Happy Monster Hunter Tri Release Day Everyone!

By ARCHON,

The day has finally arrived and I'm terribly excited and anxious (my bundled version of the game is out for delivery as I type). In honor of the release here is a roundup of a bunch of reviews of Monster Hunter Tri for you to browse through.

You've already seen IGN's review. Here is another review, this time from Nintendo life from contributor James Newton. He gave Monster Hunter Tri a favorable 9/10.


And one from Now Gamer with an 8.6/10, saying "MH3 is easily among the best mature games on the Wii."

Eurogamer's review and a score of 9/10.

And finally, a nice video review from Gametrailers.com below.

Video Games | Monster Hunter Tri | Review

Monster Hunter Tri Release Trailer

The Ultimate Monster Hunter Tri Weapon Guide

BY ARCHON and ZANZIBAR
So over the past few weeks we've peppered in posts in our series "Better Know A Weapon" to help the new hunter get aquainted with their gear. Yesterday was the final post in the series. We though it would be nice to have all of these guides in one place, so without further addue I give you:

Trihunter's Ulimate Monster Hunter Tri Weapons Guide

Sword and Shield

Great Sword

Hammer

Longsword (updated!)

Bowgun(s)

Switchaxe

Lance

And one final tiny note. Monster Hunter Tri comes out tomorrow...

Better Know a Weapon Part 7- Lance

BY ARCHON

For the final installment of "Better Know a Weapon"...I bring you The Lance. 


The Lance is the most defensively geared weapon-type available. With your weapon drawn your movement is very slow but your shield is huge and can block most incoming attacks. The lanceman (or lance woman) can only  dodge left or right after attacking, and can only jump back (B) with the lance at rest. So, unlike some of the other weapon types in Monster Hunter Tri, this setup encourages you to stay right up in a monster's face block its  attacks, and be read to deal huge jabs when the time is right. Note that the blocking ability of the shield is not perfect; you loose a little bit of life and stamina with every block and some monster's attack (such as the Jaggi's tail whip) can sometimes reach around your defense, though far less so than with any other weapon.

(sorry the formatting gets a little off here. I can't seem to get any changes to stick)

"X" draws your weapon while standing. Pressing "X" while running equips your weapon and delivers a quick forward jab. X+A while running will draw your lance and shield and quickly to  put you in a defensive position. Press "A" for a high thrust (great for those flying critters) and "X" for a forward thrust. Both "A" and "X" moves can be chained together with the proper timing into a three hit combo (XAX for forward, high, forward, or AAA for high, high, high, etc). Press "B" and your character will hop back (or dodge left and right after an attack)...good for escaping a monster's close attacks or to position yourself for the next hit. "X and A" together will yield a wide horizontal sweep, which doesn't do much damage but is great for clearing the area of little guys. Pressing the "+" button will trigger a running lance-charge fueled by stamina.

Blocking is the name of the game.

Hold "R" with the lance drawn to block with your huge shield. While blocking, "X" will give you a quick forward jab and "A" will start a powerful charged high-thrust (that's what she said). Be careful though, as while charging you are vulnerable. You can creep around with your shield drawn, though slowly.

If you time your attacks and blocks properly you'll never need to leave the monster's hit zone and can keep up in it's face dealing the damage. The lance is a weapon that I found awkward at first, but a hunter willing to get to know it's ins and outs is a force to be reckoned with!

Better Know a Weapon Part 6- Switchaxe

By ZANZIBAR

The Switch Axe is a new weapon to the monster hunter universe, it combines sword and axe into a transforming weapon of devastating power. The Switch Axe (SA) has a guage that fills up when the weapon is sheathed or whenever it is in axe mode. This gauge fuels your attacks in sword mode and so balancing the two is the key to achieving victory. Axe mode has faster walking speed but slower attacks compared to sword mode which also has  increased elemental damage. 


Axe mode has four standard attacks, vertical, horizontal, rising slashes and a charging thrust. The big damage from this mode comes from repeatedly attacking with X which will send you into a continuous figure 8 combo that is fueled by your stamina bar, as long as you have stamina you'll keep on slashing. It's a good idea if your gonna be in this mode a lot to stock up on stamina boosting items, the quickest way to get into the figure 8 combo is to use the + button (rising slash) followed by repeated presses of the X button. If the gauge is to low pressing R will "reload" the weapon filling the gauge 1/2 way.

Sword mode can be switched into from axe by a press of the R button from a standing position, comboed into by doing a foward thrust (attacking while in motion) followed up by pressing R or even pulled out from a sheathed position with a combined button press of R+X.  When in sword mode every attack will deplete the gauge regardless on whether it hits or misses. X and A both have combos from repeated pressings, each with good range and speed. The plus button is the Element Discharge, it takes a heavy toll on the gauge but does massive damage and repeatedly pressing + will extend the discharge, best used on monsters that are incapacitated in some way. Once discharged it will automatically revert back to axe mode.

