Monster Hunter Portable 3rd Review

Hi all!

You might have heard about the new Monster Hunter Portable 3rd out in Japanese for the PSP. I'll give a quick review if you're still trying to decide whether to try it or not.

First of all, if you've played Freedom Unite i.e. MH2, you'd be familiar with the game mechanics. If not, basically you're a hunter and you are helping the little town which you reside by undertaking missions to thin down the local wildlife a bit.

Somehow I think it's a game to satisfy your bloodlust for killing creatures bigger than you lol. You kill or capture ginormous creatures, get materials and make better equipment so you can kill even bigger and more dangerous ones.

Anyways, most of the creatures other than docile ones like Kelbi and Popo are replaced completely. But the new monsters will remind you of what you fought in the previous game. The King and Queen of the Skies Rathalos and Rathian make a comeback but this time, like Tigrex for the previous game, the cover monster is Jinouga. I'll be honest, it looks awesome! Though I shat my pants when I first encountered it in an unstable hunting ground.

 Qurupeco - It is cute but annoying if you have no experience fighting it. It can summon other big monsters by mimicking their calls! omg

 Barroth - A hard hitting monster!

 Aoshira - Pedobear of MH

 Jinouga! It looks awesome and can supercharge itself into epic speeds. Very painful opponent!

The comrade system has been improved, you can customise your Felynes and bring 2 of them with you to battle and depending on their character, they react and fight differently! I do love the kitty companions as they are cute and occupy the monsters for a while, while I heal and recuperate lol.

The farm is as it was, you get to mine, plant, catch bugs, fish and watch your Felynes undergo the training schedule you set for them. Fishing is improved, instead of wasting time to catch them, you actually pull a massive cage out of the water and collect as with all the other stuff.

The kamikaze mining cat is replaced by a mining cart, which I find much more amusing to watch when they strike it rich. Oh and you can send up to 4 cats in.

If you've played MH Tri for the Wii, the weapons will be familiar to you. One weapon I found myself falling for is the switch axe! It's an axe which can turn into sword mode! Very awesome! Other favourites make their comeback to the franchise as well such as the great sword, long sword, dual swords, gun lance, light and heavy bowguns and so on!

When hunting, the surroundings feel really immersive and landing hits on the monsters feel solid and satisfying. An experience you expect from a game like this. You have to learn the monster's habits and use it against them while watching out for status effects which will put you at a disadvantage!

Enough rambling from me, this game is out in Japanese at the moment. The English version should take a while before release. So if you're impatient like I am, there's an English patch out here.

I give this game a 5 out of 5. Do check it out or when the English version it out!
I'll leave you with this dance.

~Fox