It certainly is, I think the series is pretty much the definition of acquired taste.

I messed with the demo for a while to check out the controls, and man I'm sooo used to the PSP's controls. The whole time I instinctively kept trying to use the claw and picking the bow while learning a new control scheme really didn't help despite normally being great with it. I guess it just goes to show how much a new set of controls can mess you up, since after playing MHP3rd I should be able to tear Lagombi apart.

I'm still going to give it a proper go tomorrow (or would that be later?) with a weapon that doesn't require as much precision.

yeah, i think people are expecting it to be more of a button mash type situation of killing things, as if they were playing Devil May Cry or God of War, when its really more of an art where you need to react to your enemy and go for the openings.

I ended up killing the gaint rabbit monster in monster hunter, he took to d@mn long to die.

hey quick question...
how long is the Castlevania demo?
i've played for a while... then i was at the second "mini boss", that huge thing with the huge club - you gotta jump over him and stuff

when his hp is low.. he's always blinking (white), then i hit him some more.. and he's back to normal... i repeat that a few times until i finally die
i didn't really try hard and just ended the demo there.... unfortunately it's impossible to save, so i have to start over

does the demo end after that boss or is it way way longer?
how can i beat that thing? just hitting it until it blinks and then hitting it some more... and repeating said action over and over again or do i have to use some sort of special move when it's hp is down?
thanks in advance

• MH demo.. idk, thought this game would be cooler Oo
  ok, i've only played a few minutes.. with 2 different classes and it's just the beginning, but still... it was weird..

i start a quest... there are 5 different islands... i need 8 secs to get from 1 island to another... each time it loads and on each island theres like 2 monsters
kinda boring..
thought it was more MMO-like

It seems like you don't know what to do then.

You need to go to the "island" where the big monster is.

... oh really?
/sarcasm

of course i did that, it's still boring?!

Give monster hunter more time, it lives from its exploration and mastering your skills to take down the monsters, both is limited in the demo.

Castlevania; you gotta grab the boss when he is blinking obviously, done with R, then there is a Brief QuickTime event, then the demo ends.

that's exactly what i thought and i REALLY pressed R again and again... just now i did it again, won't work
weird

well it's okay, if it ends shortly after that anyway, thanks though!

the expression i have from the demos so far is that these two games are definitely not for me, but im sure they're way better when you actually take your time, i mean a 10minute demo really isn't enough to judge a game
really looking forward to fire emblem awakening though!

Just finished castlevaina demo, the back grounds and 3d are fantastic, but the main charter model is worse than most GBA games, But the game play had me smiling was just hack and slash fun, loved the boss at the end. Will be getting this.

First impressions are everything.

If that were true I'd classify you now as a very flatminded, impatient, not too bright person. But since I have different standards than you, you still have a few chances to amaze me.

There are thousands of games out there that we could be buying. Many purchases are made based on first impressions of a demo or simply from advertising. When an argument in defence of a game is 'oh, just give it more time - it gets better later' the game already has a significant flaw. If the first hour of a game bores me I'll probably just play something else. Not because I'm impatient, but because there are plenty of other games out there that are fun from the beginning, and there's no need to endure boredom just because one game takes its time to actually fulfil its purpose. I wont make a judgement on how good that game is - I'll just go and play something that doesn't waste my time. There are many people who will play this demo and feel bored by it - and decide not to buy the game. First impressions are everything when you look at the big picture, as in this case they decide the only thing that's important; whether or not the consumers buy the game.

No need to get insulted just because I speak badly of a game you love. Don't worry though - the impression I leave on you really doesn't bother me given how you responded to that simple statement. I do find it funny that you attempt to judge my intelligence by how much free time I have to sample games I might buy.

Not really. The controls were awkward, the levels were pretty barren, there was no atmosphere to speak of, and the monsters aren't really difficult to kill, it just takes a long time to do so. There wasn't really much variety in their attacks. Oh, and the bow can't be aimed with any precision without the CPP, apparently.

