Gathering Hall 7★: Taking on G-Rank HR4!

Let’s jump right in. My gear hasn't changed—still rocking the White Rain Bullet. I just took down Khezu in the last Urgent Quest, but guess what? Another Khezu. For some reason, this game loves to stack quests for the exact same monster back-to-back.

Once Khezu's health gets low, it just keeps flying all over the place to waste time, constantly hopping from area to area. Seriously, give me a break! You can really feel how early Monster Hunter was still lacking in balance and proper playtesting.

Next up is Basarios, hiding out disguised as a rock. No issues here—it's an easy win. But naturally, the next Key Quest is... yet another Basarios. Was it in the west, maybe? I really don't see the point of having two in a row, but I'll knock it out quickly and keep moving.

The finale for this rank is the duo: Rathian and Rathalos. Still using the White Rain Bullet up to this point. I load Thunder Shots for Rathian and Water Shots for Rathalos. These two are repeat offenders when it comes to stalling the clock. That close-up of Rathalos's eyes is pretty cute, though.

You can cheese them from ledges like this, but Rathian flies around so much that she often ascends right up to where you are. Still, it's not bad at all, so whenever they're in this zone, I make full use of the cliff.

When both monsters are clumped together, Pellet Shots hit them both simultaneously while ignoring the ledge elevation, allowing me to dish out heavy damage to both at once.

Fighting both at the same time was pretty hectic, but I managed to slay Rathalos first. I don't have a picture, but in Area 6 (I think?), monsters retreat to sleep when their health gets low. Rathian wasn't even weak enough to sleep yet, but she flew in anyway and cuddled right up next to him. What a sweet couple! If only I had brought Barrel Bombs, I could've blown them both sky-high together. It took some time, but quest clear!

That brings us to the next Urgent Quest: Azure Rathalos and Pink Rathian. Wait... are their colors the same?

I went after Rathian first, but she spent so much time hovering in the air that the endless stalling caused me to run out of time on my first attempt.

For my second attempt, I switched my strategy and targeted Rathalos first.

I managed to take Rathalos down in about 25 minutes, and then...

Knowing Rathian would take more time, I had saved plenty of Flash Bombs to burn her down as quickly as possible.

And with that done, next up is the final Hunter Rank quest!