Monday, March 8, 2010

Monster Hunter 3, or Monsters Hunting Me!

Monster Hunter 3 Classic Controller Bundle

While my wife and I were out Saturday morning running a few errands, I decided to stop by Game Stop to see if they had any copies of the Monster Hunter 3 demo available yet.
I had printed off the computer a copy of Capcom's blog post saying how you don't have to reserve the game, to get the demo.  I had read how certain Game Stop locations were telling customers they had to reserve Monster Hunter 3, in order to get the demo, so I wanted to be prepared.
I casually walked into the store, while looking at the Wii section, I heard an employee tell a customer something about, "...the demo for Monster Hunter 3."
I turned toward the counter and saw the customer reaching for the demo, so I shuffled over hoping to save the customer from reserving the game if I needed to.
Well, I picked up a copy of the demo from a box on the counter, when a 2nd employee approached me and said, "You get that when you reserve the game."
I was about to respond, when the first employee with the customer said, "No, they get it for free now."

I just said, "Thanks!" and quickly headed out.
Monster Hunter 3

I started playing the demo late Saturday night and again last night(Sunday).
The demo comes with two "monster hunts" on it, and you select which one to play from the main menu of the disc.
The first "monster hunt" is the "Great Jaggi Hunt".  I'm not sure how highly ranked the "monsters" go, but the Great Jaggi has a one star level rank.
The second "monster hunt" is the "Qurupeco Hunt" and the Qurupeco has a three star level rank.

When I first started the demo, I wasn't sure what to think.
There's a 20 minute time limit per "hunt" and there isn't a lock-on button.
I didn't like the time limit and I was like, "Why isn't there a lock-on button!"
Well, after playing it for a good while now, the time limit doesn't bother me much, as it keeps you focused on the objective for the demo, hunting monsters.
The lack of a lock-on feature doesn't both me anymore, and I think I see why the game doesn't have a lock-on feature.  I think a lock-on button/feature would make the game too easy.

The demo allows you to play as ten(10) monster hunters, they're listed on the demo as shown here:
  • Sword & Shield
  • Great Sword
  • Hammer
  • Lance
  • Long Sword
  • Light Bowgun
  • Medium Bowgun
  • Heavy Bowgun
  • Switch Axe 1
  • Switch Axe 2

I've actually played with the Sword & Shield, Great Sword, Hammer, Lance, Long Sword, Medium Bowgun, and Switch Axe 1.
It will take time to learn each hunting class' strengths and weaknesses.

If you get the demo, give yourself plenty of time to get used to the controls and attacks.  Make sure to read over the Player's Guide that comes with the demo, so you can learn the different attacks with each hunting class.
I see Monster Hunter 3 as a game that will have a lot of depth, at least this is my initial impressions from the demo.

I defeated the Great Jaggi from the first hunt, but I still have not defeated the Qurupeco from the second hunt.
I've had a lot of fun playing the demo so far and I plan on continuing it until I defeat the Qurupeco.

I've been playing the Monster Hunter 3 demo with the Wii Remote and Nunchuck control setup, even though I do have a Classic Controller.

You can watch some of my attempts at fighting the Qurupeco, and a "monster friend" the Qurupeco calls on for help, in the video here:

Question:
Have you played any of the demo from GameStop?  If so, what do you think of the game from what you've played?  If you have any questions, let me know and I'll be happy to try and answer them about the demo if I can.

Monster Hunter 3 is scheduled for a North American release on Tuesday, April 20, 2010.
If you're interested in Monster Hunter 3, you can pre-order it on Amazon.com, if you don't like GameStop.
Amazon.com is even offering "Release-Date Delivery" on Monster Hunter 3, meaning the game is supposed to arrive at your house the day of release.

27 comments:

  1. I need to get mine. Game looks great and so does your demo footage!

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  2. I got it. I would've just walked right out of the store with it too, had I not been there to buy Madworld. Since I had to make a transaction I went through a pretty intense pre-order spiel, which was funny considering no-one who worked there knew what I was talking about when I asked for the demo, it was actually another customer who pointed me to the little box on the counter.

    I am a complete virgin to this game. I know absolutely nothing about it. The combat felt slow and cumbersome and the manual camera was difficult to deal with. At first...

    Once I fiddled with the options I was pleasantly surprised with how well I was doing. I had to reverse both axes in normal view and the Y axis in both first person views. There's some swimming option too, I'll be diving back in tonight to see if I can find an underwater area in the demo.

    Overall, though, its grown on me. The classic controller feels better for camera movement, the CC Pro should be even better, considering my thumbs tend to collide with this controller. The wii-mote and nun-chuck setup is alright, but I found it disappointing that I couldn't pointer aim the ranged weapons and the shake attacks where the orientation of your hand mattered were too hard for me to get used to.

