Monster Hunter G for Wii just hit stores in Japan and bundled with both the regular and special editions of the game is a demo for the next chapter in the Monster Hunter series: Monster Hunter Tri. The demo includes two new boss fights, Dosjagi (a strictly land-based dinosaur-type monster) and Kurubekko (a cross between a baboon and a bird), and it introduces new behavior for monsters as well: the ability to call for help and protect smaller beasts in the area.
New to Monster Hunter, if you attack a pack of the comparatively weak Jagi (a smaller version of Dosjagi) on a stage that includes Dosjagi, the large dinosaur will rush to your section of the map to aid his allies. And when the flying Kurubekko gets backed into a corner, it can call on monsters that aren't even in the area to come help him. During my playthrough, Kurubekko summoned one of the game's most famous dragon-types, the fire-breathing Rathalos. I only had to defeat Kurubekko to finish the mission, but the Rathalos sure didn't make it easy. The mascots of Monster Hunter, the Felynes also exhibit new behavior. In previous games they were just out to steal things from you, but now, if you're fighting a monster near them, they sometimes help you by distracting your adversary.
In addition to new, dark cave sections, Tri also includes a new item: the torch. Like you'd probably expect, the torch lights up dark places; but beyond that it can be used against smaller monsters that are afraid of fire. You can keep a pack of Jagys at bay without alerting a bigger monster, or hack at a mining node or catch some bugs without fear of attack. The new area created for Tri is mostly made up of small grassy fields and caves, but it includes an underwater section as well. Unfortunately, the only announced underwater monster was not present in the demo.
Tri offers three control options -- one for Wii Remote and Nunchuck and two for classic controller. The Wii-mote controls took me about 10 minutes to get used to, but they were no problem after that. The game still lacks a lock-on feature, but there is a camera center button and the d-pad (which is used for the camera controls) is easily accessible. Each of the five weapons (Sword and shield, Hammer, ******* Sword, Light Bowgun, and Heavy Bowgun) featured in the demo have their own control configuration -- you have to twist and turn the Wii-mote to access the different combo variations (which are all executed with the A button). It might sound a little complicated, but each weapon only has, at most, four positions: Left, right, pointed up, and flat. You can swing the Wii-mote to attack, but that only works for attacks in the flat position.
The demo itself was really fun, but also, like every Monster Hunter game, very difficult. A recent article in Famitsu included an interview with Monster Hunter Tri's producer, Kaname Fujioka, and provided additional details on the game's weapons and online multiplayer features. You can read the highlights of the interview here, but, while the game is coming to Japan this summer, Capcom has not set a definite release date for the US.
04-26-2009, 07:42 AM
Reizo_WS died. Delete him.
I'm seriously thinking about that petition.
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