Tactics Ogre - Let Us Cling Together Review

It’s been a long time since I seriously played a tactical-based game because of its lengthy gameplay and you would tend to spend more time in it considering that some of them would force you to grind. But these games always have been a charm for me. I never got to play many tactical games that much. One that I won’t forget was Final Fantasy Tactics. Then there are other unique tactical games like Valkyria Chronicles II. Then recently, I finally got to play Tactics Ogre – Let’s Us Cling Together for the PSP.

Released on February 2011, this game was already a classic game that was released way back the Super Famicom days and re-released on Playstation, Sega Saturn and recently to Playstation Portable. I never played the older ones so I can’t really tell how it was improved but personally, the PSP version was very good on its own.

The story of the game start off with 3 characters, Denam, Catitua and Vyce who want to take revenge against a Dark Knight named Lancelot for destroying their hometown. The 3 tries to ambush 5 travelers they mistakenly think to be the Dark Knight Lancelot and realize that he isn’t and that one only shares the same name as the Holy Knight Lancelot.

The travelers namely Warren, Gildas, Mirdyn, Canopus and the Holy Knight Lancelot decide to help Denam to take arms against the Galgastians. They take the first step by saving the leader of the Walister Resistance, Duke Ronwey. The Duke accepted them and join his cause to battle against the Galgastians and from there the fate of Denam and his companions will make a big turn.

The game’s story has several branching paths to take depending on the choices you make, some small pieces in the story or even the major ones will have a significant effect in the story-telling, like whether you decide to help someone or not, or whether you have able to save somebody in battle or not. At certain situations, if you fail to save a character and dies, they are permanently dead. There are several unique characters in the game but not all of them can be recruited. Depending on your actions and decisions, some of them can be your ally, some of them will not or some will just perish.

There are no absolute right and wrong in every choice (some parts perhaps), it’s all depend on how you look at it as far as story goes so you would probably feel torn in the choices. But then again, if you’ve felt you don’t like the outcome of your choice, just make sure you have backed-up your save data beforehand.

Like any other turn-based tactical games, the strength of your army relies on how you manage the equipments, skills and classes of every unit in it. The good thing here is that, building-up units is more convenient. Instead of leveling-up per unit, they are level-up per class and the level is shared, so if you have a level 20 Knight, all other of your Knights are also scale to level 20. Although class level is shared, skills must still learn individually but you have the option to transfer it to other characters. If your unit dies in the process, you can transfer his skills to another. This way no skills would go to waste entirely.

There are several features in the game that makes it more interesting and enjoyable to play in my opinion, like the Tarot system where you can freely replay your turns in battle just in case you don’t like the turns you’ve made. Chaos frame system which basically works with the loyalty level of your units where If your unit’s loyalty drop, they will leave your army and will never return. The game has lots of information to read regarding in-game stories and character references that constantly updates depending on how the story is mold for every character. I personally got fond of reading the information that I actually spent longer in reading than playing.

Replayability of the game is very good. After finishing the game, you will unlock few extra post-game scenarios and you will be given an option to replay scenarios from any points of the game and get a chance to choose different choices, try different paths and even able to recruit other characters that you didn’t get in your first play.

Overall, Tactics Ogre – Let Us Cling Together is a very good game for me. I personally like the story and more contents that will keep you on playing even after completing the game and most especially the classic feel of the game. If you’re looking for a good classic tactical game that would keep you busy for a couple of months or 2, you definitely should try Tactics Ogre – Let Us Cling Together.

Until then!

*This review was originally posted at The HobbyBox Blog on April 13, 2012

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[The 3rd Birthday] Review

I recently played The 3rd Birthday for the PSP. The game was basically described as the sequel for the Parasite Eve series after a long time of absence. The game was released around March 2011 and most reviewers rated it ranging from low to fair score.

Unlike the previous Parasite Eve games, The 3rd Birthday is more like an action-shooting game than the traditional action RPG style before but then again, they also made changes at the gameplay system back at Parasite Eve 2 (from what I heard). I didn't played PE1 that much and never played PE2 at all so for this review, I will not make any comparison to whether how The 3rd Birthday was differ from its predecessors.

