Demo February 21, Release March 22:
Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate and the power of customization
Those who don't own a 3DS or Wii may not be familiar with Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate – it's an updated version of 2010's Monster Hunter Tri, coming to both the Wii U and 3DS in North America.
Producer Ryozo Tsujimoto says the Wii U update is a logical fit based on Wii U's dual-screen setup. "When we decided to make the game on the Wii U, we actually brought out the game on 3DS first – the 3DS version of Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate came out in Japan about a year ago, so the game was designed from the very beginning to have that two-screen interaction. So when we made the game – although it was based on Monster Hunter Tri – we felt like we had put so much new content into the game that it deserved the chance to be played by more and more people. The Wii U was a perfect fit because of the fact it has the two screens and you're able to do cross-compatibility between the 3DS and the Wii U. It just made a lot of sense for us to bring that experience into the living room, into the HD realm."
Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate (2/14/13)
Admittedly, I'm not a big Monster Hunter fan, but there's no denying the power of the Wii U GamePad as a tool to better facilitate dispatching gigantic beasts. Players can customize the entire touch screen, pulling elements from the game HUD down onto the GamePad – an obvious improvement only possible with the bigger touch-screen of the Wii U.
Easily the greatest use of this feature was inventory management, not particularly an exciting thing to talk about but perhaps one of the greatest issues facing monster slayers. When you've got a backpack full of 50 items and you desperately need to find that potion or suffer certain death, having a quick shortcut on the WiiPad is incredibly useful. In fact, this exact scenario saved my bacon when I was fighting this big lion-cat-bird thing.
Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate 3DS (2/14/13)
"We made it so that you can customize the Wii U GamePad screen to how you want to play, so actually if you don't want to put anything on that second screen, you don't have to. So if you don't want the map on the main screen, you can put it on the Wii U GamePad, but if you just want to use the GamePad as a controller and look at the big screen, you can do that too. It's really all about providing player choice and making it possible for player's to customize it the way they want."
Networked play between the 3DS and Wii U platforms was a smooth experience. With three 3DS units and one Wii U player, we went on a quick hunt and slayed monsters with relative ease. Those who own the Wii U and 3DS games can transfer data between devices at any time.
But if you want to play on Wii U all by your lonesome, that's possible too – you just can't play on the GamePad only. This decision to omit off-TV play, one of the Wii U's most interesting features, was to maintain that two-screen experience, Tsujimoto told me.
"We don't have that feature within Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate – really, the way that we approach making the title for the Wii U was that we wanted to make the Wii U GamePad subscreen a compliment to the main screen. So instead of making the screens replaceable or being able to switch them, we really wanted to make sure that players are utilizing both real estate of the screens, in conjunction with each other."
Much like Capcom's previous 'Event Quests,' Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate will be bolstered by free DLC after the game launches. "In regards to new content people can be looking forward to, we're going to be releasing free DLC quests for players to enjoy. We definitely have a lot of free DLC content in the wings, prepared for the players out there; they can definitely look forward to enjoying new content frequently as the game goes on."
Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate launches on the 3DS and Wii U March 22, 2013. A free demo will be available on both the 3DS and Wii U on February 21.
http://www.joystiq.com/2013/02/19/monster-hunter-3-ultimate-and-the-power-of-customization/
G E N E R A L - D I F F E R E N C E S
Supports 1080p resolution
3DS and Wii U games are able to connect and play together locally.
G-Rank difficulty adds new challenges
New companion, Kayamba, joins alongside Cha-cha.
A companion can now join you in online mode if there is an empty slot.
Awards, similar to achievements, for completing certain tasks. (44 in total)
Supports text chat via with gamepad (no longer requires USB keyboard, though that is an option alongside built-in voice chat)
A new feature called Target Camera allows hunters to center the camera on nearby large monsters
Touch screen can be used for item combining and map/menu
A R E A S
*Sacred Land now has a ballista weapon for use
*Tower 3 area from Freedom Unite. Arena like area where rare monsters can be fought (Silver Rathalos, Gold Rathian, etc.)
*New Mountain Peaks area from Portable 3rd. Entire zone comparable in size to the other levels, with 9 sub-areas.
*New town, Tanjia Port, replaces Loc-Lac City.
*New 100% exclusive area, Disastrous Sea, is where players will fight Guran-Miraosu
W E A P O N S / A R M O R
*4 new weapon types: Dual Sword, Gunlance, Hunting Horn and Bow. All the weapons from Tri return.
*A new element "blast" is added to the game.
*G-rank versions of old armor receive graphical overhaul and look noticeably different
*New armor sets from all the new monsters
*New weapons from all the new monsters
S M A L L - M O N S T E R S
Gargwa, a round bird.
Zuwaroposu, a swamp herbivore.
Bullfango, a wild boar.
Anteka, an elk-like monster.
