While Monster Hunter: World’s Spring Blossom Festival brings back old event quests, the game keeps adding new and absurd rewards as well. The latest event quest offers one of the most exciting arena battles yet and transforms your palico cat companion into Mega Man.
“A Rush of Blood” is a new hunter rank 13 quest that pits the player against two rabid Odogoron. One is miniaturized, the other standard size. The battle central to the quest requires players to focus on their position and movement, requiring the kind of strategic play that I love. The smaller Odogoron can leap around just as much as the normal sized monster, pressing the player to focus on big opening and execute more deliberate attacks. When it gets enraged, there’s a bit of a hit and run quality as well. I’m a Dual Blades user, and I can’t count the times I tried and failed to hit this tiny bastard with my spinning attacks. It gets even more interesting once the second monster shows up. Dodging and setting up for the perfect attack is a great time.
Even better, the entire fight is set to classic Mega Man music, with a different track depending on which weapon you’re using. The fight is fast—it only takes about 10 minutes— the mood is light. Unlike the tiresome grind to get Street Fighter’s Ryu costume, the quest for Mega Man’s armor is a blast.
Each round against the monsters grants tickets that can be brought to the armorsmith and redeemed for armor and a buster cannon for your palico. It only requires five tickets today and you’ll earn one or two per fight.
Even if you’re trying to catch up on your backlog of event quests during the festival, it’s definitely worth taking time to run this quest and get some awesome gear.