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After spending nearly eight hours on this game in a single day/night, I can definitely say that I'm helplessly hooked. I tried a little bit of everything and thus far my opinion of Monster Hunter Tri is extremely positive with only a few minor issues.
GRAPHICS: Wow. The first thought that shot through my mind was "this is beautiful!" Graphically the game feels a bit low-res on my 42" TV, but the art style and quality pretty much make up for that in spades. The environments are lush with details and beautiful colors. The details on weapons, armor, monster and dinosaur models are excellent and have definitely whetted my appetite for more. Human NPCs are kind of weird and awkward looking, but you'll quickly forget how bad they look when you see the monsters in action. The monsters are beautiful, varied, and a joy a to look at and watch. The animations on the many of the enemies are stunning, fluid, and you can't help but appreciate the effort put forth to bring these creatures to life.
GAMEPLAY: Both online and offline the game consists of hack-n-slash missions to go hunt gigantic monsters. There are some fetch quest missions as well, but most of the time the missions are very similar to what you would find in a game like World of Warcraft or other similar online offerings. The game has an exceptionally heavy emphasis on combat with minimal story getting in the way of the action. Combat can be either fast-paced or slow and deliberate depending on your personal style and choice of weapon. The combo system is limited but effective and each of the 7 weapon types has its own distinct style, advantages, and disadvantages. It may sound repetitive, but the driving force of the game is seeing what the next hunt will behold. Some of the boss battles, even early on, are simply breathtakingly awesome. When you kill a boss, even at the lower levels of the game, you will feel a sense of accomplishment.
Throughout the game you will level up your equipment, which is very important because your character actually doesn't level up. While your skill in combat is very important in this game, you won't get anywhere if you don't make sure you get the best armor and weapons available. Loot is king, and you will spend a lot of time hunting for the right components to craft the next big awesome weapon or armor upgrade. As you upgrade your weapons and armor you will see an amazing amount of customization in your character appearance, but more importantly you'll also see an amazing difference in your combat performance. When it comes down to it, this game is hard. Casual gamers will likely be turned off by the difficulty and depth of this game, but those looking for a deep and engaging action RPG experience need look no further.
DESIGN: Level designs are varied and gorgeous. I have only seen a handful of the sections of the game and can confidently say that the levls and maps are awesome. Environments are varied and in many cases the environments play a key role in your hunting strategy, influencing the weapons and equipment you choose to bring with you as well as your basic battlefield strategies. My only real complaint is that you will see a lot of load screens as you pass between zones. Luckily, these load screens are blessedly short (2 to 5 seconds usually) and don't ruin the gameplay experience, but the issue really does interfere with the immersion factor.
CONTROLS (when using Classic Controller): Controls are solid, as long as you use the classic controller. While more complicated than many games, the controls are responsive and the button layout is pretty good for the most part. Once you get past the slightly steep learning curve, the controls will become second nature. The swimming controls were actually better than I expected. My only major complaint about the controls I find it is too easy to accidentally use a potion or healing item because the same exact button is used to sheath your weapon. I drink a lot of potions on accident because of this issue, but on the plus side my characters are usually pretty healthy!
CONTROLS (when using a Wii Remote and Nunchuck): Oh. My. God. Who thought these controls were a good idea? Seriously, I don't think I have played a Wii game with more complicated and unusable controls than this. Different actions depend on whether or not the controller is twisted left or right, but you are still swinging the remote around, and button mappings are inconvenient and change depending on the context of your situation. It's a mess. My advice to anyone wanting to play this game, buy a Classic Controller.
SINGLE-PLAYER MODE: Single player mode is very solid, but very challenging. A storyline is present, but most people will probably find it forgettable. Really, it comes down to finding loot, hunting awesome monsters, and making cool weapons out the body parts of those monsters.
SPLIT-SCREEN ARENA MODE: This is pretty decent and my roommate and I dove into this for a little while. We found it enjoyable but the experience is fairly limited, consisting only of boss battles within a single arena with a pre-set selection of equipment. You can gain some pretty nice rewards within arena mode and it's a decent way of introducing a friend to the game. Compared to online multi-player or the single-player modes, split-screen doesn't hold a candle.
ONLINE EXPERIENCE: Getting into the online experience takes some getting used to, but this is truly the best part of the game. I would favorably compare this to Phantasy Star Online, except this is so much better on nearly every level. I do question the wisdom of the "Server -> City Gate -> City -> Quest" structure, which takes a bit of getting used to, but it does work. Without coordination and communication between other players, it is a little too easy for a newbie player to accidentally start questing alone when the real intent was to joining together for a quest. Once you learn how to navigate the online world, finding a group of people to play with is fairly easy. The game supports Wii Speak for online chat, but most players don't seem to have that peripheral at the time of this writing. I didn't experience any lag at all while playing, and once I intentionally joined a server that had the highest number of users just to see how well it performed. I was pleasantly surprised.
