PSP Monster Hunter Freedom Unite to release soon!

[DrLame]

Hey, portable players! It's finally getting around to that time the new monster hunter is gonna be out, Monster Hunter Freedom Unite. This is the only franchise that's been able to keep my interest in any way on the psp, so I'm pretty excited. From what I've been reading the game will be out late June. It looks like their main goal is to expand content from MHF2, but in a way that doesn't leave you starting form zero if you're already a player in the series. You'll be able to import your MHF2 character into MHFU, and that's just the beginning. You'll be able to take a Felyne companion with you into missions to help out, there's a handful of new monsters, and a buttload of new weps and armors (and more!). heh

I'll definitely be buying this right after release. The series's unique gameplay and enormous playing potential has me hooked. If any of you have xlink kai working with your psp you can play with other MfM members, which is a great goodness. Hope to see you out there killing shit!​

 

[KezraPlanes]

I'm going to have to disagree with this article a little.

MHP/MHF series is nothing special, and without a nice overhaul, they never will be. Why? Simple. People can't get into a game where you pointlessly kill monsters for no reason at all. It's just receive quest -> do quest -> get reward, over and over and over again. There's no story present which takes away 60% of the appeal of the game, no matter how well it's other parts are made. I played MHF for 5 hours before getting bored, and the same happened with MHF2 - and I've played much worse trust me, but the lack of story puts me off completely.

Now I'll delve into why this game will not be as much of a success on the EU/US side as it is in JP territory. First of all there is not the same concentration of PSP per square kilometer as in Japan, considering ad-hoc playing is one of the strengths of the game. Secondly there are no MHP/MHF events for weekends away playing like in Japan. And thirdly, this game fails all the way for not having Infrastructure play - which could have become one of its strengths - which could have been it's salvation from the lack of PSP's in one's living area. As far as xLink-Kai is concerned, not everyone can get it working or even knows about it (I'm in the first group of people, and I know my share of computer technologies to even be able to compile stuff with the PSPSDK, so imagine a person with lesser knowledge)

So yeah, that my story, and I'm sticking to it But great post nonetheless DrLame

 

[DrLame]

I'm personally not one for most games that push a ton of story on you. Most are generic in some fashion or another and incredibly long winded for the sake of being long winded. Xenogears is a rare exception to this. I tend to play games based off the actual gameplay experience and not the in between stuff.

I enjoy that there's 12 (I think) different weapon classes that each have a very unique feel that makes hunting in the game a different experience every time you change up. I enjoy tracking and hunting monsters and the intricacy it can get into, including using traps, and tools to aid you in hunting. Not to mention that paying close attention to the habits and behavior of monsters can yield even more rewards, like shiney drops and such. Also the gathering aspect is very well done in my mind that you not only carve materials off monsters, but have a plethora of areas that each have natural parts of the environment that you can interact with to get materials from. And that you can never possibly carry all of the materials that each area has to offer, so you have to put thought and planning into what you want to gather based off what you want to build, upgrade, or combine into other items.

The combination system itself is pretty well thought out and intuitive, as is the armor and weapon creation and upgrading. You always have something to work towards, and everything helps you hunt a wider array of stronger monsters. And each of the stronger monsters has a crazy array of difference between the others.

As far as the popularity goes, it probably has more to do with the absolute zero advertisement the game has gotten stateside, more than anything. The Monster Hunter series started on the PS2 where it got a lot of it's Japanese popularity (I think before the psp was even released). It also had a huge amount of advertisement there. Most people in the states have never even heard of the game series, because it's been quietly sitting on the backseat there. The events they organize in Japan are a product of the popularity it has over there, not the other way around.

Xlink isn't that difficult to get to work with psps, as long as you have a wireless adapter that supports promiscuous mode. That mode seems to be pretty rare on most wireless adapters, but that can easily be solved with a $20 wireless usb dongle for sale on many online sources, as well as from lots of game repair stores.

Infrastructure would be very very fail for the game on a mass scale. It's not the sort of game where you just run around blasting people or things in a heated frenzy. To hunt well in groups requires planning and a lot of communication. I don't recommend playing over xlink without using a solid voice communication software, especially if you're playing with people who are new to the game. Needing a way to be able to easily coordinate and communicate is the reason they only support ad-hoc in my opinion. In the new Monster Hunter on wii there will be online play, but the wii is a platform that would be much much easier to use reliable voice communication with. I use a fat psp myself, so I'd be totally stuck in the rain with infrastructure play on the portable versions.

Anyway, just my thoughts about all that.

 

[Pokemanz master]

MH2 was pretty good for the psp, I bought on release day.
I only willing buy this one if it has mutiplayer.
@KezraPlanes
Agreed