Occasionally I pick up really obvious fanboy game reviews from the depths of the scum known as user-contributed reviews and stack them up against what everyone else loves about the game. First one was Mario Galaxy 2, now I'm putting a Monster Hunter Tri review under close scrutiny. Again, I won't link to this review for privacy protection reasons, but enjoy seeing what this prick had to bash about MH3.
It's much easier to hate on the Monster Hunter series for one reason- it's just not as accessible as many other games. When you're holding a sword and have to fight giant monsters, you'd expect to be able to move swiftly and chain together long combos of hits. Not this time. The controls aren't like any regular action game, and it doesn't pretend to be one. Because instant gratification isn't what MH aims for, it was never as popular outside of Japan. Most people don't bother to dig deeper, but when they do, that's when it starts to kick in. It makes a difference between playing for 1 hour and the subsequent 100 hours. Long story short, Monster Hunter is an acquired taste.
But on to the review. This sounds like a typical case of someone who misunderstood the series and expected it to be something else. Except more so than usual people.
Most people complain about a lack of a lock on system on this game. But that's not the problem here.
The one sentence in the review that makes sense. Lock-on has no place in a game like this.
Combos string together terribly, with a cannibalized version of the PSO combo system, combat feels as unnatural in this game as it would in Sim City.
This guy must have been using a great sword to start his game off (epically slow attack animations and movement, but there's a trick to using it). But like I said in the opening paragraph, it's to test your mettle as a hunter, not let you do cool tricks like in Devil May Cry. This game is NOT Devil May Cry. Why don't you pick up a sword and try to do combos like in DMC? You can't. You can only pull off what the hunters do in Monster Hunter. You're a person, not a superhuman.
...you can also skin the creatures you kill, cook meat, forge weapons and armor, and all of that sucks too. It's usually clicking a few buttons on difficult to navigate menus and watching a dumb animation. Where's the fun?
Okay, so the button-clicking and animations are more important than the end result (rare items, more and more powerful weapons/armor, keeping your stamina up, getting supplies). Fascinating.
Graphically, the game looks decidedly like a budget title from 6 years ago.
Capcom's been calling this the Wii game with the best visuals ever. Even Iwata agrees.
Monster Hunter Tri is a game that has hype based on the elitist notion that its difficulty makes it some kind of holy grail for gamers to conquer.
If the game's broken, no one would've bothered to try to conquer it. But it's not, that's what makes beating the game so satisfying. If only this guy could get his head wrapped around the control scheme.
And finally...
A dated and broken title that preys on the ego of gamers to trick them into thinking they are playing a good game.
Hah, this scenario kinda sounds like that old story, The Emperor's New Clothes. Too bad Monster Hunter Tri isn't the invisible robe. I've never played a Monster Hunter before this, and I found it extremely satisfying. I never once complained about the controls. And it's not because I'm arrogant. The game works, for god's sake. Give it another go. And lay off that great sword till you've mastered the basics.
I'm not good at arguing, and I betcha can do better. Why don't you try?
