YYYYYESSSSS! I CANNOT WAIT! The WiiU online community will serve this game in a major way and I am super-stoked to be a part of that!

Anyone else notice that the players in this official gameplay video well...SUCK!?! Barely any rolls, no traps, horrible timing for item use, they don't have a clue about the monster they're fighting and they refuse to use weapon combos or even more than 3 hits at one time!?

CANNOT WAIT!

Does anyone know if you can play this only on the game pad versus always TV?

I've never played a Monster Hunter game, so can someone answer some questions for me? I'm looking forward to Phantasy Star Online 2, although one of the most common complaints for that game is the immense lack of difficulty, enemy AI is often apparently intentionally poor and enemies spend a large amount of time making threatening gestures, pacing around (while being attacked), and spending 5 seconds announcing their attacks. On top of that, most enemies in the game have no way of attacking you're playing a ranged class (or even lose aggro on you if you move away, even while attacking) or jump, which in PSO2 you can jump and stay in the air as long as you're attacking. Are the enemies in Monster Hunter challenging? And how complex is the combat system?

Finally. Seen those vids a few days ago on IGN already, and yes the players suck. This is quite frequent actually, people posting videos while not having a clue about the game they're playing. Might finally pick up a Wii U with this, hoping for a bundle though!

I'm glad people have clarified that the videos show bad play at hand. I've never played a monster hunter game, so I was afraid it was like an MMO system where you simply trade blows with the opponent until you or they die, with little to no strategy/skill and perhaps too heavy dependence on stats/gear. Looking forward to finally checking this out.

@DarkKirby For me, monster hunter tri specifically was overall very challenging but at the same time extremely rewarding once you figure out just the right strategies, armor, weapons, stats that suit your style for defeating every single unique monster.

One major quality Monster Hunter games have is replay ability. For example, you may come across the same Monster type over and over but that doesn't mean they'll will have the same HP, Attack Speed, Defense, Size, Attack Damage, ect... thus making every encounter unique. I spent well over 400 hours in Monster Hunter tri and it was always fun!

Overtime though some monsters become easy depending on what powerful armors/weapons/abilities/stats/buffs you earn throughout. But the game has a hard mode version of quests after a certain point.

There is more I can go on about but that would take to long. So I hope I was able to help answer your question about it being challenging.

I'm trying to decide if I'm going to get the 3DS or the WiiU version... I played the wii version but didn't get into it, I think it was the playing on the big screen that turned me off, I think if I played it on the go it would be better, but at the same time, I actually want to play online... And I'm guessing the GamePad will work better then the CCP, but if I get the 3DS version I'm going to have to get the CPP

This I will definitely pick up. But my god do those upscaled graphics look bad...

@Hokori Online and better frame rate are big enough factors to justify the Wii U version.

@TobieOBrown the frame rate and HD don't phase me, but maybe (and this is a big fat maybe) online will convince me

@Anybodywhodoubtsthegame It is AWESOME, a little slow going at the start (if all you can handle is straight easy action like COD then this isn't for you!) but develops into a truly hardcore Japanese strategy action game with hundreds of properly fleshed out weapons and armor sets that can be combined to make an infinite amount of arsenals. Add to that hundreds more items for your in-hunt pouch, Online or local play with your friends or strangers, Deeply thought out Wyvern (MH's 'monsters') A.I.s and a little bit of Japanese magic (Oversised weapons, creative and verifying Wyverns, A great quirky set of characters and a whole lot more!)
Summary: MANY MODERN GAMES BOAST 50+ HOURS OF GAMEPLAY. MONSTER HUNTER BOASTS 1500+ HOURS!!!! NO KIDDING!!!!!

@Hokori I'm getting both for my B-day Wii U one for online for me and 3DS for my brother to play local with me (and for me to play on the go too, of course!)
BTW Monster Hunter Ultimate (3DS and Wii U ver) contain about 50% more content than tri!

@DarkKirby Look at my @Anybodywhodoubtsthegame post and no, MH doesn't have overly easy AI! In fact... well... Just try fighting the Baroth! They require allot of pre-battle prepping strategy and allot of in-hunt skill and strategy, trust me nothing feels better than timing a long combo perfectly and dodging at the last second, It'll have you gasping in relief!

@TruenoGT LOL, just being a Nintendo life noob and Monster hunter fanatic (replying to every post Anyway, MH is sooooooooo worth your time if you are a serious gamer, and will keep you occupied for up to like a year!

disclaimer: 'will keep ME occupied for up to like a year' (I completed Zelda Skyward sword in about 7 days) it should keep not super serious gamers occupied for about... until the next game comes out here!

@Jellitoe last one, I promise!

Ummmmmmmmm, got no clue, but if you buy the 3DS and Wii U one then that doesn't matter too much!

#12:@PvtOttobot i first played MHfreedom unite on psp. and in that games overall content was massive,compared to tri wii. i hope tri ultimate will have the most verity, monsters, locations, and content yet.

OMG!! Who would greatly miss used a great sword like that!! That last video was plain out horrible.

This. Is. Going. To. Be. EPIC...

@DarkKirby You have nothing to worry about this game has had me going for hours on end. The monsters are amazing and well thought out. They respond quickly and and can be difficult to avoid. The first one i ever played was Freedom 2 on the PSP. I put in over 300 hours into that game, then Freedom unite was release and that another 300 hours.

Fighting a giant rabbit is just what I want

@PvtOttobot Yeah, I haven't played Monster Hunter before, but I know that all the people in the clips were terrible at playing it, I mean, how many attacks did they not get hit by? The only ones I could count were when they didn't actually have to move because the monster itself missed.

