Monster Hunter 3: Tri

After having spent 300+ hours on the Japanese version, I can tell you this game will eat your life. The offline mode offers a good introduction for those not familiar with the series but online is where it's at. Taking down one of the big monsters as a team is tremendously satisfying. Add to that online quests that change every week, albeit some just on a four-weekly cycle, and you have hundreds of hours of hunting ahead of you.

Sadly it does lack the variety of weapons and armour that Freedom Unite has, but not everything can be perfect. Also the split-screen two player is only the arena mode, where two players are in an enclosed area to fight a monster. Not quite the REAL Monster Hunter.

Why four stars? The two reasons stated above pretty much. Also alternative colour monsters would have been nice.

Still, those playing the Japanese version have to pay an online premium, and outside Japan...Capcom seems to have decided NOT to charge! Lucky for you!

If you get… more »

After having spent 300+ hours on the Japanese version, I can tell you this game will eat your life. The offline mode offers a good introduction for those not familiar with the series but online is where it's at. Taking down one of the big monsters as a team is tremendously satisfying. Add to that online quests that change every week, albeit some just on a four-weekly cycle, and you have hundreds of hours of hunting ahead of you.

Sadly it does lack the variety of weapons and armour that Freedom Unite has, but not everything can be perfect. Also the split-screen two player is only the arena mode, where two players are in an enclosed area to fight a monster. Not quite the REAL Monster Hunter.

Why four stars? The two reasons stated above pretty much. Also alternative colour monsters would have been nice.

Still, those playing the Japanese version have to pay an online premium, and outside Japan...Capcom seems to have decided NOT to charge! Lucky for you!

If you get one game for your Wii in 2010, this should be it. Remember it's not a kids game though.

I've clocked up about 5 hours on this game so far and I'm really enjoying it so far. It is a little slow to get going, there are a lot of villagers to talk to and to help you understand the game and give you snippets of info. I've been out exploring my world and had to deal with some monsters, none to difficult to dispose of yet. There appears to be a fair bit of game play under just going out killing monsters, such as trading and fine tuning your weapons. I'm just starting to be given quests, so the game is picking up speed and the enjoyment is just growing. The graphics for this game are excellent. Controls via the remote and nunchuck are fine. Sound effects are good and realistic. When fighting you feel your character is quite slow at wielding and attacking with his sword, but when the sword is as big as the hunter, the realism hits you that, 'hey, if was carrying a sword my height and made of iron, I'd be a bit cumbersome and not throwing it around like a butter knife' So in that… more »

I've clocked up about 5 hours on this game so far and I'm really enjoying it so far. It is a little slow to get going, there are a lot of villagers to talk to and to help you understand the game and give you snippets of info. I've been out exploring my world and had to deal with some monsters, none to difficult to dispose of yet. There appears to be a fair bit of game play under just going out killing monsters, such as trading and fine tuning your weapons. I'm just starting to be given quests, so the game is picking up speed and the enjoyment is just growing. The graphics for this game are excellent. Controls via the remote and nunchuck are fine. Sound effects are good and realistic. When fighting you feel your character is quite slow at wielding and attacking with his sword, but when the sword is as big as the hunter, the realism hits you that, 'hey, if was carrying a sword my height and made of iron, I'd be a bit cumbersome and not throwing it around like a butter knife' So in that respect very realistic. My only real niggle, is the text for the menus and speech are quite small and takes some straining to read it all fluently. I guess on 40" screen this may not be a problem, and our 26" is ok, but a smaller sized screen may become a slight pain. All in all a very good serious game to add to the library of more comical/cartoony games that fill the Wii shelf in our house. Worth buying if you are prepared to put in some time before the action gets really going. Although a 4* has been given by me, it really deserves a 4.5.