Monster Hunter tri (Wii) Review

The video game industry is a dangerous place for developers, publishers and gamers themselves, particularly when talking about console exclusives. Monster Hunter, one of Capcom’s most storied franchises with quite possibly one of the most dedicated cult followings, has always been a “Sony” franchise, with around seven titles being released exclusively on Sony platforms. Naturally, Capcom not only shocked fans when Monster Hunter tri was announced, but also raised hell when they revealed it as a Nintendo Wii exclusive. So, following all the hate and defences that the title has received since it’s original Wii announcement, is Monster Hunter tri really a game worth owning, and, well, how does the series perform on a Nintendo console? Rather admirably.

While Monster Hunter tri is a largely online-oriented game, the title has a lot of content geared towards the lone hunters, too. The main storyline for the game’s campaign is truly nothing groundbreaking, but acts as a nice little facilitator for the game’s many actions. Players assume the role of an unnamed hunter who resides in Moga Village, a rather quaint seaside town that has recently been suffering intense earthquakes. Community leaders all attribute the change in the environment to a legendary leviathan, the Lagiacrus. Naturally, as a monster hunter, it’s up to you to work your way up the “ranks” and eventually slay the Lagiacrus to bring peace to Moga Village. Additionally, single players get a sidekick known as Cha Cha, who assists in distracting creatures and is fully customisable to gain access to different abilities. It’s all very simple but still moves the game along at a nice pace.

Probably the first thing you’ll notice upon setting out into the field for your first hunt is how beautiful this game looks. Tall grass blows in the wind, sunlight bathes the environments dynamically (changing as you move your camera around) and all kinds of creatures of varying sizes interact with one another. This is a game that does atmosphere right, and while the graphics are by no means groundbreaking, they do a brilliant job at making the player feel they are right in an ecosystem that lives, breathes and reacts dynamically to changing conditions. Models of the characters themselves can be rather simplistic, contrasting with the models of the creatures themselves which animate beautifully, giving them a great sense of being alive. All these elements come together to create a really well put together world that feels much more substantial than previous titles in the series.

Monster Hunter tri does introduce some new elements into the fray to make things a little more interesting, though it’s not unlikely to think that this will be most people’s first foray into the Monster Hunter world. The crux of the gameplay involves taking on quests from “The Guild” in order to earn resources which can range from minerals, to meat, and even bones. These resources, of course, become integral in creating armour and new weapons for your character, which in turn allow players to tackle more powerful creatures. It’s a rather standard chain of events that you’d expect from an action RPG of this calibre, but the complexity and depth of the game’s mechanics make it appealing.

Upon customising your character with a rather comprehensive character creator, you choose your own weapon to begin hunting with. There are seven different categories of weapons to choose from; each has their own specific strengths and weaknesses, which are key to successful hunts. Of course, each weapon has a rather intuitive control scheme that can utilise either the Wii Remote and its motion functionality, or the classic controller (or, if you purchase the bundle, the Pro). While the Wii Remote functionality is nice, and the motions are quite accurate, it just feels “right” to play with the Classic Controller Pro. This makes sense, since the controller was designed exclusively for Monster Hunter tri in a unique collaboration between Nintendo and Capcom.

While quests do vary in their objectives, they all still fit within four key categories. Some require the hunters to defeat monsters, some to collect specific resources, some to make monster flee an area without killing them, and much more. While there are four general categories, the quests are quite varied and create a rather nice set of objectives for players to complete, more so when tackling these quests as a team. Within each of the quests, there are “Urgent Quests” which progress the game’s “story” and allow players to tackle a newer, more difficult set of quests. For those who play online, completing these quests brings in points, which contribute to the players “Hunter Rank”. The higher a Hunter Rank, the more difficult quests the player can tackle.

Following the acceptance of a quest, players will be able to gather resources that will assist them on their quests. These include, but are not limited to, herbs that can be concocted into potions, sharpening sets that allow players to sharpen their weapons to deal maximum damage, raw meat and cooking sets to cook while out in the field, as well as numerous other tools to assist in the quest. These are integral to players during quests, as a “Stamina” meter drains gradually while out in the field. Performing several different physical manoeuvres drains the stamina bar, and staying out in the field for a prolonged time reduces the capacity of the Stamina bar. This adds a layer of strategy to the game, with some players opting to carry all the healing items, while others take attack enhancing items and so forth.

