'Monster Hunter Tri' Review - Monsters, Nunchuks, And Underwater Adventures, Oh My!

Capcom's ridiculously popular "Monster Hunter" franchise is back in action with "Monster Hunter Tri" for the Nintendo Wii, combining free online play with new hunting grounds, creatures, items, and equipment permutations. The new game also features undersea hunting grounds — a first for the series.

But does the series' debut on the Wii live up to the hype?


The Basics

Like in previous versions of "Monster Hunter" (including last year's "Monster Hunter Freedom Unite," one of my favorite games of the year), you play the role of a Monster Hunter charged with protecting a village from the creatures that populate the surrounding forests, deserts, swamps, arctic tundras and, in the case of "Tri," underwater regions.

Objects you collect from the bodies of slain monsters or gather via fishing, catching in nets or other means can be used for a variety of purposes, including forging or upgrading your armor and weapons, combining to form rare items, improving the efficiency of the local farm or fishing fleet, and even creating furniture or other unique items for your character.

The Highs

More!
Just as with any good next-iteration of a franchise, "Monster Hunter Tri" basically takes the previous title and amps everything up a bit with new enemies, items, and skills, and wraps it all around one big addition to the series. In this case, the big selling point is the undersea hunting element — which is actually a lot of fun, and the best part? It doesn't require the extended learning curve typical to the "Monster Hunter" games. I was able to jump into the water and maneuver fairly easily, with much of the new terrain's requirements fairly intuitive translations from the normal controls.

Better!
One of my biggest complaints about the previous iteration of the franchise, "Monster Hunter Freedom Unite" for the PSP, was the awkward camera angles. Much of that issue seems to have been resolved with "Tri," and I rarely found myself running into walls or — worse yet — creatures every few seconds. The camera seems "smarter" this time around, and the game benefits immensely from this improvement.

Different!
The online multiplayer system in "Tri" also received a significant overhaul, and benefits greatly from the new, simplified structure for cooperative play. I'm not sure how much of this was due to user reaction or Nintendo-imposed restrictions, but the end result is a much simpler method for finding and participating in cooperative hunts. While "Monster Hunter" veterans might not be big fans of the new, scaled-down style of online play, it feels far more welcoming to new or less-hardcore players, which will likely benefit the series in the long run.

The Lows

Classic Is Best
There's a good reason why some versions of "Monster Hunter Tri" come bundled with the new Classic Controller Pro — the game's controls are nearly impossible to manage with just the Wii remote and nunchuk.

Waiting On A Screen
One of the recurring issues with the "Monster Hunter" franchise continues to be a problem with "Tri," in that you still spend quite a bit of time waiting for load screens between areas and various portions of the game environment. While the occasional load screen is necessary in games with such a massive number of options in any given area, it gets a bit cumbersome to have to wait through five or six load screens for every quest. with technology as it is today, this seems like a problem that could be remedied, and should be in future installments.

Buy A Book
I mentioned the notorious "Monster Hunter" learning curve earlier in this review, and it holds true in the Wii iteration as much as with any other version of the game. It takes a long (possibly a week or more) to really get comfortable with many of the skills necessary to manage your character's growth when you pickup your first "Monster Hunter" game. While I was able to jump into "Tri" with very little difficulty, that's only because of my existing comfort level with the basic skills and game fundamentals I learned in "Monster Hunter Freedom Unite" (and it took me a week to learn how to gather and combine items in that game). New players will likely have a rough time getting up to speed in "Tri," but no more so than any of the other "Monster Hunter" games.

The Verdict

"Monster Hunter Tri" is a great addition to the celebrated franchise, and while it still suffers from some of the problems of its predecessors, fans of the series will find a lot to like about the latest installment. The new additions to the game manage to provide a lot of extra fun without upping the already considerable learning curve, and the online multiplayer aspect has been simplified enough to make it nearly as much fun as the solo narrative. If you're a fan of the "Monster Hunter" franchise, you'll enjoy the heck out of "Tri," but be warned: the Classic Controller Pro is an absolute necessity for the game. Do not hunt monsters without it!

Monster Hunter Tri Preview: Army of Four

Monster Hunter is all about the multiplayer, which is why I think it never really took off on PSP in the US the way that it did in Japan – American PSP owners are just too selfish for the buddy system.

Monster Hunter Tri, however, is going for a different audience with its exclusive Wii release. By streamlining the Wii friend code process and adding features other multiplayer games rely on – such as a chat window – Tri is trying to jump start the online ecosystem that's already built into the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

But how does that impact that actual monster hunting?

What Is It?
Monster Hunter Tri is a multiplayer adventure game where up to four players can team up to hunt down monsters. The game skips over friend codes, instead using a lobby system where you can easily find other players and send friend requests. Additionally, there's a chat window in-game that can be accessed with a USB keyboard if you don't feel like pointing and clicking. Currently, Wii Speak is not in the game – but Capcom is "looking into it."

There's also a singleplayer mode built into the game, but details on it are scarce.

What We Saw
I played three missions during the University event using both the Wii Remote/Nunchuck configuration and the Classic Controller Pro because they had one handy.

Note: It's unconfirmed if the Classic Controller Pro will be brought to the US along with Monster Hunter Tri.

How Far Along Is It?
The game is due out in Spring 2010. I didn't notice any major show-stopping bugs – but I was sad to see that the Wii was hooked up to computer monitors which have a nasty reputation of making even very good Wii graphics look fugly. So I can't speak to the graphics which are apparently supposed to be pretty.

What Needs Improvement?
There's No Lock On: Normally, this doesn't matter in Monster Hunter because you pan the camera toward a monster, press attack and bam! You've hit it. However, Tri introduces underwater combat where the monsters can change depth quickly during a fight. Panning the camera a la ground combat under water takes a little extra work and can be totally disorienting. So, yeah, a lock-on would be preferable.

At Tiddy Bit Fiddly: On the Classic Controller Pro, I had a lot of problems getting the Bowgun to aim right. Not only do you have to have the weapon out and cocked before you can attack – you also have to choose between shooting from the hip or going into sniper mode with a targeting reticule. Given that battles move very quickly and monsters can charge across a field right at you while you're reloading and re-cocking, it would be nice if the button controls for un-slinging, cocking and aiming your Bowgun were perhaps a little streamlined. Or if there were a Panicked Dodge button that would snap you out of sniper mode at the last second.

Constant Loads: Every time you leave an area of a map – which you will, because the monsters move around – you've got to endure a loading screen. It gets tedious.

What Should Stay The Same?
Wow, It's Multiplayer! I'm not used to more than two people in my multiplayer on the Wii, so I was excited to see four people in the same place, attacking the same thing with no lag – on the Wii! If Monster Hunter Tri can work things out such that people actually buy this game and play it, it's going to be a lot of fun team up with people and make new friends among strangers the way I would on other consoles.

Swimming Is Fun: Once you get the hang of the quick-swim button and the dive button, moving around underwater feels pretty pleasant. I kind of wonder how the lancer doesn't drown under the weight of her weapon, though…

Final Thoughts
Two things will probably make or break this game: Wii Speak and pay-to-play subscriptions. In Japan, they don't have the former, but they do have the latter – and a long history of loving Monster Hunter. Here, we're sad because there are only like two games that use Wii Speak and I really don't think we'd stand for a subscription Wii game no matter how awesome it might be. Also, we're not as fond of or familiar with Monster Hunter – but with any luck and a little attention to these two make-or-breaks, Capcom could be changing that.