The story starts at the city of Manhattan at the midst of Christmas Eve. The city was struck by plant-like structures suddenly grow out of nowhere destroying most part of city in the process. Since then Manhattan was actively attacked by unknown creatures known as Twisted. Few years later, a group is form called CTI (Counter Twisted Investigation) specifically to engage against the Twisted. One of the members was Aya Brea. Aya mysteriously lost her memories and only vaguely remembers one thing where she sees herself supposedly getting married but with an unlikely scenario. As Aya carries on engaging the Twisted, she’ll soon realize the whole connection between herself, her power, the Twisted and her lost memories.

The story is simple to me. It doesn’t have much of a deep story-telling so I can’t really say if the story appealed to me. There are only few characters in the story but personally, all of them aren’t interesting (except for Aya, I guess). One that killed the story-telling is the bad voice acting. Not all of them were bad but you would frequently catch some off moments in their conversation. Aya’s backstory slowly unravels as you progresses but things won’t be interesting until the end of the game. If you haven’t got any clue throughout the game, then the ending might surprise you.

The gameplay is almost your typical third-person action shooter with some unique elements like the Overdive that you will use primarily in the game. The controls are a bit odd for me since I’m not that use on mapping the fire button on the shoulder button but it’s not that hard to learn once you get a hang of it. When it comes to gameplay, the action is solid. There are no dull moments in the game except for some few cinematic scenes and intermissions but most parts are non-stop action so personally, I have lots of fun with it.

Aya is build-up by using DNA boards and attaching or mixing sorts of DNAs to create certain skills. The problem here is using it is all trial-and-error thing. Unless you don’t have a cheatsheet for it, you might end up spending too much time on experimenting on it. Aya’s weapons can also be upgraded as well. Weapons are usually unlock through game progress or obtain from certain NPC’s Aya have dive-in although most of the powerful weapons are only accessible in more advance difficulties.

Replayability is encourage here for they’re lots of unlockables even after beating it for the first time. Once completed, a new difficulty mode is unlocked, and you can start a new game retaining your progress. You’re encouraged to play through harder difficulties thus you can obtain more unlockables like weapons, costumes and such. It can still be fun and challenging for the second or third time around but it can be tiring to repeat the game all over again. But it depends if you’re up to challenge of getting the unlockables. 

The 3rd Birthday got its mixed opinions by many. Honestly, it may not be the best but it’s still a fun game. The action is solid and its definitely fun, so anything bad like the voice acting and such can be forgivable at the very least. And yes, the game is good WITHOUT seeing that Shower scene, okay!? So if you like shooting action in general, then try The 3rd Birthday.

Until then ... and MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!

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Silent Hill Shattered Memories Review

Silent Hill Shattered Memories was basically described as the re-imagination of the first Silent Hill but it played nothing like any SH games before. It introduces a much different approach and its more likely focus on the story other than solid gameplay. Most fans of the series had mixed opinions about it but for me, what matters to know is that, is it a good game and all? Or should I say, is it worth the scare?

Shattered Memories introduces some familiar characters from the original game but the story is totally different and so as the original characters' roles. The story starts of with Doctor Kaufmann, a Therapist who's going to start a therapy session with you. The story then shifts to an incident that was very familiar to us-- Harry Mason had a car accident and it was outcold for a while. When he wakes up, he realizes that his daughter, Cheryl is gone after their car got crashed. He then runs off to look for Cheryl in the midst of the snowy weather in Silent Hill.

Like I said, Shattered Memories' gameplay is unique compare to other SH titles. Its camera perspective is pretty much similar to Resident Evil 4 and 5 (but not that its play the same), and majority of the game is focus on exploration and interaction to the environment. You will be spending most of your gameplay looking and interacting with stuffs around, this includes searching for keys or clues to proceed, talking to few characters and puzzle solving in general. They're no monsters or anything threatening at all while you're exploring and instead the monsters are only present if you're in the Nightmare realm. This is in contrast in previous SH games whereas monsters are always present whether you're in or not in the nightmare realm.

