I don't always play online, but when I do it's Monster Hunter Tri. It was a fine Saturday evening when I hopped online to meet up with some friends from GAF for a bit of monster hunting. Said friends had been playing the game online longer than I and thus had achieved high rank sooner, but that night was my night. After a couple quests, I finally left the low ranks and was able to hunt high rank monsters, which are generally the same as low rank monsters but with more power and more health. There was, however, one significant difference I'd been warned about. A new monster called the Deviljho would randomly wander in while you fought your target. "Be careful in your low rank armor," I was warned. "It'll probably kill you in one or two hits."
We were hunting Barroth, a stocky brown dino-thing with a crown-like ridge on its head. I liked old Barroth and after being dropped into its desert habitat, I ran off to the mud hole it inhabited to join up with my comrades for some Barroth bashing. There's not much much music in this game, mostly just ambient nature sounds until you actually get into a major fight, at which point the battle theme of the environment plays; one theme for the desert, one for the jungle, one for the volcano and so forth. My three fellow hunters were already in battle when I arrived on the scene, and I immediately jumped into the fray. Barroth hit harder this time around, but I knew him well and the battle moved along at a familiar pace. Suddenly, the music changed. The desert theme faded out, overwhelmed by the blaring horns and ominous strings straight out of a Godzilla movie. My comrades scattered to the four winds and stomping into my line of sight was a huge green monster that looked something like a cross between a Tyrannosaurus and a crocodile.
I sprinted out of the area, moving over to the next zone, and waited for it to go away. On the mini-map I could see the icons of the other hunters milling about, popping into the area we'd exited every now and then to see if Jho was still there. I decided to brave it myself and take a peek. I headed towards the transition point back to the mud hole. I'd nearly reached the edge of the zone when suddenly a pair of green, tree trunk-like legs appeared before me. I was close enough to kiss its shins. Around I whirled and ran, Jho immediately giving chase, every five steps of mine equaling one of its ground devouring strides. I had a problem.
I sprinted, my stamina bar rapidly depleting. I had a long run across an open area before I could reach the next exit. I could all but imagine the hot, fetid breath of the beast pouring down my neck, and I knew I wasn't going to make it. Risking a quick glance, I pointed the camera behind me to see just how close it was, when Jho made a lunge at me and missed! I stopped dead in my tracks, stunned, as it recoiled from its failed grab, willing the stamina bar to fill faster, then started sprinting again as Jho recovered and resumed the chase. Staggering the last two steps, I made it to the transition point and zoned out! "I nearly had a heart-attack," I typed to my friends, and it felt like the truth—my heart was racing as if I'd literally just sprinted away from imminent death.
Jho single-handedly added a whole new dimension of terror and fun, to Monster Hunter Tri, spicing up a game I'd already been playing for many weeks. When the big green brute barged in I'd run away, or dodge around it if I felt particularly daring, like playing with fire. Alas, as I improved my gear and hunted the Deviljho in earnest, the fear faded. I grew used to its behavior patterns and became experienced at killing it. The thrill and terror receded in the face of familiarity. Jho remains a challenging monster even today, still quite capable of taking me down, but I get the better of it more often than not, and I miss those early days when Jho's battle theme alone would send me fleeing. So, to any of you out there going through Monster Hunter for the first time, treasure the newness of each encounter, when each experience is at its peak of excitement. Savor the terror in your games. Especially when a surprise beast like Jho comes to crash the party.