    Anyway, I was put off by the game at first based solely on the combat, but after reading about all of the collecting and customization, I'm defintely excited about this release now.

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  3. I have a question: do you really think this is TEH SAVIOR wii gamers been waiting for?

    Because to tell you the truth i played the demo and i think it sucks. Gameplay wise its just like an early days PS2 game.

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  4. @Nicodemus at Nite:
    I'm glad you enjoyed the game-play footage!

    @Chuckpebble:
    I'm the same as you, this is my first Monster Hunter game to play.

    Even though I own a Classic Controller, I decided to just give the Wii Remote and Nunchuck option a try, and I'm actually enjoying it and getting used to it.

    Have you beaten both "monsters" on the demo, well, the ones that are meant to be beat?

    @Panda:
    I don't think Monster Hunter 3 is the "end all, be all" game for the Wii, but I will say I'm glad to see something like this coming to the Wii.

    From the demo alone, it seems like there will be a lot to do in the game. I can only imagine how crazy the game will get with larger "monsters" and 2-4 people trying to take them down as a team.

    What do you mean about MH3's game-play being, "...just like an early days PS2 game..."?
    Are you talking about the controls? Or what about the game-play are you talking about?



    @Nicodemus at Nite, @Chuckpebble, and @Panda:
    Thank you all very much for the comments!

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  5. anyone else find the secret tunnel under water where you first start at the hut, down by the fishes? loved the demo

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  6. @papacap:
    I haven't done any exploring outside of trying to defeat the monsters, and I haven't played it today yet.
    I'm ready to "complete" my second hunt, and then I'll go explore the map more.

    Thanks for the comment!

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  7. dont have to play it its awesome wow and the combat is different speed depending on the weight of your weapon its realistic in terms of movement its not an action adventure get that out of your head COFFEEWITHGAMES its a tactical game maybe not for u m8

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  8. @Anonymous:
    ???? Did I say Monster Hunter 3 is an "action adventure game"?
    I'm not sure I follow your statement.
    Could you reword it, and maybe I'll understand it better the second time.

    Thanks for the comment though!

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  9. I played the demo for a very short period of time before giving way to NMH2 to play. So far it seems like the 2010 version of The Conduit so far. Basically all I heard about the game is 1) how popular it is in Japan, 2) how it is going to revitilize 3rd party hardcore support for Wii and 3) how the ganme will push the Wii's graphical capabilities.

    So this is based on a short gameplay and I will update as needed but, the controls seem sluggish to me and not just the speed of attack but overall. I could live with not having a lock on button if the camera was a more fixed camera behind you, so far I hate having to constantly manage the camera with the right analog stick. Graphically the game is totally unimpressive and I think looks like a PS2/GC game.

    I do not like it so far, but if you do I did go ahead and pre-ordered a copy of mine from Gamestop since they were offering $5 off the total price and 500 free Wii points with you pre-order. I put $5 down, and if I don't come around to it, I will just put that on Other M.

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  10. I hate time limits but I think I can live with them...
    The game looks really good and the online co-op gets me excited!

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  11. @Kyle in DE:
    The controls are slower, but make sure you find the "run" button, it's great for getting around the maps. You can't "run" if you have your weapon drawn, so in the middle of a fight, you have to learn to sheath your weapon quickly and hope you can escape in time.

    Again, I was very "meh" after my first two times, but I kept with it, trying to learn the controls. I've been enjoying it a lot more now.

    @nickos:
    The stinking time limits! The time limit prevented me twice last night from being able to defeat the Qurupeco.

    I'm going to attempt it again today though!

    Thank you both for the comments!

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  12. So I read some things that got my interest re-envigorated.

    Turns out you can target parts of the monster and lop them off.
    Also attacks can be charged.

    So, now my goal is to kill the one star critter with each character class.

    @Coffeewithgames
    I've only been able to take down the one guy. Q-dog is too much for me yet. He didn't even summon that bad boy in your video. By the way which class are you using there?

    @papacap
    sweet, I wanted to try going underwater, I'll look for it. I did notice you could go fishing down there. That was fun.

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  13. @Chuckpebble:
    I was using the Long Sword hunter class in the video.

    I beat the Qurupeco this afternoon, using the Switch Axe 2 class.

    I did actually go underwater, and found a new "monster", though it's something rather common, but makes a lot of sense in the game. Swimming was fun, because I kept waiting on something to attack me.

    BTW, I didn't know you could target different parts, but it makes sense because I've heard that knowing the monster's weak spot is key to defeating it. I guess if you know a monster's weak spot, but can't target it, that wouldn't help much.