Some are skeptic because of this approach and like how everybody complains to those other recent SH games (Origins, Homecoming)like it doesn't have that old Silent Hill feel at all. For Shattered Memories, it's true that it doesn't share the same feel or generally, doesn't share the same charm of the old SH games either but to be fair, the game is actually good in its own right and probably (just probably since I never played the other) a lot bit better than the recent SH games. It's surprisingly impressive especially on how they work on the story. I find it clever on how they stimulate horror in the game despite having less action. It’s kinda like how you feel when you played Silent Hill 2 in the first part where you’re walking alone. I guess this is a good example where the sense of isolation can also be scary; also, the environment in the game also helps stimulate that.

As I said, monsters in the game are only present if you’re in the nightmare realm. What makes it kinda interesting is that, the game doesn’t allow you to fight back but instead you have to run away. The whole theme of the nightmare level is to find your way out of it while desperately avoiding the monsters that linger around. It sounds easy but really its not. Not only that you can’t fight them, but they do chase you around wherever you go at most part. Its makes more complicating that even the area that you have explored for quite a while will be different in the nightmare level like some ways are now block and alternate route are open, not to mention that the area’s palette is turn into an ice-like stage so you can’t sometimes tell the difference.. especially if you’re running. And yeah, you will run A LOT.

Personally, I like the concept of the nightmare level at Shattered Memories because it’s quite original for me. It may not be the same dark reddish and dreaded environment that we used to know in a SH’s nightmare level but for me its okay because for one thing, it fits in the game’s theme and story. I like the “run-like-hell” style in the nightmare level. It’s a unique approach but in the good way, in my opinion. It stimulates the sense of helplessness in the player that you have no other choice but to run. And if you do care about the story, you might understand why. Gameplay-wise, it's a thrilling gameplay whenever you’re at it.

Another interesting feature present in the game is the psychological evaluation the player is getting. Certain points in the game where you’re under going psychiatric evaluation, you’ll be giving certain test in a form of a mini-game (kinda). Depending on the answers, any aspects in the game will have an effect like how characters will behave, the way they dress, and even how monsters would look like. While exploring the surrounding and by looking closely on things around will make Harry say something about it. This certain actions will greatly contribute on the outcome of the ending. Basically, every action the player made will have an effect as if he or she is the one shaping it.

Overall concept of Shattered Memories is good to me; the only drawback I could see here is that the game is very short. Once you’re already familiar with the game and considering that it doesn’t have much solid gameplay action, it will be pretty much a cakewalk already if playing it for the second time, but not that I’m complaining about it either. Since the game emphasizes on exploring, I find the environment to be really look amazing. Consider that I only played this on the PSP yet the graphics of the environment looks good already, I guess it will be more appreciated if playing it on the consoles more preferably to the Nintendo Wii, not to mention that most of the interactions here are point-and-click maneuvers so I guess playing it with a Wii remote is suited.

Silent Hill Shattered Memories may have been a different kind of SH game but nonetheless it’s a good game. Granted, it doesn’t have the same feel but it didn’t fail on giving a good mix of psychological, mystery and horror story on its own. As I said, the game is more like telling a story than being a game, so if you’re good with that kind of games then you will appreciate this. All I can say is, as much as I like the original Silent Hill games, Shattered Memories is definitely a good alternate SH game and its worth of the experience... and scare ;)

Until then


Extra links:
You may also want to see the latest video review of Shattered Memories by Dena Natali, one of my favorite reviewers on the Internet -> http://www.blisteredthumbs.net/2011/10/game-den-sh-shattered/

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Yu-Gi-Oh! The Movie Impression

I finally watched the movie special of Yu-Gi-Oh! 5Ds where 3 of the main characters (Yugi Mutou, Judai Yuki and Yusei Fudo) of the Yu-Gi-Oh! series had joined together. The movie was shown last year and it was a special movie in celebration of the 10th anniversary of the said Anime series.

I'm not that fond of the Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Cards but I'm always fond of its Anime series. This is one of those Anime’s that I would love to watch despite of its cheesiness at times and ridiculous ideas to the story involving playing Duel monster cards. So let me share to you my impressions about the movie itself. I’ll try not to spoil everything so I won’t be too detail in the story.

