User blog comment:Aandrew07/Tri's second anniversary! (Among other things)/@comment-5091195-20120509083236

Hey all, I know I am a bit late to the party and all, but I just joined this site (finally, after a year or so of creeping on it as a silent anon) and decided I wanted to share my Monster Hunter Tri story.

So, my friend’s older brother exposed me to Tri by showing me some of the teaser trailers well before its release in the West. Needless to say, although I had never played MH before, I was enthralled. I watched him play a bit of Freedom Unite, and was dazzled at the complexity of the game that seemed like it should be so “small.” I was also a little upset this was the first time I even truly heard about it, let alone tried to get into it.

Fast-forward to the spring of 2010, Gamestop had the demo and I snapped it up. I had never even bothered to try this game on a PSP (being a pretty much an Nintendo-only owner for most of my life), so the controls were a bit of a mess at first, and trying to control it with the Wiimote and nunchuk was… bad. Trying it on the classic worked MUCH better, although the Great Jaggi still owned me. After enough practice I was able to conquer the Jaggi with any weapon, and could nearly do the same with the Qurupeco before time was up. This experience, though frustrating, was so rewarding because it was so new. I had to PRACTICE to actually succeed at this game, and that excited me. I was honestly a little burnt-out on the monotony of games up until that point in my life, playing only few titles here and there without much vigor. MH Tri (just the demo, really) made me realize just how beautiful, complex, and satisfying games can be, again.

I preordered the bundle set, I planned to devote my day to the game regardless of homework (being a college student, this kind of stuff is important), and I waded through the tutorial. My aforementioned friend was playing it back home, and so we could share tips and stories of our single-player exploits together. My only major roadblocks in the full game were Barroth and Diablos, though that doesn’t mean nothing else was a challenge. I relished the game’s nearly every moment and soon got online. That summer was devoted to many a late-night hunting session, and besides work, this game was what defined that summer for me. I wasn’t obsessed, but I was hooked, and it felt great. When I finally approached High Rank, the sheer epicness of the “final showdown” with the Jhen Mohran paired with the triumphant music that started upon using the dragonator was so satisfying that I was shouting in glee when he fell. When was the last time a game made me so happy/angry/afraid of failure that I would interact with it beyond just the use of the controller? When I was compelled to verbally communicate to the screen out of sheer emotion? I couldn’t remember when.

Now I have reached High Rank with two characters, poured well over 400 hours total into the game, converted two more of my friends to the ways of MH, and purchased a used PSP expressly to play MHFU. In the latter endeavor, I’m faring well enough (still doing 3-star quests), but Green Plesioth’s hitboxes carted me thrice today, so that was a bit of a downer. Anyway, I must say MH Tri has exceeded my expectations and changed the way I look at (and interact with) games forever. My friends and I have a great time hunting together, and last summer (MH Tri season, that is) we had multiple “LAN parties” to play online together while being in each other’s company. The camaraderie these brought us meant we could all focus on playing just this game from 12 PM until 3 AM on some days (minus rest and food breaks), no joke.

So, to end my story and to reflect on the blog’s questions, I have loved everything about Tri and, though Unite has many merits, I find the former to be better in a lot of ways. That may change, though, once I can start to fight much cooler and bigger things in Unite. I really hope Capcom or Nintendo make a move to bring us more Monster Hunter love here in the West soon, though. Like most everyone here, I think 3G is a must-have and I have followed the Discussion Page obsessively for a good while now. If anyone reads this that has any sort of power in either of those two companies, please know that the Monster Hunter series has catapulted me back into gaming in the best of ways, and that you have a loyal fan from here on out.

Thanks for reading. Feel free to comment!