I've heard nothing but great things about these games, but these videos don't do a great job of showing them off. To me this just looks like "Swinging the Slowest Sword in the World and Getting Knocked Down Over and Over Again: THE GAME!" To less patient people (probably the majority of the American gaming public) these videos might even be damaging to the game's reputation. I know plenty of people that wouldn't even touch it after seeing this.

I never managed to play online on Tri Wii but somehow clocked 600 hours! I reckon online is bigger or the same as offline, so Tri Wii can last up to 1200, 'course that's with retrying the game but pursuing different weapon and armor trees, I have about 3-4 save files (not including my bro's).
ONM claims 3 Ultimate has about 50% more content (it's got exactly double the weapons, about double the boss monsters [ including re-colored wyverns ] and double the multiplayer modes; now with online AND FULL offline) so I say (and so does the monster hunter wiki [sorry for all the brackets]) that Ultimate is going to be the longest (2400 hours... ish) Monster Hunter game to date, excluding Monster Hunter Frontier of course!

Why no new maps? >:[

Yesyesyesyesyes!!!! After this, my life will be complete

@nindocrash Although I am now a big fan I have to admit I only started at Tri Wii but my I've poured a bunch of my life (yes I did organize every single item in my chest in separate 'paragraphs' for different types of items and somehow clock 600+ hours on the game) but I do know my stuff. One thing I can say that might excuse Tri from its lack of content (mainly weapons) is of course the underwater mode! Only invented in Tri, the underwater mode was a huge leap that, in my opinion was successful but unfortunately stopped half the weapons getting into the game, BTW there is a new (to europe and US I think?) map... MOUNTAIN STREAM! @SMEXIZELDAMAN

First day buys on U&3DS!!! My +600 Hours on Tri were totally worth it!!!!! Cant wait for this!!!

Does anyone know if this version has the improvements from the portable series?

My favourite weapon type was the Switch Axe and I heard that later games in the series allowed you to manually charge it if it didn't have enough energy.

-God those testers on the videos really suck!!! LoL

I really want this game. I can't wait for its' release. From what I've seen it looks great.

just wondering, as a Japanese speaker and resident, where they get Lagombi from Urukususu?

@ThePillowGolem As far as I know it does. Haven't been keeping too close an eye on things since I've played MHP3rd but 3G/3U is basically MH3 combined with P3rd and more.

Probably won't get both at once, but i hope we get a Wii U bundle. This and Pikmin are the only Wii U games I want. Its gonna get a little confusing after being used to the P3rd translations though, which is odd for me.

This'll be my first MH experience.
I can't wait.

I'm usually glad when I see videos of people who "suck" at the games. I used to see videos for Devil May Cry games and think I could pull it off. Dante Must Die modes shoot me down too quick. Then the comments reeking of arrogance and how easy it is.

I can't wait til March, though. Will be buying both versions no doubt.

Here's hoping the game (well, games, since there's two versions now, lol) will do very well over here. I want Monster Hunter 4 too, you know. (and whatever comes out after that)

The switch axe in the first video looked pretty great, but the player was something of a noob...

@DarkKirby First and foremost, I recommend this game. To address your concerns, most of the AI is very smart. It is smart to the point where you can pick up some things a species does to use to your advantage (such as Rathians defending their nest so taking eggs lure them to you). While the animals do make threatening gestures, they tend to do so when they are far from you (unless it's a roar then they'll tend to pick a time which benefits them the most, as roars stun you for a short time). Most monsters don't telegraph their attacks, although some how you pick up attack patterns and eventually learn to avoid many attacks through pure skill. If you play a ranged class, many of the faster monsters go out of their way to attack you even if they are currently being attacked. Combat is very indeph. Each melee weapon has a sharpness, power, and affinity levels, not to mention elements, skills, slots, numerous upgrades, and each weapon plays differently. The blowgun has all of these (except for the sharpness) and it has different ammo types and mixable parts.

All and all, this game has a whole lot of depth and is a lot of fun. I recommend it.

A true hunters quest is never over , its only just begun !

Can't wait to get my hammer onto these monsters.

Annoying though that I'll have to get used to some new monster names (compared to MHP3rd).

jinouga!!! Why have you gone and died?!?! No... wait... it's it's... Zenogre? What in the something out of warhammer is going on?!?

Look,

It looks decent enough but this is really at least how the Wii version should have looked in the first place, if only the machine hadn't been vastly under-powered from the get-go!

It just looks like your average looking current-gen Xbox 360 or PS3 game. I'm most certainly not blown away by these graphics on a next-gen console!

Also, why the hell isn't all the HUD crap moved to the Wii U GamePad?! It's missing obvious opportunities like this that leaves me the most frustrated.

Not only am I glad this is coming to Wii U next year,I'm also glad I'm not as crap as Monster Hunter,as whoever played the game in those videos/

I didn't have Tri for long as online play without voice has no appeal for me and the single player seemed like too much life-suckage potentially. I am gratified they're giving it another go on Wii U and I'm hopeful the improved online infrastructure will make for a more compelling experience.

"The Wii U version of the game will work with the 3DS edition, enabling players to transfer save data between the two systems."
That's great, hopefully more games will follow this strategy.

Is there local multiplayer for this game? Also, local and online combined? I'm looking forward to this for U and 3DS...

Theres local WiiU&3DS at the same time. Theres no way to have them combined, since the 3DS version lacks online feature. Only WiiUtoWiiU online.

i hope for cross buy or a solution similler

@Kirk This is a 3DS game ported over to the Wii U with slightly updated textures. The fact that you think it looks like a PS360 game is actually flattering.