User blog comment:Lord Loss/Discussion of the Week: Giant Monsters/@comment-5020152-20131020144249

Well, this is certainly a big kickoff for DotW! *shot*

Lao-Shan Lung: A really, really cool monster, one of my favorite 1st Gen monsters in terms of design. However, my love of Lao-Shan has been severely diminished from the amount of times I've had to grind for his parts - and thus, repeat the already-boring fight - for weapons in MHFU. I personally find Ashen Lao-Shan Lung to be a cooler-looking monster.

Shen Gaoren: Definitely one of my favorites. A giant crustacean with the skull of a Lao-Shan on its back? Absolutely amazing. The clicking and creaking noises it makes are really cool, making it sound like it is really old and has just started moving again after hundreds of years. However, I find myself having to constantly wear Blangonga armor against this guy for the Quake Resistance. Very frustrating.

Jhen Mohran: For once, and despite my bias on the 3rd Generation, I don't find Jhen to be all that appealing. His roar is pretty awesome, and I do like the fight, but I just don't like Jhen that much.

Ceadeus: One of my favorite Elder Dragons. The music is gorgeous and the fight - the second part, at least - is really fun. I really find it quite satisfying when you break something on him and he flips over in the water, displaying his injured tail or beard as if saying "what have you done to me?!" His collection of sounds is fantastic, ranging from deep, throaty bellows to hypnotic whale-song. Ceadeus is just awesome.

Daren Mohran: A much more frightening-looking monster than Jhen, but other than that, they're practically the same monster. Next.

Dara Amadyura: Now THIS is an Elder Dragon! A giant wyrm-like monster with the head of a snake? YES PLEASE. For obvious reasons, Dara is my favorite of all of the giant monsters, and maybe my favorite of all 4th Gen monsters. The blue fire is pretty impressive, as is the way the fight itself looks. The music definitely leaves something to be desired, though, except for the introductory cutscene. However, Dara's sheer epicness makes up for that.

On a side note, I find Dara's dying cutscene to be extraordinarily amazing.