Monster Hunter Portable 3rd / Weapons Review Part 2

Now let me share my opinion on 2 of my main weapons before at Monster Hunter Freedom Unite. They’re the Great Sword and Hammer. Both of them favor brute strength and most likely one of the preferred weapons by most MH players. So what could make these weapons even better at MHP3rd?

Great Sword

It’s simply a big-ass sword able to deal great damage than any other swords in MH although your overall movement is sacrifice over it. GS can be charge up by holding Triangle button but it will need a moment and have to stay still to execute it so timing is needed. You can also able to block from it, even better than the Sword and Shield but blocking will also loses it sharpness level

The overall maneuver of the GS remains the same at MHP3rd, only with additional new moves. You can do a quick Short Slap after the regular slash (pressing the Triangle to do the regular attack then follow it with another Triangle press right after the first attack lands). The short slap is an impact attack although it’s kinda hard hitting the monster (specifically to the head) with it. You can also able to Kick (press triangle while blocking) and can connect it with short slap.

One of the most noticeable additions is the Overhead smash which is basically similar to GS’s regular slash only in different stance. The overhead smash can be perform after the short slap attack. After the slap, tilt the directional analog followed by Triangle button. The overhead can also be charge by holding the Triangle button. The GS’s charging is also change, particularly when launching a level 3 charge. To execute level 3, while charging (holding Triangle button), you have to release Triangle button in time (release it when your charging aura turns reddish white) or else you will only do level 2 charge.

In general, the major improvement of Great sword is having more variations of attacks and more connecting combo’s to throw around. The change of approach in charging level 3 made a bit challenging but I guess it’s a good thing so players can give more attention to it. All of these new features made the Great Sword a lot cooler than before, although there are some moves that I don’t see of any practical use like the Kick and the Short Slap. As an old GS user, I think the old moves are still much effective. But by all means, the new moves could probably open a new approach to the Great Sword’s strategy.

Hammer

Much like Great Sword, Hammer deals great damage while it suffers from overall speed. Hammer is purely an impact type (obviously) so its basic strategy is to hit the monster more from its head for more damage and easy knock down. It can also charge its attack by holding the R button. Unlike GS, you can freely move while charging up but it will gradually drain your stamina bar.

Some of the basic maneuvers of the Hammer are pretty much the same but further abilities are totally refine at MHP3rd. The Double Pound which was done by doing a level 2 charging before can now be executed by pressing R button followed by Triangle button. The level 2 charging is now change to a new move, an Upward Strike (or something like that. Don’t know how I would call that).

Other than the regular 3-hit strike (Triangle x3) to do the regular Golf Swing, you can also do a different variation (pressing Circle, Triangle x2) to do the same Golf Swing but in a bit faster phase.

The Spinning Golf Swing is still the same where you do a Charge Spin first by holding R button to charge, charge for level 3 then release the R button while pressing the directional analog. Then press Triangle button after 4 spins. The new thing on it is if you press Triangle button early before the 4th spin, you can do a Clockwise Golf Swing (swinging the hammer to the left) instead.

The changes in some of the moves of the Hammer have made it more effective, in my opinion. Just like what I thought in GS, Hammer has more variations in attacks and combos now. As an old Hammer user, I found the new maneuvers are much refine making the Hammer much easier to use compare before. Personally, I like how they improve the Hammer here.

That goes for my Part 2 review. See you in my next post. Hope I could complete this review right before New Year. (^^)”

Until then

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