I'll be the first to admit I know nothing about the Monster Hunter games beyond the fact they're massive here in Japan and you fight and hunt monsters. This is not through any level of ignorance, either. It's just the series never had the same level of immediate expansion as so many other Japanese games. There's no story, just a quest - hunt and fight monsters in order to craft tools and armour to do it even better.

And it seems I'm not the only one who has fallen prey to the game's misleading idea of success, apparently the Western world at large just didn't get it either, leading to poor sales of the title outside of Eastern markets - it's easy to disregard it as simply another Japanese 'fad', but the reality is, this series has been around for quite some time and when my Capcom representative here at TGS 2009 tells me he logged more than 1000 hours on the PSP because he became a little "addicted", it solidified my need to really work this all out.

Thankfully, the Wii update to the game, Monster Hunter Tri, addresses many of the nagging problems people who didn't feel compelled to log 1000 hours had with it, beginning first and foremost with story. There's a definitive story here, apparently, and it's already proving even more successful as a result with MHT flying off storeshelves all over Japan. There's also the idea that people couldn't simply jump into the main game and therefore had to play through a heady and *boring* tutorial that lasted far too long, as suggested by fans, post-release, which has been addressed with the inclusion of a tutorial attached and definitively linked to the game's new story mode. However, this could also be attributed to Monster Hunter Tri's next big change - and that's accessible online, and yes, that's Wii online.



We've been told the game has bypassed Nintendo's need for family-friendly and safe internet. So no Wii Friend Codes in-sight, and Capcom have set the game up with its own lobby and chat system where four people can play cooperatively to hunt down big monsters. Leading to yet another segue - the other versions of the game pretty much required you to make sure you had buddies along for the ride for the sheer fact it's bloody hardcore. Now, however, with MHT it is entirely possible to solo the experience clearly leading to more loot for you and bigger, badder weapons and armour as a result.

And for the uninitiated, that's what Monster Hunter is all about. You hunt down various monsters, then hack them to bits at the end to utilise their various parts in order to make new armour and weapons, and the possibilities here are really quite vast as each item you create carries with it perks, strengths and weaknesses and as a monster hunter (and therefore collector of monster bits and pieces) you're quite able to mix and match various parts to really create your own play-style.

One of the monsters we killed for example had a flint move it performed with its wings, which meant dissecting him after our successful hunt would likely lead to armour, or pieces of armour with fire-resistance. Moreover, as the name suggests, this isn't just about hacking at monsters - it's also about hunting them, and successful use of traps and other tactical ways of bringing down your targets reels you in for more tantalising loot than merely swinging your sword to and fro.



So those are the major changes for the game on Wii: Story (with a story integrated tutorial that actually makes sense), Online Multiplayer (sans the need for Friend Codes) and the ability to solo all the way through the game. But as you may have already seen from any of the game's available trailers, it also happens to be one of the prettiest Wii titles around, and in playable form in front of you, this couldn't be more true.

The game really is stunning. And it's not just the characters or vistas, it's the animations and art-direction as well. Some of the monsters you'll face are absolutely massive, and animate so impressively, you'd presume the animation team came straight from working on digitally rebuilding dinosaurs for research. These things are so realistic, it's impossible not to immediate find some sort of connection with them.

This, however, brings me to my next point, as beyond everything else Monster Hunter really isn't an easy game to play. There are nuances to gameplay that creep up and grab you, and they're difficult to get your head around. For example, any action you're performing as the player can't really be cancelled or interrupted. So if you're facing the monster and begin to swing with your mighty long sword, but the swift critter moves out of the way, there's no option to string the next part of your combo back in his direction, you just have to leave the action to run its course and try again. It doesn't take an overly long amount of time to get your head around it, but in this day and age of pick-up-and-play gaming (especially on Wii), it seemed a little difficult.



Thankfully, all of the shortcomings have been broached; the game is now on the World's most popular home console and it's looking pretty amazing, and given myself, Dan and our Capcom 1000-hour plus guide jumped in and after a little while were slaying beasts left, right and center, we can definitely tell you it's well worth a look - especially for loot lovers and completionists.

Development of the game outside of its current Japan release also heralded two factors. One is, similarly to other Western releases of Monster Hunter, it's most likely Tri won't need any form of subscription payment (as it does in Japan), and two, Capcom are seriously looking at including Wii Speak as part of the online feature, which would be another first for the series, and clearly a great companion to Capcom already having done away with Wii Friend Codes.

Other changes you may not be aware of include new underwater and desert environments for hunting, while some 15+ new monsters have also been added with much improved AI, meaning some battles will last quite some time. Weapon classes have been updated with new moves as well, allowing for a greater sense of recourse for players, especially in tackling the updated beasties.



Currently there is no final release date for the game in Australia, but the whispers around suggest somewhere around March.

You can find out more about the game directly from our Monster Hunter Tri game page, and be sure to check out the supplied videos showcasing one of the Wii's most stunning action games.