All things Monster Hunter (and other Hunting Action Games)

[CMoon]

Just getting into this series (don't know why I didn't pick it up when it first came out on the PS2, and never owned a psp.) Pretty intimidating at first with tons of sub-menus and systems I don't know whether I should be paying attention to or not. Fortunately...

http://monsterhunter.wikia.com/wiki/Monster_Hunter_Wiki

I have a feeling the 3DS may not be the best way to be experiencing this game for the first time (prepare for squinting and awkward controls...hopefully the later being solved by the circle pad pro.) Also, don't expect to go online unless you have a WiiU. Apparently this problem is being resolved with 4. Feels very satisfying solo, so don't know what I'm missing.

Anyway, this is a genre that seems to finally be taking off (kinda like Dark Souls meets Big Game Hunter with massively addictive loot mechanics!) I'm 16 hours in and still figuring out how a lot of things work, especially the armor skill system.

Is there a way in-game to see what items monsters can drop or am I limited to this? http://monsterhunter.wikia.com/wiki/MH3U:_Item_List

[Eno]

I used to play MHFO on the korean servers until they closed. I quite enjoyed it, a shame there's no other MH nor quite nothing like it for PC(much less on Linux).

[Obiwanshinobi]

If it's a genre, then it took off with the first Gothic in my book.

[Ed Oscuro]

I've recently gotten started on these too - just a little bit now and then. Playing Freedom (the first one) on my original PSP is borderline painful but it is still neat (and neat to look at for the system). Other than that I've been checking out MH Tri. For me the thing that either makes or breaks it for the day is all the gathering stuff - I need to break through into some higher-level quests. Tri has a lot of neat systems to mess around with and fairly early, like swimming. There's also the fact that it's easy to just reflexively gather everything and spend too much time in the starting areas - I need to be more quest-focused. I also hope that I will break out of these games' starting areas soon; they are getting pretty stale and that is one thing I definitely miss from a more open world game.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Do MH veterans play PSP ones with their left index finger on d-pad?

[Ji-L87]

Do MH veterans play PSP ones with their left index finger on d-pad?

I love me the "MH hook". Once used to it it's very effective and I find myself missing this all the time when playing MH3U on 3DS - mostly because I can move, control the camera and perform actions at the same time whereas on the 3DS the same hand that controls the actions also controls the camera - circle pad or not - which means that when adjusting the camera, no fingers are ready to strike to action if needed.

Overall I also seem to prefer MH Portable 3rd to Tri/Ultimate - sure, Ultimate's got more content I'm sure but I miss the autumn feel and my totally badass feline comrades. Also noticed some weird sync/position latency issues when playing on my 3DS together with a friend who have the Wii U version (in the same room) that I haven't experienced that badly with the PSP games.

[CMoon]

For me the thing that either makes or breaks it for the day is all the gathering stuff - I need to break through into some higher-level quests.

Although I'm only just starting the three star quests, I rather agree with this sentiment. There's an idea (perhaps it comes from our experience with rpgs) that we should be focusing on building up money/resources/armor/equipment/etc. early on, but I'm not sure this is really true. I think instead you should be busting through the quests until you find your breaking point, then backing off slightly. The 1 star quests seem to exist entirely as tutorial, while the 2 star quests do introduce some mid sized monsters that might present a challenge, but with a little equipment upgrading and some savy, there's nothing here particularly hard. I've spent WAY TOO LONG getting through those quests because of the wrong mind-set, and it could definitely be enough to put other people off the game.

[Ed Oscuro]

Do MH veterans play PSP ones with their left index finger on d-pad?

I'll tell you that while sometimes I find myself trying to do this, it's an ergonomic nightmare and I'd rather not.

[professor ganson]

As a fan of the recent Phantasy Star games on PSP and DS, I was expecting to love MH games. I found the latter somewhat more demanding and complicated and that turned me off a bit as I was looking for something pretty casual, but I did buy the WiiU game for Christmas so I'm prepared to give the series another chance.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Any way to estimate just how successful (profitable) the series is, world-wide? I can't remember such sequels assault coming from Japan since PES/Winning Eleven. The only thing that seems to be missing from the picture is a coin-op Monster Hunter game... or is there one or two already?

