My First 24 Hours in Monster Hunter Portable 3 (or 3rd for those purists)

I purposely shut myself off from any news or updates on Monster Hunter Portable 3 since I knew that the game’s in Nihonggo. However, when I got my salary and visited our Ad Hoc Session at Mall of Asia last thursday, the impulse of buying it was too great that I bought it immediately over at Datablitz MOA when I called them up and heard they had a copy.

Yes, I REALLY called them up on the way to the store, the Ad Hoc session was happening at Gloria Jean’s and I was already halfway through the mall when I called and reserved myself a copy. After purchasing I headed back to the cafe and watched them play. I was pretty pumped up that I was finally going to play the game when I got home.

The Language Barrier

Before I continue, I would like to say that !&#@^$*&#% you Capcom. WAI U TRANSfLATE SLOW!? (cough cough) now with that out of the way I started my adventures in Yukumo village. With thanks to MHF3.com (yes I really love you guys!) I was able to get past the initial intimidation of Japanese on my psp (who by the way is getting more attention from me, say thanks to MH3rd Ultraman :P).

After the initial awkward start (for me at least) I then started my first Village Quest.

Village Quest: the Beginning

My First Village quest was the Jaggi Takedown. I was tasked to KILL this purple-raptor looking thing for the village. Off I go to the Mountain Stream (I seriously think they would’ve done better with this but I’m just only nitpicking because the people at MHF3 are doing a swell job!), one of the new maps this 3rd MH game had to offer.

I was seriously blown away by the game’s visuals specially when I reached area 6 of the map. To make an awkward quote for my initial impression I would like to us the blitz’ of HIMYM on this one, “the colors they are brighter now”. Yes, they are definitely better compared to MHFU. Of course the game’s setting’s are two totally different things so it’s really unfair to compare these two, but yeah, MH3rd REALLY LOOKS GREAT.

I liked how the falling leaves effect on area 6 added to the visual texture of the game and it really is a refreshing sight to behold. Well, till the Jaggi came a-knocking.

Hi Jaggi Meet My Switch Axe

So there I was, enjoying the waterfalls the falling leaves and the beauty of nature when the game’s BGM changed into the usual upbeat fighting monster music MH is familiar for. I was using the default Switch Axe I have in my box. The switch axe, for those who are not familiar with it is the game’s newest weapon class that is directly ported from Monster Hunter Tri.

The weapon has two sword modes, the axe and the sword form which justifies it’s name. The sword handles just like a GS sword but it can’t block. So it’s a purely offensive weapon and I want tto bring on the hurt on the Jaggi with this big baby of mine.

Turns out my MH skills aren’t as rusty as I expected. I was able to dodge a bit of the Jaggi’s attacks, make a successful counter attack and even flinched the monster with a well placed jumping sword slash. The default armor set I had, the Yukumo had Tranqualizing Guru activated so I can see if the monster’s going to die. When the pink ball on my map started to blink I stepped up my pace however the Jaggi was able to run from me.

It actually was able to escape death 3 times before I was able to put the monster down. I think this is the new added feature the game had, MONSTERS escape faster than before. Even if I was in a good hunting party the monster we’re hunting was able to escape at least once. That usually didn’t happen in MHFU so it was pretty irritating and challenging aspect of hunting that they added.

Going Back Home

Upon quest clearing I was able to finally walk through Yukumo Village. Out of my enthusiasm in added a notch on my sword I blazed through the weapons training and jumped at the first advancement village quest. I wasn’t able to look at the whole village since Pokke Village (MHFU Village) was a small town.

Yukumo village however is bigger compared to Pokke Village or at least it looks bigger. It is definitely longer and maybe that’s the reason why I think Yukumo’s bigger since your character has to walk longer than it had to Pokke Village. Yukumo village is pretty vibrant and colorful to a fault. Being that I’m using a PSP3000 model my screen was throwing colors at me I never once expected from an MH game.

Farming in MH has also changed. Bug and fish collecting is more efficient and the area is definitely bigger. I haven’t fully upgraded my farm yet so I can’t really get into details on every single upgrade that there is. However, what I can say is that it’s definitely more fun to farm this time around.

Onsen and Sake– YES!

Aside from the addition of new monsters, new armors and new almost everything, MH3rd also changed getting buffed in the game. Instead of eating for life-stamina and buffs you get to #1 take a bath at the onsen for your stamina and health increase and #2 you get to drink beer or rather sake to get random buffs.

These two are upgradable through the hot spring quest that the head honcho at the bath gives. Currently my bath only gives 125 and 130 on hp and stamina so I still have a long way to go.

Adhoc Of Course

Of course when I start talking about Monster Hunter, I shouldn’t forget the reason why I loved the game in the first place. So as of record I’ve visited 3 official adhoc sessions and went to Peep’s game shop to play with people who are lounging at the area. Currently I’m on HR4 with thanks to the MOA people and I got my Jinouga mats because I tagged along the urgent quests of certain individuals at PG-13.

The guild card system has also been renovated and it’s pretty convenient now that the game can send out your guild card to everyone in the bath with just two button pushes. The guild card was changed so that you can go crazy with it and make your own hunter pose whenever someone looks at it.

The poses vary from hammy to serious to downright ridiculous and it doesn’t help that some of the backgrounds are pretty funny to begin with. Also I liked the little change Capcom did with the friend system. You can see your friends hanging around the bath on the offline version of it so at least it doesn’t make you feel as lonely.

So…

In the end though I must say that MH3rd delivered what I was hoping for and more. Though I’m still pissed that Capcom still went for a prudent choice of not releasing the english version of the game (just yet) and I had to rely on translations on the web for me to even make a purchase.

I purposely didn’t include every experience I had in MH3rd because believe the game is better off experienced personally. So as of now I will have to hold off hunting since backlogs from work are piling up.

Yeah– guess who’s been pretty addicted again eh?

[Pictures courtesy of Monster Hunter Wiki]