User blog:Aandrew07/Discussion of the Week: Towns and Villages

 Welcome to Discussion of the Week: Towns and Villages!

Guess who's back, everyone? Loss is not around to do this weeks DotW, so again he's appointed me to fill in, and I gladly oblige. Anyway, this week I thought it might be nice for us to have a nostalgia-filled trip down memory lane as we remember the various towns and villages from MH games past, from the tiny Pokke village to the sprawling Loc Lac.

Let's get it on!

Kokoto Village (Monster Hunter, Monster Hunter Freedom, Monster Hunter G)


A true classic for many players, Kokoto Village was the series' first hub. With a beautiful oriental springtime theme, soothing music, interesting characters, and, in my opinion, one of the best gathering halls in the series, Kokoto Village is an oldie but definitely a goodie.

Minegarde Town (Monster Hunter, Monster Hunter G)


A bustling trade city in the rugged wilderness, Minegarde was the very first online city in the series. Though it never saw a whole lot of traffic (Getting online on PS2 was a bit of a pain), many players have fond memories of getting together with their felow hunters and taking on the ludicrously difficult 1st gen quests.

Jumbo Village (Monster Hunter Dos)


I'm afraid there's not much to say about old Jumbo Village, as not a huge number of us western folk have ever stepped foot on its soil. Perhaps someone who's played MH2 can give us all a rundown of what makes Jumbo so great?

Dondruma Town (Monster Hunter Dos)


The second major online metropolis. Incredibly, this city is even RARER over here than Jumbo, seeing as not only was the game import only, the PS2's online woes caused many a hunter to simply ignore the online offerings. That said, all us westerners have defended this little slice of heaven at one time or another, as the Town map is directly lifted from Dondruma itself.

Pokke Village (Monster Hunter Freedom 2, Monster Hunter Freedom Unite)


This is the one. This is THE nostalgic village for most hunters in the western community. We've fought for little Pokke Village for many years now, across two games, with much of the fanbase still paying a visit quite often. If that sweet old theme song doesn't bring back fond memories, I don't know what will.

Moga Village (Monster Hunter Tri, Monster Hunter Tri G)


Considering all's been quiet on the "new game" front for a more-than-comfortable amount of time, I'd imagine many of us know Moga like the backs of our hands now. It's one of the better villages in my opinion. A sun-drenched, man-made settlement on deep blue seas. Gotta love the soothing tropical music theme as well.

Loc Lac City (Monster Hunter Tri)


The online counterpart to Moga, Loc Lac offered a nice alternative scenery-wise to the offline portion's sea-faring and island-themed motifs. This was the first city (to me at least) to truly feel like a bustling, active trade city, with cargo ships coming and going, merchants on every street corner, the whole shebang. It has a lively atmosphere to it that I feel the other online cities lack.

Yukumo Village (Monster Hunter Portable 3rd)


Although Portable 3rd was never localized, I imagine a fair bit of players in our hemisphere have payed a visit to Yukumo, be it on PSP or PS3. Yukumo is atmospheric and beautiful. Though I feel like Pokke beats it aesthetically, It's overall definitely one of the best offline villages in the game.

Tanjia Port (Monster Hunter Tri G)


I can't say too much about Tanjia, seeing as I've never been there, but from the looks of things, it's a vibrant, cultured locale with a Mediterranean feel, which is a welcome stylistic choice. Here's hoping 6 months from now we in the west have more to say about Tanjia Port.

And that's it guys! Thanks for reading. Lord Loss should be back to do next week's DotW as always, so here's hoping you guys can tolerate me for this week. Before I go, here are some questions to kick around in your responses:

-Favourite Village/Town?

-Least Favourite? (Creative I know)

-Best musical theme?

-Things you wish to see in future villages?

Anyway, discuss these and whatever other talking points you can think of in the comments below. Thanks for reading and have a great day!