Monster Hunter Tri Review

My first experience with the Monster Hunter franchise was with last year’s Freedom Unite for the PSP. I enjoyed the game but didn’t feel it was the best place for me to begin – I longed for the console experience, assuming that the disconnect was the fault of the platform. Upon learning of Monster Hunter Tri’s release on the Wii (of all systems) in Japan and after playing the demo I decided I would try to fall in love with the series again once it reached the States.

Story – It takes a village

The Monster Hunter series is not known for having captivating stories.  In the defense of the developers, putting a positive spin on essentially doing the same thing over and over can be difficult.

In Tri the player begins by creating and customizing their character.  Soon after that they sail into Moga Village, a rustic port town filled with cheery hunter/gatherers.  Suddenly an earthquake rips through the village causing equal parts damage and commotion.  The player is told that a certain creature is to blame: the Lagiacrus.  This beast’s end is your goal and you must work up to it by going on a series of missions in which you either kill monsters or collect materials.

Along the way, residents of the village use their trades to assist the player.  Everyone from fishermen and farmers to merchants and, well, cats pitch in.  There is a real sense of community surrounding Moga Village and the player becomes a part of it.

I found that this framing device worked quite well.  I appreciated that a goal (the Lagiacrus) was established early.  This helped me feel like I was working towards something, rather than just repeating the same actions for no reason other than to get stronger.  The sense of kinship with the village pushed me forward and made me feel like I was playing a story-driven game which I had not expected at all.

Battle System – That water is just for decoration

Monster Hunter sets itself apart from a lot of RPGs and action RPGs these days.  There is no lock-on option, no enemy life bar; none of the luxuries we gamers have grown sadly accustomed to.  The player needs to really learn their weapon to be accurate with it.  Likewise the player needs to learn each monster to know its patterns and to tell when it’s weak.  You essentially become a hunter: proficient at your chosen weapon and striving to learn all you can about your enemy.

One big update to the system for Monster Hunter Tri is underwater battles.  Normally this idea strikes fear in all gamers, conjuring up memories of awkward controls and blinding rage (Kingdom Hearts, I am looking at you).  I was happy to find that the standard terra firma controls for Monster Hunter translate very nicely for underwater.  Everything is essentially the same, but the relation of the y axis on your joystick determines the depth your character will dive/rise.  It is rare that a battle will take place entirely underwater as well, as long as you allow an enemy to move around.  I felt this system not only brought something new to the table, but gave hunting a new dimension and realism.  Games that use water as only scenery are a thing of the past (I hope).

Another huge part of Monster Hunter Tri is the online mode.  Here up to four hunters can join forces for any quest after meeting in an online city hub.  This mode is also compatible with Wii Speak and thankfully does not require clunky friend codes.  You can add someone as a friend in-game with a Hunter ID (separate from their character’s name) or by simply walking up to them and sending them a message.  As this process must be reciprocal for both players to appear on each other’s friend roster, it does take a bit of time but nothing system-breaking.

Competing quests together accrues hunter points which raise your hunter rank.  Players with a high hunter rank can enjoy exploring new areas and unlocking more challenging missions than are found offline.  In fact, to get some of the best items in the game, the player needs to play online as some materials can only be gathered there.  This seems to be a theme these days for RPGs with online capabilities so I wasn’t surprised at this aspect.  I was pleased to find out that increasing your hunter rank is fairly balanced and won’t require a tremendous amount of grinding.

My time spent playing Monster Hunter online was the best multiplayer experience I have ever had for a console based RPG.  I could find my friends easily on my friend roster, warp to them instantly, and chat via Wii Speak (or Skype) while completing missions together.  The whole process was very polished and user friendly.

Presentation – Paintballin’

Capcom definitely took some steps to encourage people to dive into the world of Monster Hunter, especially if they are new to the series.  They were wise enough to make the multiplayer mode free-of-charge unlike in Japan where the game has a much stronger fanbase and players are required to pay Wii points.  Also they have started a number of event quests where players can participate to earn unique rewards like weapons and armor.

Capcom also released a special edition of the game (now rather difficult to find) which included a tool whose benefits I cannot tout enough: the Classic Controller Pro.  I played the demo of Monster Hunter Tri prior to owning this beautiful device and feared I would hate the game.  After playing the full version of the game with the controller, I was officially in love.  For a better write-up on the Classic Controller Plus you can read my impressions here.  Long story short: controls may have been a huge factor keeping me from really enjoying Freedom Unite.  This controller made everything come together for me.

Speaking of controllers, it’s possible to download your Monster Hunter Tri character to your Wii remote.  You can then bring it over a friend’s house and play some two-player.  That is the future, ladies and gentlemen.

Conclusions – Number Crunching, Crunched

Monster Hunter games are different.  I think that is why they have developed the immense following they have in Japan and increasingly worldwide.  They offer a generous amount of gameplay (I am at over 90 hours myself), an almost limitless challenge focused on learning rather than pure number increasing, and now with Tri, a bustling and easy to use multiplayer mode.  If you are a Wii owner remotely interested in RPGs I assure you this will be one of the most enjoyable titles of this year and possibly this generation.

Share this!

Hide Sites