The player community seemed nice enough and of the small handful of people I've played with most were either helpful, polite, or silent. Chatting with your group will be important, but virtual keyboard in the game is a bit clumsy, as is the case with every virtual keyboard I have ever used. I plugged a spare Apple USB keyboard into my Wii and found that it worked perfectly and made communication much better. If you don't have Wii Speak, at the very least find a spare USB keyboard and plug it in, preferably one that uses a wireless dongle. So far I've only met one rude person with a higher level character that talked trash on me for being new to the game, but muting those people is simple. That elitist, high-and-mighty, God's gift to gaming has been permanently added to my banned players list and I'll never hear from him ever again. Problem solved. The internet can definitely do without people like that. Overall I would say that my online experience, while slow to get rolling, has been largely positive. I expect to probably spend well over 100 hours playing online with this game, possibly more.
PROS:
+++ Gorgeous graphics
+++ A hard-core loot-based action-RPG experience that quickly offers difficult challenges. Not for the faint of heart. This game will challenge you.
+++ Online 4-player cooperative monster hunting gives you the chance to share some truly awesome battles with others.
+++ Voice chat. Online play allows the use of the Wii Speak peripheral to allow players to communicate between eachother.
+++ Keyboard support. Plugging a standard USB keyboard into the Wii will allow you to chat easier with other players.
+++ Lagless online play. I was completely shocked by the lack of lag when I played online. I may just be lucky though.
+++ Online play does not require Friend Codes in order to communicate with other players.
+++ Initial character creation and customization is fairly deep, allowing a wide range of physical characteristics.
+++ Amazing enemy models and animation, full of detail and amazingly fluid.
+++ Arena Mode, a limited but decent split-screen multi-player boss challenge experience is included.
CONS:
--Steep learning curve that may scare away more casual gamers.
--Repetive mission designs, much in the same vein as World of Warcraft, Phantasy Star Online, etc. Go here, kill that, collect this, complete mission, get next mission.
--The controls when using the Wii Remote and Nunchuck are so awkward and complicated that they are almost worthless. In my opinion, this game is really only playable if you use a Classic Controller or Classic Controller Pro.
--Frequent screen load times, but thankfully the load times I experience are usually less than 4 seconds.
--Although voice chat is supported it is hard to find players with voice chat enabled.
--NPC animations and character models are fairly stiff and awkward
--NPC dialogue is pretty bad. At its best it is humorously awkward and annoying at its worst.
--Online play is a little confusing at first because of the "Server -> City Gate-> City-> Quest" structure.
Releasing a deep, engaging, and time consuming game like this right at the beginning of summer is just cruel. I know I'll be torn between playing this game and hitting the great outdoors. I have a few (mostly minor) complaints about the game, but most of them truly are nothing more than minor annoyances and blemishes on an otherwise amazing game. Graphically and artistically this game is amazing and the gameplay is hard and challenging but amazingly rewarding at the same time. Taking down boss monsters, either alone or in a group, always gives a sense of achievement and leaves me craving the next hunt. When it comes down to it, this is a good solo experience packaged in with a great online experience. Fans of Phantasy Star Online, Diablo, or Borderlands should definitely check this game out since this game shares much of the same emphasis on finding loot to customize your character with.
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I hadn't heard of this particular franchise until a couple of months ago, when I started hearing rumbles about it from a webcomic I read, and quickly my interest was piqued. He gave some tidbits on the game, and I delved in to research on the title. Now the title has released and I want to elaborate on it a bit, for those curious who hit this web page to help them make a decision.
This game hearkens back to older style RPGs. focusing more on development of a character then a linear story. In this game you are a new hunter recently arrived at a village with a problem. You work to gain the trust of the villagers and eventually save them.
This, however, does not cover the scope of the game. Challenging combat, many interesting weapons to learn and master, and a system of gathering and crafting that allow you to develop and upgrade your weapons lend a long game life to this title. The game has an ecosystem that very nearly feels real as you explore it.
And all of this is included in a game with up to 4 player cooperative play, allowing further depth and exploration with friends or strangers. Battles take on a whole new dimension as you work with your friends, and you can face even beasts of greater grandeur with a party.
My only minor niggling concern is that while the game states that it can be played with the classic controller or the wii-mote, I found the controls with the wii-mote to be obtuse at best. This may vary with other users, but I would recommend at least having a classic controller on hand.