[Jonathan Ingram]

Playing Freedom (the first one) on my original PSP is borderline painful but it is still neat (and neat to look at for the system).

Why? Should have gone with MHFU instead. It has several times more content(including everything that Freedom had) and it's a much better game overall. MH, MHG and MHF are probably still worth it if you want to see where the series' roots are, but good starting points they are not.

Is there a way in-game to see what items monsters can drop or am I limited to this? http://monsterhunter.wikia.com/wiki/MH3U:_Item_List

There`s no way to see them in-game. Also, this is not the right list - it's of the items that you can buy, mine and gather. For carves and capture rewards you should visit http://monsterhunter.wikia.com/wiki/MH3U:_Monsters, choose the needed monster, then locate and click on 'carves' in the upper side of the page.

I used to play MHFO on the korean servers until they closed. I quite enjoyed it, a shame there's no other MH nor quite nothing like it for PC(much less on Linux).

Well, there's the new CryEngine3-based Monster Hunter Online by Tencent. On top of that, all of the PS2, PSP and Wii Monster Hunter games are perfectly playable on PC through emulation(PCSX2, PPSSPP and Dolphin, respectively) and that's a lot of games:

PS2
Monster Hunter
Monster Hunter G
Monster Hunter 2 Dos

Wii
Monster Hunter G
Monster Hunter Tri

PSP
Monster Hunter Portable(Freedom)
Monster Hunter Portable 2nd(Freedom 2)
Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G(Freedom Unite)
Monster Hunter Portable 3rd

[Eno]

I used to play MHFO on the korean servers until they closed. I quite enjoyed it, a shame there's no other MH nor quite nothing like it for PC(much less on Linux).

Well, there's the new CryEngine3-based Monster Hunter Online by Tencent. On top of that, all of the PS2, PSP and Wii Monster Hunter games are perfectly playable on PC through emulation(PCSX2, PPSSPP and Dolphin, respectively)

I had heard of the new chinese MH but didn't know it was already under beta. Might try to get into it once it becomes clear how well/if WINE handles it, thanks for the heads-up.
Emulation is cool and all, but getting together with friends and trying not to kill each other while tracking down the monsters was 90% of the experience for me.

[Ed Oscuro]

MH, MHG and MHF are probably still worth it if you want to see where the series' roots

Exactly why I'm doing it. I don't see myself sticking with those early releases to the bitter end of course - I will move on to the later installments eventually.

[dcharlie]

I played a hell of a lot the series - all the way from the first on PS2. Japanese online community was pretty awesome.

I , however, skipped MH3G and MH3U - even though i bought them - i maybe put about 10 hours in but i'd just had enough of "3" even though there are a ton of differences (MHTri, MH3rdP). I played through everything in MH3rdP - fairly weak 600 or so hours or so - (and all the PSP entries), the reason was also to make MH4 feel that bit more fresh but hot damn....

in the run up to MH4 i had a ton of misgivings about what i was seeing - i was worried where some of the game ideas were going... but MH4 is absolutely amazing. Due to work/kids/etc i've barely hit 40 hours or so but god damn it's so so so sooooooooooo good. Can't recommend it enough.

[replayme]

The Wii version is about £4 in CEX at the moment... Picked that up. So now I have the game on Wii and PSP.

[CMoon]

in the run up to MH4 i had a ton of misgivings about what i was seeing - i was worried where some of the game ideas were going... but MH4 is absolutely amazing. Due to work/kids/etc i've barely hit 40 hours or so but god damn it's so so so sooooooooooo good. Can't recommend it enough.

Can you write up your impressions?

Any way to estimate just how successful (profitable) the series is, world-wide?