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  14. played it again the other day : take a torch with you to section #4 theres alot more going on there

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  15. @papacap:
    I haven't played it since earlier this week, I'll give it a try!

    Thanks for commenting!

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  16. Hey, thought I'd pop back in. Hot tip!
    If you're using the classic controller, like me, you may be interested in the downloadable PDF version of the full manual for the demo in the bottom right corner of the following site.

    http://www.capcom.com/monster/#/en/

    Warning, its a full page flash site. The download is just above the talking viking's head.

    Also, Capcom Unity, Capcom-unity, cap-community, LOL, never picked up on that before.

    @CWG - still haven't defeated Q-dog yet. And he hasn't summoned that big guy yet either, but I did see a video on Youtube where a guy lopped the tail off of that thing. It was an ordeal.
    While it adds quite a bit of difficulty, I like that the weak points aren't highlighted. A deer's heart doesn't glow when you raise a bow to it.

    @nickos, I asked some vets of the game and they said 50minutes is the normal time limit for a quest. I had your fears as well, but I was told running out of time in the previous games was never really a problem, unless you were required to get more than one monster.

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  17. Alright so I have given the MH3 demo a whirl and my opinion has changed....just not for the better. Frankly this game is absolute garbage. The controls suck and are unresponsive, the camera movement is terrible and whole experience seems pointless.

    Also, I sitll don't understand why this is a Wii exlusive. If this is basically being sold as a "hey look the Wii has it's own standard controller for the Hardcore" then just what in the world is it's hook? It's subpar graphics or online?

    Far be it from me to overly criticize the Wii, it is the only console I own and the content available keeps me satisfied where I don't really want or need another console. But this game on this system I just don't get. I feel it will be this years version of The Conduit, a lot of hype that it cannot live up to and a game the instead of being a shining example of what is possible on the system, is a glaring reminder of everyone of the Wii's flaws as a console.

    So I seem to be a minority opinion on this, I just feel the game is really REALLY terrible. That being said, if you all are enjoying it great.

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  18. @Chuckpebble:
    Interesting about the Capcom-unity, Cap comunity thing! I actually just signed up on the site yesterday!

    I'm not sure how the time limit will work in the final game, I just think it will help people stay on task when fighting a monster.

    @delawaregamer:
    What control option were you using?
    As for you saying, "I feel it will be this years version of The Conduit...", I actually think another game may be feeling that role, and I'll be having a post up next week about it.

    I can definitely see though, how some gamers may not enjoy MH3, but I was just really surprised by it.

    BTW, were you able to defeat either of the monsters on the demo?

    Thanks again for the comments!

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  19. @coffeewithgames
    Considering what releases next week, I think I know what it is. I will wait for your post and respond to it. Espcially if it's what I think it is, then I will have it day 1 and can provide some insight.

    As for MH3, no I did not defeat either monster, but that is not the reason for my post. I used the classic controller, and the whole thing just felt off. I just did not enjoy the game in any way.

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  20. @delawaregamer:
    I know you aren't the only one that didn't enjoy the demo.
    I used the Wii Remote and Nunchuck(even though I own a CC) and I would spam the C button a lot(C recenters the camera with the Wii Remote/Nunchuck control setup).
    Once I got used to recentering, and I got used to no lock-on feature, I really started having fun with it.

    And correcting my awesome improper English, "I actually think another game may be filling that role.

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  21. Man my local gamestop keeps running out of the demo's and it really pissing me off. But i put a pre-order on MH3 and i'm hoping i won't regret it.

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  22. @SGTPandaX:
    I'm not sure if the GameStops are getting more demos, or if it was a simple, one shipment and that's all.

    Thanks for the comment!

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  23. The 2 monsters were easy, but I cant decide on switch axe or longsword, I do good with both.

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  24. @Pranay:
    I couldn't beat the Qurupeco with the longsword, just the switch axe.

    Do you plan on buying the game when it releases?


    Thanks for the comment!

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  25. I finally beat the Great Jaggi Hunt over the weekend using the long sword. Now I just have to try and defeat the Qurupeco. The only problem with the Qurupeco, is that he keeps summoning that huge dragon looking thing and when the dragon arrives it is all over.

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  26. @prizerebeling:
    The Qurupeco fight took me a while. The Qurupeco won't summon the flying dragon every time, and I'm not exactly sure what causes the Quurupeco to summon the different creatures.

    Good luck with the Qurupeco hunt!

    Also, thanks for the comment!

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  27. i can tell you guys that the time is so you fight the monster more and theres no lock on because u just keep your eye on it all you got to do is get used to the game when u guys know how to play u forget all of the stuff u hated and will start to enjoy the game more

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