This title will allow you to explore a very nearly breathing world, fight gigantic creatures in titanic clashes, and indulge in a classic and primal struggle as a hunter of monsters. This is adventure gaming at its core, with solid game play not be overlooked either by fans or newcomers to this genre.
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Ok so I play games like Super Smash Brothers, Mario Kart Wii, New Super Mario Brothers Wii, Super Mario Galaxy...I mean you get the picture! Then I went outside my confort zone and grabbed this game...HOLY CRAP DUDE THIS GAME IS AWESOME! I got the we cause I have a wife and a couple kids so I thought it would be good for the family and it is but as my little girl calls..."this is daddy's game." I get home from work kiss the wife hug the kids roll to the man cave and power up the Wii. This game is so deep. If you think about it there are 3 different ways to play this game first you have the main game which is loaded with all these quest and monsters. Then you got a 2 player offline mode. Havin really messed with this but anything you do in this game is not in vain. You get rewarded for everything you. Then the online is truly awesome as well. I was in a group with 2 more people and explained to them that I was new and the were really cool about it. Teaching me the ropes. Man, we must have been on line for about 3 to 4 hours together. Now they are on my friend list and I see them almost all the time. Pretty cool talking about what new armor we got and how crazy our swords look. Glad to finally get close to the same online experience as the Xbox and PS3 owners thank you Capcom.
Honest reviews on Monster Hunter Tri - Standard
I'll say right now that Monster Hunter Tri is not a game you just pick up and beat in a couple hours. It's not a game you even beat in a couple weeks. Tri combines a lot of the joys of MMO's without deliberately punishing you for going it solo. Items you obtain in the game are usually gathered from the various hunting grounds and combined into gradually more sophisticated items. Take a potion for example, to make one you combine a blue mushroom and a herb together. Throw a piece of honey on top of that and you get a Mega Potion. It's a pretty alchemical process that leads to players often filling the item box in their room like it was a warehouse. These items come in all shapes and sizes from mineral ores you mined yourself to bugs to various plants. This isn't the hallmark of this game though, no far from it. Like the title suggests, you're there to hunt monsters and this franchise delivers like none other.
The basic premise of the game is that you are a hunter, you take jobs and quests provided by the guild to help out the locals. This usually involves either gathering something or hunting down a big nasty man eating behemoth intent on tearing out your entrails. It's not as graphic as all that but there is blood. The game is a bit different depending on if you play the single player or the online modes. The single player has you helping out the people of Moga Village after an earthquake rocks their floating sea shanty and the local fauna start acting up. The flagship monster is the Lagiacrus, the big blue dragon thing on the front cover. Apparently it decided to move into the area and has been making the villagers even more miserable. Most of your early quests involve becoming a bad enough dude/girl to go and kill the thing. Also in Offline is Cha-Cha, a little imp like helper that is part side kick, part tribal comedian and all parts monster bait. Seriously, the most useful aspect of this little guy is that he often distracts the monster's attention away from you so you can get more hits in on it. Speaking of monsters...
The game has around a dozen 'minion' type critters; pretty much just animals that can be found in groups throughout each region. Unlike other games there is no 'champion level' type of one of these things but online play increases the health of all targets since generally you are playing with friends while online and the rewards are tend to be higher of course. Then there are of course the main monsters themselves. To give the idea that each region is rather organic in nature, you never see the health bar of the creatures you're hunting and if you've hunted the creature before it will sometimes pop up during any quest in the area both offline and online. These are the true marks for you in terms of goals, most of your time is taken by either fighting, tracking or preparing for a showdown with one of these beasts. Each one is unique and requires some attention in learning how they tick. Going in like Leeroy Jenkins (spaz that charges blindly into the enemy with no strategy) is more than likely to get you killed and you'll be taking a ride on the kitty cart back to base. By that I mean some cat people (Felynes) load your butt on a wooden cart and unceremoniously drop you at the general start location for each region which is something of a rest area for you as well as a drop-off and supply station.
Upon a successful hunt you can expect more items, stuff that you have literally carved from the creature's body (usually around three times) and other items given to you on the reward screen. You then use these items to usually do one of two things, make armor or make weapons. As to be expected, there are sets of armor you can create that not only give you much needed defense but also handy skills that generally make your hunting a lot easier in one way or the other. Armor is divided into two types, blademaster and gunner. Gunner armor is for ranged weaponry with more elemental resistances and melee weapon users use the more defense heavy blademaster sets. There are cosmetic differences so you can tell the two kinds appart even within the same set. Weapons come in the form of either a Sword and Shield, Great Sword, Hammer, Lance, Long Sword, the new Switch Axe and three different weight classes of Bow Guns. Each one handles differently and comes with its own unique perks. For beginners I reccomend the Sword and Shield simply because its the most well rounded and mobile of the weapons to use and later on has plenty of uses. Weapons can also have various elements attached to them. Those being Fire, Ice, Water, Lightning, and Dragon. Then there are three status elements which are Sleep, Paralyze and Poison. Most higher end weapons deal one of these kinds of damage or inflict one of the status elements so the usual RPG style strategies can be used to some effect in this game.
