Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate

Clocked about 65 hours on this since last Tuesday, currently farming Barroth(the gate to a lot of gear it seems) and Gobul for various mats/fun things I want to build.

I am a very very new MH player, probably 100 hours between MHFU and Tri - not a lot of attention was paid, nor did I commit to them.

For a handheld experience this game is fantastic. There are flaws naturally, text without 3D turned on is a bit fuzzy (letters n, C, and G notably), the lighting is somewhat similar to Bloom/HDR style stuff, which makes this a bit... soft. Dynamic shadows are amazing, reflections are handled beautifully and all around I would give this the title of one of the most amazing things i've seen on the 3DS.

The progression through the game is well handled, you start off getting herbs/killing herbivores/gathering/getting an idea about how stuff works. At no point thus far have I felt overwhelmed or out of my element. It gives you a bit of an idea of upgrading/developing your weapons.

The game has a near perfect difficulty curve. I have never experienced a game that handles said difficulty curve so well. Which is where my hatred for the demo kicks in.

The demo removes all of the above, no idea about motives, monster behavior, you have no idea beforehand how your own weapons work.

As a new player the demo has the following:
-Clunky Camera
-WTF factor with weapons you use, yeah vets know everything, new people don't
-OMG this weapon takes 1000000 seconds to swing, I should swing this GS like Cloud
-Monsters that have (imo) a bit of an advanced move set that is very difficult for a virgin player to even get the concept of
-Despite the manual being perfectly available, and very useful it is not spelled out how things work
-Nothing that makes MH great is revealed in this demo, they give you a passable fight vs Lagombi and a frustrating one vs Plesioth.
-And it is missing the most important part - improving your gear/crafting/achievement after killing a foe.
-You don't get to make Lagombi armor, don't get to skin/carve Plesioth, just given "Thank you for playing" the reward carrot is the best single component of this that keeps me coming back.

TL:DR:
Hate demo, LOVE LOVE LOVE the actual game.
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Machine meat and Blood in an intimate relationship
The new superior more effective then all the preceding

IamChaCha posted...

Ah yes, Cha Cha is reassured by kind words of endearment toward actual game. However, feeling toward demo vary for this humble denizen.

Cha Cha dislike demo in the fact that it probably put off more newcomers than put....on?

But for one who has experienced the dance of Tri on Wii, demo is fairly simple, yet addictive for how barebones demo is.

All weapons and class on display for Cha Cha to use. Variety of item pouch goodies to experiment with. Time limit for challenge. Just fact that frog is given to fish Plesspansy is indicative of how demo DOES NOT do good job of introducing newcomers, as only vets like Cha Cha would have known.

How many non Tri monsters has Creator of Topic felled?

Thus far in MH3U:
Lagombi
G. Wroggi
Azuros

Currently farming it up in early 4 star quests - want some stuff from Barroth and Gobul. :)
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Machine meat and Blood in an intimate relationship
The new superior more effective then all the preceding

klecser posted...

If I had not come to this board out of demo frustration, I may never have come to understand how deep and awesome this game is.

I owe the helpful board members here (dogscratch, poopybritches, icewitch, etc) a sincere debt of gratitude. As a totally new player, I agree that the demo does an absolutely TERRIBLE job of communicating the game to new players like myself.

Aww thanks :)

It just seems that this demo would be one of those things that hurts the game a lot more then helps. I recall reading a gamasutra piece a few weeks about this.

RL friend of mine was "No way man, that demo was awful" and cut him loose on my game cart for a couple hours over the weekend, and his opinion was shifted after he started a new character.
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Machine meat and Blood in an intimate relationship
The new superior more effective then all the preceding