We haven’t done this recently, so let me explain our community blog spotlight. Sometimes, you folks on Capcom Unity write some really cool stuff on your blogs and we want to be able to highlight them. Today’s community blog spotlight is from Capcom Unity member Chanchai , and it is a rebuttal to some of the thoughts expressed in this Bitmob community article , in which the writers discuss different elements that work and don’t work for them in Monster Hunter Tri.

Chanchai wrote up a remarkable, well thought out response that I have reposted here on the front page. Be sure to read both articles to get the whole experience! And leave your comments either here or on Chanchai’s blog !

From Chanchai’s blog post:

(an ongoing narrative on Monster Hunter’s acceptance in the West) I thought this was a nice discussion on Monster Hunter that puts to text the constant argument/agree-to-disagree feelings people have with playing Monster Hunter.

Hit the jump for the rest of Chanchai’s post!

HERE IS MY TAKE ON THE NARRATIVE:

I would say that Rob represents the person who has played Monster Hunter enough to get a feel for the game and what hardcore tendencies it taps into in those that love it. I wouldn’t call him an expert, but he understands the game.

On the flipside, Alejandro represents the gamer that is usually put off by Monster Hunter’s initial impression. Pointing out the things Monster Hunter is not (by comparing it to what he would prefer it be from other games). He’s not necessarily wrong, but at the same time he’s pointing out a perspective shaped by the game’s more bland single player mode (which has always been a setup for multiplayer and is more or less a super long tutorial and a teaser) and lack of instant gratification.

Western developers, I feel, tend to focus (appropriately) on instant gratification but still have depth. On the East, I feel Miyamoto is one of the masters of this.

But Monster Hunter isn’t really built on this mindset. I feel that Monster Hunter is built on wanting to emulate a feel. Not necessarily realism, but a feel. And in this case, it’s the feel of the hunt. And that the feel of the hunt is something to be learned and mastered.

Feel of Combat

Combat is hard, and it’s easy to be clumsy, but it can be mastered and it can look graceful when you learn the do’s and especially the don’ts of the weapon you are using.

I would (lightly) compare Monster Hunter combat design to my favorite game series–Virtua Fighter. In VF, the beginner is easy to spot because he looks clumsy as hell in the game. He cannot find the built-in-combos of many other fighters. His attacks have slower recovery when his opponents block them and his opponents suddenly have an advantage–he feels jammed if he attacks recklessly and does not defend right away. He can’t force his opponent into a blockstun and maintain advantage for long–the initiative will flow to his opponent whenever he fails to defend or attack. This is true in all fighting games, but in VF it is quite strick and you look clumsy if you try to wail your way out of a situation.

In Monster Hunter, this combat design is carried over and it leaves a bad taste for some people. But it leaves a very rewarding sense of mastery and skill for those who figure out the don’ts and get good at the do’s. This combat system wants you to be as defensive as you are offensive, sometimes much more defensive.

Feeling without Locking On

Regarding lock-on: Demon’s Souls shows you can put lock-on into this type of combat system but I find a problem with lock-on in Monster Hunter. The problem is that Monster Hunter wants you to explore the monsters as well as the areas. What I mean is, it wants you to feel out where you can attack the beast, and where you cannot. It wants you to really be tested and to be patient with this. I don’t think it wants you to even approximate it with a lock-on. Furthermore, it wants you to target parts of the body for the materials you will get from carving them. It wants you to cut off the tail, it wants you to cut the horns off, it wants you to impale the fleshy parts, it wants you to deal with exo-skeletons and natural modes of armor.

And when you master your weapon, hitting your mark is not a problem. Dealing with the environment and the movement of the beast will be your problem, but you will get a feel for your weapon of choice and it will be up to you to wield it or compromise.

The Feel of Panic (and Digging Through Your Bag)

I believe Monster Hunter’s item-use system is built around the notion that the act of digging through your inventory bag is a hands on experience that does not allow you to attack. So the developers want you to feel you have your hands full by holding one button while pressing others to scroll through it. You can run and even roll while going through your inventory but you cannot attack.

And this will either put you in a panic, or when you are experienced, you will handle it with ease. Furthermore, you will get to know the order of the items in your bag, and you will get comfortable knowing “where in the bag this or that item is.”

Rewards of a Hunter/Gatherer

Monster Hunter’s incentive is Hunting and Gathering and hoarding too. I don’t think it needs much explanation but… Instead of rewarding you by leveling you up overall, the game relies on gear and tools made from objects you have gathered by hunting and gathering. And it feels good when you finish your set pieces or fine weapons.

Furthermore, the game’s inventory system has so much space it encourages you to keep what you have and polish it up to make it better.

And if you didn’t max out older armor, that older armor is a nice set to dumb-down your skill level so you can play with beginner friends and still deal with the challenge and realities all over again. The hunts are no longer obsolete and it’s not all an endgame or nothing problem–you can replay old quests like you had before–set constraints for yourself and enjoy the hunt. You can voluntarily level down. All from the rewards you built and kept for yourself.

When you hunt with beginner friends, those parts aren’t as much obsolete but as opportunities to build new sets and weapons to be further customized to your liking.

And in Tri, you can automate the farming process to become a manufacturing line to avoid the mundane low-level gathering so you can focus on high-level gathering.

Final Thoughts

Monster Hunter is a very “Japanese” game built on some sense of artisanship or challenged mastery. At least that’s how I feel about the game. I don’t think it’s the most complicated for any aspect of the game. But it is at least challenging and it does demand patience and a desire to master it in some way.

It is not a “realistic hunting game” but I think it is a game built on a fantasy of “the feeling of hunting something truly wild.”

But in the end, I can’t make any person like the game–that’s up to them. And they are not wrong for disliking this game. But in the context of other games in the West, Monster Hunter’s design philosophies are challenged by gamer expectations and the status quo.

But there is a good reason why some serious gamers helplessly fall prey to its trap.