Had a pretty nice Mother’s Day today. It was pretty weird going over to my parents house for Mom’s Day, seeing as how Mom Brain and I are in the new place. First time in my life I’ve had to travel to see my Mom! I made sure to make the day special by giving her a DSi XL and Picross 3D. She’s been saying how much she misses gaming since I left. I took all the fun stuff with me! I thought a game system of her own would make her smile. Judging by how much she played Picross 3D today, I think she’s quite happy with the gift!Hope you all had a great Mother’s Day, and day in general. Let’s kick off the work/school week with that positive note! See you all in a few, short hours. – RMC
Hello Yello! It’s been a long time coming, but I finally feel ready to review Monster Hunter Tri. Or, depending on your opinion, “preview” it. Which is, to me, a ridiculous notion, given that I’ve invested 25 hours into the game — more than any review I’ve done in a LONG time!
Unfortunately, the last hours of gameplay were crippled by Disc Read Errors. My Wii, it seems, has died on me, by and large, as far as the disc-spinning mechanism goes. Hopefully we can arrange to get this fixed ASAP — though I can still play DLC games just fine, so look for a couple of DLC reviews in the weeks leading up to Galaxy 2, and hopefully my Wii will survive enough to play that game. But after that I’ll have to look into some alternative options for a while. Keep your fingers crossed! I sure am: my Wii is very dear to me, with its multitude of downloads, years of comradery, custom paint job, and all.
You’ll notice this week’s review is different than any other I’ve done before…Stick with it, I assure you it maintains the traditions you’d expect, but given how much time I invested in this review, I felt it warranted something different.
Also, as a side note, if you want to hear me and JewWario discuss the Pokemon franchise, check that out here. This month I’m recording Same SkyCast episodes dedicated to exploring the fighting game genre. Feel free to chime in at D3stiny.Sm4sher@gmail.com. Next week, we’re looking at Zombie Panic in Wonderland, or maybe Rage of Gladiator. Later days~
Monster Hunter Tri
-Gear Up!-
Time played: About 25 Hours
Obtained: Rented via GameFly
Notes: Achieved online Hunter Rank 9. Never played a Monster Hunter game before this one, played about half online, half offline, played online mostly with a personal friend, we used cell phones to “voicechat” as I don’t have a WiiSpeak. And in this time I only encountered roughly 1/4 of the monsters in the game, from my understanding.
-Be Very Quiet: I’m Hunting Dinosaurs-
Small rivers of water trail down around me like miniature waterfalls from the rocky cliffs above. Lush vegetation peeks in from both sides of the water-logged pathway as we sort through our gear, preparing ourselves for what is to come. We consume some food to keep our stamina high and ingest some mystical medicines to boost our strength and endurance. We review our maps, our tools, and our strategy before proceeding along the flooded path. The hunt has begun.
“You go on ahead and find him,” my partner advises over our radio comm. As I change direction and head off on my own, he pulls out his longsword and starts laying into a lizard twice his size.
“By myself?” I question, heading onward without him.
“Yea. You should try fighting one on your own first. I’ll catch up and provide support once you’ve worn him down a bit.”
Easy for him to say. He’s done this before.
“So I should aim for the tail, right?” I check, already anxious as I dive into the murky brown river.
“Always take out the tail first,” my partner reminds me. “Always.”
I’m uneasy as I swim through the cloudy jungle water, long vines slowly swaying with malice and vegetation appearing ready to lash out at me. It’s quite disconcerting, as anything could be waiting ahead. Lucky me, though — I know for a fact that one of those things is much larger than I am and is armed to kill. A couple of minutes of claustrophobic swimming pass. A few giant lizards, like more mobile crocodiles, lunge out at me, teeth bared, but I weave around them, pressing on. There’s bigger fish to fry today.
“You found him yet?” my partner asks with more patience than I’d expect.
