Lunar Shards

Games Finished

Games I played that have a finished status either on the save I have or at another point in time. In other words, I’ve personally made it to the end of the game. In other words, games I don’t have to go back to any time soon unless I’m trying for achievements or playing for nostalgia (which happens a lot :O)

• Ace Combat: Assault Horizon (Xbox 360)
• Ace Combat: Joint Assault (PSP)
• Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation (Xbox 360)
• Altered Beast (Sega Genesis)
• Armored Core: For Answer (Xbox 360)
• Atelier Annie ~ Alchemist of Sera Island ~ (Nintendo DS)
• Atelier Rorona (PS3)
• Atelier Totori (PS3)
• Battletech (Sega Genesis)
• Castlevania Harmony of Dissonance (Xbox 360)
• Dead Rising 2: Case West (Xbox 360 – XBLA)
• Deus Ex: Human Revolution (PC)
• Ghost Trick (Nintendo DS)
• Ghouls n’ Ghosts (Sega Genesis)
• Guardian Heroes (Sega CD)
• Halo Reach (Xbox 360)
• Hyperdimension Neptunia (PS3)
• Macross Trial Fruntier (PS3 – Import)
• Macross Triangle Frontier (PSP – Import)
• Mercs (Sega Genesis)
• Monster Hunter Tri (Nintendo Wii)
• Parasite Eve (PSOne/PSP)
• Phantasy Star Portable 2 Infinity (PSP – Import)
• Portal 2 (PC/PS3)
• Project Diva 2: Hatsune Miku (PSP – Import)
• Solar 2 (PC)
• Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (PS3)
• Stacking (PS3)
• The Embodiment of Scarlet Devil (PC)
• Tenchu Z (Xbox 360)
• Tom Clancy’s H.A.W.X. (Xbox 360)
• The 3rd Birthday (PSP)
• Trace Memory (Nintendo DS)
• Valkyria Chronicles 2 (PSP)
• X-Men (Xbox 360 – XBLA)

Games left Incomplete

Too many games to play not enough time after work to clear them all. These games were left unfinished at the end of the year unfortunately. These games make up the games I’ll eventually go back to and finish. Some have higher priority then others due to sequels coming up.

Anomaly: Warzone Earth (PC)

Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles (PSP)

Chantelise – A Tale of Two Sisters (PC)

Dissidia Final Fantasy (PSP)

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (PC)

Fate/Extra (PSP)

Final Fantasy XIII (PS3)

Front Mission Evolved (PC)

God Eater Burst (PSP)

Hard Corps: Uprising (Xbox 360 – XBLA)

The Legend of Zelda: Minish Cap (Nintendo 3DSWare – Gameboy Advance)

Metroid Fusion (Nintendo 3DSWare – Gameboy Advance)

Mighty Milky Way (Nintendo DSiware)

Monster Hunter Unite (PSP)

My World, My Way (Nintendo DS)

Pokemon: White (Nintendo DS)

Sonic Generations (PS3)

Recettear (PC)

Rune Factory: Tides of Destiny (PS3)

Samurai Warriors Chronicles (Nintendo 3DS)

Tactics Ogre: Lets Cling Together (PSP)

Toaru Majutsu no Index (PSP – Import)

Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas 2 (PC)

Valkyria Chronicles 3 (PSP – Import)

Wipeout HD/Wipeout Fury (PS3)

The Witcher 2 (PC)

Games Abandoned

These games I started but have no interest in finishing. They are either TOO hard or the game just didn’t hold my interest and I have since sold them, traded them, put them away or sent back to Gamefly with little interest in getting it again.

• Alpha Squad (Xbox 360 – Indie Games)
• Excitebike 3D (Nintendo 3DSware)
• The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (Nintendo 3DS)
• SOS (Super Nintendo)
• Sonic the Hedgehog (PS3 – Genesis Vintage)

Fighting games

Fighting games really have no end though they do have some stories. Some games I finish till I see everyone’s story or I just finish the characters I like. There was a glut of fighters this year so I’m a little burned out on them… Sorta like how I’m burned out on shooters for a bit.

