Monster Hunter Tri

Review from Cav - Thursday, 03 June 2010 @ 8:45am

You can chalk Monster Hunter Tri as yet another game that I have reviewed for Australian Gamer, where I haven’t played any of the previous titles in the series. Looking at the flashy advertising and epic images that were jammed down our throats prior to release, I was hoping to see epic battles straight off the bat, a la Shadow of the Colossus, but all I really got was ‘Mushroom Hunter’...... very disappointing.

The first beast I came across was a docile dinosaur-like creature, slow with very little offence. I made quick work of him and was hungry for more. Bigger foes didn’t come until much later, but I suppose that is what keeps you playing: the hunt for ‘The Big One’. The choice of assuming boredom or continuing the grind is totally up to you, but I bet you can guess where my money lies. When I think about it, there doesn’t really seem to be a storyline to this other than a big Monster called a Lagiacrus, which has upset a few people, needs to be disposed of.... but on your way can you collect this, get supplies to build that, kill this and rescue that? I’m sure you’re not that busy that you can’t fit this into your schedule. Wow, you people don’t want much, do you?

Kevin Costner's Water World it aint.... thank God for that

Quests start small and gradually build in difficulty. Monster Hunter Tri is not only about accepting quests to kill Monsters, but it’s up to you to collect items to build your arsenal and armour. You also need to rebuild parts of the village, like the farm, which can supply you with items that can assist in creating ammunition, weapons, tools and even decorations for your room. ‘Combining’ is a skill.. that really isn’t a skill. You can rely on a book, which is available from a store within your village, to tell you which two items will produce what, or you can just randomly jam shit together and see what happens.

It's quite amazing that they have allowed 2 Player/1 Console play for this game. Amazing in the sense of "Wow, that's a bonus", not "Why the hell did they do that?". For those of you who have no one else to play with at your place of residence, you do pick up a sidekick along your way. Named Cha-Cha, he is handy little fellow who wears a mask and can issue power up abilities by getting his groove on.... i.e. doing a dance. A friend with benefits, you can choose to take him along for the journey or not before accepting a quest. I found him really handy to distract creatures while I ran away like a little girl and replenished my health or set traps.

Somewhere, beyond the sea. Somewhere, waitng for me!

Although the cinematics were not bad for the Wii, the gameplay graphics were very, very PlayStation 2. Actually it made me think of the family who bought my pink PlayStation, who lost theirs in the Victorian Bushfires. I hope they’re back on their feet. Back on subject, there were also a major issue with images clipping and crossing over into one another. I quite often found myself standing in the middle of a monster, cutting him up to see what goodies I could retrieve. * Insert Han Solo Tauntaun joke here*. Okay so the Wii isn’t a graphic powerhouse, but hell, don’t insult it.

Personally, I believe the Classic Controller Pro is a great piece of kit and is the only real choice of control when it comes to playing Monster Hunter Tri. If you are going to buy this game, get the bundle. I tried to play with the WiiMote and chuck, but it felt a little clumsy. It’s not that I don’t like the WiiMote, I do, but maybe I’m just a little too old school. The Classic Controller Pro is also a bonus for those who have heaps if Virtual Console game, like myself. That being said, I did struggle in places to do basic things like have the camera re-centre itself behind me

Excuse me Mr Dino-Dragon thingy, you need to floss

Online was a non-event for me. If you don’t have anyone lined up to play with, you might as well not bother. You go into the city and find yourself an area... that isn’t full. Then you head to the tavern and try and join in a random quest... that isn’t full or limited in the number of people allowed in the quest. I tried to find a game for about an hour and got jack of getting rejected all the time, so I decided to start my own quest in the hope that someone would hook up with me, no luck. I had embarked on a quest that had me retrieving 14 mushrooms. When you can only carry a maximum of 10 and no one else is there to share the load, you may as well be pissing in the wind. I am guessing that having WiiSpeak, may have put me in a advantageous position when trying to get myself in an online game. I have been advised that a USB/Wireless Keyboard is also another tool which would be an asset. If you factor in the costs of setting yourself up completely, this makes Monster Hunter Tri an expensive game to play. I guess that we should be thankful that we do not have to pay to play online, like our Japanese gaming brethren. I tried to get online with a few of our forum members (big shout out to SpiritWolf) but it didn't happen. "You join me.. No? Didn't work? Okay, I'll join you... No? not happening either". This went on for about an hour. Once again, very disappointing

This sword is a chiropractors dream

Pros

Hours upon hours of gameplay - another online title for the Wii - Bundled with the Classic Controller Pro - Another use for WiiSpeak... if you have one

Cons

Tough to enter online by yourself - Don't like the grind? Don't waste your time - takes a while to hit the big hunts - a lot of running back to base to recoup