I'm also curious about this as you'd think MH would be a huge title in the US, but its success seems spotty and there's even some question whether MH4 will be brought over at all. I'm sure that's just the fear talking, but if MH were a bigger deal here, I'm sure we'd see a simultaneous release.

[Obiwanshinobi]

What MH needed in the West was a 360 port. Konami struck gold when they ported PES to everything that could run it.

[CMoon]

What MH needed in the West was a 360 port. Konami struck gold when they ported PES to everything that could run it.

Totally agree. Capcom needs to get MH off the Wii/U and onto the ps4/xbone or both (preferably.) Problem is that means a huge graphical overhaul since MH4 looks like it was specifically built for the 3DS graphics (IE about the same as a ps2.) I think the series already has a loyal US following, however Capcom needs to take their most popular franchise multi-platform. Even PC.

[Obiwanshinobi]

If it was download-only, people could put up with a straight port without remodelling, retexturing etc. It's not like nobody bought DMC or MGS "HD" versions.
PC version would need to be bundled with a good gamepad, just to get the point across. (I'm pretty sure Dark Souls on the PC would have made greater impact if more PC gamers had a clue.)

[Eno]

PC version would need to be bundled with a good gamepad, just to get the point across. (I'm pretty sure Dark Souls on the PC would have made greater impact if more PC gamers had a clue.)

If the game had the kind of support for mouse + kb MHFO had, it would need no further clue that a gamepad is heavily recommended, really
The thing with the pc crowd as far as I get isn't about not getting that certain games don't go well with kb+m, it's about not accepting it. Thus, bundling a gamepad would drive distribution costs up while screaming that the game isn't optimized for kb+m at an audience that sure loves their kb+m, not good.

My guess is that the PC will only ever see MMOified releases such as MHFO and the chinese MHO, which is a pity, but makes sense businesswise.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Thus, bundling a gamepad would drive distribution costs up while screaming that the game isn't optimized for kb+m at an audience that sure loves their kb+m, not good.

At least that would be sincere. Capcom doesn't need to trick anybody into buying Monster Hunter. If the games demand both dedication and a controller to be gratifyng, why not tell it out loud?
At this point hardly anybody expects car games to be as playable with keyboard as with steering wheel or joypad, yet PC car games keep coming out. Same with flight sims and joysticks.

[Jonathan Ingram]

Oh, ye, young Monster Hunter neophytes still clad in measly tatters, harken to my advice, for it's the most useful one you will gain on your way to the desired G-rank riches(and it's free to boot)! Ready? Here goes:

Crawling before gathering and carving considerably speeds up the process.

Impressed?

[gs68]

MH3U 3DS is best played with a Circle Pad Pro. I almost sold the game until my CPP arrived in the mail. (Sadly, CPP XL is mail order only.) I use ZL and ZR for horizontal camera control so I don't have to clawgrip or anything like that during land battles.

Here's hoping the West gets MH4, because the lack of online makes 3U 3DS kinda boring. (this is my first Monster Hunter game.)

[BrianC]

I'm hoping MH4 gets announced for the US too. I'm on the fence of MH3U because of it and I really want another game for the CPP.

[gs68]

I do have local friends who play 3U so I could meet with them for co-op missions if we planned them out, but a proper online would be great.

[CMoon]

Yeah, there need to be more CPP supported games...the list is really small, and I don't expect that to change given that here in the US, the XL version is still an import.

[gs68]

I ordered my CPP XL straight from Nintendo.

[CMoon]

I ordered my CPP XL straight from Nintendo.

Interesting. It isn't listed at gamestop and amazon only lists it as an import.

[gs68]

In hindsight, I'm glad I didn't get the 2DS, which doesn't have a CPP at all.

[BrianC]

Interesting. It isn't listed at gamestop and amazon only lists it as an import.

Nintendo made it exclusive to their store in the US, where it got a quiet release. I don't mind too much since the price is reasonable, though the shipping prices are odd (they go by price instead of weight). I wish more games supported it, but I like how Galaxy Force II supports it.