TGS08: Monster Hunter 3 not as gorgeous as it seems

by JC Fletcher { Oct 13th 2008 at 3:25PM }

Luckily for those of us who wanted to read previews of Monster Hunter 3, Capcom held a private demo session for foreign press, allowing people to actually see the thing and not just stare dumbfounded at the insane line. Wired's Jean Snow got a chance to play the guaranteed multi-million seller, and brought back not-entirely-great news.

He calls the graphics "fine for a Wii title," which is a far cry from the eye-popping beauty we've seen in screens and video. That's not bad. Even better than not bad: apparently, your character can now hold his or her breath for "5-6 minutes," opening up an entirely new area of the world for exploration.

Unfortunately, the wait for Monster Hunter 3 wasn't limited to the TGS line: the game as presented was plagued by "constant loading screens when entering new areas."

Gallery: Monster Hunter 3

Tags: adventure, arpg, capcom, monster-hunter-3, tgs-2008, tgs08

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Monkey Thing?!!? @ Oct 13th 2008 4:00PM

Isn't this game still in a very early stage, though?

Also: You have to give us an idea of this correspondent. Jem Alexander tried to make the game sound unappealing, or at least to cast the sentiment of "It would be so much cooler if it were somewhere other than Wii"

Objectivity is crucial. Wii Pessimists will look at Mario Galaxy itself with a resounding "meh, those graphics are fine, i suppose"

Santos L. Halper @ Oct 13th 2008 4:16PM

Exactly Monkey, but if JC made any of those great points then nobody would get riled up at this post.

Santos L. Halper @ Oct 13th 2008 4:12PM

So I should hate this game now, right?

CJLopez @ Oct 13th 2008 4:21PM

So, who is this Jean Snow? Should I care to what he says? And Why?

Santos L. Halper @ Oct 13th 2008 4:30PM

1. a douchebag
2. no
3. because he's a douchebag

CJLopez @ Oct 13th 2008 4:31PM

thanks

Al3xand3r @ Oct 13th 2008 4:33PM

Eh yeah, let's all ignore the fracking videos and our own eyes and the impressions of the majority to believe this random dude, whoever or however important he's perceived to be by anyone. TRUST YOUR EYES, it's not like the shaky cam gameplay videos have been enhanced in any way to look better, if anything it will look far better than that.

Besides, the most important things are all the new features and improvements, the robust motion and classic controls, and the return of the online experience.

But it does also look beautiful. Why write such a negative post just because some random third party was left unimpressed?

Atreyufan @ Oct 13th 2008 4:34PM

Wow... Most people have never played a Monster Hunter and should know that the game loads a lot and we're used to it so whoever this jean snow is could shut up.
It if was like Shigeru Miyamoto that said that then I'd believe it.
/endrant

Al3xand3r @ Oct 13th 2008 4:38PM

As for the loading, that's just how monster hunter works, every map area is separate, but as is evident by the TGS gameplay videos the loading is VERY BRIEF, you just barely have time to read the word "Loading" most of the time. Nowhere near the PS2 or PSP games where you were left waiting for quite sometime with every area change.

That type of loading probably was left in the Wii version to ensure a smooth experience online as the game will only have to track what's within your immediate surroundings.

In any case, brief loading is just fine, think an experience similar to Half-Life series where it loads often but briefly, instead of present larger chunks that make you wait for quite a bit of loading time. Sure we were all spoiled by Metroid Prime 3's almost unnoticable loading since the experience wasn't paused or anything during the background loads (though some doors did take sometime to load occasionally) but I think we can all understand this type of thing in a game of Monster Hunter 3's caliber.

CJLopez @ Oct 13th 2008 6:11PM

I don't know about metroid prime 3 loading times, as I just got the game past saturday (found a copy on the under $20 bin on Virgin while everywhere is still 44.99) but loading times being huge on this game is a must cuz there are a lot of thing here to be loaded

leonus11 @ Oct 13th 2008 5:38PM

oh please! loading screens have been in monster hunter since the ps2 days! and who says the MH TRI does not have very nice graphics!? 1st off, the graphics are very nice! secondly, nobody really cares for graphics! if it has less graphics then the screen shots show then who cares! it'll still be a great game either way! that guys need to go piss off!

BebopFox @ Oct 13th 2008 6:45PM

This Jean Snow person knows nothing about video games and only reports the "pop-japanese" stuff. He reports for Wired magazine game blog and probably got lucky with that job because he was located in a game-central country. Its obvious this idiot hasn't played the Monster Hunter series or gave it much a chance (ala IGN's worthless excuse of a review of the PS2 American MH release). Background loading of areas has gotten much better since Monster Hunter Freedom/Portable 2 and 2G, I'm sure this will/is implemented into Monster Hunter 3 as well. Aside from that, the game was only supposedly 33% completed upon the demo that was presented to play. We still have a long ways off and this Jean still has a long ways to go before he gains actual knowledge of how to report anything decently that he has a slight hint of expertise in.

