My First Hunt

BY ZANZIBAR


Well after much searching I finally got my hands a hold of the elusive Monster Hunter Tri demo disc.  I went with the classic controller for what I thought would be simplicity's sake. I chose the Great Jaggi Hunt,a really big raptor creature, just to get my feet wet.  The disc gives you a selection of 10 different characters each with a unique weapon. I chose the great sword cause the character was in some impressive looking red armor.  The instructions that come with the demo are for wiimote and nunchuck so after making sure I can accomplish all the moves listed I felt confident enough to seek out my quarry. 

A look at the minimap show that he was on the other side of the map so off I went. I pass by several creatures, lumbering herd beasts,lil jaggi,and some tiny cat people. The vistas in this game are fantastic with sweeping cliffs and towering mountains.  After traveling over a mountain I arrived at the hunting grounds where my quarry awaited.  My opponent had numerous allies, a huge tail,claws, teeth, and a really nasty hip check. I had a humongous sword.  Our battle raged back and forth with both of us giving ground, the beast would flee to another area when it didn't have the upper hand or was wounded to complicate matter. But after blowing all of us up with a barrel bomb, chucking potions and flinging poo at it to give me a breather to sharpen my weapons the Great Jaggi final fell to my blade. The game congratulates you and sends you back to the start. 

So I've probably spent a good solid 4 or 5 hours playing this doing both hunts with all the weapons, Jaggi has fallen to all but I'm still working on Qurupeco for all  weapon types.  This game does not hold your hand by any stretch of the imagination. There is no lock on for helping aim at your enemies. Once you start an attack you are committed to it to the very end and one wrong button press has landed my flat on my back or worse several times.  Each weapon handles very differently and there is quite the learning curve just to feel like you won't stab your self in the foot. That being said it's extremely rewarding when you land a huge combo and knock that critter upside down.

I've definitely got some favorites among the weapons, the switch axe  is  a great combination of power, speed, and has great range, it lacks a bit on the defensive side but hopefully that will be where other people come in.  I have a feeling that certain encounters will heavily favor one weapon type over another and I look foward to see what else Capcom has to offer us. In the mean time go pick up a demo for yourself,they should be at all Gamestops by monday, and leave us some feed back on your impressions.

Happy Hunting.