The story of the game, for those who don’t know, is to hunt monsters. In this version of MH you find yourself on an island without a hunter. Apparently, you live in a world where giant monsters terrorize people regularly and fighting them is good, albeit risky, business. The first portion of the story builds you up to face the “Sea King” Lagiacrus (Ragiacrus in the Japanese release). Once you beat this monster the rest of the game opens up and then you prepare to face off against another oceanic baddie. I won’t spoil it for you but for those who’ve played any of the previous games the last monster is similar to Lao but with a laser beam. Once you beat him you are the hunter of legend blah blah blah. The series was never really known for its story or dialogue. However, there are some gems when you are eating and you get some text afterward, my personal favorite of all time is “It’s a 1-2 punch of flavor”.

With the story out of the way the game has an online mode which is the core of the Monster Hunter experience and a arena mode where you can face off against monsters in a controlled setting. The online mode in America is free while the Japanese servers are about 20 bucks for 30 days of Hunter license. If you made a new character you received a free initial 30 days. The move to make the American servers free was a shrewd one by Capcom. Considering MH’s low popularity and lackluster sales in America, removing a potential huge con from this game saved it for many people.  This version of MH is similar to the console versions in how it handles online. There are different servers, then you pick ‘cities’, then ‘towns’. The only difference is that rather than allow eight hunters to be in a town, they only allow four.  Tthis does reduce the social aspect of the game that previous versions had. If people are on a quest you cannot interact with them until they have returned, and no one new can join the ‘town’ you are in once you’ve reached four hunters. My issue is with the stability of the Wii’s standalone Wi-fi connection. I’ve encountered this problem before with Tatsunoko vs Capcom, there was terrible lag and flat out drops in the connection. My wireless router is less than 30 feet away from my Wii so I was puzzled to see how the connection was so bad . When the connection is good it’s near perfect similar to playing on the PSP versions with friends, when it’s bad you are fighting against teleporting monsters. To combat this I bought one of those fancy schmancy usb wired connection hubs for my Wii so there is NO excuse as to why I should drop mid-quest ever or Rathalos being able to ninja vanish.

The core of this game is hunting itself. You’re thrust into a hunter’s life with all the high and low points. You have to build your gear from scratch and work your way up the ranks. Every weapon behaves differently and every monster is weak to a different type of damage. Sometimes there are some bad weapon match ups and that’s all a part of the hunt. Gaining skill in all weapons is something that does take time and is rewarding due to the flexibility you will gain as a hunter.  Currently I use long sword, great sword and heavy bowgun. I am going to learn the switch axe at some point. Fortunately, the offline mode prepares you for all of this. Offline mode offers weaker versions of the monsters plus tutorials on all of the game systems – which is crucial to being a worthwhile hunter online.

The online mode is where this game shines. Offline and online game play are identical, however the social aspect to the ‘hunt’ is what makes this stand out. You are able to see what other players wear and how they fight and ultimately compare yourself to them. Ultimately, you also get to make friends with people who play a very obscure title just like you do. Just like any other MMO, this game does have its diehard following . There are some people who roleplay their hunters and make up stories for them, then act them out online with other hunters. Others just form guilds and hunt within their circle of friends. This game does offer voice chat but who else besides me has a Wii speak?

Since there is no true level system (there’s hunter rank but more on that in a minute) you can go at your own pace. There’re no dex, str and int builds that you’d have to worry about. Monsters don’t change, they just get more hp and damage in the later levels, no new attacks, no new statuses however you’ll have better armor and weapons so it is balanced out. The hunter rank only indicates what level of quest you can do and that’s increased by doing quests.  However, I feel they made this game a bit stricter to prevent people from just leeching on to better players to get gear. In previous versions you could join any quest up to a certain level usually at least 2 or 3 star levels above you. Here it’s numerical rather than star based so currently at level 23 it’s tough finding missions to do with Krismas who is 15, but has the skills to do higher quests.

The graphics of this game are not fantastic by any means. The Wii itself is not a strong system, so even in 480p the game looks a bit bland. The game does have it moments, the cover art dragons (Lagaiacrus, Rathalos, Rathian) do look pretty good. While the environments are a huge improvement from the first to versions they still are a bit flat. The new wrinkle swimming lends itself to underwater fighting which is a problem in itself. Since the resolution on the game is low the game becomes extremely blurry when fighting underwater. Some of the new maps don’t ease this problem by providing even murkier water to cut down on the already poor visibility in some cases. The character models haven’t changed from any of the previous versions. The armor design and weapon design for Tri is interesting to say the least. They have cut down on the amount of monsters so the choices you have available to you are extremely limited. I personally tend to mix and match armor because half of this game is looking good as well as being functional. The weapon effects are good in this game from the reloading of a switch (slash) axe to the explosions or lighting coming off your sword. They do benefit from being on a console. The PSP effects were a bit grainy and not as well defined.

