User blog comment:Mckrongs/Monster Hunter 4 for the Nintendo 3DS/@comment-4555457-20120920070815/@comment-5489419-20120920094127

Having hunters in the cutscenes draw you into the game a little more than any other Monster Hunter game, simply because that's YOU stumbling upon that Tigrex. They weren't joking when they said they would make the story a lot better in this one.

All the new attacks are awesome! The Lance especially caught my eye, as you are now able to quickly turn around after you pierce through the monster with a Lance charge and continue attacking. <3 Lances.

The quick shot for Bows is so nice, and it helps out their DPS a little more. A good weapon for soloing pesky wyverns.

I noticed (correct me if I'm wrong) but there was a little energy burst when the Greatsword blademaster attacked after the leaping vertical slash. That attack might be a new GS charge. (Again, correct me if I'm wrong!)

And then, of course, there's the Insect (/Hive/Swarm) Staff (/Rod/Cane.) That weapon stll intrigues me because I can't figure it out. At one point the hunter shoots a cloud of bugs at an Aptonoth and it shows up as an Orange cloud for Defense. Then the bug grabs it and gives it to the hunter and then Defense boost. Then he used it on Kecha Wacha, and it was a Red swarm. "Sweet," I thought, "that means different monsters will have different swarms. Nope; then he aims at Kecha Wacha's tail, and it's a White swarm. Don't know what to make of that since I can't understand Japanese, but I do know that it is cool. Still, a great weapon, indeed! Superb for cutting tails and getting that wyvern on the ground so your friends could hack away at it! However, I do know that that Insect Staff has a wide hit radius--that could mean bad news for friendly Hunters anywhere near you. I could almost go as far as say that a lot of people will groan when someone chooses that weapon, but I have no solid grounds to say that safely; that's just a speculation, and I hope it stays that way.