Happy Hunting

Better Know a Weapon Part 5- Bowgun

BY ARCHON

Bowguns may seem like they are only a fit for a supporting role in multiplayer hunts, but with the proper ammo and careful dodging, the bowgun is a weapon class to be respected.

There are three classes of bowguns: Light, Medium, and Heavy but they all play relatively the same. The differences lie in the speed of your characters movement and action, and the power of the ammo. The heavier the gun the more powerful your ammo can be, but the slower your weapon and your character will move.

Controls

"X"-draws your weapon and reloads. Unlike many weapons in MH, you can't come out swinging with the bowguns, so make sure you have your ammo selected and loaded into your gun before you rush into battle. Be sure to reload every time you change ammo as well. Hold "L" and used "X" and "B" (think of them as "up" and "down" on a second d-pad) to navigate through your cache of ammo types. There is no shield to speak of, so like the hammer and switch-axe classes you must dodge your enemy to keep out of harms way. Do so by tapping "B" and holding the direction you want to jump. A+X is a melee attack with the bowgun. Tapping "R" will bring up a scope-view. This is great for shooting monsters at range but does leave you very vulnerable. I find that most ammo veers off if you try to shoot it too far so I rarely use this mode. It might prove more handy when you have other player around to distract the beast. Holding "R" will bring up an aiming reticle with can also sometimes come in handy although I find the most success just "shooting from the hip".

Ammunition:

Using the right ammo in a fight can make all the difference. Each bowgun class has its own special ammo and the heavier the gun, the more powerful its "normal" shots become. The more powerful and special ammo also come with drawbacks; for example some powerful types must be reloaded after every shot, while normal ammunition comes 6-to-a-reload. Here is a quick breakdown of the ammo types in the Monster Hunter Tri demo (this is not meant at all to be exhaustive).

(All three classes have 'normal ammo' which can come in different levels of effectiveness)

MEDIUM

-sleep: puts the monster to sleep. The bigger the monster, the more of these it will take to put the monster out

-exhaust: tires the enemy

-pierce: Shoots 3 rounds one right after another leaving you vulnerable

-slice: rounds stick into enemies and then explode with shards that damage again, and damage nearby monsters

-crag-rounds stick into enemy and then explode, often knocking them back

LIGHT

-poison: only one round in your magazine. Once hit, monster keeps taking damage

-water: shoots 3 rounds, does water damage (useful against fire foes?)

-clust- creates a fire explosion on impact

-para- paralyses your monster. As with sleep, this may take many rounds

-pellet-like a shotgun. A wide spread of pellets. Useful for groups of small enemies

HEAVY

-flaming-1 shot does lots of fire damage

-wyvern fire- charge shot and must be at point blank range. Tons of damage

Gamestop & Amazon remove MH3-Controller Bundle from Website

By ARCHON

It appears that just prior to release, Gamestop AND Amazon have removed the option to pre-order Monster Hunter Tri bundled with the Classic Controller Pro. Does this mean they've run out of them? Was demand not high enough? Will they sell the bundle after the release of the game?

We'll be sure to keep you updated as we get more information, but it seems for now, if you are intent on pre-ordering MH3 with the classic controller pro you'll have to go elsewhere. Let us know in the comments if you find someplace else that is advertising preorders of the bundled version of the game.

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.

One week 'til release, Tri-hunter Recap

BY ARCHON and ZANZIBAR

So with Monster Hunter Tri a week away we thought it would be great to pick some of our favorite posts to share with you guys. It's been great sharing all this great stuff for what is shaping up to be a fantastic Wii game. If you guys have a favorite pick be sure to let us know in the comments section.

 

ZANZIBAR's Picks

The Ironbeard Drive Thru commercial, I just love these series where they get ppl off the streets and they look so confused.

My Long Sword post, mainly  cause this is the weapon I plan on using as soon as I can. I love the range and speed combined with the mobility of the weapon to create constant pressure on the target.

Finally our first post here at Tri Hunter is one of my favorite video's that has been posted. Just . . . so . . . pretty.

It's been great doing this and we hope you'll all stick around once the game is out for info from us on about our adventures and new content .

Happy Hunting.

ARCHON's Picks 

Better Know a Weapon: Hammer Time Post. It was Zanzibar's idea to give overviews of each weapon and this was my first. Challenging but satisfying to write I think figuring out all the moves for this post helped me play with the weapon that much better.

This Trailer from 2008 still gives me goosebumps. You just HAVE to watch it.

And Zanzibar's short and sweet post explaining just what the heck Monster Hunter is. I think its a good overview of a complicated game in a really approachably length-ed post.

Thanks for reading and we'd love to hear about your favorite posts or even what you want to read more about in the comments.

Monster Hunter Video Blitz!

By ARCHON

Video Games | Monster Hunter Tri | Gigginox Trailer

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii