Is there a way to lock the camera on the monster in the Wii U version. I was trying to find a way but I couldn't lol.

Also I have to agree the demo isnt friendly to newcomers to the series. At first I just didnt understand it but after talking to you fine people here on this site and going to some MH forums I found out what there was to do, now I am totally hook. But it shouldnt have taken going to forums to figure out the demo.

Press the monster icon on the touch screen while you're battling the monster, and tap L

@Lan; Thanks I will have to try that when I buy it since my son used up all the playtime of the demo on the Wii U.

So I've only tried the demo four times so far (so busy with fire emblem and want to finish that before this game comes) but... Well, first I tried Lagombi with the sword and shield and lost but I chalked it up to trying to learn the controls and mechanics. Then I tried it again with the dual blades and won. I switched to trying Plesioth with the dual blades and lost pretty badly, so I went back to Lagombi to try some other weapons and picked the long sword... And lost. Thus far I haven't beaten Plesioth and lost to Lagombi after successfully beating it once. Does this mean I'm already getting worse or might've had dumb luck? I thought I was getting the hang of it but now I feel like I might be behind the learning curve, and I have a lot of trouble figuring out where to target monsters and how to effectively use items. I read tips on how to beat them but when I actually play the game I fold under the 20 minute stress and have trouble applying what I read. Should I be winning against these monsters by now or at least coming close? Or do I just suck? I see a lot of people saying that they found both fights pretty easy and other than my one win (which I felt I actually knew what I was doing), I've been struggling.

Also, I apologize for my longwindedness, I just really want to be able to play this with people online here without hampering them and I don't have countless hours to pour into this demo right now.

Based on the demo, here are some tips for Lagombi. Whenever it's angry (smoke coming from its nose) just dodge, don't try to use items. Get in some hits if you can, but be careful. Also, set your shock trap and put some barrel bombs on it, but not the small one. It has a timed fuse, use small ones as detonators. If it ever goes to sleep, carefully sneak up on it and place a big bomb by its head and then a small one and step back. Bombs do extra damage to sleeping monsters. And throw sonic bombs at it whenever it's not angry, it's sensitive to loud noises. When using fast weapons like the SnS or the LS, dodging is your best friend. Get used to dodging out of combos whenever you see an attack coming. If you get snowball'd, use a cleanser (blue bottle item I believe) of let Cha-Cha or Kayamba hit you. Eat rations or meat when you first start to get your stamina gauge maxed out.

Edit: some tips are universal, i.e you should always top out your stamina gauge, use of cleanser, bomb use, etc

@ShadVJ
Don't worry. You'll have more time in the actual game, and there will be alot more you can do.
I do that all the time, too, especially in Tekken. I could read the moveset thousands of times, and practice all day, but I still can't seem to get the movesets down for some characters.
The first couple times I was playing, I would be using potions like I just wanted a drink. Haha.

EDIT: Also, you don't suck. Haha. I thought the same thing. It just takes a bit.

@ShadVJ: Also remember in the full game you get better armor and weapons from crafting which the demo doesnt have obviously. Plus you are new to the series the people that are downing the monster probably are veterans of the series. Heck I have fought Lagombi five times killed it twice once on the 3DS and once on the Wii U.

Thanks for the tips and assurance everyone. I'll keep it up! Is there any good advice for the slower weapons? Also, I don't think I was using the long sword correctly, it felt slow to me and I think I was told it could be used for fast combos?

It takes a bit of time to get used to it all.
I'm sure if I had never played before, the demo would be a lot the same for me.
The 20 minute timer forces you to be a bit aggressive to make sure you complete the quest on time so that can make it hard for people who are new to it.
It gives you quite a lot of health items though, so remember to keep your health bar close to full.

I actually ran out of time in my first fight against the Plesioth on the 3DS version because it kept just swimming away and I couldn't keep up with those awful controls.
Much easier on the Wii U version though.

Use X (button), X, A, X (repeat or change up as you like) as your main combos but when the monster gets ready for an attack (or if it faces toward you) move out of the way with a side roll or a faded slash (X+B at the same time - Tilt the stick to the left or right to fade that way or just press it to step back)

When its trapped, knocked over, or you just feel like you have an opening press the R button for the spirit slash ending with the round-house slash. If you connect with the round-house slash then you'll obtain an attack boost (White, Yellow, and Red. White and Yellow are permanent while Red lasts only a short while). Remember you can chain any of your regular attacks with the R button slashes and you can roll and fade out of them easily.

When I hunted Lagombi I would get in one or two strikes then fade slash out of the way. Rinse and Repeat till I can spirit slash. Plesioth is a bit harder but follows the same principle.

Longsword is fast... But not that fast.

@Waltz PLEEEEASE tell me you're gonna pick this up.

I would love to have an Aussie to play with when it's not some ungodly hour.

Is this going to support Wii Speak? Haha. Just kidding. Would be cool though, because I got that s***! It's a shame Wii Speak was never used. Basically the same tech ended up being in Kinect for voice commands...
This new Monster Hunter looks great in HD, and sounds fantastic in PCM 5.1 Dolby Pro Logic IIx.
I hope we get the 4th one, and that LAN thing.

Actually, there's a day 1 update for Ultimate that's going to allow you to use a microphone/headset thing as well as a USB keyboard.

Does that count Wii Speak though? It was compatible in the Wii one, so that would make it more likely in my eyes. I don't really see why I would use a keyboard though, unless someone doesn't have a mic, or I just don't feel like talking.

Oh yeah, I will. Please remember that I suck at this game though.

My statement about the underwater fights was more like "silly and fun = good" "silly and not fun = bad." It seems a bit odd to me to even bother with it at all, but if the guy can hold his breath for a ludicrous amount of time, why even have a limit in the first place?

Anyway there's little point in my griping about a game I'm unlikely to buy, so I'll leave it.

Please don't support Wii Speak.
If people are going to use voice chat, they should use some sort of microphone which is actually effective.
For me though with Monster Hunter, USB keyboard is always going to be the way to go.

Top gunner at yer service my liege... Recovery shots and my shout on ale tankards all round mate

This could be fun.

For the record I'll probably end up doing the sword and shield thing like I did with Tri. So I'll be the point man.