User blog:Lord Loss/Discussion of the Week: Cold Areas

Welcome to Discussion of the Week: Cold Areas!

Brrr. As winter is coming (where I live, anyway) I thought it'd be a good time to look at the really cold areas in MH. So without further ado:

Snowy Mountains


Appeared in: MH2, MHF2, MHFU

Well... my thoughts on this area are pretty mixed. I really like how interconnected it all feels, the areas do connect very seamlessly, and the variety is excellent; cool grassy hills and a lake at the bottom, frozen and largely abandoned ice caves inside the mountain, and snowy, windswept plateaus out in the open at the top. That's all good. On the other hand, the layout of the areas is... not great. If you're fighting Tigrex in Area 8 and get KO'd, I can't think of any other area in MHFU where its more of a trek to get back to the fight. It just ain't fun. It would've been fairly easy to fix as well with the judicious use of shortcuts to get up the mountain quicker. But anyway.

Tundra


Appeared in: MH3, MHP3, MH3U

An interesting area, I must admit. By its very nature, it's flatter and a lot easier to navigate than the Snowy Mountains, but I don't think it's quite as... memorable. It doesn't have the variety that the Snowy Mountains does; it's basically either a snow-covered plain, or frozen cave. Having said that, there are some nice details, and the raised ice ledge in Area 6 is a nice thought. The hidden areas are a good touch as well, but they're so well designed I don't know why we don't get to see them more often (I believe only Deviljho and Barroth Sub can break the log down and get in). Having said that, secret areas opened up by weak, fleeing monsters is a great idea that I'd have dearly loved to have seen used in other 3rd generation areas.

Snowy Mountains Peak


Appeared in: MHFU

I like the broken base camp, I guess. And it's much better than the Battleground for fighting a big plondering monster, but the annoying crack down the middle of the area really wasn't needed.

Polar Zone


Appeared in: MHP3rd

I love the aurora, it looks wonderful. And this time you can cross over the crack in the middle! Another nice touch is that this area's more enclosed than the previous, to better utilise Ukanlos (Akantor roars, lava spikes up from the ground, Ukanlos roars, icicles fall from above). Good symmetry.

Questions

 * Which of these areas is your favourite?
 * Your least favourite?
 * Should any of them come back in the future?