Monster Hunter Freedom Unite, First PSP Game to 3.5 Million

[modeps]

http://evavhost.com/i/news/monsterhunter.png

Monster Hunter is a pretty big deal in Japan, but it looks to be a REALLY big deal on the PSP. Monster Hunter Freedom Unite is the first PlayStation Portable title to ship 3.5 Million units. GI.biz (http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/monster-hunter-freedom-unite-breaks-retail-records):

Released in Japan in March 2008, Monster Hunter became the best selling PSP game of 2008. In October, an enhanced 'Best' version of the game was released and shipped a further one million copies. The 3.5 million figure takes into account both versions of the game.

Following its popularity on PSP, Capcom will release a new Nintendo Wii installment to the series on August 1 entitled Monster Hunter 3(tri-).

[ruumis]

lol @ "Hunger"

[Everblight]

I'd love to see Monster Hunter make it just as big here but I don't see it being more than a popular niche title until they offer proper online out of the box. Adhoc party works great but you have to jump through a lot of hoops.

[Pajawa]

I've been a big Monster Hunter fan for a while-it's the only reason I still have a PSP.

Ditto, I would love to see it come out for Xbox Live, but apparently the next one is a Wii exclusive.

[oldschooldimo]

i really wish the mmo was available in english.. it looks awesome.

[Everblight]

It's not really an MMO, its more like PSO or Diablo connectivity wise.

[Anenome]

PS-what............?

[Everblight]

Phantasy Star Online

[modeps]

It's not really an MMO, its more like PSO or Diablo connectivity wise.

How's it really compare to PSO? I loved that game and have been looking for a real legit new version of it to come along.

[Everblight]

It compares very favorably in my opinion, but there are some caveats. First off, its much harder to play well and since the most powerful weapons are generally the most unwieldy, most of the skill in the game comes from properly judging timing, distance and movement so you can hit a big angry dragon in the head with a huge slow sword. There is no coddling at all with the controls or the camera, no lock-on here, and the wyverns(dragons) can kill you in not time flat if you screw up.

There are no classes or races or levels. Character progression comes purely from crafting and improving your gear and any character can freely switch to any weapon between missions. The weapons all "feel" and play differently and actually have several different battlefield roles so there's more variety hear than it sounds like. Unlike PSO gear doesn't randomly drop as a completed items but instead you harvest parts from defeated monsters (which are randomized somewhat in terms of what you get) or mine or gather them from the environment and take these components back to town to combine into gear. As a result, getting better gear directly requires killing harder monsters. Gear matters a lot but never makes up for skill. You can't really "grind for levels" to make an opponent easier.

Structure wise, the game is broken up in to smaller chunks than PSO's sequential dungeons. You still head out in a group of four but rather than grinding through tons of little enemies and then fighting a boss you essentially just head out into the wilderness and fight the "boss" straight away. You'll generally kill each one a lot of times but there are tons of them in the game with a lot of variety in behavior so it avoids getting stale. There are missions with other objectives but generally those are easier and thus something you do when playing offline on your own.

The final issue with the game is that to get the most out of it your really want to play multiplayer. If you've got friends with psps you'll have no problem, but since the game doesn't support online play on its own you have to jump through extra hoops to play over the internet. If you have a PS3 you can use Sony's "ad hoc party" from the japanese PSN store or you can use a program called Xlink Kai for the PC. They work great, but they require extra initiative and setup on the player's part.

If you like loot based action RPGs like PSO and have a psp I'd give it a try. Its only $30 and has a TON of content. Just keep in mind that the game has a pretty steep learning curve.

[Anenome]

Phantasy Star Online

Actually, I was remarking on the current state of the PSP in the marketplace :P Unfortunately, your post was above mine to confuse.