While in the field, players can move within several different areas on the map. The areas are all enclosed and separated by some rather lengthy load times, though generally these are unnoticeable and admittedly do cut the pointless travelling time by quite a bit. A new feature to Monster Hunter is the incorporation of underwater locales. Instead of the invisible walls put up in the original Monster Hunter titles, running into the water allows players to eventually become fully submerged and witness life under the surface. It’s an amazing feat, and I imagine it’ll be pretty mindblowing for keen supporters of the series to be able to get their weaponry (and of course, feet) wet.

The real fun begins when you finally come into contact with your assigned monster. While it’s very tempting to just run in and start hacking at monsters, this approach will quickly prove to be useless against higher level creatures, where it’s integral for players to analyse attack patterns and work out which weapons work best. There’s even some times when players will have to work together to defeat the monster efficiently. Players need to consider not only the type of weapon to use, but also make sure its Sharpness and Weight are both optimal to ensure a smooth slaying. Attacking a fast moving creature simply won’t work with a heavier weapon, and it’s little effects like this that make the combat in Monster Hunter so good. It’s essentially as deep as you want it to be, though to move up in the ranks it’s integral that you learn the system, as most of the challenge derives from your mastery of each weapon type. Remember, the armour with the highest defence statistic is not necessarily the best; instead, players will have to have several different sets of armour on call for each quest and choose whichever is most appropriate.

Naturally, one of the biggest reasons that the Monster Hunter series is so successful was, and still is, its successful implementation of online functionality. Within the game, players can travel to a “lobby” of sorts in the form of Loc Lac City. Loc Lac City is a very busy town, and each “instance” of the town can hold up to four players. Within the city, players can prepare for quests and embark on them together, as a team. It’s interesting to hear that in the future, Capcom will also be able to deliver new quests through Loc Lac City, extending the game’s life further beyond the hours and hours of gameplay you’ll get out of the game. Thankfully, there are none of the usual restrictions put in place for Nintendo titles when playing online. There are no limits on WiiSpeak functionality, no friend codes in sight and, best of all, a rather enjoyable and relatively lag-free experience, though we were hard pressed to find many Australian hunters to go with. But yes, Wii owners, you’ve finally got a fully functional online game, without friend codes, with full WiiSpeak functionality.

Of course, the soundtrack of Monster Hunter tri also adds to its epic feeling. There’s nothing like moving through a field with your buddies while intense and epic adventure music plays in the background. There’s really no other way to explain it. The ambient noises throughout the game’s different environments are also worth mentioning, as they really add to the game’s overall atmosphere and ecosystem that Capcom keep harping on about. Similarly, despite there being little to no voice acting, there are also the several noises that the monsters make, which adds to their personalities. All in all, the soundtrack, while taking a back seat to everything else, is still a pretty sizeable part of the experience and works perfectly.

Monster Hunter tri does everything right that a “hardcore” game should. Not only does it offer a comprehensive multiplayer system with online play the way it should be, but it also features some pretty decent offline play for those who might not want to hook their Wii up online. Finally, there’s plenty of content in here to suit most players, especially at the relatively cheap price tag. Monster Hunter tri is possibly one of Capcom’s best efforts on the Wii and one of the sole reasons that most non-Wii owners shouldn’t complain about a lack of quality, core titles. Definitely worth a buy.

Graphics 9.0

Great environments, amazing animations and interesting artistic direction

Gameplay 8.5

Load times can really bring down some of the experience, but the sheer depth and options available to the player, coupled with incredibly decent online play, makes it quite well put together.

Sound 8.0

While its not that integral to the game overall, the music within Monster Hunter tri is the perfect complement to the games action. Voice acting is almost non-existant, but the noises that creatures make and the ambient sound effects all add to the games unique atmosphere.

Tilt 9.9

Heaps of quests to complete both online and off, with several more on the way from Capcom for online players. This game will last for quite some time.

Value 9.9

While I wasnt a huge fan of the original titles, the retooling of the games mechanics and introduction of several new elements made it so much fun for me. Online play and its implementation furthered the enjoyment I got out of tri.