User blog comment:Lord Loss/Discussion of the Week: Monster Hunter Frontier 4.0/@comment-1758220-20120512005218

ESPINAS:

Concept: A plant-like Wyvern who stalks the dense forests. Interesting enough. The idea for it to have paralytic/poisonous properties in an effort to emulate certain plants was a nice touch. 8/10

Design: His overall design is quite nice, though I'm not a huge fan of his facial design. His mouth/teeth make him look slightly cartooney. That said, the arrangement of spines and plates are nice, and the green matches the hot pink surprisingly well. 8.5/10

Sound: Uses the base area theme for the Great Forest. However, the BGM, like most area BGMs in MHFO, gets a much more badass version past HR100, which is quite commendable. His roar is not too distinctive, nor are most of the sounds he makes. 8/10

Gameplay: He does a nice job of being a Frontier-class wyvern. When you fight him, he feels different from the other wyverns in the series, but similar enough that he's relatable. He has a bevy of unique attacks, patterns, and movements, and his apathy to rage mechanic is nicely done. The White version will wipe the floor with those who are not prepared. 9/10

Equipment: You know, I nevr did make a set of Espinas armour, and it's been a long while since I've had a subscription. Perhaps one of our other resident MHFO players can field this category for me. (N/A)

Overall: He makes a great first impression as Frontier's first permanent exclusive. He's got a refreshingly unique yet familiar moveset, an interesting design, and the challenge that's needed to keep players coming back. 9/10