Video: Get an Extended Look at Monster Hunter Stories

This is def one of the prettiest games on 3DS, imo (well, in the trailers at least), and I'm happy they went in this artistic direction over the more "realistic" looking art style in the previous 3DS Monster Hunter games. It looks an order of magnitude more appealing to me as a result (again, in the trailers at least), especially on the smaller and lower resolution screen of the 3DS.

See, this is the kind of style that looks and feels far more like taking the classic 2D pixel art of games from generations ago and translating them into modern 3D than it does when developers just try to go for more grittiness and realism, and I actually want far more modern games to capture that classic cartoon/illustration look from the best games of the 2D era. To me, nothing looks better than the classic cartoon/illustration style of the best classic 2D games, and I don't mean the fact they're pixel art but the fact they actually look like proper art drawn by an cartoon artist/illustrator or something like that. I yearn for that look nowadays, whether games be in 2D or 3D (I actually want them to be in 3D but still retain that look/style of the old games).

Just imagine more games actually looking like this again, but in 3D:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axBRSw0gDWk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8alVk4Zi5A0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5oFATk5gh0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5r0ZdZyqzw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-uIAY6A2h4

Very few modern games actually look like this anymore, especially when in 3D, although we're now starting to see a few more examples of this kind of look/style again, which I'm all for.

The Ace Attorney games are one of the few series that actually captures that classic 2D cartoon/drawn look in full 3D:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Trw4iBEEyOg

And I think the Ni No Kuni series is doing a great job of it too:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AkY9a7DQUE

Note: I'm specifically saying I want that classic 2D look and feel but in full 3D, not in 2D. There's no real advantage to sticking to simple 2D when these developers actually bother to fully capture the look and feel of 2D in 3D. And with the mix of the two you actually get the best of both worlds when it's done right (as Ni No Kuni II demonstrates brilliantly imo). Basically, in still shots I want it look as though it could literally be a traditional 2D cartoon/illustration/painting, but once it moves I want it to be obvious it's taking full advantage of 3D, with all the sense of depth/dimension and correct perspective that 3D brings to the table.

Super excited for this!

It looks very pretty.

I am also glad Monster Hunter gave us a turn based battle system!

The camera angle is awesome. Full 360 '.
Remind me FF XII. But, the only flaw that i ever watch was the villagers texture when about to load the texture. Looks imperfect in minor aspect. I'm not really sure if I can enjoy this game. Well, i know the basic RPG games like Final Fantasy series, Kingdom Hearts, Fantasy Life. Playing this game (that i never played before) kinda like Classic RPG + Monster Rancher twist in my opinion so far.

It looks nice so far. I don't think I'm going to enjoy this as much as regular Monster Hunter, but I'd probably still have great fun with this game if it's released West.

The sheer complexity, steep learning curve, and open nature of Monster Hunter has always turned me off from giving it a go as I don't have the free time or attention span necessary to dedicate to it. I am very interested in this spin-off, however. It looks to be right up my alley. Hope this comes to the West!

Never been a fan of the Monster Hunter even though I know of the cool games in the series. Could give this game try in the future if it gets out West. Could try the same for Generations and MH4.

Lovely art style~

Stories looks really fun hopefully it'll come out of Japan.

Hmm Capcom Localize this, or The Great Ace Attorney. My money is on this, but I'd buy em both.

@TheBigK
Same here, but I still decided to buy the third entry for the 3DS. . . and am yet to build up the courage to actually read the monstrous manual that comes with it.

@Popful The MH4 manual was rather simple, and the long tutorial (in form of a scenario) was really well done. (even if most new players simply put the card in their 3Ds and launched the cooperation mode online unlike me)

It is strange to think that TriU, the previous opus, would have nothing like it to learn the game. (well the game basics, because learning the game really means practicing the monsters and the weapons in "real situation")

@Rei
The thing with playable tutorials is that they get in the way when you're replaying a game and need them not. Solatorobo comes to mind.

I'm of the opinion that a manual should be an alternative to learning the ropes. There needs to be an in-game equivalent or a system that is tied to the manual in such a way that it lets the player know when it's time to learn something new instead of overwhelming them with lots of new info right from the start.

I mean, first teach the basics, and once those are perfectly clear, the player's ready to build upon that, like the next row of bricks. If the previous row is unstable, what's put on top will collapse, and you'll end up where you started. The next thing you're taught should be related to what you've just learned so that you'd have a good idea of what the game's talking about. For example, there's no point in learning the controls for some advanced moves if you aren't going to need them for the first few hours. Additionally, if you know of these advanced moves before they're even introduced in the actual game, it's going to spoil the surprise.

So basically I think a manual should open up to the player little by little, give the info they need right now, then set them free to let practise what they've learned (of course, a game should be designed to present the appropriate challenges that'd let you test those newfound skills), and when the time is right, turn the page. This sort of gradual, spoiler-free teaching.

@Popful Overwehlming? I don't know about past games but in MH4:
edit: before the conpendium, there is actually the game manual, sadly nowadays exclusively electronic. It explains the very very basic buttons functions and the different sections of the game.
There is first the conpendium you can read in-game to get the basic commands for whatever weapon you choose. If you ever want to test those basic commands and learn one or two "subtleties" about a weapon, you can then choose to play the facultative level1 missions who give you a chance to test it out in actual conditions with a guide NPC. I'm pretty sure MHTri is like MH4 for the weapons moves: there are no "advanced" moves, only basic moves and specific combinations of move for each weapon (combos who vary in strength and usage of course). Once you taugh the basics ones, what could they possibly teach you as "advanced" thing?
After that, the village missions from level2 and further give you regularly a new aspect of the gameplay to try out through a certain mission (but inbetween there are several others with relatively increasng difficulty, while still very easy to complete). Example: the first two missions past the weapon commands mission teaches you about the crafting system by showing you the receipt for a potion and what is stamina (+ how to maintain it). That's far from overflowing the player with informations.
About the very long tutorial present in the form of the village, the fact it spawns so much levels, and that it separates each real new textbook lesson, makes it pretty slow. (that's the actual reason why you see players online who have absolutely no clue about how to play the game, and just play it like a no-brainer hack'n slash. Those players are the one who should get this "what should I do ??" but they are too confident for that).
Maybe MHTri lacked some of those elements?

@Rei
Oh, if MH4U is doing it so well, then it's great. I wouldn't know much about the third game, as I'm just getting started. I brought this whole issue up with games like Sadame or XenobladeX in mind, because I hear they're pretty demanding, but fail to communicate all the necessary information to the player regarding every aspect of gameplay.