It's more about hit points — fighting a large monster is an event, but fighting small monsters is a nuisance. (polygon.com)
Monsters Small Monsters Locations Low Rank Armor High Rank Armor Great Sword Tree Long Sword Tree Dual Blades Tree (ign.com)
Quests» objectives range from collecting mushrooms to slaying a certain number of smaller monsters or truly terrifying beasts. (nintendoworldreport.com)