The full title of the movie is Yu-Gi-Oh! The Movie – Super Fusion! Bonds that Transcends Time or in English release officially titled as Yu-Gi-Oh! 3D Bonds Beyond Time. The story is about Yusei, (main character of the 5Ds series) trying to stop a man named Paradox who come from the distant future to alter the course of history. Paradox steals Yusei’s card the Stardust Dragon and flew into the past. Yusei manage to follow him using the power of the Crimson Dragon. In the past, he meets up with Judai Yuki (from the GX series) and also Yugi Mutou (from the original series). Thus they join forces to stop Paradox from his plan.

For most fans of the Yu-Gi-Oh! series, one of the main reasons why this movie is worth watching is for to see the 3 main characters of the Yu-Gi-Oh! series in action together. I mean, who doesn’t want to see Yusei dueling with Judai and Yugi side by side. The whole movie is short so basically there’s nothing much to see except for the 3 main guys in action. Other than Yugi and Judai, there are no other old characters from the previous series present, only very few of them, actually. The story is pretty much typical – time traveling and all that. Since the movie is short, everything there is done quickly so there isn’t much conversation happened. Just some few scenes like Judai is intrigued with Yusei’s Duel Runner or when they finally met up with Yugi and ask for his help.

Of course, the very highlight of the whole movie is the duel. Although the duel is not that long but it’s indeed intense and exciting because of the constant use of their card’s abilities, countering each others by trap cards, quick play spell cards and everything.

If you’re expecting something big like Yugi use the God cards, sorry, he didn’t use it nor even Judai use his known combo fusion monsters. But I guess it doesn’t really matter. The fact that they’re working together in the duel is already awesome enough to see. And of course, the duel won’t be that interesting without showing some never-before-seen cards and they’ve shown some quite here. Even Yugi and Judai have shown new cards.

 

Few people have mixed opinions in the movie. Some were kinda disappointed all because they’ve expected that Yugi will be one who will stand out among the 3 just because he’s the original hero of the series. Well, he didn’t stand out that much. In fact all of them have their own share of spotlights so it’s all okay to me. Besides, story-wise, it’s still a movie for the 5Ds series so pretty much Yusei is the main guy here and for me it’s all okay.

My final thoughts about the movie... it’s not the best Anime movie but its enjoyable. I very much enjoyed watching it. It’s short though but it’s okay. I can’t recommend this to all especially if you’re not familiar with the Yu-Gi-Oh! series but you could try watching it at the very least. And of course, for those Yu-Gi-Oh! fans, you should definitely watch this. 

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God Eater Burst / God Arc Weapon Review Part 2 Final

Sakuya.. and her BIG gun >=D

When I'm playing Action RPG such as Monster Hunter or God Eater and they have a variety of weapons to choose, I always like choosing any melee weapons especially swords. I'm not really fond of using any ranged-type of weapons. In GE's case, you are fix to use a sword and a gun. Although you're free to choose whatever you want to use in battle, you will come to the point that you will have to use them both. As for me, I'm force to use the God Arc's Gun form at some point, but its not that I don't entirely like it. Since the game encourage you to be versatile, being trigger happy sometimes can't be half bad, I guess. And to be fair, there are lots of things you can do in Gun form other than just blasting Aragami's.

With Gun form, you're able to equip various bullets at your disposal. Firing bullets are done by pressing either Square or Triangle button (Depends on where you set the bullets). Bullets can be set either by in the menu options by pressing Start button and choose the option for bullets or in-battle by holding either Square or Triangle button (Again, depends which button you want to set the bullet) then scroll left and right using L or R button to choose bullets available to you.

Most of the bullets are elemental-based so it’s advantageous to use one especially against Aragami's with specific elemental traits. There even bullets specifically for healing comrades in battle. Gun form consumes OP (Oracle points), the stronger the bullet you're using, the larger the OP consumes. If run-out of OP, it can refill for every melee attack (Sword form) connects.