As if on cue, a dark shape forms into view. A moment later my sight reveals a titanic water beast with razor teeth, menacing eyes, and a mane of sponge, and for whatever reason, my heart skips a beat when it notices me. In that split second, a knee-jerk reaction sends my body spinning around in the opposite direction, and expletives flood our radio channel.
Sure enough, the creature bullcharges me, using its tail to propel itself through the muddy river. I make a narrow escape with a quick thrust of my legs, diving into the riverbed. My friend laughs in spite of my cursing.
“Found him, huh?”
I draw my weapon, determined now that the initial spout of fear has drained itself from my mind. The blade mechanically extends into a long-handled battle axe, and I slash at its tail through the water. A cloud of red emerges from the point of contact, and I attempt to follow through with another swing, only be knocked back by that which I have just struck. When I come to, the monster’s readying another dash, so I dart to the side, drawing my blade once again. I switch the mechanism in the weapon, changing it to a broadsword this time, and rush in to attack. Minutes pass as I struggle to tame the beast, managing to land a hit or two here and there, and learning to retreat with each blow I land before it can counter.
Our ballet of war is interrupted when my friend finally arrives and lures the creature to land where we make quick work of its tail, finishing the job I started. He compliments my hard work as we quickly carve resources from its dismembered tail while the beast fumbles back into the water in a panic. We dive straight back in to give chase. That bastard isn’t going to be getting away that easily.
Fifteen minutes ago I was uneasy and nervous, and now, the Royal Ludroth, a beast ten times my size, is fleeing from me. It’s at this moment, after ten hours on the job, that I finally realize what being a Monster Hunter is all about.
But it didn’t start off this exciting. I was originally stuck with tedious scavenger jobs and wimpy excuse for a blade, cutting open herbivores for their meat, harvesting plants and natural materials.
Eventually, I no longer needed to gather resources so much on my own, as I had gained enough to build objects for a farm to generate crops and other materials, allowing me to craft enhancing potions. I mined ores and carved parts from the beasts I slayed to smith stronger armor and weaponry. For a while, I was aggrevated and bored with repetitive hunts, gathering mushrooms and herbs. Sifting through the environment to collect bugs and stones grew old fast, and combat was sluggish dull as I struggled to find the right weapon for my natural style. The switchaxe offered range and power, and just enough speed to allow me to utilize it, and I learned to focus more on single strikes with larger beasts — and as the monsters grew larger, I had to prepare accordingly.
Combat, I learned, was less about charging in and haphazardly attacking and more about careful attack-and-retreat tactics. I had to observe attack patterns and change my strategy when those patterns changed, which they inevitably did when the beasts panicked. I had to rely on hacking at certain bosy parts to hinder their movement, shatter their defenses, and daze them. Fortunately, I had a teacher to guide me through this learning process. I imagine many who enter this line of work will not, so I am grateful.
Our village is sent requests to complete tasks that will benefit the people who live here, and I have become the people’s go-to Hunter for these tasks. They supply me with some basic items for each job I am asked to take on, as well as lodging, a blacksmith at the ready, a farm, a small fishing fleet to direct, and more. At first I felt overwhelmed by the responsibility, but these people are fair — they ask for much, but they are usually very good with making it worth my while. As long as I provide them with resources and fulfill the tasks assigned to me, more of the villagers go out of their way to assist me.
Fortunately, I am not alone in my occupation. With relative ease, I can journey to a nearby city and meet up with other hunters like myself. We can prepare equipment and traps, plan a strategy, coordinate our skills to compliment one another, and slay monsters together. If I so wished it, in many regards I could ignore my home village and simply undertake jobs assigned by the city with fellow hunters, but helping out my village rewards me with extra materials to make me a better asset to the team.
The whole reason I’m here is because the village chief took me in so that I could help them slaughter a terrifying water dragon that plagues their village. I am still not strong enough to face the beast — not by a long shot — but I know that some day I will take him. And just like all of the others, I will be terrified by his size and ferocity at first, but sooner or later, I will break him, and I will break every beast that I encounter thereafter.
