So Rho started playing monster hunter a awhile ago and was insistent it was the best thing ever. Part of buying my 3DS was because Monster Hunter 4 would come out on this platform and I promised I would give it a shot when it was released. In the meantime, Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate would be released to give me an idea of what Monster Hunter was about. I think I finally see why this game alone made the PSP a success, how stupid of Sony to lose it on the Vita but I digress.
Gameplay
You would think something so simple wouldn't be so addicting, I was wrong. The game starts off quite slow with almost an hour of tutorials before you get to hunt your first monster. After that it was just monster after monster. The whole game is all about hunting monster (re: bosses) while you forge gear with their dead corpses. A game revolving around nothing but boss fights turned out perfect for my tastes. It helps that the game based more around skill then leveling up too. Eventually it just becomes grinding for new sets of gear, but I feel I enjoyed it much more then I would have anticipated. The bosses do vary quite a bit and learning how to beat each one is part of the fun.
~10/10
Story
There is nothing to this. I can explain the whole story in 1 paragraph, I wouldn't even consider the "story" of this game an attempt at it.
~n/a
Graphics
I still feel the graphics were not used to the best extent, but it is quite close. I wish your helpers were less ugly and some of the armors are pretty bad, but there were quite a few sexy sets of armors. There isn't much to talk about, its looks decent.
~9/10
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| God, no good Dire Mirlas shots exist.... |
Replayability
You can pretty much hunt these monsters endlessly, I even considered doing one of the challenges people make up just to see if i was good enough. Combine that with, even it isn't much, FREE DLCs every week does help. It is a game you can pick up at any time just to hunt a few monsters for no reason. Though I didn't make use of it much, but a multiplayer does exist more for the WiiU version.
~9/10
Personal Satisfaction
My god did I lose sleep over this.A few times I tried to sleep because I knew it was already 3 am, I rolled around in bed a few times and ended up picking up 3DS to keep going anyways; Those were some harsh mornings. Not to mention I tried to stop a few times where I proclaimed "I beat the game". Once at 120 hours, next at 170 hours and I am up to 270 hours now. I think I do consider myself finally done now. To get that kind of mileage and satisfaction out of a game is extremely difficult.
~10/10
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| Some eye candy for you |
Overall
Definitely a title worth picking up. The endless hours of monster hunting is just timeless. I finally get why this game is one of the biggest franchises in Japan. I am looking forward to when Monster Hunter 4 comes out and I can yet again sink endless hours crafting armours for no reason again. BTW: Fuck Raged Black Diablos.
Final Score [9.5/10]
