Demon's Souls

So Monster Hunter has taken a bit of a back seat in an attempt to clear some other games off my plate. I recently finished Infamous 1 and 2, The 3rd Birthday (which btw, doesn't make any sense at all even though i know the complete story), and I'm working on Assassin's Creed 2, Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2, and of course Demon's Souls.

Often compared to Monster Hunter, Demon's Souls carries similarities in how it's about learning the patterns of enemies, it's punishing difficulty, the necessity to read and research about items, environments, and nuances, and has a similar level of risk and reward when it comes to the combat. I've played many hours of Monster Hunter; like 1500? Across 3 games, and have to say, even with that level of experience, Demon's Souls is still a really punishing game. It reminds me of my early days with Freedom Unite where fighting Tigrex for the first time was one of my most frustrating and teeth grinding experiences in my habits as a gamer.

After playing maybe about 10 hours, I'm grasping more of the mechanics and what the world is about. I'm a late comer, and perhaps there are still some out there that haven't checked out Demon's Souls or know nothing about it. In such case, I highly suggest you do:



Because the sequel is coming:

Monster Hunter Podcast #44

If you haven't checked out last week's Monster Hunter Podcast, I very much suggest you do. The crew invited a games reviewer from Gamecritics.com; Brad Gallaway. He comes onto the podcast with about 300+ hours of experience of Monster Hunter through Tri and Freedom Unite. The interesting thing to note is that he played Tri first for about 70 to 80 hours, wrote a review, and then played Freedom Unite for 200 hours? 300 hours? I can't remember. He then explained that he had quite more a deeper sense of respect and appreciation for the game, and wished that more people would give Monster Hunter the time he had as he believes the game would be more well-liked by many if they gave it a chance. You can listen to the podcast in more detail and I definitely suggest so if you're a person who's trying to get your friends into Monster Hunter:



I would also highly suggest reading Brad's Monster Hunter reviews as they would probably give more detail in how one's impression of Monster Hunter changes over time.

Monster Hunter Tri:
http://www.gamecritics.com/brad-gallaway/monster-hunter-tri-review

And then...

Monster Hunter Freedom Unite:
http://www.gamecritics.com/brad-gallaway/monster-hunter-freedom-unite-review

Monster Hunter Portable 3rd HD dated with limited edition version

P3rd HD's website

MHP3rd HD has been dated, as well as some details about a limited edition (only available via E-Capcom) version (referred to as an Extended Edition). It includes a special Monster Hunter themed bluetooth headset that's unfoldable. As well, the HD version of 3rd will be distributed via Bluray, and there hasn't been a PSN version announced. In my opinion, this heightens the chance of it coming to the West. If they release a PSP version, they might bundle it as a download voucher in a retail Bluray release. I think that's our best chance of getting it!

Oh yeah, it's dated for an August 25th, 2011 release.

Monster Hunter artbook coming to the West!

My friend who works at Udon Entertainment just messaged me this the other day:



Buy Monster Hunter Illustrations by Udon Entertainment on Amazon.ca!

The book is a translation of a two book set in Japan also known as the Monster Hunter Illustrations. It covers most of, if not all of the content from Monster Hunter 1 to 2 including the Portable versions.

He said he'll send me more details as soon as they come as it's not out yet. (also if it does well, they'll do more Monster Hunter artbooks)