Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate Flashbacks of Peace Walker

On 02/23/2013 at 07:37 PM by asrealasitgets

I remember playing Monster Hunter on the PSP briefly. I enjoyed what I played of it, but I didn’t realize it was designed to be played cooperatively with four players at the time. Apparently there were some elements of coop play that were de-emphasized for the US release making it kind of a difficult solo trudge type of game, whereas Japanese players were grouping and strategizing over wifi making it a totally different experience. I especially found it hard to wait through load screens. I felt the next generation of hardware, beit PSVITA or PS3 would provide the proper online service and horse power necessary to make this game work properly.…even in the easy mode I still feel the absence of a group to play with.

The game demo of the latest version of Monster Hunter is now available on WiiU and 3DS, and I’ve played it. For one, I like the fact that the game loads maps a lot faster than on the psp system. The same goes for both 3DS and WiiU. However, I am now finding the game to be a bit too empty. If you are playing solo you have two little companions helping you out, but not in combat roles. The demo has you hunting down two different enemies in separate difficulty modes, however, even in the easy mode I still feel the absence of a group to play with.

This all takes me back to Metal Gear Peace Walker. The games boss battles were designed to be taken down by group effort via cooperative play. These game play decisions were influenced by the popularity of Monster Hunter and it’s multi-player combat. I’m feeling the same sense of frustration with these enemy foes. I never experienced coop Metal Gear, but I feel that once that option is available for Monster Hunter 3, I might find it a better game to play. At the moment, I don’t think I want to play solo anymore.

Ranger1

02/23/2013 at 08:20 PM

My friend Reed was really into MH. It always looked like something that might be a lot of fun to get into.

asrealasitgets

02/24/2013 at 01:31 AM

I've read that the game is fun when played coop. I've been wanting to test coop features with WiiU.

GrayHaired

02/23/2013 at 08:30 PM

I have Peace Walker and i have yet to get deep into it. and that's strange seeing how MGS is my favorite series of all time.

02/24/2013 at 01:33 AM

Peace Walker is a bit different from the rest because of the unfairly difficult boss fights. They were designed for coop. Not impossible boss fights, but very tough solo. Not very Metal Gear in that respect.

Matt Snee Staff Writer

02/23/2013 at 11:09 PM

I never got into Monster Hunter. I tried it a couple times. Probably because I was playing by myself.

I didn't quite like solo play in the new demos. So, I'm kind of with you.

Jason Ross Senior Editor

02/24/2013 at 01:42 AM

The thing about Monster Hunter is that it's got so many barriers to fun and enjoyment. The fights with the monsters can be a lot of fun in some cases, though the method to learn about how to fight a monster is all too punishing.

Anyway, to sum it up, it is a lot of fun with the right people. However, if you grow to be skilled and you wind up playing with people who aren't, know that one bad player dying a few times can end a round in a loss, which is a bit sad. Other than that, there really is a lot of grinding. A lot of gathering supplies to create items to be used to create the items you plan to use. That kind of stuff. So... I wouldn't recommend it unless you have patience. If you do, it can be very rewarding when a team works well together.

02/24/2013 at 02:10 AM

I'm not sure what to make of the demo. I remember enjoying the PSP game, solo. You started off with small quests and then lead up to a boss battle. The deme starts you off solo with boss battles. I think part of the fun is crafting. I hope that game is fun with more people.

02/24/2013 at 02:20 AM

Crafting is fine, but I don't mean just forging new weapons. I mean that if you want to fight a monster and lay some traps, it means going to an area, scavenging for the items, and then hoping the RNG gives you the right ones, then only being able to pick up a limited supply of those items at once, and then going back to the hub area.Want a mega potion? You have to go to a place you can gather honey, and gather once for each mega potion you want. In Tri on the Wii, every once in a while, they'd put honey for sale in the online shop, but most of the time, you had to farm for the items to craft in a pretty dull way by the time you reach later points in the game. The problem would be resolved by increasing the variety of items in the shops, but that didn't happen vastly enough.

That said, if you liked the formula of the PSP game, from what I've read, all the basic-style missions are still in it. Just be aware that most people who play online will only want to play those missions to knock them out of the way in the path of bigger things unless they specifically need to gather supplies to replenish their stocks.

PixlBit