• Arcana Heart 3 (PS3)
• Blazblue Continuum Shift (PS3)
• Eternal Fighter Zero (PC)
• Marvel vs Capcom 3 (PS3)
• Melty Blood: Act Cadenza Ver B (PC)
• Soul Calibur IV (Xbox 360)
• Super Smash Brothers Melee (Nintendo Wii)
• Tekken 6 (PS3)

Blame Valve

Games I started but weren’t planning on playing just yet thanks to the recent Steam Achievements for the holidays.

• And Yet It Moves (PC)
• Bastion (PC)
• X3: Albion Prelude (PC)

Games with no end

I can’t justify I’ve beaten them nor is there an indicator of such unless you count kill screens which these games don’t have. They can be picked up and played with no connection to previous plays outside of high scores or achievements not earned. Some have stories but they’re pretty shallow.

• Audiosurf (PC)
• Catan (Xbox 360 – XBLA)
• Dungeon Defender (PC)
• MAG (PS3)
• Minecraft (PC)
• PAC-MAN Championship Edition DX (Xbox 360)
• Pinball FX (PS3)
• Rockband 3 (Xbox 360)
• Terreria (PC)
• Tetris (PS3)
• Tetris DS (Nintendo DS)
• Touhou Battle Gaiden (PC)

Games Demoed

Games I’ve played once or twice either full or demos are on a list to eventually get back to, buy, rent, etc.

• Bayonetta (Xbox 360)
• Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy (PSP)
• Robot Alchmic Drive (Playstation 2)
• House of the Dead Overkill (PS3)
• Samurai Warriors 2 (Xbox 360)
• Stargate (Sega Genesis)
• Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (Sega Genesis)

MMOs

I play a lot of MMOs so here’s the list I touched this year. Not saying which ones I’mstill in, that’s for me to know and well, and if I run into you in game… hi!

• CosmicBreak (PC)
• Final Fantasy XI (PC)
• Final Fantasy XIV (PC)
• Jade Dynasty (PC)
• Rusty Hearts (PC)
• Shin Megami Tensei Imagine (PC)
• Spiral Knights (PC)
• Star Trek Online (PC)
• Star Wars: The Old Republic (PC)
• World of Warcraft (PC)

Beta Tested

These are games I beta tested this past year. I’m pretty sure there were more and a good number of them weren’t games so they can’t be included on the list. Also these games have NDAs lifted so don’t go throwing it around that I’m breaking one. I actually read them :O

• Battlefield 3 (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
• Rusty Hearts (PC)
• Star Wars: The Old Republic (PC)
• Uncharted 3 – Multiplayer(PS3)

House of the Dead Overkill
Platform: Nintendo Wii
Started: October 17th 2011
Status: Demoed

Oh man… This game really does take that really bad voice acting and runs with it. That being said the Wii isn’t the best system to have this on since it chugs at points, especially when two players are mowing down the zombies mutants left and right. The game will be coming out for the PS3 and I’ll probably grab it when my funds clear up some. BTW, has anyone noticed that the mansion you first start seems to have the same layout as the original mansion from Resident Evil?

Ace Combat Assault Horizon
Platform: Xbox 360
Started: October 16th 2011
Status: Ongoing

What can I say, I caved. For one it’s an Ace Combat game… On the other it’s not a typical Ace Combat game. Assault Horizon changes the formula a bit for a more movie style air combat. This is a lot more then the originals were. With the new Dog Fight System, you can either go on the offensive or end up on the defensive with the option to constantly switch between the two during a dogfight depending on the maneuvers you are capable of pulling off. The system is similar to the one found in Skycrawlers which lets you center on the enemy for an easier kill. The defense isn’t that bad until get like 2 or 3 chasing you which is usually really bad. The story is okay for the series standards. We’re not talking Clancy stuff but its decent. The changes are the other type of missions you have including the AC-130 mission, the gunner missions and the missions where your flying around in an Apache helicopter. I think I’m halfway through the game but I’m enjoying it.

Atelier Rorona
Platform: PS3
Started: October 9th 2011
Status: Ongoing

I dug a bit further into the game over the weekend clearing more sections of the game and I’m about to hit year 3. Hopefully I can keep up the pace this time in game as I’m much higher in level and have access to most of the stuff. Utilizing Hom is important as she is able to gather large amounts of resources for you while your busy. My current problem is triggering all the necessary cut scenes that I want for Cory.

