E3 2016: Don’t Pick More Than One Palico In ‘Monster Hunter Generations’!

One thing that Monster Hunter has lacked is a pure support type character. Certain weapons, like the Hunting Horn for example, allow its wielder to buff and heal the team, but they’re also capable fighters in their own right. On the flip side, the games have never had a shortage of Palicos, CPU controlled cat sidekicks who either join you in battle, or can be discovered on the field with important items. Now that Monster Hunter Generations is debuting these mascots as a playable class, I couldn’t wait to take down a giant monster with such an adorable fighter. As I quickly learned however, this wasn’t the best idea after one of my partners also chose it, leading to a largely ineffective combination. In other words, do not pick more than one Palico!

Essentially a pure support class, the Palico has a series of fundamental differences that separate it from your typical hunter. Most noticeably, it doesn’t have a stamina meter, allowing it to run, climb, jump and attack to your heart’s content. Its weapon never goes dull, and it has two extra lives, meaning that it can die twice before it starts detracting from the team’s total pool of three lives. On top of that, it has more starting health than any other human character without eating food before going on a mission. Coming equipped with its own special abilities, it can even heal and buff the party, summon its own items, and trigger special attacks that are unique to it.

So at this point, you might wondering what the problem is. I had the same thought while I was playing, feeling like this character was a glorified Easy Mode. I quickly learned that wasn’t the case. First of all, the Palico does very little damage with horrible range, having to get right up on a monster in order to hurt it. This naturally leads to taking more damage, which is harder to recover from since it can’t carry any items other than the ones generated from its special abilities. To access them, you’ll have to charge your special meter, which can only be done by successfully attacking enemies. But as we mentioned above, that can be easier said than done.

After learning these details in the midst of a battle, I started to appreciate how well a team could gain an advantage with a strong performing kitty. From an offensive standpoint however, you’re essentially going in with a three person team assuming you’re in a four player party. Add in a second Palico, and you’re down to two, which is what happened with my group. We fought the Rathalos we were preying on for the full 15 minutes, but despite it limping and drooling for a long time, (telltale signs that it’s near death), we couldn’t do enough damage to seal the deal before our time was up.

With just a taste of what a full support character can do, I’m looking forward to learning more about the Palico class in Monster Hunter Generations. What abilities will it learn? What weapons can it wield? Is there a way to make it stronger, and will its support capabilities suffer? We’ll be sure to let you know when the game releases on July 15 for the 3DS, but you’ll be able to get a taste for yourself when the demo goes live to the public on June 30.