IGN Review of MH3

By ARCHON

So just short of a week before the release of Monster Hunter Tri IGN.com has posted a review of the game giving it a final score of 8.8 (out of 10) and an editors choice award. Here are some of the highlights:

"There's a significant time commitment associated with getting the most out of Monster Hunter Tri, but those who put in the hours will find the game offers the kind of satisfaction few other titles can deliver. "

"When it comes to high levels of difficulty in videogames, there can be two types. There's difficulty built to pose a challenge and that can be overcome with careful planning, perseverance, and skill, and there's the type of difficulty that's completely unreasonable that's meant to mask a lack of creative design ideas, technical limits, or simply to pad gameplay hours. Monster Hunter Tri's level of difficulty is the former. It's a tough game that readily tosses you into situations where laziness and lack of focus can swiftly result in failure. Yet its challenges aren't so difficult that they step beyond the bounds of sensibility."

"Each weapon type is essentially a character class, offering distinct rhythms of movement, attack, and unique special abilities."

"Monster Hunter Tri isn't a game for everyone. It's a dense product with a learning curve higher than most other Wii titles available. It requires patience, persistence, and a willingness to learn from your mistakes."

"For those who prefer games that reward skill and offer huge amount of options for varied play style, character customization, and a vast amount of content, look no further."

Check out the full review here.

IGN gave the game a final score of 8.8 which is good but I get the feeling (and so do many people based on the comments on IGN.com) that the positive language in the review suggested that they would have rated the game much higher. Looking at the reviews of other games on other systems but without having actually played the full version of Monster Hunter Tri I do kinda of think it should have received a higher score; but just like the review itself, thats an opinion. 

I think if anything this has convinced me that this is a fantastic value for the price and a rewarding game. I'm as excited as ever to play it come April 20th.

Setting the Graphics-Bar High!

BY ARCHON

On Nintendo's website while reading the "Iwata Asks" feature where Nintendo president Satoru Iwata interviews various people in the gaming world, I came across an interesting bit of information. While interviewing the producer and directors of Monster Hunter Tri, Iwata reveals that Nintendo's own developers (working on the newest Zelda game) were impressed by Monster Hunter 3's graphic achievements on the Wii, feeling that MH3 had achieved graphically what they hadn't:

"I can tell Nintendo’s staff has really been galvanised by you...I can tell they feel like you did what they hadn’t yet."

This is huge, coming from one of the best video game developers in the world. If they are impressed with Monster Hunter's graphics we know we have something very special indeed to look forward to. Director Fujioka goes on to say:

"Striking visuals were originally one selling point of Monster Hunter, so when we decided to bring Tri out for Wii, to be honest, many players may have been uneasy over just how much we could do visually. We thought that unless we got those types of people to think, “Oh, it’s totally all right,” we would have failed."

Check out the whole interview here. The conversation about graphics is on the 3rd page.

Monster Hunter Tri Trailer from 2009

BY ARCHON

This Monster Hunter Tri Trailer is an oldy but a goody. Clocking in at over 3 minutes long, the great mix of breathtakingly gorgeous pre-rendered cut-scenes, action packed bits of gameplay footage, and the epic music all combine to send geeky chills up my spine. Watch this and you won't be able to tell me that you don't want this game