Basic play is very action oriented, not in the platforming sense but in the running around, fighting local wildlife and collecting materials sense. If you can interact with the enviroment in some way it will have a red arrow icon which usually leads to climbing. Question marks are carving or collecting spots and exclaimation points generally occur over a monster's head when it spots you. You can crouch, roll and weapon permitting block. Running requires holding the 'R1' on the classic controller. The game can be played with either the Wiimote or the new classic controller which I reccomend for more precise movement and generally lesser level of frustration as some attacks with the Wiimote require twisting and as with other Wii games can lead to the player not doing the movement they intended. I must warn that there is no auto targeting fairy for you to rely on in this game. You have to align your character and gauge the distance of your attacks on your own. Bow Gun users do get two aiming modes to switch into but you can't move while doing this. This game plays in third person for the most part, the camera can be realigned behind the character with a simple tap of the correct button and it can be rotated with the right joy stick on the classic controller. The character isn't as mobile as oh say....Kratos from God of War but your character does have plenty of options where it counts and unless you get trapped in a corner by a monster it's unlikely you'll miss jumping all that much though it would be nice. In Tri swimming has been implimented so if you see a body of water that's deep enough you can dive right in. Movement is pretty typical for water based enviroments, there is a water version of the dodge which is useful, you get an oxygen bar which can be replenished via the bubble streams scattered sporadically along the bottom of all water areas. Water battles are a bit different than land battles and some monsters are at their most dangerous in the omni directional enviroment so it takes some practice.
All said and done, there is a reason Monster Hunter is so popular in Japan. It combines the right amount of RPG elements with the right amount of Action elements in a fairly organic enviroment. It reminds me alot of 'Shadow of the Colossus' in that its usually you out in a big organic world that you can interact with. The difference being in Monster Hunter the boss monsters aren't the only thing out there and they DON'T stay put in one spot. You may even find yourself fighting two of them at the same time if they both migrated to the same spot. You get a similar feeling of appreciation for taking down one of them by yourself though its safer and potentially more fun with friends. Now as I mentioned at the beginning, this is not a game you just pick up and plough through in an afternoon. It starts off slow at first, you have to earn your teeth so to speak in this game. Once you start building up your inventory, figuring out how the monsters work and amassing a versatile arsenal of armor and weaponry then that's when Monster Hunter really comes into its own and the real fun starts. You just have to have the paitence to work toward that fun. Not for everyone but for those that stick with the game it rewards them plenty.
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Not since World of Warcraft has a game had me this hooked. I've put in 75 hours in 3 weeks, that's with a full time job and responsibilities at home. Mostly because of the intensely addictive online mode. My brother, cousin, and I spend hours at a time running one mission after another. Because unlike a lot of RPGs it is always intense. Even after you get to know a boss, if you let your guard down you will pay for it. And the controls, which seem to get a lot of criticism, are great. They never hand you anything. No auto aim, help in any way, but if you master them it makes it all the more rewarding.
And it always feels like you're doing the quest for a reason. You always need more materials so it makes it so rewarding when you beat a boss, and carve him up for materials to make new weapons, armor, and items. And with all the customization you will spend a lot of time mixing and matching armors for the best combinations to fight certain creatures.
The enemies are tough, but stick with it, learn their moves, and be patient, and before you know it it's lying dead at your feet. The level of excitement you feel, for a boss that took over a half hour and almost killed you numerous times, is amazing. Also, it takes much preparation. Fighting a thunder based creature in the desert? You will need cool drinks for stamina, thunder protection, and all sorts of healing items, bombs, traps, tranquilizers. You will soon learn that taking your time and being prepared cuts the steep difficulty level down.
This is my favorite MMORPG. That is something that a lot of people would argue, especially World of Warcraft's rabid fan base. But even though it's not as deep as WoW, the combat is so much more exciting then the typical right click of PC based MMORPGs. Get this game if you like great RPGs, with amazing battle systems.. or just get it if you love an extremely well put together game that will challenge you, and keep you playing for hours. I can't rave enough about this game. BUY IT!