Polecat @ Oct 13th 2008 7:38PM

Everyone's statements hold true, the commentator, however professional he may be, just sounds like one of those kids who's jealous of another kid's shit. " Yeah, I GUESS it's cool, if you're into that." Somehow it's just been acceptable to be all " LOL Wii graphics!!"when the fact of the matter is, there are some amazing looking titles on the Wii, and dependent on the dev, when pushed, the system can put out some gorgeous imagery.

peet @ Oct 13th 2008 7:50PM

Wow,I'd like to say I'm surprized by the negativity I'm seeing being writen about this game but I'm not.I've been playing MH since MH1 ps2.I got hooked right away,simply because it is my "cup of tea".I love dragons.I love rpg style gaming.I love online gaming.Some reporters aren't so interested in those things in the first place.Wich is unfortunate that they are reviewing my favorite game of all time.Ok the loading screens are frequent,ok the controls take awhile to get used to and ok its on the wii,(wich I was disapointed to hear....until I had my first look at the game and now i'm totaly stoked!)this game is something special,and you can only find that out by actualy giving the game a chance.The fact that it has no lame story but it yet so deep,that fact that the art is so visualy captivating,not to mention you never get bored with your character since you're upgrading the crap out of him/her (visualy and stats wise) at all times.Also the way its just so satisfying to plunge your sword&shield/GS/katana/hammer/hunting horn/lance/gunlance into so many beautifuly designed monsters.Not to mention shooting bows and bowguns.I admit its an addiction.But I can understand why someone would not like this game.I come accross them all the time.It just isn't for everybody,wich is kinda cool.Its like an aquired tatse to certain styles of music.Wich brings up another good point and a reason to be proud to be a monster hunter player,its in a class of it's own.On the other hand it would be great to have the game a little more popular over here in NA since we have been left out on monster hunter G, monster hunter 2 (ps2)monster hunter portable 2 G(psp)and more importantly in my opinion monster hunter frontier:(So this time around I am still super excited about this new monster hunter title and it would be a crying shame if it didn't get released in NA.To all the fans and old school hunters,I hope I will see you online in the future.

DBM_Retep

Al3xand3r @ Oct 13th 2008 9:19PM

2G will be released as Monster Hunter United and I think it will be the first title to use some new PS3 feature which allows you to play previously offline only games online. I don't have a PS3 so I won't be getting this for that, plus the multi player mode isn't as developed as with the titles which were meant to be online by default like the PS2 games so I'll hold off and get MH3 for the Wii first since it seems to be the superior game, not just an expansion style game as the PSP sequels have been, but a major upgrade with many all new and improved features. If I get too addicted (again) I guess I'll get United for gaming on the go also though...

Suichimo @ Oct 14th 2008 10:48AM

Is he sure Capcom wasn't pulling one over on him? In all of the videos I've seen so far the graphics have looked absolutely amazing and the loading times were near non-existent, especially compared to previous titles.

LeChuck @ Oct 14th 2008 3:10PM

My excitement for MH3 is based on one thing and one thing only. My own opinion that comes from how much I immediately loved the first game, even before I was able to go online. The only worries I had were whether it would have online play or go offline like the PSP games, and whether the controls would be a problem. Both have been addressed to great satisfaction (on- and offline multiplayer and classic controller support!!!) so I am 100% on board with this.

Nobody can say anything to change my mind. Most of the reviews of MH1 were bad or mediocre and while many of the complaints were valid it didn't stop it from being one of my favorite games.

Bakerboi @ Oct 14th 2008 7:39PM

Well point being, I'm glad somebody said it so that I could finally break this down to the folks who don't get it.

THE GRAPHICS HAVE NOT IMPROVED. AT ALL.

Still flat and blurred out textures on the ground, walls, environment, weapons, armor etc. etc.

Still jaggied the hell up like the last iterations(excluding MHF:Online) and the 3D is still "plastic" looking if you will. Not talking about "shiney plastic", but fingers glued together, plastic.

The ART DIRECTION is looking to be new as in the way things are colored and the lighting on the models, but there is nothing particularly better graphically about this game. I had been saying this would happen all along and it has.

Even in the screen shots, you can see they're putting some time of blurr filter on it to hide the jaggies and mess with the lighting to make it look "new". It's just like the filter SE is using on their new Wii game. The cel-shaded one.

The ingame vids attest to this as you can see the filter in effect clearly in the scenes outside of the water.

Notice in the canyon scenes where the rock shapes are texturally flat. Also notice in the backgrounds beyond the horizons, still got those 2D backdrop sprites.

The game is on the Wii. You already knew there weren't going to be any graphical jumps. Look at the Conduit. Does it look super spectacular in the graphics department?

New Controls, New Console, New Art, same ol game, same ol graphics. You all can say what you want but Monster Hunter isn't going to be your Messiah that turns stale Wii water into Grape juice.

Don't trick your eyes with your heart. Still gonna be a great game though.

intro94 @ Oct 18th 2008 2:22AM

Bakerboi, to be honest, the graphics do look improved. If they didnt i would agree most honest point of view.Yes, they are not perfect but they do look more detailed than the previous version.So either way thats an improvement.Maybe not so much the textures but detail does count as Graphical boost(not art style-even tho its different as well).
Now then, if jean as a reviewer isnt very much experienced, what Gamespot reviewers who also had a shot at the game wrote this:
"In terms of overall presentation, Monster Hunter 3 hits all the right notes. The new platform gives the visuals a significant boost over the PSP titles. The game looks great and stands out among Wii games even in its work-in-progress state. Your hunter looks sharp and has a high level of detail, as do the monsters you'll be slicing your way through. "
Now then, that reviewer must as well blinded by his heart or the other people blinded by his negativity.
But the part that made me doubt jeans review is the state that it looks fine for a wii game.Honestly graphics havent been pushed in wii, i dont see a game that compares to this one, (red steel looks awful for example, RE4 is GC game), Mario galaxy is a fantasy setting; to this date no Wii game looks better than a gc game.But Mh surely does.