Monster Hunter 3 Hands-On Preview

[DoctorFinger]

Gamers in the West may not be too familiar with it, but the Monster Hunter franchise is absolutely huge in Japan. I mean borderline national holiday the day it drops huge. But here in the West it's never made much of a dent. Capcom is hoping to change that with Monster Hunter 3. MH3 began development as a Playstation 3 game, but Capcom switched it over to the Wii in an effort to cut development costs. But, according to Joystiq, it's still one of the best looking games in development for the Wii. The controls however did not make the transition as smoothly.
Unfortunately, the controls are quite complicated and, for a newcomer to the series, they take a while to learn. While the Wiimote and Nunchuk feel like a good fit for the game, things start to break down as you progress. While you can waggle to attack, it seems unlikely you'll get very far with it. Attacking in Monster Hunter is about timing and combos, and the Wiimote feels imprecise, not to mention, exhausting. Instead, the A-button will perform a primary attack, while the Z-button handles secondary swipes.Monster Hunter 3 will have online play, but again because it's on the Wii, you'll need Friend Codes to do so.

Source - Joystiq (http://www.joystiq.com/2008/10/09/tgs-08-monster-hunter-3-hands-on/).

[JayVe]

I don't know if this game is for me... but damn if those screens aren't pretty.

[SilentScreams]

I've always wanted to try one of these games, but it's always been on systems I don't own (PSP) or systems I own but don't like (Wii).

[agentgray]

Bringing your biggest "online" game to the States: Win

Doing it with friend codes: Epic. Fail.

[Mr.Green]

Fuck Nintendo and the waggling horse they rode on. ;)

The game looks great but I can't say that replacing a button press with pointless gestures has been a hit with me so far.

[JayVe]

Fuck Nintendo and the waggling horse they rode on. ;)

The game looks great but I can't say that replacing a button press with pointless gestures has been a hit with me so far.

Well, you will be happy to find out that Monster Hunter III is fully playable with the classic controller.

[DiBiddilyBop]

I really enjoyed Monster Hunter Freedom 2 on the PSP, so I'm really curious how this one turns out.

[SilentScreams]

Well, you will be happy to find out that Monster Hunter III is fully playable with the classic controller.

See, now I'm interested.
The main thing that puts me off the Wii is the stupid controls. If a game lets me use a regular GC controller, I don't really care that I'm playing it on the Wii.

[Gorvi]

Any hope at all for voice chat? Or at the very least, keyboard support?

[JayVe]

Any hope at all for voice chat? Or at the very least, keyboard support?

No idea.
Phantasy Star Online on the Dreamcast had a great communication system. Not only did it support keyboards, but it also had a quick bubble-pop-up that you could customize for in-game events which made a LOT more sense than trying to type.

Atop that, it offered a powerful system for constructing messages from pre-set words. The advantage of this, is that it worked across multiple languages. When you strung together "What area do you want to visit?", other players would read it in their native language.

I'd love to see people come up with more inventive ways of communicating in games.

[JayVe]

See, now I'm interested.
The main thing that puts me off the Wii is the stupid controls. If a game lets me use a regular GC controller, I don't really care that I'm playing it on the Wii.

Depends on the game. Something like No More Heroes is immensely satisfying with the motion controls. I don't think I'd want to spend 200 hours grinding in an online action RPG having to swing like in Wii Sports Tennis though. There sure is a balance. Metroid Prime 3 is much more enjoyable to me than Prime 1 & 2 because I prefer being able to point at the screen. Boom Blox is another example of a game that wouldn't be nearly as fun without the motion controls.

Just like every project isn't solved with a hammer, not every game benefits from motion/pointing. Waggle for a finishing move in No Mopre Heroes? Yes please. Having to waggle to attack in Fire Emblem? No thanks.

[violent]

Such a waste.

[Purple Santa]

I just don't under why Capcom would bring this to the Wii only. I had to look up the history since I couldn't remember if this was the game where you inserted CD's etc to get different monsters...I also remember it having a cult following (hi Gorvi :D) and those who would buy this...are those who have Wii? If anything, why not the DS...at least there it has massive amount of owners AND those who are part of the cult following I would guess to play MR. I know the wii has sold mega amount of consoles...just don't see how Capcom thought it would sell enough...

[JayVe]

I just don't under why Capcom would bring this to the Wii only. I had to look up the history since I couldn't remember if this was the game where you inserted CD's etc to get different monsters...I also remember it having a cult following (hi Gorvi :D) and those who would buy this...are those who have Wii? If anything, why not the DS...at least there it has massive amount of owners AND those who are part of the cult following I would guess to play MR. I know the wii has sold mega amount of consoles...just don't see how Capcom thought it would sell enough...

Well, Monster Hunter is big in Japan. Maybe Capcom did some research to find that the audience of Monster Hunter has a lot of crossover with the Wii audience?

[Purple Santa]

Well, Monster Hunter is big in Japan. Maybe Capcom did some research to find that the audience of Monster Hunter has a lot of crossover with the Wii audience?

Excellent point. For Japan makes all the sense in the world...here in the U.S. not so sure...the Wii audience here is different than in Japan...which made me wonder how many hardcore MR fans there are and how many who aren't would be willing to play this who own a Wii...we need a Wii donation drive for Gorvi now :p

[Gorvi]

Excellent point. For Japan makes all the sense in the world...here in the U.S. not so sure...the Wii audience here is different than in Japan...which made me wonder how many hardcore MR fans there are and how many who aren't would be willing to play this who own a Wii...we need a Wii donation drive for Gorvi now :p
Hey! I have a Wii! I love the thing, too, graphics, waggle and all. :)

[J Arcane]

The original Monster Hunter on the PS2 had some of the absolute greatest boss fights in the history of gaming.

Unfortunately, they were only really fun in a group, and offline or solo wise you were basically relegated to an endless grind for cash and gear, and those very same fun monster fights instead became nigh impossible.

I own MH1 for PSP now, and it was nice that they smoothed out some of the grind and made it easier for solo but ad hoc only basically meant no multiplayer. I was really excited when I learned MH2 for the PSP had proper online play. The game loses a lot of it's grandeur and majesty when played on the small screen, however, and a proper sequel for a console would be very intriguing.

This only increases my desire to get a Wii.