No, That Isn’t Jabba the Hutt; It’s Monster Hunter 4’s New Shark Dragon

Monster Hunter 4’s latest trailer showed plenty of new monsters and habitats, including the Frozen Sea map and its amphibious shark-like monsters. Capcom’s latest update gives us a closer look at the shark monster’s mature form, along with a familiar Elder Dragon that was recently teased. In addition, they also show some new Felyne Comrade features.

Zaboazagill

Here’s a look at the amphibious shark monster, known as Zaboazagill. It is the mature form of the smaller Squagill. It has the ability to gush out a special fluid from its body that can instantly freeze, creating a tough icy armor.

The Zaboazagill is also known as the “Camo-Shark”, as it uses this ability to hide in its icy surroundings while hunting prey. It is a highly aggressive monster that would just about eat anything in sight. It also has the ability to inflate itself, giving it a much larger and intimidating presence.

Another one of Zaboazagill’s special attacks involves shooting out its special liquid to instantly freeze whatever it touches. It uses this attack to immobilize its prey before chomping down on them.

Kushala Daora

The mighty Elder Dragon of the wind, Kushala Daora will be making a return in Monster Hunter 4, as some of you may have guessed upon seeing the end of the latest trailer. Kushala Daora is a unique Elder Dragon with the ability to shoot powerful blasts of wind, along with plated skin that is said to be as hard as metal. One of its signature moves is its ability to create storms and tornados using its powerful wings.

Approaching this beast alone can be a hassle, as it will always have strong winds pushing away anything that gets too close. Even if you do manage to get through the gale, it has its tough metal-like scales that give it extra defense against attacks.

…not to mention its ability to fly around, making it important to get good hits in whenever the opportunity presents itself. In addition to having tough skin, strong wings and the ability to fly around freely, Kushala Daora can also attack using its razor sharp claws and bursting wind breath attacks.

Now, it wouldn’t be fair for the Hunters if monsters were the only ones getting stronger. Monster Hunter 4’s Felyne Comrades will be more useful than ever to help fighting against the tough monsters. The Felynes have characteristic traits, called Trends, that shows their preferred actions and abilities.

The above images shows three Trend examples:

• Healing: This Trend will have your Felyne support by using heals and other flute abilities.
• Bomber: Felynes with the Bomber Trend will help by using various types of Barrel Bombs.
• Assist: The Assist Trend is one of the more useful ones, which involves using Shock Traps and more.

In Monster Hunter 4 you will always have a Main Felyne, along with Regulars. The Regulars will consist of five selected Felynes, who will have their own Trends, while the Main Felyne’s Trend will completely depend on the Trends of your Regular Felynes. For example, having three Felynes with the Healing Trend  will also give the same trait to your Main Felyne, but it can also be more effective depending on how many Regular Felynes you have with matching Trends

You’ll now be able to encounter wild Felynes with different Trends while you’re out on the Hunt, and can scout them to join you. Once you finish your quest, you’ll be able to take a closer look at the Felyne’s stats and decide if you’d like to keep them or not.

Monster Hunter 4 will be slated for release on September 14th, for 5,990 yen on Nintendo 3DS.