Once in Burst mode, Gun form's capabilities extends and you can able to adapt Aragami's abilities you have bitten and use it as bullets for your gun. The added Aragami ability is usually set on Triangle button overlapping the bullets that was set there but you can always switch it if you like. You can even share your Burst to other comrades (Burst Link) by pressing R and Triangle button while facing to the direction of your comrade (You'll notice a triangle indicator serves as a lock-on Burst link for comrades).

Just like I mentioned the last time, both Sword and Gun form have its own set of types to choose. Gun form also has 3 types. Basically, you can equip any types of bullets to any types of gun BUT the effects of the bullets can be enhance when equipping specific gun-type fit for it. I wasn’t actually aware of this difference until recently. Thanks to my buddies Raipo and Homer for pointing me this. ;)

used a custom bullets. 3 directional homing laser!

Sniper type. Sniper-type gun enhances piercing damage. Probably the most balance gun-type you could use because most types of bullets works well in this type since most bullets have pierce attributes. One good example for it is the Laser bullet.

it doesn't look that fast but its definitely faster than sniper and blast

Assault type. Assault-type gun enhances the firing speed of the bullet. Just like Sniper-type, most bullets works well in this type only enhances its firing speed. It’s easy to say that this type is probably the most offensive because of its quick shots but the damage per shot is actually weaker compare to Sniper-type or even compare to Blast-type.

bang! Bang! BANG! XD ... wait. where do i heard of that... 

Blast type. Blast-type gun enhances crushing damage so this type works well to any bullets with exploding effect like bombs and mortars. The type is best describe as a grenade launcher. Compare to other 2 types, Blast-type's firing speed is slower.

Once you get a clear idea on what gun-type is best at and what bullet is best use at, its pretty much self-explain on how would you use your bullets and what kind of gun you would prefer to use. The only thing that might complicate it is the bullet customization... and sorry, we won't get to that part for now. (^^)”

And that concludes my God Arc review. Hope it helps a bit. I would still make another review for GEB and it will be a general review for the game but I won't probably be working on it for now and I actually plan to save that article for my other blog page. For now, I'll leave this to you and I hope you enjoyed it.

Until then!

PS: If ever any of you read my other reviews regarding Monster Hunter Portable 3rd's Weapons and you're wondering what happen because I haven't continued it, I'm still working on it, don't worry. It just that I got too busy on stuffs and my mind slips (again). 
Though I could work on it already but since its been a while now and I'm thinking of a right moment to work and post it. You might not going to see it for a while but I'll definitely going to finish it. For now, I hope you would still enjoy dropping by. Thanks!

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God Eater Burst / God Arc Weapon Review Part 1

I've been playing God Eater Burst for some time now and I'm enjoying it. I actually played the Japanese version first but that was kinda my prototype play only to try out how the battle system works. I even wrote my First Impression Review about it before. Now that I finally get to understand the game system at full, there are things I didn't quite covered the last time especially how its “double-faced” weapon's – the God Arc feature works.

So let me re-evaluate as I tackle again another review for God Eater focusing to its weapon's feature. Treat this as my updated review for GE... a second impression review, I guess (><)

God Arc is the main weapon wield by God Eaters in the game. Capable of changing from sword-type to gun-type or vice versa. While in Sword form it can also launch a Shield to block attacks by pressing R and Circle button. It can also assume another form called Predator form by holding Triangle button to charge up and release it in time. Predator is use to bite-off Aragami's to absorbs its abilities and temporarily go in Burst mode. You can also launch a quick Predator attack while doing a combo by pressing R and Triangle button after 1 or 2 attacks (Depends on the sword you're using). Predator is also use to harvest materials from Aragami once it was beaten.

