Michael Paquier

It is a particular day in Japan today.
Monster Hunter Portable 3rd, the latest game where you can spend your time slaying monsters ten times bigger than you, has been released on this 1st of December.

In parallel to the game release, MHP3 Guide of Otacoo.com will be updated gradually with the game data. Don’t hesitate to refer to it, and to click on the ads. if you have time…

Yodobashi Camera decided to open their shops a little bit earlier today for this event, at 8:30 in Akihabara and 7:30 in Shinjuku.
Without surprise, there were a lot of people this morning who came to buy this game.

Even arriving at 7:00 was not a guaranty to be sure to get the game. I saw a lot of people this morning leaving Shinjuku without anything because Yodobashi staff decided to stop people coming in the queue from 8:00.
Here are a couple of pictures of today.

Staff of Yodobashi Camera were really wonderful in their organization. Nothing has come to disturb the queue and people were also very disciplined. You could be sure that nobody was trying to go through the queue. It’s the kind of stuff you can definitely just see in Japan.
There were so many this morning that the queue also entered in Yodobashi main building.
So finally, how many copies were sold there today? It’s hard to say but possibly 5,000 or more.
Myself, I arrived at 7:00, and left at 9:30 with the game.

So… The main point is what about the game?
After the first minutes of playing, you immediately feel that old gameplay has been kept, with its pros and cons.

So experienced players of MH games won’t feel any new sensations by holding one of the 12 weapons while slaying a monster that deserved its punishment (it’s an ugly monster after all).
In the pros, gameplay is solid and has already proved it permits to have a good balance between weapons while hunting. Yukumo village has also this middle age Japanese environment that makes its charm. And new characters are nice to look at. Now also you can bring with you 2 Felynes during quests. Doesn’t it lower the difficulty??

In the cons, well it is more or less what fans are complaining about since Monster Hunter Freedom Unite. If you are not used with the camera, you are going to have a difficult time to follow rapid monsters.
There is also no lock functions that would allow to follow the monster more quickly than it is the case now.

I also saw a couple of bugs, not really disturbing, but it makes feel that the game has not been entirely polished.
For instance, take a Hammer or a Hunting Horn and stun a Kerbi. This guy will be on the ground, killed, but still with the stun stars around its head. Then you see it standing up and jumping away. And finally it disappears magically because it has been killed.
OK, Kelbi is not a major monster… But that’s not really realistic.
Graphically, you also have the sensation that this MH episode is turning the series into a cartoon as the light and blood effects are really increased compared to the last versions. This doesn’t help in the seriousness of MH…

By the way, it is always a pleasure to hunt on your psp with such a game, and be sure that it will stuck you on your psp for dozens, or hundreds of hours.

Just to finish, two pieces of advices:
1) Just after beginning, immediately do the first Hot Spring Quest. It is really easy and your Hot Spring will acquire immediately a bonus of 10 for life points.
2) Use and abuse of the delivery service at your base camp. This functionality is extremely useful.