-Occupation: Hunter-
As I’m sure many of you probably want it laid out plainly, here’s the deal: Monster Hunter Tri reminds me of a more action-based MMO. Combat is slower and more sluggish than in other action games, but in the same way that Resident Evil 4 and 5 are more slower-paced shooters, Monster Hunter requires a more methodically style of combat. Could it benefit from a lock-on system? Maybe? I really can’t say. A lock-on system might make combat too easy, honestly. That said, the amount of time it takes to use items is ridiculously slow — but then again, the whole point of combat seems to be to act deliberately. Don’t try to combo too much: only when you know you can finish it. Don’t try to consume items when a monster’s charging you: retreat first.
The game is gorgeous for a Wii game. The character models aren’t quite the best but the beasts are detailed, larger than life, and animate very well — especially the larger beasts. When the way a monster moves tells you what kind of state it’s in (afraid, angry, weak, etc.) then you know the animation isn’t just for show, it’s a part of a gameplay, as is ideal in a video game. The locales are just superb, each one sporting its own feel. I didn’t even get to see all of them and I was pretty pleased with what I saw. The music is generally more subdued, but what’s there compliments the mood pretty well. There’s a wealth of depth here, as well, between resources, combining items, forging and augmenting equipment, and hunting the monsters themselves.
Online play seemed to work without a hitch, but because of how deliberate combat is, you really need to be able to chat with your partners to properly fight. I was not able to use WiiSpeak so I cannot comment on this, but I can assure you that keyboard communication will not cut it in the heat of battle. be prepared for that. The game has its own internal friends list with plenty of open slots (as well as plenty of file save slots and even separate online network ID slots) and when your friends are online you can easily warp to their exact server location with ease. It’s hands-down one of the best online experiences I’ve had with the Wii, rivaled only by Mario Kart Wii. In general, lag is not noticeable, and the game handles lag in quite a unique way that you may not realize at first. Beasts are wherever they are on each player’s game, but are still impacted by their actions. For example: I am chasing a monster on my screen. On my friend’s screen the monster may be in a different location due to lag. He hits it — seemingly ten feet away from it — but the beast falls. There are some weird things like this with the online, but they ultimately don’t really impact the gameplay in a negative way, and there was rarely any genuine lag in my play time. I didn’t get to play with random strangers, though, mainly due to my lack of a WiiSpeak peripheral. So online will be hit-or-miss depending on your access. But rest assured that if you get into Monster Hunter, the game itself could be worth a WiiSpeak given how much content there is to explore.
Most of this review has been very positive — why wouldn’t it be? Why else would I spend 25 hours playing a single game if I didn’t like it? But know this: the first two or three hours were pretty paltry and boring. It took me time to comprehend how to play the game more efficiently and get to “the good stuff.” Combat IS slow and sluggish, and some people just aren’t going to be able to swallow that. A lot of time can be spent navigating menus or gather resources if you don’t manage your village correctly. It basically boils down to an action-based MMO “questing” format, which is certainly not for everyone. But it’s usually not for ME, either.
Simply put, Monster Hunter Tri is one of my favorite Wii titles to date. It’s not for everyone, certainly, but damn, it’s an acquired taste that I have come to savor, personally. My best advice is this: rent the game for a few days, invest some time into it, online and off, preferably with some form of vocal communication, and make a decision based on that. While there are some who won’t be able to get past its archaic barriers of entry, I’m sure a lot of hardcore gamers who only own Wiis will eat this up. There’s a lot of content to explore and the means to do so with other people with ease. Despite the old-school mechanics that hold it back from being an ultimately superb experience, Monster Hunter Tri is a Wii game that merits at least some play time, as it’s one of those deep, meaty experiences the hardcore Wii audience has been crying out for.
The fact is that I rented this game, played it for 25 hours, and still have every intention to buy it later this summer. If that’s not a recommendation, I don’t know what is.
-High Score-
9/10