Sword and Gun form have its own set of types to choose. Depending in your preferred play style each has its 3 types. For this article, let's start off with Sword form:

Short type. The most basic sword type. It's short and it only deals fair amount of damage yet it gives you more speed and maneuver. Because of its lightweight trait, performing a combo is its strong point. More of it, short-type sword is where you can only do Advanced Step (You can step/dash much quicker while attacking) and Advanced Jump (You can jump much quicker while attacking)

Long type. The Long-type sword is probably the most balance among the 3 types. Having decent deal of damage and maneuver. It's the only sword type that can perform Impulse Edge where it does a short shot attack by pressing R Button and Square Button. It's kinda like a quick gun form maneuver and it also consumes OP (Oracle points used by Gun form as bullets)

Buster type. Buster-type sword is the hard-hitter among the 3 types. Wielding a big sword, you're pretty much slow and lacks maneuver but deals much greater damage than any other sword types. Buster-type is the only sword type that can do Charge Crush attack where you can charge-up your sword by holding Square button and release it in time for much powerful damage (If you're familiar with Monster Hunter's Great Sword, its a similar trait) More of it, Buster-type sword is where you only do Advanced Guard (You can switch to Shield much quicker while attacking)

So that's pretty much the basic stuffs for God Arc's Sword form. We'll going to cover the Gun form on my next article. Hope you enjoy the article!

Until then!

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Monster Hunter Portable 3rd / Weapons Review Part 3

This time, let’s talk about Old and New. MHP3rd finally introduces a new weapon in the line-up of MH arsenal, the Switch Axe. Although Switch Axe is originally taken from Monster Hunter Tri series, it’s the new weapon to introduce in the Portable series ever since MHP2nd (MHF2 in US). On the other hand, the Long Sword which was one of the exclusive new weapons for the MHP series. Long swords were originally Great Sword class then it became an independent weapon class in MHP2nd/MHF2.

Long swords never lose its popularity for its becoming more like an iconic weapon for the MHP/MHF series while Switch Axe is starting to grow fame because of its double-faced switching weapon style, and we all know, weapons changing from one type to another are badass >=) So what makes the SA look awesome, and how’s an old weapon like LS still keeps its charm and become more badass than before?

Long Sword

Originally came from the GS class, it has a decent damage not far from other hard-hitters like GS and Hammer, it can throw more hits compare to big weapons, also having a decent mobility making it well-balanced in speed and power and plus an ability called the Spirit Blade that enable to temporary increase attack power once the spirit gauge is full from every hit you’ve made and can perform combo by pressing R button. The only drawback is lack of ability to block. For an LS user, a consistent attack is needed but having no block to support your defensive strategy would make it challenging to keep up the momentum.

LS’ maneuvers are still the same only with few additional moves and abilities. You can now do the Fade Slash (usually called back-hop slash) towards left or right by pressing left or right directional analog simultaneous to Triangle + Circle.

The Spirit Blade ability is also improved as its combo is extended up to 4-hits. If the 4-hit spirit combo strikes successful, the color of your sword’s aura will change and your sword level-up. You can keep up with the spirit combo to level-up up to 3 (sword’s aura will turn red). But just like how usually the spirit gauge wears-off, it will also gradually drains itself overtime until it levels down unless you consistently doing the combo.

I always have a good impression in using LS, not to mention that it was my very first weapon back in MHF2. The improvement of LS is simple yet it gives a great advantage. The new left and right Fade Slash gives more maneuvers, the extended combo and the new Spirit Blade ability make the LS more interesting and it greatly improves its offensive damage. But using the weapon is still challenging as ever.. or even more. You have to keep up the attack consistent to be able to make use of the LS’ ability but since LS don’t have any ways to defend but evading, finding an open spot to attack while keeping yourself not to be hit is always a challenge. You will surely be torn between attacking aggressively and move defensively.

Switch Axe

It’s the new weapon originally introduced at MH Tri. SA is pretty much an interesting weapon to use for it has various tricks on its sleeves.

You can switch to 2 different styles, axe or sword form by pressing R Button. Axe basically does regular attacks and its mobility it’s similar to LS while Sword attacks with added effect of Coatings and its mobility is similar to GS so it’s pretty much slower. You can even do connecting combos out from both axe and sword form. Each form has its own maneuvers and abilities.

Axe form has an ability to swing the axe in almost continuous phase by pressing Triangle and Circle Button first to perform the Rising Slash then tap Circle button. The major drawback of this ability is it greatly consumes the Status bar for every swing.