Furogi, a relative to the jaggi with a poison element.
L A R G E - M O N S T E R S
Japanese unconfirmed names in quotations
Plesioth, The Underwater Terror, Master of the Giant Lake
Lagombi, a white rabbit beast
"Dosufurogi", The Great Froggi
Duramboros, the Hammer-Tail wyvern
Nibelsnarf, Hunter Eater
Nargacuga, the Living Shadow, Black Beast
Arzuros, the blue bear beast.
Volvidon, the volcanic armadillo
Zinogre, the thunder wolf wyvern.
Brachydios, the crushing wyvern
"Guran-Miraosu"
L A R G E - M O N S T E R - S U B S P E C I E S
These are monsters with slight variations to their attacks and behavior. While some are hardly changed at all, others are changed enough that they deserve to be counted as a unique monster. (But we won't!)
===Crimson Qurupeco===
*Dwells in subtropical zones, such as the Volcano and the Flooded Forest.
*Red and blue in color.
*Unique flints
*Generates electricity instead of fire
*Can create a blinding flash
*Roar requires earplugs to block
*New song causes other monsters to enter rage mode
*Frequently summons Narcacuga.
*Larger and more aggressive
===Royal Ludroth Subspecies===
*Purple coloration
*Can inflict poison with its swipe, spitting balls, releasing poison from mane etc.
*Breathes poisonous gas when enraged
===Jade Barroth===
*Blue and Green coloration
*Lives in the Tundra
*Does U-turn charges
*Can inflict Snowman status
*tosses 3 chunks of debris at hunter with its head
*slams head, causing ice to shoot out
===Gigginox Subspecies===
*Golden-green color
*Still resides in Tundra only
*No body slam, instead creates an electric field like Lagiacrus
*Lays exploding eggs of electricity instead of hatching giggi.
*Can inflict paralysis
===Uragaan Subspecies===
*Metallic in nature as opposed to rock
*Can inflict Soiled status
*Can appear on the Deserted Island (in addition to Volcano)
===Barioth Subspecies===
*Orange-yellow color
*Lives in Sandy Plains
*New tornado attack, creating a dust devil
===Agnaktor Subspecies===
*Coated in ice
*Lives in Tundra
*Shoots water/ice beam that can sweep side to side
*Can inflict Iceblight and Waterblight
*Armor works opposite of normal Agnaktor--gets softer as it burrows
*Smaller overall than normal Agnaktor though its beak appears bigger.
===Azure Rathalos===
*Bluish/Green color
*Higher stamina
*Considerably more aggressive
*Weakness is wings instead of head
===Silver Rathalos===
*Silver, reflective coating
*Extremely high stamina/aggressiveness
*Very rare, usually only fought events
*Roar requires HG Earplugs to block
*Tendency to stay airborne longer than usual
===Pink Rathian===
*Pink coloring
*Stronger attacks
*More armor
*Higher health
*Emphasizes tail attacks more
===Gold Rathian===
*Gold coloring
*Exceptionally hard shell, difficult to pierce (Yes we know gold is a very soft metal)
*Roar requires HG Earplugs to block
*Can link a backflip attack to a fireball
*Can perform a surprise backflip as she's getting up from being knocked down
===Black Diablos===
*Technically not a subspecies, this has been confirmed to be a female Diablos
*Black coloring
*Stronger attacks, though it shares the same movepool as normal Diablos.
===Ceadeus Subspecies===
*Darker coloring
*Has 2 big horns instead of 1, totalling 4 horn carves
*2nd water beam attack the sweeps side to side instead of up and down
*50 minute limit as opposed to 30
*More agile in the water, can quickly ascend to the top of ruins
*Cannot be repelled, must be slain
*Limited only to the final area, does not travel through the ruin.
===Lagiacrus Subspecies===
*White coloring
*Spends a lot more time on land
===Lagiacrus Rare Species===
*Dark indigo coloring
*Extremely rare, fought in the underwater ruin
*Always in a fully charged state
*Spins rapidly in circles, creating whirlpools
*Much stronger electrical discharge attack with wider radius
*5 carves instead of the usual 3
*Immune to traps and cannot be captured
===Jhen Mohran Subspecies===
*Purple coloring
*Fought in the same manner
*Different attack order
*One new attack, spewing out sand.
===Green Plesioth===
===Rust Duramboros===
===Green Nargacuga===
===Nargacuga Rare Species===
===Stygian Zinogre===
As these are new monsters to the Tri player, I will not elaborate on their subspecies.
S U M M A R Y
Technically, this is an expansion of Tri, but it is an amazing one at that. 4 new weapon types, 11 completely new unique monsters, and in total over 50 monsters including rare and elusive subspecies with different attack pools and habitats, and dozens of new armors and weapons to collect make this the 'ultimate' hunting experience.
http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/683294-monster-hunter-3-ultimate/65271235
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