Bit of an explanation as to what prompted me to make this post: I recently played through Sniper Ghost Warrior: Contracts 1 and 2 and I just felt off. I’ve slaughtered hundreds of innocents for my amusement in games like Fallout and TES, I play through No Russian with a grin, but for some reason, I refrain from killing bad guys in SGW? The first one has you hunt down Russian oligarchs and war criminals, while the second one is about Middle Eastern terrorists and this is the game where I feel bad about killing? There’s just something about the soldiers talking about their daily problems like making no money, uncomfortable boots and sweating too much, or showing eachother pictures of their dogs, not to mention the absolute horror when you’ve got a knife against their throat or when they find a body. I hope this isn’t weird, but I’ve never experienced remorse for killing a video game enemy, and I’ve played a lot of different games. I’d like to hear about your experiences, and which games do a good job humanising common enemies, the concept intrigues me.
Monster Hunter, especially when the monsters are trying to flee, you have to chase them into their lair where you’ll find them sleeping peacefully and then we’ll, you must finish the job…
The other day I was playing the iPhone version and my daughter saw me taking down a Pukei-pukei and when she saw his dying animation she was very sad.
The sound they make as they limp back to their nests - burned into my brain.
Came here to say this game. Even with the t rex it makes me sad to kill them. So monster Hunter World was my first and last monster Hunter game , didn’t even finish it and didn’t even start iceborn because of this.
That game really hinges on you not having any sympathy what so ever to the monsters.
This was the kulu-ya-ku for me. It’s just a docile, goofy, egg-stealing bird that defended itself with rocks when threatened. Why are we killing this thing?? That was one of the only “monsters” I would always capture instead of kill.
Honestly in don’t think a captured monster will have a better fate, I doubt they rehome them in a farm… I had to stop playing MH Generation when I had to kill a giant owl, no way, just no.
In monster hunter world at least, captured creatures could be seen back at the main camp and were studied by the researchers there. They could optionally be fought in the arena, otherwise they’d be released back into the wild, at least that’s what I choose to believe.
Well just remember, there’s a reason you get more monster parts from capturing them alive
That was one that I was perfectly fine putting down.
Even in the cutscene from MH:W, when you find Kulu it’s just rummaging through some vases and is scared to death and flees when it sees you. Makes you think who the monster in the game is.
This right here… I know the game is literally called Monster Hunter, but my brain just goes “That poor beast just wanted to eat and fuck like anybody else, and just because it’s big and barfs acid, we deem it a monster, slay it slowly and brutally, invade its only safe space, and proceed to make hats from its skin.”
I love the gameplay, but I genuinely can’t deal with that.
Dude this is exactly why I can’t even be bothered to play this game. I just don’t see a compelling reason to hate these ‘monsters’ enough to kill them.
I mean, it’s just basically a gameplay vs story thing. Canonically you’re technically only going after monsters that are a danger or terrorizing people off screen the vast majority of the time
Gameplay wise we kill so many monsters. Lore wise it’s a nuisance control program where only problematic or surplus are hunted.
There are of course the quest like hunt it because I want the feathers, but those are rich people paying off the right people at the guild.
Lore wise though it’s done to prevent nature from becoming unbalanced. For the most part they only hunt as needed, and the parts are all used for crafting, food, and the like.
Well it’s not called Monster Friender
You have Monster Hunter Stories for that!
Undertale lol, I didn’t realize it was an option to be nice until the game was almost over and I’d slaughtered everyone I’d come across
That’s interesting considering how the game kinda beats you over the head about that in the very beginning. In no uncertain terms lol… especially right after you leave the prologue area lol
I’ll take 20 copies!
Aw man he didn’t drop the piece I wanted.
Well time to kill you 50 more times
There was 1 time I think it was in that Guiding Island with another 2 guys, and we came across the chicken, don’t remember if it was the flashbang one or the feather one, either we beat it so badly he could barely move, and damn I had to stop for a moment because I really felt bad about it.
That was a proper bullying.
I think this is the reason I never really got into monster hunter. I’m not huge on the mechanics but also not really into hunting. Just feels bad to kill them.
If it helps we have to cull deer in real life otherwise they’ll kill lots of people on car accidents. Conservationism isn’t inherently evil just a part of life. This is just a primitive version of that. You don’t kill the monsters the village dies.
The evil part is using like a finger and a scale instead of the whole animal.
Maybe you can justify it by the money you get at the end of the mission but still.
Honestly Pukei-Pukei is one of the few I have trouble with.
… I assuage my guilty concience by buying plushes or something of the ones I like.