When I heard about Monster Hunter World, I actually shed a tear. It had taken years for us to get another console version of the notoriously niche action RPG. The wave of excited fans was too much to for my nostalgia. I created a mantra out of my need to save money to get the game at release; “Nothing till Monster Hunter.”
When I finally got the game, part of the character creation was a pleasant surprise. You get to design a Palico, or a little kitty hunter, to help you in your missions. So, like every other cat parent out there who hunts monsters, named the critter after my own cat, Howard. After a short design process, he was ready to go.
Now, palicos are useful little friends that help whenever they can. I spent hours grinding monsters, the real Howard curled up behind me on my chair, the digital one healing me at clutch moments in fights. I never thought twice about it. Until Howard ran away.
I'll spare you the details, but I stopped playing in the time that he was lost because it was hard to see him every time I logged in. That pain grew too much to bear when he turned up fatally injured in the driveway. He was unfortunately beyond saving, and we had to say goodbye to Howard shortly after his return. It crushed my soul to say bye to my best friend.
Fast forward a month and I reinstall MH:World on a whim, having forgotten why I'd uninstalled it in the first place. As the happy little tuxedo cat loaded in on the screen, I struggled to keep playing. In my head, I wasn't prepared for something as small as just seeing his name on the menu, much less a digital replica of my brave kitty. After a minute, though, I pushed through and made a promise: I would finish the game the way I'd played the majority of it, just me and the cat.
I had progressed through most of the story when I stopped playing, having already taken down two of the three elder dragons before the final boss. It took a bit of grinding, and a lot of emotional fortitude, but I managed to beat the final elder dragon and advance to the end game boss. I'll not spoil it, just in case you haven't been there yet, but it's a tough fight. Several times, I was saved at the last second by a clutch vigor wasp from my felyne companion. It took a couple tries, but we managed to beat it.
That's when I was hit with a series of bittersweet cut scenes. The game wraps up in classic MH fashion: With a celebration. You get to see your hunter, all decked out in your sweet gear, as they enjoy the hard-earned festivities. A heartfelt speech from the Admiral tops off another solid entry to the series. Those bittersweet cut scenes were only so hard on me because as you celebrate, your Palico joins in on the fun and food. So, it was a fitting end to something I never honestly thought I'd finish
Losing Howard was hard on me, but this strangely helped. It was something I could resolve at my own pace, which turned out to be a hunt or two a day. I saw it through to the end because something inside me needed to do that. The whole thing turned into an experience I'll never forget or regret..
-Ben
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