Defending my favorite series
I have been looking around at some of the games and the decline in the Japanes market share, going from almost 50% to less than %10 over the last 8 years.
So when I say Monster Hunter is a phenomenon over there its a little less impressive at first, but Japans declining influence helps explain why one of the greatest series on the world has gone largely unnoticed in America.
First, why do I think its unappreciated in this country? Lets look at some simple numbers:
The number one PSP series in the world is Monster Hunter. The 3rd installment tops the charts and has not even been released int he US because of lack of potential interest.PlayStation Portable games that have sold or shipped at least one million copies.
Monster Hunter Portable 3rd (4.12 million in Japan)[154]
Monster Hunter Freedom Unite (3.1 million;[55] 3.5 million shipped)[55]
Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories (2,725,507 approximately: 2 million in US,[155] 125,507 in Japan,[156] 600,000 in UK)[38]
Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII (2.59 million approximately; 830,000 in Japan, 710,000 in North America,[157][158] 550,000 in Europe)[158]
Gran Turismo (2.32 million)[111]
Daxter (2.3 million)[159]
Monster Hunter Freedom 2 (2.3 million)[55]
Dissidia: Final Fantasy (1.81 million)[134]
Need for Speed Most Wanted 5-1-0 (1.32 million approximately: 1.1 million in US,[155] 200,000 in UK,[23] 27,151 in Japan)[156]
Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition (1.3 million approximately: 1.1 million in US,[155] 200,000 in UK)[23]
Monster Hunter Freedom (1.2 million)[55]
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories (1.13 million approximately; 950,000 in US,[155] 100,000 in UK,[20] 80,420 in Japan)[156]
Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee (1 million)[160]
Tekken: Dark Resurrection (1 million)[161]
Wipeout Pure (1 million)[162]
Now, keeping in mind that we have a VERY advertisement driven market lets look at the score a popular magazine like Gameinformer gave Monster Hunter3, (one of the few games in world to get a perfect score from japans largest game magazine, weekly fumatsu):
7.0
A Mechanically Flawed Experience That Rewards Patience - Monster Hunter Tri - Nintendo Wii - www.GameInformer.com
And I quote "Monster Hunter Tri should be a terrible game for a variety of reasons."
How does one of the best selling games in history get called a terrible game on line one of such a popular magazine?!
Now here is the kicker, the score they gave was so biased that it wasnt even originally included in the Metascore breakdown, until about a year after its release. The metascore is one of the few to range as high as 100 and as low as 60. Obviously is one of the most debatable scores:
Metacritic
Monster Hunter Tri for Wii Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More at Metacritic
Why do people like this series? Its got hardcore appeal that no other series can really equal. Literally one of the hardest games to master I have ever played. For an idea of what some of the gameplay looks like I recommend watching a few google weapon tutorials:
psp american version:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MiG1zT67eV4
MH3 wii:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arpEkdM39sg
Rant:
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If you think thats bad, thats an expert player with maxed out armor and weapon stats and its still a ten minute battle. Not to mention to craft new items you sometimes end up killing a few dozen of a single type of monster. AND on top of that, once you have ascended to a new level of power through crafting those items they double the creatures power for its + version, and then again for its G version.
On the upside, there are a lot of monsters and it keeps track of what you kill:
Just from my PSP version:
(also keep in mind there are different sub species represented by color variations as well as ranks for most monsters)
There are almost entirely different monsters in MH3, and all monsters in the series appear in the MMO version of this series. And considering there is usually an armor and weapon set for each monster there are literally millions of combinations and ways to customize, as well as latent abilities and ability gems you can socket and remove at will.
small example:
There is most likely something close to 60-70 armor skills you can get benefits from, as well as a negative effect if any area is subtracted to far.
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So the depth and sheer potential for unlimited gameplay is staggering. One of the most addicting and challenging gameplay formulas I have ever had the pleasure of getting addicted to.
This concludes part one of my review of the series. I will try and formulate a part two based on factors and downfalls in the series that might have prevented its recognition in the US market next.
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