Lagiacrus ATTACKS!!!.....a subway station...?

By ARCHON

In a monumental effort to promote Monster Hunter Tri, it looks like Nintendo and Capcom have turned a long subway-station tunnel in San Francisco into a giant immersive ad for the game. I like that the scale of the ad hints at both the scale of the game, and the monsters within it. It looks like the hunters  on the wall are just about human size...which would make the giant aquatic Lagiacrus ...*gulp*... life-size.

Thanks to Brett Bates over at Bitmob for this one. Check out the link for more cool pictures

The Mighty Barroth

BY ARCHON

A week since release, I've been hard at work killing monsters and taking names. My next gigantic foe is the Barroth. A rocky bi-ped with a pension for mud and a wicked fast and deadly charge. He has evaded my blade so far, but his time will come. The diligent hunter must watch out for his mud attacks which binds your character, leaving you unable to attack or move quickly. Use a 'cleanser' to break its hold or have a fellow hunter give you a swift kick. He's also crazy fast and his headbutt packs a punch. If your armor is not up-to-date he can take you out in one hit. I'm going to try using some traps to incapacitate him and get my licks in while I can. Might my Great Sword be up for the task? Or perhaps my Bowgun is the way to go.

Archon's Monster Hunter Tri Unboxing

By ARCHON

So I do understand that this is a little redundant, and not nearly as slick as Zanzibar's unboxing, but here are a few photos of my experience. At the very least you can look at the pictures and examine the controller, box art, and disc a little more, even if my counterpart represented the process in a much better way.

The box arrives at my doorstep, about 3pm on release day!

Open the box. 

Under the padding, we have a thick plastic-wrapped box containing the game and classic controller pro.

A close-up of the front of the box. Great artwork!

The back of the box and a peek inside once opened.

I've removed the contents but I haven't unwrapped anything. We've got a retail copy of the game in plastic, the classic controller pro in a styrofoam sleeve and a simple instruction booklet for the controller.

Unwrapped! My nice new shinny controller, the game disc and (a rather thick) instruction booklet, and boxes. Good times.

Monster Hunter Tri Unboxing Video

By ZANZIBAR

Unboxing video of the Monster Hunter Tri Classic Controller Pro Bundle.

Amazon Sells out of Monster Hunter Tri

By ARCHON

Well, it looks like online retailer Amazon.com has temporarily sold out of copies of Monster Hunter Tri. This is  good news for Nintendo and for Capcom. Even though would-be fans trying to get their hands on a copy may have to wait a few days, overall I think this is good news for them as well, since it increases the chances of more amazing Monster Hunter games on the Wii in the future.

See the story over at GoNintendo.

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