The demo should have been lengthier if they needed more time to get at what makes MH appealing. That's why it was smart for Atlus to make a 5 - 6 hour EO4 demo, for instance. That game's appeal is captured in the terror of exploration, the freedom to develop your character the way you want, and the challenging, incremental, but deeply satisfying battles and dungeon progression.

Well you see, most of the charm comes from completing quests, collecting materials and building your equipment to play with your friends.

And forget about online, real fun comes from playing with real people in the same room.

Will the game have difficulty scaling in multiplayer? Difficulty scaling is helpful for people who are looking for a challenge, but when helping a friend beat a quest they're stuck on, (or getting help) difficulty scaling can be kind of annoying since you have to make up for your friend's inability to beat the monster, so if it's twice as hard (for two players) you'll have to be really good to beat it with an incompetent friend.

From what I know, this shouldn't be the case.

The difficulty doesn't get adjusted to match the number of players.

That usually doesn't mean the game will be easy for 4 players though, it means it will be incredibly hard for fewer people to beat the monsters.

You got me wrong on many occasions mate. First I didn't get insulted because you don't like a random game I happen to like. I didn't get insulted at all. I never tried to judge your intelligence, I just said IF i'd go by the first impression you'd have come over as someone who judges things just by its surface, a book by its cover so to say. I don't think you're dumb, quite the contrary actually because you belong to the little crowd on here that can actually make an argument and reason your beliefs.

I also think that the demo itself doesn't convey really well what the game is about, for an absolute newcomer it must be boring and confusing. I agree to that. I just meant it's like imagine a game like OBLIVION or GTA. If there was a demo of those games, it would be very much impossible to show everything those games have to offer. What if I want to play an archer class that loves to sneak around and mix poison but in the demo I can only play a typical knight? What about GTA where I can only access a certain area of the whole city and only do 3 or 5 activities, which in the full game make only up a little percentage of what there is to do. If I'd go by the first impression then GTA is about being a cool thug and Oblivion is a "Knightgame".

That's all I said. It's not your fault you don't like it and obviously everyone is free to choose whatever they want to play. Im totally fine by that. I was just a bit butthurt about saying "first impression is all that counts". I took your argument and applied it to not only video games but life in general.

Btw if first impressions is all that counts, then we should all be playing Aliens Colonial Marines by now, right? Because the first impression dev hands on videos looked great...

Hope this clarified that I absolutely do not think youre a dumb or minor person, I just don't agree to the attitude you showed because I honestly believe its wrong, in videogames and life.

Oh and I might add, sure Monster Hunter is a niché game too. It's not for everyone. The reason why i suggest to give it more time, read up on it, try it at a friends house who actually knows what he does is that I think it is - after a steep learning curve - ultimately more rewarding than many games out there at the moment. I always liked games about exploration and adventure, I liked a challenge and the feeling you have when you finally beat that strong boss or finally finish that game. Most games nowadays - for my taste - are too shallow, too little soul and production value. Either its shooters or some other bland action-style game. That's why I suggested to give it some time, it doesn't show its "treasure" early on. If you play Monster Hunter with the same attitude you would play some beatem up or some button masher dungeon-crawler then you might be disappointed. And again... it's just not for everyone. There are certain genres that have AWESOME games and I still can't get into them... no matter how hard I try.

For example: I still couldn't get into Mega Man AT ALL, but I love Gunman Clive! Weird huh? I love Fire Emblem and Advance Wars but I couldn't get into Zelda that much. Yep you heard me right, I never beat a Zelda game at all. Tastes are different!

I was looking forward to Castlevania but was a little disappointed by the demo. The 2D Castlevania's controls feel far tighter and more responsive to me, whereas this felt slower and "heavier". The animations and physics felt a little slow too, but I guess that's a trade-off moving to polygons. Maybe it would grow on me if I were to play the full game. Hopefully the finished product will have a smoother framerate, too.

I like the use of 3D and the multiple layers, but on the whole didn't think the visuals were too polished. Some quite blurry textures and ugly character models.