RAGE, he stops calculating and becomes very aggressive. My idea is that Narga should be in the same camp you described Kirin and Lunastra to be in but the name of the game is Spatial Awareness. I think this needs to be a very tactical hunt where your chief strat is to Sonic Bomb him so that you can lure him AWAY from areas with good cover and obstacles to force him to fight out in the open where you can keep track of his movements better and potentially create traps for HIM to fall into because, if you don't, you're always on the receiving end of his own tricks.
I hope this is something Capcom will do for him. Focus on the Stealth aspect.
Side note, this can be what would differentiate the Subspecies. That Green Narga could turn into a rush-down attacker who is a much more direct attacker that PREFERS the open space so maybe the trick with him would be to force him into tighter spaces where he can't execute his powerful attacks.
Ukanlos reminds me of the monster Shimo from the latest Godzilla movie, both being hulking white reptilian ice monsters with a lot of power behind them. I really hope Him and Akantor make a return in future games, since I only truly got into the series with world I've been dying to fight them in an updated format!
20:17 Also Seltas Queen uses it!
all I'm going to say is that Tigrex is a bit over rated