Konnichi wa, minna-san!

One of my most anticipated games this year, Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate, has finally been released. I've always been a Monster Hunter fan since the original on the PS2. Monster Hunter Tri on the Wii is my most played game on the system with over 550 hours clocked in. The next closest game is Super Smash Bros. Brawl at 235 hours. Since I loved the Wii version so much and this is its remake, I was really exciting to get hunting again. So now that I've had time to play on both Wii U and 3DS, I'm going to give my impressions.

I'm playing single-player on the 3DS. I haven't gotten very far since whenever I'm home I'm playing the game online on the Wii U. But from what I can tell, the game so far is exactly the same as it was on the Wii. I know they made some changes but I'll find them out later. One thing I can say for sure; I'm glad I have the Circle Pad Pro. While the demo version didn't let you use it, the actual game does. I am definetely using it from now on. Controlling the camera on the 3DS is awkward. While you can use the L-button to place the camera behind you, you mainly have to use the d-pad to control the camera. So if you want to look around and move at the same time, I look like I'm pinching my 3DS with the hand position I need to use. And DON'T even get me started on trying to control yourself underwater. I tried last night, and it was the worst. I couldn't maneuver properly at all. You can control the camera using the touchscreen but while it worked fine in Kid Icarus: Uprising, it doesn't work with this game. Since you have to use the face buttons to perform actions, using the touchscreen to control the camera is pointless. The Circle Pad Pro will let me use the second Circle Pad to control the camera. And since I'm playing the same game on the Wii U, it will prevent any control mix-ups.

The Wii U version is my online home for Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate since the 3DS version doesn't have online features. My impressions of the online so far is a little disappointing. I hope it gets harder later because right now the online is a cakewalk. They rolled up Monster Hunter Tri's 1st and 2nd online rank into the first rank so right away you're facing some of Tri's eariler tougher monsters like the Barroth, Gobul and Rathian. I don't know what they did, but these monsters get killed way easier than before. In Tri, it would often take 30 - 40 minutes for fresh hunters to take down the Barroth. In Ultimate, we were done in under 15 mintues. I wasn't even using a damaging weapon either! I'm a support gunner so the fact that we're done with these monsters with me as a support hunter, I know these monsters are weak. It wouldn't surprise me if in the next rank, the monsters from Tri's 3rd and fourth ranks were rolled up into the 2nd rank. I know they introduced new monsters in Ultimate and I really hope they provide more of a challenge. The fact that you can face and harvest higher ranking monsters so early kind of takes away the reward factor. And for me, Monster Hunter's experience is all about the final reward.

So far I'm a little disappointed on both fronts; control-wise and online gameplay but I'm still holding out hope. After all there are monsters to hunt, weapons and armour to use and collect, and tons of gathering and mining to do. Plus I'm relying on this game to get me through the slow months of April and, for me, May.

Mata ato de!