What is Monster Hunter exactly?

[Teggy]

Monster Hunter is a phenomenon I have been completely oblivious to. I know it was solely responsible for making the PSP profitable in Japan (not really, but I recall hearing it was crazy popular and it was always on the sales charts).

So I downloaded the demo for Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate for 3DS to see what the fuss was all about. First thing I notice is that there is no tutorial. Considering I had just tried the Fire Emblem demo, which had a great tutorial, this was a little weird. So basically I was running around not knowing how to do anything, not even how to swing my sword or whatever I was carrying. Turned it off.

A few days later I realized there might be a manual for the demo. Pulled it up. It was huge - information overload.

So what is this thing? Should I be putting the effort in to see how it works? They seem to like it in Japan I guess.

[Turtle]

I'd have to say that it's a good game, but one that requires a bit of preparation.

First and foremost, definitely look up new player guides to the game. Don't bother with the manual, and just look up the next stages of progression. The real fun isn't the grind, but rather the experience of co-op monster hunting.

Second, find other players to play with.

The core idea of monster hunter is a whole lot of preparation for what then becomes a long co-operative hunt against a boss monster, and the craziness that ensues. Emphasis on co-op.

These games became popular in Japan mainly because they would do all the preparation at home and talk with friends, then get together at the train or local places to play, having fun together in co-op play with friends in the room.

[Teggy]

So really you should only play it if you can voice chat with someone while you play it?

Is there a story or anything or you just go kill monsters over and over?

[Lordnine]

Tedious.   

To be fair that doesn’t mean it’s a bad game, just that it appeals to a very specific demographic (not me).  There is only a story in the very loosest definition, basically there is a big evil thing, kill all these smaller things so you are strong enough to kill the big thing.

Playing solo you are going to spend between 20 minutes and an hour fighting a single monster.

In a way I would say it has a similar appeal to that of the Dark Souls games with a similar, although maybe not quite as bad, difficulty/learning curve.  If that sounds like your thing it might be worth delving into, otherwise I would give it a pass.

[The Grue]

What is it?  Well, only of of the most fun games ever.  The key to enjoying the game is certainly the multiplayer.  I've got Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate on both WiiU and 3DS.  WiiU supports online multiplayer and the 3DS version only supports local multiplayer.  The cool thing, though, is you can transfer your save back and forth between the two versions.  So I will get on the WiiU and do multiplayer and then take my character out on my 3DS and do some solo grinding.

The gist of it is you fight monsters and gather resources to craft weapons, armor, and tools to do these hunts.  Each of the big monsters has their particular material drops which can be used to craft cool-looking versions of weapons and armor that can offer certain types of buffs (or penalties).  The battles against these monsters are pretty epic and with the quests, there is usually a version to kill the monster and a version to capture it.  Capturing it involves weakening it enough to be able to tranquilize it.  You usually get somewhat different materials from killing it as opposed to trapping it.  Also, depending on where you hit the monster when you are fighting it (cutting off its tails by focusing on that or breaking pieces of armor or decoration on the monster in specific places) it can adjust what drops.

The fun part of the game is figuring out what to bring along on these hunts to deal with the particulars of that monster.  The game really is awesome and as someone mentioned it has the hardcoreness of a game like Dark Souls.  Combat is a ton of fun and each weapon type is vastly different so that you usually want to try them all out and focus on a couple that suit you.  Right now, my love is the hunting horn which is a musical instrument you use to hit the monster as well as play to create buffs.  How you string your attacks allows you to play different buffs.