Controlling this game will take practice. The learning curve for this game is extremely high. A major problem with this series for some players is the controls themselves. Some feel that they are too hard. Others feel that this game should include a lock on. Honestly you have to actually learn this game. The game offers three different control schemes. The first mirrors MH and MH2, the second mirrors the PSP versions and the final one uses the Wii-mote and nunchuck. I use the PSP version since I’m so far removed from the first two versions of MH. The classic controller for the Wii eases some of the problems the PSP version had. One of which involved controlling the camera while moving. The camera is static and you have to move it according to what you need. So in many cases you had to ‘claw’ the controller to use the camera while moving properly. This version they allow to use the camera on the right analog stick or the d-pad. The weapons and characters are brutally responsive. If you input an attack it comes out, if you don’t the attack won’t happen. I have never encountered a case of the character not doing what I’ve input-ed. Nor have I ever heard of a character not rolling. So if something bad happens with your character that means you’ve attacked at the wrong time or dodged the wrong way. Using items consists of you holding a button and scrolling through your menu in real time. There are no item pauses here my friend so you need to be smart about healing, sharpening, reloading, etc. The online menus are straight forward and can be navigated very easily. The only issue I have with the controls and this is more on my end, is that I’ve gotten accustomed to the PSP menu interface. While it is near identical to Tri’s the fact that it is on a controller again throws me off a little bit.

Monster Hunter’s soundtracks aren’t very vast. They mainly consistent of ambient sounds and then the ‘boss’ music for the level. Most monsters in the game do not have their own theme song. Rather, a set song plays when you are fighting a boss level monster on the level. There are some minor tunes that play when you are in town, start a mission, cook and play with the pig but they become repetitive. The roars of the monsters are distinct which is cool. If you’re not in the room with someone not playing MH and you’re good, you can tell what someone is fighting based on the sounds. Weapons clanging off of hides, reloading, and firing do sound good. Even when sharpening you can hear the scraping of the whetstone against the blade. Your character has his or her grunts and moans. The NPCs ‘speak’ in their own language but you’re really not spending too much time listening to their nonsense.

Graphics 7/10

The game doesn’t look terrible, it’s just on the Wii. Considering that we are comparing this to Monster Hunter and Monster Hunter Dos on the Playstation 2, this game has made some improvements.

Gameplay 9/10

Living the hunter’s life is tough but rewarding. If you can overcome the the high learning curve (not too many people here in the states do), you’re treated to some good adventures. You do feel accomplished when you kill your first giant monster. Not too many other games offer that.

Replay Value 6/10-offline, 9/10-online

Offline is very good for farming items that you can combine but not much else once you beat it. It teaches you what the almost of all monsters do so you can go online and not look like a total noob.   Online is where the game shines, hands down.  Tougher monsters, better drops, and having your best friends there.  Plus you’re able to prance, which is only the  greatest gesture ever.

Controls 10/10

You put in for an attack, you get it. You want to roll, you get it. If you don’t that means you’ve done something wrong or misjudged the situation. Get clobbered while using an item? You shouldn’t have healed in front of the monster. You can move the camera to where you want it. The controls fit this game perfectly.

Sound 8/10

Some ‘boss’ music is good, most of the ambient tracks are forgettable. Most of the songs, including boss music, do get repetitive quickly. You will grow to love the pig and cooking jingles. The monster and weapon noises are dead on. Weapon and impact sound effects sound cool.

Overall 8/10

The game has some presentation issues but the gameplay is extremely solid. If you’re not going to play  this game online, you should seriously rent it before you buy it or I possibly try the PSP versions. The learning curve is very steep but the game is very good once you get up there. If you want a challenging game then this is for you. This game is a strong addition to the Wii’s library.

So here it is, my official take on Monster Hunter Tri.  Initially I was going to fire off my first reaction to the game but I decided that it would not be fair if I just based the game on my initial reaction. As you all know I am a huge MH buff and have been playing it since the initial release in ’04. The Japanese version had upgrades available on console with DOS that were never made available to the US. The American market later received this game as a PSP title, which left US players without a console version to play (without importing) for quite a while. I personally couldn’t wait to play so I bit the bullet and purchased the Japanese version of Tri (3).  The American version doesn’t come out until sometime in 2010 (just fyi).

