Monster Hunter Tri (Wii) First Impression

April is the beginning of Quarter 2 (Q2) for most companies across the planet.  Companies that make money during the spring and summer – Lowes, Yogi Bear’s Picnic Basket Collection Agency, Coppertone, etc – are preparing for a blitz of income and product releases.  The entirety of my beloved video game industry goes the other way, hibernation.  Gamers will be lucky to find one or two awesome games a month to droll over, from now to the end of the summer.  A sad state of affairs.

Case in point; April offered no shower of video games to perk my interest.  A lone title managed to enter my domicile, Capcom’s Monster Hunter Tri.  Thanks to my recent publisher-induced malnutrition, I’ve already spent a few hours in the creature-laden world.  More than enough to put together a first impression for the latest offering from Capcom.

Your scenic hometown.

Pros:

• Monster Hunter Tri offers one of the most enjoyable online experiences on the Wii.  This is largely because you don’t need Friend Codes to enjoy MH3!  Need I say more?
• There’s this unknown game on the PC that has people playing it over a decade after its release for one simple reason, loot grinding.  It’s called Diablo II, or something like that.  Heard of it?  Anyways.  Monster Hunter Tri takes the classic loot grinding formula, removes the need to click a million buttons to retrieve items, and funnels the random crap you find into a trio of creation systems.
  
• Capcom did a stupendous job with the Wii’s limited graphical capabilities.  The town is detailed with bustling areas, wares on sale and various structures.  Hunting grounds are diverse, featuring flowing waterfalls, lakes, beaches, caves and more.  Best of all, I haven’t noticed a single framerate issue.
• The graphical prowess of Monster Hunter Tri begins with the pre-rendered opening sequence that sets the stage.  Players will come across these movies fairly frequently during their journey.  Thankfully, they are not the long-winded presentations of some other JRPGs.  Story direction, setting and introduction is about all they’re used for.
• Remember all that random crap you collect?  Players can use those materials to create more materials by farming, or chose to combine them into powerful remedies via herbalism.  Neither category is very deep, that was reserved for crafting.  Crafting is one of the title’s main draws.  By battling monsters and gathering materials from them or the environment, players will be able to forge a parade of armor and weapons.  Armor comes in multiple types, as do weapons.  Players will have to decide what to fashion based on personal taste (ex. I hate the slow-swinging hammers) and character restrictions.
• It’s not often that you get to create your own character in a JRPG, so I was quite happy to play around with my hunter’s look.  It’s a fleeting experience, yet full of choices.  All the way to how your character will sound.
• The self-deprecating, cornball humor, odd characters and general quirks of Monster Hunter Tri has lead me to belly laugh a few times.  Good show.
• It’s pretty safe to assume that doing anything underwater in video games is an awful experience.  Not so for Monster Hunter Tri.  Swimming, gathering and even hunting is as fluid and intuitive as if you were landlubbing.

Each weapon type has its own unique combat parameters, from animations to combos.

Cons:

• Walk 10 feet, load screen.  Walk 20 feet, load screen.  Walk 20 yards, load screen.  You’ll be going through hundreds of load screens, get used to…loading…them.  At least they’re quick load screens.
• Inventory, why is it such a curse word for console games?  Developers, from BioWare to Capcom, can never seem to get it right the first go around.  I absolutely love the depth of crafting, herbalism and farming, but inventory management is cumbersome and hampers the experience.  You also run out of space in your bags very quickly.
• The graphics are so good because the locales are basic.  Once you step out of the town there’s little in the way of extraneous eye candy.  You’ll get the monster to hunt, and a few gathering nodes to trot over to.  Otherwise, it’ll be a barren, although pretty, tileset.
• No lock-on targeting?  I thought Ocarina of Time made lock-on targeting a staple in 3D action-adventure games?  The lack of targeting isn’t detrimental.  It just causes hairy situations constantly.  Having your back face your opponent in a frantic battle is not a good thing.

Wait, I'm supposed to kill THAT?! It's EATING A DRAGON!

The last talking point I want to note is the overall game design.  Monster Hunter is an incredibly popular franchise in Japan, which happens to be where gamers enjoy punishing themselves.  At least that’s how it seems by western standards.  Monster Hunter Tri is designed for that audience, from loot grinding, crafting, monster difficulty, right down to the control scheme.  I love a good loot grinding and challenging game, so that’s cool with me.  It’s the interaction with the environment that irks me.

My main gripe comes from gathering environmental materials, ore, herbs or animal parts.  A task that is an integral part of Monster Hunter.  To even be notified that the node has something for you, your character must put his or her weapon of choice away.  It is as if your sword imbues your character with the inability to notice these important details.  This leads to hundreds of extra button pushes, missed nodes and wasted time.  Ultimately, it reeks of an archaic design philosophy to me.  But some people will love that the series is “sticking to its roots.”  That’s why I didn’t categorize the complaint (even though it annoys the hell out of me) as a pro or con.

Monster Hunter Tri is easily the best game of its type on the Wii.  To be fair, that is like saying that it’s the best Pokemon game on the PlayStation 3.  There’s just not a lot of competition in the genre.  The title is entertaining and capable of absorbing hours of play time.  New comers to the franchise may be peeved at the archaic designs that Capcom thrusts upon them, while the same is a treat for franchise fans.  Assuming they can be overlooked or loved, Monster Hunter Tri should keep you Wii busy during the (long) wait for Super Mario Galaxy 2.