20 replies to this topic

[YarsRevengeFan]

Hey all.

Just wanted to let you folks know that the Monster Hunter Tri demo disc should be available for free at Gamestop on Monday, March 8th. The full game release date is April 20th.

After watching the trailers on Gametrailers.com, I am really excited to buy this game. Especially because you can go on hunting raids online.

Thoughts/Comments?

[snakeboy]

I thought I heard that you have to pre-order the game to be able to get the free demo. Is that true?

[moycon]

This game looks kick ass.

[YarsRevengeFan]

snakeboy, on Sat Mar 6, 2010 12:45 AM, said:

I thought I heard that you have to pre-order the game to be able to get the free demo. Is that true?

I'm not sure. I watched the trailer and the voice over said the demo disc will be free at Gamestop. I guess, call to be sure.

[wccw mark]

gamestop near me has a small displayer full of the demo disks on the counter.employee told me their free,didnt have to preorder to get a demo,so check your local gamestop.

[swlovinist]

I picked up one, and love the demo. They are free to anyone...

[Atari Master]

swlovinist, on Sun Mar 7, 2010 12:41 PM, said:

I picked up one, and love the demo. They are free to anyone...

Yup, some Gamestops were confused, but they're free and you don't need to sign up.

Anyway, this game is pretty deep. The more I read about it the more I want it. Lol

[vdub_bobby]

Just picked this up today a few hours ago; I had a chance to play it for about 30 minutes. First impressions, very raw:

-It's very pretty, at least on my crappy TV (~22" CRT). Similar look and quality as Zelda: TP, maybe better. Very fluid animations and some beautiful views from atop cliffs.
-Sounds nice enough.
-The text was borderline hard to read on my TV.
-Some very amusing animations that had me and my kids laughing : when you take a nap in your camp, you turn around and throw yourself backwards onto the bed, some of the item animations (especially the BBQ spit) are also fun.
-the demo comes with this giant foldout that has all these diagrams of the controls for all the different weapons - a little daunting at first, it appeared insanely complicated. But, actually, the controls are pretty intuitive and it makes nice use of motion controls - no swinging or waggling. Basically, you press A to attack and the position of the remote determines what kind of attack: hold the remote level for a standard attack, twist left for an alternate, twist right for another alternate, and point it straight up for a more powerful jump attack. At least for the two weapons I used, it was very nice; I was impressed.
-the combat, though. Um...meh. I mentioned in another, unrelated thread that Ninja Gaiden (Xbox) ruined every other 3D brawler for me - well, suffice to say that Monster Hunter Tri's combat had me wishing fondly for the brilliance of NG's combat. It wasn't bad, exactly, and I'm sure with practice it could be handled easily enough, but - it's pretty clunky and I spent a fair amount of time swinging at nothing and turning in circles trying to get lined up with - or just find! - the monster I was trying to fight.

I'll put some more time in, but right now I'm on the fence about a purchase next month - a game that is pretty much entirely combat, which is AFAIK what this is, really needs to nail the combat. I'm not convinced that is has.

Edited by vdub_bobby, Fri Mar 12, 2010 9:50 PM.

[vdub_bobby]

Put some more time in and I'm just not sure about this. The camera control is very unwieldy with the remote+nunchuk (you control the camera with the D-pad). It's supposed to be much better with the classic controller (where you use the right analog stick to control the camera), but I don't have one - and the GameCube controller isn't supported.

I played with most of the other weapons last night - the demo disc allows you to play with:
-Sword & shield
-Great sword
-Hammer
-Bowguns in 3 different sizes
-Lance
-Switch Axe (it's an axe - AND a sword!)
-Long sword

Honestly, I just don't get the combat. All the weapons are slooooow. Actually, everything is much more slow-paced than I'm used to. There isn't any "run in, take a quick swing, and run back out of range" kind of stuff. And there aren't a lot of combos - I think it's more about being very strategic and using traps to stun the monsters - but I haven't figured it out yet. It also seems like it is borderline broken for just one player; it's virtually impossible to get enough breathing room to use a healing potion during a battle; it almost requires another person playing alongside you to be there to protect or distract.

Another missed opportunity is that when you use the bowgun you can't use the IR pointer to aim. Instead, you use the D-pad to aim.

I really want to like this game, but since it seems built to use the classic controller, I'd need to spend extra for that plus to play online I'll probably need a Wiispeak and now we're talking a $100 investment and I'm having a hard time seeing this game as $100 worth of awesome; for me anyway.

Anyone else pick up the demo and have any thoughts? Or tips for me, since I feel like I'm missing something here...

[YarsRevengeFan]

vdub_bobby, on Sat Mar 13, 2010 5:11 PM, said:

Anyone else pick up the demo and have any thoughts? Or tips for me, since I feel like I'm missing something here...

Yeah, I picked up the demo earlier this week and put some time in on it Friday night. Here are my thoughts:

The graphics are really nice, especially on the Wii. Although I'm not sure if its my LCD TV, or the game, but at one point when I was in a cave, it was REALLY dark and black. I had a hard time moving around in there.

The mechanics, at least on this demo, have really something to be desired. I HATE the fact that I can't "lock on" to the monsters. I find myself, not unlike vdub_bobby, swinging and missing more than anything else. It's also a pain that i have to spend time spinning the camera around after I miss to re-orientate myself to the monster. It seems like no matter which character I pick, they all have one speed...slow.