So what’s new here and what’s not? If you’ve been following any respectable MH board then you already know of all the differences. If you haven’t kept yourselves informed, I’ll give you a brief rundown.  The most glaring difference is that the amount of weapons and weapon classes in the game have been reduced.  Bows, hunting horns, gun lances and dual swords have all been removed.  One new weapon class, Slash Axe, has been added. One new weapon type has also been added, the medium bow gun (Bow gun). This leaves American players with a roster that includes only Great sword, long sword,  bow gun, hammer, lance, and slash axe.

The offline content feels a little be more beefed up.  You gain your own personal map that can be accessed from the village. Here you can farm, mine, fish, etc to your heart’s content. A random monster also appears here, you’ll know who is on the map with you because the game gives you daily listing of what is on the Isle (the map you play on). On this map you cannot ‘fail’ so you can die as much as you want and you won’t be penalized.

Some of the PSP features have been incorporated into this version, such as sending a person to farm an area for you. The regular cat farm has been included, as well as the pig farm. You may eat to gain a buff or two and unlock some of the feline abilities (which will make some things easier or harder depending on what you get). There is also the ability to buy things for your inventory box, allowing for mass shopping.  The game also includes the ability to have day turn into night and vice-versa. This affects what monsters are on the map during a mission and in some cases what missions are available to you.

They’ve added a bartering system that allows you to trade items that you would normally consider ‘worthless’ for items that are more practical and useful.  The catch to this system is that you have to collect these items by using either points or your farm.

The gameplay is almost exactly the same. There is a new ability to recover from some falls, which keeps the player from getting knocked down only to find him or herself in a very bad situation.  Some of the weapons have changed properties and features, you can find a FAQ detailing those changes somewhere. The newest gameplay feature is underwater battling, meaning you fight certain monsters under water.  Interesting.

Some of the changes can be found here

Now that the technical stuff is out of the way, let’s get down to the nitty-gritty. If you’re new to Monster Hunter, this seems like it’s a good place to start. The learning curve is still there but there are things in place to make missions a bit easier. They’ve added respawning gathering spots, offer you extra experience plus bonus supply items on fulfilling secondary objectives, and the ability to ‘complete’ the mission without completing the main objective.  You still have to have learned the basic skills to kill the monsters but it’s not as daunting as it used to be.

If you have played MH before you’ll notice that this game feels a bit easier. It will take you a few minutes to adjust to the underwater fighting but it shouldn’t  be too bad.

My major gripe is the lack of  monster diversity. In my camp, we have a saying “If you can kill one, you can kill them all”. This means if you can kill one monster of a specific body type then you can kill all the monsters with a similar body type.   For example, if you can kill Kut Ku then you can kill all monsters that have a similar body type  because  all the monsters of that body type share similar attack pattern and movements.   There are not very many different types in  this game, so once you’re able to kill the lower level of monsters the higher ones will require only minor adjustment centered on what new things those higher-level monsters have have.

Another issues that I have is with the lack of weapon and armor designs.  I personally enjoyed the armor designs from the PSP version and this new version has nothing very exciting in terms of looks. The abilities aren’t too shabby but half of Monster Hunter is about looking cool. The weapons aren’t too bad looking themselves. I found myself expressing school girl glee over only some of other hunter’s  weapons in the guild hall.

I think what will make or break this game will be the offline, more specifically the village chief’s son aspect of offiline play.  The offline mode features required gathering, which is like a scavenger hunt. Some items you have to bring in are mundane like plants and some ore, others are monster parts (like the lantern from the face of the angler fish monster) and some are just rare monster drops (where the hell will I find GIANT dung?).  I think it’s asinine for the village chief’s son to bar my progress in the game because he wants monster shit.  As of right now I have completed 1-4 stars and cleared all the 5* that I could possibly take on. Why aren’t there any more quests? I’m black-listed by the village asshole. The village chief himself is a cool guy, a very naked guy, but cool nonetheless.  I can imagine many people just not playing offline because of this.

Hopefully the endgame weapons and armor will be better. Maybe the monsters will be tougher too.  There’s already a rumor about a new monster pack coming out for this game. Hopefully this game reaches Monster Hunter Frontieer levels.