Sword form on the other hand has the ability to Overload Coating until it burst. It is done by pressing Triangle and Circle Button then tap Triangle until it explodes. But the sword form’s limited for it drains its energy bar for every attack made, and it consumes more when using the coating overload. Once it depleted, it will change to axe form and it will need to reload before using it again. Its energy bar would fill up gradually while in axe form.

One thing that I personally love in SA is that its regular attacks have a good reach even in mid distance, and other than rolling, you can also do Side step much similar to Lance/Gunlance by pressing directional analog (left or right) then press X Button after an attack. This makes the SA user evade while keeping the distance to have consistent attacks.

So far, SA is the most versatile weapon you can use in MHP3rd in terms of having either raw or strategic-based attacks. It doesn’t have any blocking ability but I guess having both side step and rolling is enough for defensive maneuver. You can’t make good use of its mobility, however and just like LS, keeping a consistent attack (especially if you’re going for the coating overload) while keeping yourself away from being hit will be a challenge.

So that’s Part 3. This is longer than I thought, heheh! Anyway, see you in my next review

Until then!

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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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Monster Hunter Portable 3rd / Weapons Review Part 1

Monster Hunter Portable 3rd is already available for Japanese release! Though the US release of the game is yet to be announce, hardcore fans from outside Japan are already preparing as they taking the first step in learning the new moves of old weapons from MHF series and the new addition to the arsenal, the Switch Axe from the Monster Hunter Portable 3rd Demo.

So for now, let me share you my personal impressions and opinions on the new groove of each weapons of Monster Hunter Portable 3rd based on my first hand play in the demo game.

Sword and Shield

It’s the most basic weapon of all. Although its sword attacks doesn’t deal much damage compare to heavy ones like Great Sword and Hammer, its quickness compensates it, also having a shield to block but greater attacks will only make you push away really hard.

Sword and Shield’s move didn’t change much. There are some new swings of the sword but didn’t greatly change the overall maneuver of the Sword and Shield. The most noticeable improvement is the addition of the move that I would call the Shield Bash where the hunter will attack using the shield. Shield Bash executes when pressing the directional (analog) followed by Circle button. Shield Bash does 2 hits (pressing circle twice)

The shield bash is actually an impact type of attack. Like any impact weapon’s basic strategy, the attack is very effective when hitting the monster on the head resulting for easy knock down of monsters though I’m not sure how strong its impact attack. I was able to knock down Royal Ludroth couple of times but still, I cannot say if it’s just the monster was weak or the shield bashing was that strong.

Personally, I like in the sense that Sword and Shield became a more balance weapon because of having both slash and impact type of attacks. But I’m afraid that it will still be the least usable weapon in MHP3rd, unless you’re a hardcore MH gamer and willing to take up the challenge of using Sword and Shield all the way.

Dual Swords

Like Sword and Shield, it doesn’t have much of a raw damage but rather giving quick attacks. Its main skill is to go “demonize” and perform an attack what they called Devil Dance. Despite of its many disadvantages like losing sharpness level very easily and no blocking abilities at all, Dual Sword still have this charm for most players.

Just like Sword and Shield, Dual Swords doesn’t have much of a change in their moves. There are some but doesn’t change much of the overall maneuver. The new things are, when in demonize mode your rolling maneuver is change to dash making you a bit quicker to move and there added a gauge that fills up for every hit you’ve made only when you’re in demonize.

Once this gauge fills up, you’ll be envelope by shiny red aura (much lighter colored) and you’ll undergo a certain mode (don’t know what is called yet) where you can do moves like in demonize mode even NOT in demonize mode at all. Does my sentence sound confusing? To make it simple, if the gauge’s full, you can attack like in demonize mode and you can dash like in demonize mode even without being demonize, only exception is the Devil Dance. The only thing I’m not certain is whether if your attack also increases in this mode. Overtime the gauge slowly drains especially when performing a move. It’s very much similar to Long Sword’s Spirit Blade ability.

Personally, the improvements on Dual Sword’s ability have made it more interesting to use though it may need time on getting use to it. The new ability may offer new strategy for the Dual Sword users much better than overusing Power Juice and abusing the Devil Dance.

That goes for my Part 1 review. See you in my next post.

Until then

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