We’ve heard it all before. The misinformed comments about how the Wii isn’t a ‘hardcore’ console, how the Wii is forever collecting dust and isn’t worth anyone’s time. While once upon a time the comments levied at it may have had a semblance of truth, this time is long gone. Just look at No More Heroes 2 for instance, visceral and distinctly mature. The same can be said of the woefully underrated Dead Space: Extraction. Now we come to Monster Hunter Tri, a game that might not look vicious but hides an incredibly challenging and deep experience. It might be a bit of a slow burner but persevere through the first few hours and you’ll be pleasantly surprised. This is a title squarely aimed at the long term player rather than the casual newbie.
Monster Hunter for the uninformed is a huge franchise in Japan but one that’s never fared quite as well in Europe. The concept is simple: you kill increasingly large monsters in order to collect up their skin and general other bits from them in order to craft bigger and better weapons and pieces of armour. Rinse and repeat for many, many hours. It doesn’t sound overly compelling does it? Oh but it is. It’s addictive in the ‘Oh it’s 4am, wasn’t I meant to go to work 19 hours ago and why am I so hungry?’ sort of way. Its appearance and focus on loot feels distinctly like an offline MMO.
Unlike an MMO however there’s no character levelling system. Progression is solely through the acquisition of better loot. This might sound pretty plain and uninspiring but it works brilliantly. Each piece of armour feels connected to the monster whose hide you’ve skinned to gain the relevant components. This makes for some great armour both visually and in terms of practicality. Each piece of armour has its own strengths and weaknesses which make for a nice strategical element to proceedings. Really though it’s just plain satisfying to acquire a new item that you can actually see. It feels more worthwhile than a levelling system that just means invisible statistics improve. Instead you can see just how far you’ve progressed since the early days of being a weakling monster hunter by just looking at the bits of monster draped across your body. The vast array of weaponry on offer furthers the customisation potential with each weapon feeling distinctive. The switch axe was my weapon of choice offering both sword and axe functionality, but the likes of lances, swords, hammers and bowguns are also on offer. Each of them requiring a different approach to truly master them thanks to a deceptively varied number of combo moves. Bowguns feel a little awkward to learn at first but it’s not long until you appreciate their versatility.
This also sums up Monster Hunter Tri’s control system perfectly. It’s a challenging combat system to fully master. The classic controller, while not perfect, makes things much simpler with the nunchuk/wiimote combo feeling counter-intuitive and clumsy. One of the first things you’ll notice is the lack of a lock on system. There’s no simple matter of holding down the lock on button and pressing the attack button a few times here. Paying attention at all times becomes vital within a short space of time if you want to succeed. This is all the more apparent when, in a common move by Capcom, you realise you can’t pause during battle to contemplate your next move. Some of the monsters are truly tremendous to confront and the satisfaction once you defeat them is absolutely sublime. You’ll earn every one of these victories though as the various monsters inhabitating the game world are far from dim-witted.
Every monster I encountered felt like a unique entity with their own behavioural traits. From the humble early beginnings to the fearsome beasts of later stages, it’s clear that a lot of thought has been put into the design of these creatures. Every foe is beautiful to look at. It’s beguiling to sit and watch the creatures go about their business in a realistic (for a fictional being) manner. It’s even more apparent once attacked that each monster has its own AI behaviour. Some require chasing once injured while others are constantly aggressive. Some attitudes are much more subtle but each of them creates an original experience. There’s no sign of health bars here so it’s frequently important to observe your foe’s behaviour to gauge how near to victory you are. While you’ll be blocking and dodging as expected in order to survive, Monster Hunter Tri is also a game that requires quick but careful thinking too. Sometimes taking a break and thinking things through beforehand can help a lot in figuring out a good form of attack. Underestimating this game is a big mistake.
Suitably the monsters are the stars of the game, you spend most of your time fighting them after all, but there is a bit more to Monster Hunter Tri though. The village that you visit right at the start forms a central hub for all the quests on offer with a loose story focused on eventually defeating Lagicarus, a huge dragon featured on the cover of the game. It also offers a farm to cultivate useful plants and mushrooms which reduces the need to grind for items a bit more. It’s all fairly minimal but it’s nice to see an attempt made at a storyline even if the focus is more on enabling the player to pursue more loot.
There’s also the inclusion of an online mode. Even better an online mode that doesn’t rely on the Wii friends code system, a troubled method that has been far from practical. Instead players meet up in the ‘city’, a lobby essentially, which works much better than any other method I’ve seen used on the Wii before. The online mode allows up to 4 players to join together to undertake various quests with no sign of any significant lag. Capcom also seems to be doing a good job of encouraging players even more so by adding numerous Event Quests although I didn’t get a chance to participate in one myself.
Even if you take out the online functionality, there are still hours upon hours of content to experience here. The potential is extraordinary when you throw in mastering all the weapons, acquiring all the equipment you want and defeating the ever scary looking Lagicarus. Monster Hunter Tri isn’t the hardest game of all time by any means, but it will challenge you. The collision detection is problematic and the control system feels a little archaic with its lack of lock on functionality.
Then again it challenges you to improve by yourself rather than rely on having your hand held throughout with such modern features. It expects you to learn the game in detail, not to be an expert from the start. Much like Capcom’s other big franchise, Street Fighter, practice makes perfect with Monster Hunter Tri. It might not always be forgiving but it never feels cheap either. This might feel frustrating to some but putting in the effort really is worth it. You may not be rewarded with an in-depth story but the gratification brought by acquiring new pieces of loot is especially satisfying. Monster Hunter Tri feels vibrant and alive. Even with the zonal exploration system, it still feels wonderfully seamless. It’s an experience that makes you want to thrust a Wii and a copy of the game into a naysayer’s hand and demand they give this franchise the attention it richly deserves. It may have its flaws but it’s a game that will reside in your memory for a long time to come and rightly so.
VideogameUK verdict: 9/10
