Monster Hunter 3 (Tri)

Gameplay

Gameplay is similar to other games of the series. Players will choose a weapon of choice and proceed to complete quests for "The Guild". There are several types of quests, some of these include gathering quest, hunting quests, trapping quest, and egg hunt, one can take from the Guild based on your progression. Offline completing specific quests will allow one to embark on their "Urgent Quest" which will allow progression to the next tier of quests. Online players recieve points and have a Hunter Rank which will increase once a certain number of points have been obtained. After several Rank ups a player will unlock their Urgent Quest for the online quests. Players will need to gather materials to prepare for hunts which include herbs, mushrooms and seeds to make potions, and various other consumeables to give one the edge when fighting a formidable foe. Fighting a monster entails first finding the monster then dealing enough damage to either kill it, weaken it to be captured, or cause it to flee (not common made specifically for certain quests). Players will need to learn the environments and the behaviors of the creatures. There are no enemy health bars or lock on features to aid the player. Once the player slays a monster they will be able to carve off pieces which can be taken to the Blacksmith to create new weapons and armor. Several other materials are used to make weapons and armor as well. A player can fail a quest several ways the two most common are either dying too many times (the standard quest allows 3 deaths total), or running out of time (standard quest time is 50 min). Both online and offline players are given a house which they can decorate with various objects found throughout the game.
Offline Specific (Town): In single player the player has the option to Free Hunt, where they can venture into the Deserted Island map and slay monsters for pieces of the monsters or forage for herbs, mushrooms, honey, seeds or ore. Also while in Town the player will have access to a farm which can be upgraded by providing specific materials. This farm allows Felyne farmhands to produce additional materials that will be helpful to the hunter. Also a traveling item trader will provide several harder to find items, that he will trade to the player for "trade items." Items found on quests made with the designed purpose to be traded to this merchant. Also the player can send boats (upgrades to a maximum of 3) to find fish, ore ("treasure"), and occasionally monster pieces from the ocean.
Online Specific (City): Online Gameplay has more quests available then offline. Up to 4 players can meet online in a city and embark on quests together. The quests are scaled up a bit in difficulty to accomidate the increase of hunters. However rewards are usually better in online play. Players will be able to give materials to a combination specialist for him to fill a jar, after a set amount of quests the player can return to find their items have become a new item. An interior decorating Felyne will also take items and "Brainstorm" to make items to decorate your house. Capcom will occasionally post an "Event Quest" which is a quest which is only available for an allotted amount of time. A change from previous Monster Hunter titles is that each tier of quests requires players to be of that tier in order to join the quests. Previously there were only 2-3 lock out points, usually for the Plus and/or G rank quests.