As far as the extra hardware, I will pass on the wii speak for now. Im sure it would improve coordinating attacks and hunting parties, I just don't see the need for one at the moment. Especially since I will need to work on the single player campaign to hone my skills.

I personally am looking forward to buying this game.

[snakeboy]

I picked up the demo today but have only played it for a few minutes, so I don't have a lot of impressions yet. It's certainly one of the better looking games on the Wii. The creatures look terrific.

The controls are certainly a little awkward, though I didn't mind them quite as much as the previous posters (So far have only used Wiimote/nunchuk combo).

The camera isn't great, however, here's a trick that I discovered while playing The Godfather on the Wii a few years ago. If you just press up on the analog stick and steer your character by pressing left and right on the d-pad, it makes the camera much easier to deal with as it will always be behind your back (though I suppose that won't help much in the middle of a battle).

Edited by snakeboy, Sat Mar 13, 2010 9:04 PM.

[swlovinist]

Monster Hunter series is kind of its own breed of games. You either love them or hate them. The actual game will have alot of non combat things to collect and master. The whole camera thing grows on you. As for no gamecube controller support, no worries. They are doing a bundle with the new classic controller 2 for 59.99 and a free 500 pt gift card. Not a bad deal.

[snakeboy]

swlovinist, on Sat Mar 13, 2010 11:32 PM, said:

As for no gamecube controller support, no worries. They are doing a bundle with the new classic controller 2 for 59.99 and a free 500 pt gift card. Not a bad deal.

Plus, if you pre-order from Gamestop, you will get $5 off. That's almost like getting the game and the controller for the same price as a regular Wii game. I'm definitely getting the classic controller pro, so this deal is pretty tempting.

[Cybergoth]

vdub_bobby, on Sat Mar 13, 2010 5:11 PM, said:

I really want to like this game, but since it seems built to use the classic controller, I'd need to spend extra for that plus to play online I'll probably need a Wiispeak and now we're talking a $100 investment and I'm having a hard time seeing this game as $100 worth of awesome; for me anyway.

Hm... it's only €70.- here and who wouldn't want to own such a cool treasure chest package:

http://www.amazon.de...68554144&sr=8-1

I consider buying it even when I already own a classic controller, since some really smart guy at Nintendo finally fixed the cable of the classic pro, so it's now coming out on top of it instead of the bottom

(What were they smoking when designing the original CC? )

[Mendon]

Not trying to change the thread but I do have a question: other companies make a wireless Nunchuk for the Wii, why hasn't someone made a wireless Classic Controller?? Is the new Pro Controller wireless?

I like the current Classic Controller except for the damn cord, which to me is way, way too short for being able to put the Wiimote on an end table or TV tray (I usually wear a T-shirt so no pocket to put the Wiimote in) while using the classic controller.

Just curious. Now, back to our regularly scheduled Monster Hunter Tri Demo discussion.


Mendon

[vdub_bobby]

Put in some more time with this the other night, sticking with the sword+shield, which is the fastest weapon and the easiest for me to play with. Had a lot more success - I'm getting the hang of the camera. Also spent about 30 minutes exploring the far reaches of the world, including the underwater sections, which were surprisingly easy to navigate and fight in. Found some weird evil looking wasp-like things in far north and fought some sharks.

The graphics really are fantastic.

[Warriorisabouttodie]

Atari Master, on Fri Mar 12, 2010 12:53 PM, said:

swlovinist, on Sun Mar 7, 2010 12:41 PM, said:

I picked up one, and love the demo. They are free to anyone...

Yup, some Gamestops were confused, but they're free and you don't need to sign up.

Anyway, this game is pretty deep. The more I read about it the more I want it. Lol

Not around here. They all have the demo disks and won't give them out unless you pre-order. I am against the pre-order.

[cimerians]

Cybergoth, on Sun Mar 14, 2010 2:16 AM, said:

I consider buying it even when I already own a classic controller, since some really smart guy at Nintendo finally fixed the cable of the classic pro, so it's now coming out on top of it instead of the bottom

(What were they smoking when designing the original CC? )

??
The classic controllers today have the cable coming out on top??

Argh!! I have the old classic controllers with the stupid cable on the bottom.

No big deal, I recently picked up PS2/Wii converter adapters so now I use my PS2 controller for gaming on the Wii.


I just got my demo disc. I heard people go crazy over this series on the PSP.

[Cybergoth]

cimerians, on Tue Mar 23, 2010 10:13 AM, said:

Cybergoth, on Sun Mar 14, 2010 2:16 AM, said:

I consider buying it even when I already own a classic controller, since some really smart guy at Nintendo finally fixed the cable of the classic pro, so it's now coming out on top of it instead of the bottom

(What were they smoking when designing the original CC? )

??
The classic controllers today have the cable coming out on top??

Argh!! I have the old classic controllers with the stupid cable on the bottom.

The Pro variant has this fixed, indeed:
http://www.amazon.co...ASIN=B003BLUA64

[cimerians]

Cybergoth, on Tue Mar 23, 2010 10:18 AM, said:

The Pro variant has this fixed, indeed:
http://www.amazon.co...ASIN=B003BLUA64

Ah, thanks for the pic!

[johnon]

I picked it up and played it. Solid game. Awesomeness all around.

Can't wait for the full game though. I wanna do some badass underwater fights!