A reason for me to buy a Wii.

Aug 10, 2009 by Joshua    3 Comments    Posted under: game short, games

I’m facing a gamer’s dilemma.

In my formative years, I developed nostalgia for role-playing games such as Final Fantasy III, Star Ocean 2 and Chrono Trigger. As time has passed and I have grown up, however, I no longer have the freedom to spend countless hours immersed indefinitely in a single game. Over the years, it’s become more and more difficult for me to get into an RPG, especially as modern releases call for anywhere from 40 to 100 hours of gameplay.

I have refined my interests in games down to two key elements. For me to really enjoy a game, it either has to have a brilliant story that isn’t muddled by gameplay, or the gameplay itself has to be unique and enjoyable.

Unfortunately, the only current gaming system I have is a Nintendo DS, and most RPGs released for that system are designed with turn-based combat. While I don’t mean to say that such a combat system is deplorable, it can easily become tedious and repetitive, especially when every other release follows the same format.

I need something different.

So it was with great excitement that I heard that “Monster Hunter Tri” will be released for the Nintendo Wii in the United States and Europe. I don’t own a Wii, but this news may prompt me to finally choose from the current-gen systems.

Image courtesy of ign.com.

The “Monster Hunter” series first emerged on the Playstation 2 in 2004, receiving mixed criticism. The point of the game is to complete numerous missions, usually by either collecting a certain item or defeating a certain monster, and using the spoils to improve weapons and armor for more difficult quests. The story is virtually non-existent, but the gameplay more than makes up for it.

The monsters that players face are epic, at times on scale with the much-heralded boss fights of “Shadow of the Colossus”. All combat is in real time, and players must charge and dive and stab at the gigantic beasts, using any of a collection of weapons that each have their own abilities and strategies.

Much of the negative criticism stems from the unique combat, however. Many players complain that the battles are too difficult, that attacks are too hard to execute and that the controls are too unresponsive. But that’s the thing about “Monster Hunter”: It requires skill. It isn’t enough to have the strongest weapon if you don’t know how to use it. A character can go after an enemy with a sword that is bigger than him, but if the attacks are not timed right, he’ll be tossed about like a ragdoll with an over-sized toothpick.

But I digress. “Monster Hunter” was a big hit in Japan, and it saw several reincarnations and sequels on the Playstation Portable. For quite a while now, I have considered getting the handheld console so that I could play those games, especially after online servers for the original – one of the greatest parts of the game – were shut down at the start of 2008. It just wouldn’t be the same as playing it on a console connected to a TV, with a handheld controller, though.

And that’s why the release of “Monster Hunter Tri” for the Wii is something to celebrate. Not only does it mark the return of the franchise to a console, it could possibly be the start of an entirely new style of gameplay. The famous Wiimote lends itself to the combat style of “Monster Hunter”. In the original, different movements of the Playstation controller’s analog stick initiated different attacks. With a controller that registers the player’s movement, the control scheme could be much more intuitive.

For now, it sounds like the developers have stuck close to the original control scheme. Perhaps, if more games in the series get released on the console, that will change over time.

Okay, I’ve delivered my fanboy rant. Take it as you will. If you want to know why I’m so excited, the best thing you can do (short of buying the original game and trying it out for yourself) is check out this trailer for “Monster Hunter Tri”. All of those gigantic creatures that you see flying about and tearing up the landscape are enemies that players face in the game.

The game was originally set to be released on the PS3, but Capcom decided that it would be more… economical to make it a Wii exclusive. Now to wait for the game’s release in 2010 (and to get a Wii).

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