Greetings one and all!
So, this has been kicking around in my brain for a little bit and finally I decided to actually get it all typed out and onto the screens before you.
Firstly, my history with the series:
I own Monster Hunter 3 and got about as far as the Lagiacras(sp?) and maybe a touch further before I stopped playing.
I own Monster Hunter on PS2, and I think I killed the first 'big' monster...and left it at that.
Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate however I have..... well... I checked the time played in game and it totals up to 90 hours.
90 hours.
That surprised me. I remember getting to the 60 hour mark and being really impressed with my sticking with it, I'll admit that in the 30 hours I've played since then I've played it a heck of a lot LESS than I did before hand, however I know that I can and will pick it back up again and continue to plow my way through the huge variety of beasts and monsters that would very much like to nibble me giblets as it were.
Although my history of PLAYING the games is incredibly lax, I've known about them since about... 2005/2006ish when one of my best friends got VERY much into one of the portable games and used to play and describe the game a lot. I was curious but when I did finally track down a copy for the PS2 I found myself annoyed as I just didn't get the controls, found the weapons difficult to use and the monsters too finickity to slay and found myself putting down the game and just not coming back to it.
So when Monster Hunter 3 was coming to the Wii I was willing to give it another go, and my friend was also gonna be playing so I got the special chest edition with he controller and statuette and voice chat thingie.....ad still found myself having trouble with the game. (I'll be honest, my setup wasn't the best so that probably didn't help)
Then Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate was coming soon, and I was reliably informed by said friend that there would be a DEMO on the 3DS that could be playable. I was interested but still pretty lukewarm considering my previous experiences.
They then mentioned that you could play the demo WITH friends, online multiplayer.
I was hooked on the idea. When it was released over here in summery(HA!) Britain I downloaded it and as we chatted away on Skype I gave the single player on the demo a little go first.
And liked it. I was able to understand what the tutorial was telling me, could pull off some pretty sweet moves, and was able to find and actually hunt the monster in question. I forget how long it took me to slay it but I felt invigorated afterwards and did the mission again a few times until I was nailing the creature pretty fast. Then I gave the Tetsucabre a go, and suddenly it was a challenge again. A tough challenge that I had trouble with. However I prevailed, and it felt gooooood.
Then we connected online with each other (not the easiest system but we worked it out) to take on the 'harder' level missions. The same two as before, plus trying to kill the games signature monster. Gore Magala.
We worked our way up to that (me holding us back some as I was still finding my newbie feet) and then we took on the mission. And ran out of 'lives' pretty quickly. We tried again...and again....and again. I played it on my own, and tried and failed and tried and failed.
By the time the release date came around I'd actually looked into and ended up buying a N3DS, because I enjoyed the extra camera abilities I could have with the control nub and it looked a little prettier.
I bought the game on release and was very happy with my purchase but I still hadn't managed to slay the Gore Magala in the demo. I did however get to the Gore Magala in the story line in the main game, and killing that on my own was amazing. So I kept playing.
Killing the next Magala up, was even more stunning as I beat it on my first attempt. Something I was certainly NOT expecting with my newbieness still showing.
As anyone who reads more than 1 blog of mine, I end up rambling.
I will continue to do so, but will try and keep it structured enough so you can follow me.
I played the game a lot, I'd carry my N3DS around more often than I had my original 3DS, I slay untold numbers of monsters and had my eyes forward.
Without a doubt I would say that this is the MOST accessible of the Monster Hunter games for newbies. I'll admit if there was a version for the Wii U I probably would of gotten that either/as well, simply for the extra screen space to be dedicated to the beautiful scenery and getting an even better scope of the monsters. Even if it meant holding the blasted heavy controller for long hours because it would of been worth it.
It gives a tutorial, encourages you to try out different weapons and to find what you are happy with, and go get the monsters.
I will just say, I've yet to play online with anyone other than friends I know, I'm not that brave with my little set of dual swords (I REALLY want the next upgrade but I'm just not quite far enough through to get to the monsters I need) and mixed armour. No accessories yet, I haven't made that system make sense in my head yet, and I certainly haven't purfected the Palico side of things either yet, though I get closer to grasping the full potential the more I tinker.
That's what's honestly fun abut the game. A delightful combination of ever increasing monsters that get gradually bigger and meaner and more frustratingly difficult, all wrapped up in that desire to get better, to kick the next monsters ass. To work out that pattern of attack, to learn the map layouts, which little monsters are lurking around the map on this specific mission that could well try and sneak up behind you and chomp your ass at a critical moment.
It treats you well, it gives you and idea of what you're supposed to do (beyond there's a monster go slay) and the reward feeling of having taken down that massive dragon like monster that CREAMED you in the demo is still a feeling of awesome that I enjoy.
Actually, I've gone and talked about it so much I think once I've posted this I'm gonna boot up the game and kick it's ass again just for the fun of it.
Because yes, not only do I recommend this game for the various awesome things it does.
It's also FUN.
That's all for now.
Have a lovely evening!
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