The Wii has had some big hits in Japan, as both Wii Sports and Wii Fit have crossed the three million mark. But the biggest hit may end up being Monster Hunter 3. Since conquering last year's Tokyo Game Show with four hour plus lines, MH3 has climbed to number 3 in Famitsu's most wanted list. The MH series as a whole appears to be more popular than ever as PSP's Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G is now above three million and rising!
Gamers will have to wait until summer for the full Monster Hunter 3 experience, but those wanting an early preview were able to get one through a Wii port of Monster Hunter G, just released today in Japan. Included with the game is a second disc housing a Monster Hunter 3 demo. We picked up G and, presumably like a good number of other buyers, put the 3 demo in our Wii first.
The demo offers two missions set in the same seaside forest area. In the easier of the missions, players are asked track down and kill the raptor-like Dosujagi creature. The harder of the two missions has you do the same for the much tricker bird-like Kuripeko. Both missions have a twenty minute time limit and can be played as one of four character types: sword, broad sword, hammer, and bow gun.
In both missions, you start off in your home camp on the shore. You can see the position of your target on an on-screen map. Getting to the creature is simply a matter of following the map.
For those who aren't familiar with Monster Hunter, the game splits its maps into multiple sections. Each small area is connected by a loading point. Unlike past MH games, the load times on the Wii take one to two seconds and do feel very swift, but you will frequently see a giant "NOW LOADING" sign fill the screen as you move about the world. This will probably surprise a few at first (you can see what it looks like in our videos below), but after a few plays, we think you'll get used to it.
Reach your prey, and you'll find a tough fight, as the Monster Hunter creatures don't die easily. Dosujagi takes a good number of hits to kill, and if overwhelmed, will retreat to a nearby nest where his buddies await. He'll also occasionally call out for support. Kuripeko can also call out for support, but he has an even better defensive tool: he can simply fly away to another part of the map.
Going by the demo, monster behavior is going one of the biggest attractions of Monster Hunter 3. From their animations to their dinosaur-like cries, both Dosujagi and Kuripeko are very lifelike. They're also fierce about protecting themselves, in contrast to some of the more peaceful creatures grazing about the world who won't run away from you until you start slashing at them.
Outside of fighting these two creatures, the Monster Hunter 3 demo has another area of play that has managed to suck up a good amount of our time: simply walking around. It's fun to just run around and explore the world, as not only is it among the best looking worlds we've yet to see on the Wii, but there's so much variety. You'll go from a shore to forests and caverns, and can even submerge yourself underwater for a few swimming sections. It's hard to believe that this is just one of what will be many worlds of play in the final. If they all have this much variety and detail, the hunting part of the game may end up taking a back seat initially.
But hunting is definitely the main draw. We found ourselves really getting into our lengthy duals with Dosujagi and Kuripeko. Teaming up with multiple players for fights with the more complex creatures should be a total blast.
Surprisingly, our enjoyment came despite some issues we have with the game's control scheme. There are some serious deficiencies with the game's controls. You can't lock yourself into an enemy, nor can you strafe. It's a bit tough to keep your sights set on a single foe. We'll have to play a bit more to see if we can get used to what feels like a somewhat dated control layout.
As previously announced, the game includes three control schemes. Two Classic Controller options make the game play like the PS2 and PSP versions, one option allowing for button-based attacks like on the PSP, and one option allowing for right-trigger attacks like on the PS2. A Wiimote/Nunchuck scheme adds in just a few motion based controls to facilitate things like swimming, but for the most part there doesn't appear to be too much of a difference between the three schemes. As producer Ryozo Tsujimoto told us in an interview at last year's Tokyo Game Show, it's somewhat relaxing to just kick back and play with the Wiimote and Nunchuck combo.
That's something we hope to do a lot more of once Monster Hunter 3 hits Japan later this year. Control difficulties aside, the Monster Hunter 3 demo sucked us in and made us want more of Japan's biggest gaming phenomenon since Brain Age. We'll be first in line come the full game's summer release.
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