Minecraft
Platform: PC
Started: N/A
Status: N/A

More Minecraft… this game is getting too addicting. So far I’ve done a bit more work. The rail system is borked due to wonky engine stuff which results in my minecarts disappearing. The system I’m using stores the minecarts off track and pushes them onto them when needed however the end result isn’t pretty. I’m going to change this to a tracked version in hopes of keeping the carts safe. I’m probably going to build a rail station system redoing the the one underwater and such. I’ll need a lot more gold though. I almost burned down our town while working on the light house due to a lava accident. Luckily we were able to stop the flow but god damn that was scary. Funny enough is the house which stored the bed was really small and somehow everything but the bed, the door and the windows burned down. When we put out the fire, they were just sitting there like nothing happened. I’ve since combined the store house and the beds house into one building reinforced with stone instead of wood.

Holy cow that’s a long gap! Well there’s a reason. Mostly been very busy with work. I just moved into a new office as well as taking up a new hobby which has me outdoors most weekends… No seriously! I think I’ve seen more sun then I normally do :O So I’ve been too busy to write down my logs like a good blogger so I’m doing a sorta catch up post with everything I’ve played since the last update! Let’s see if I can remember it all! Oh these aren’t in any particular order since I’m just recalling them from the top of my head ^^;

Super Smash Brothers Melee
Platform: Nintendo Wii
Started: N/A
Status: N/A

We pulled this out over at my friends house… wow I suck at this game Lost a good portion of the battles mostly because I couldn’t remember how to use the wiimote controls. I guess I’m too use to the Gamecube control setup. In any case It was a lot of fun!

Eternal Fighter Zero
Platform: PC
Started: N/A
Status: N/A

This game makes me laugh when I think about it. It’s essentially a doujin fighter featuring members of Key (the Anime/Erogi makers). It has characters from Clanned, Air, Kannon and I think a few others. I’m not 100% up to date with their series but my favorite from them so far has been Angel Beats (why isn’t there a game for it yet!?) I think my favorite so far was randomly pulling out a car and beating my friend down with it as a finishing move

Melty Blood: Act Cadenza Ver B
Platform: PC
Started: N/A
Status: N/A

I actually own the PS2 version of the original Act Cadenza release. I’m decent with the game but some of the moves are rough without a joystick to do them on. My thumbs were felling it after only 20 minutes. Doesn’t help we were using 360 controls with the really crappy D-pad.

Altered Beast
Platform: Sega Genesis
Started: N/A
Status: Completed

Old ass game which is means as hell! There’s nothing more frustrating then cheap enemies. This was design to eat your quarters and never got adjusted for home gamers so that means cheap tactics to kill the player including things you can’t possibly avoid unless you memorized monster spawns. We ended up beating the game but not before resorting to the continue code. That being said our play through of hard mode just utterly broke the game when we changed all the beast forms to the dragon

Battlefield 3 Beta
Platform: Playstation 3, Xbox 360, PC
Started: N/A
Status: Beta

Wow… this game is coming out in how many weeks!? I know its a beta but damn, I’ve played more betas then I want to admit to and its never been this buggy! There are weird animation bugs and holes in the world that make no sense. Also it’s difficult to submit responses when half the time your not sure where to send it in. I tried all 3 versions (i’m a masochist ^^;) and I can already say the PC version is by far the worst in terms of bugs. It’s bad when you somehow headshot yourself due to a bug…

Tetris
Platform: Playstation 3
Started: N/A
Status: N/A

We pulled this out to kill time while we waited for stuff to download. It was also the point my friends will probably refuse to battle me in Tetris now. I think i went for a good 15 minutes before I fell over at level 11 (or was it 12?) after a crazy run which is probably my best so far! I’m not a Tetris wizard like some but I can hold my own.

Touhou Battle Gaiden
Platform: PC
Started: N/A
Status: N/A

After playing Tetris we pulled up a video showing off Tetris Battle Gaiden for the Super Famicom and joked that they probably did a Touhou one… a few days later I found it! It’s hilarious considering how it plays out including the ultra cute drawings of the Touhou girls. I still find it funny that Cirno actually kills her opponent as one of the battle attacks. We ended up trying this out while my friend was setting up Minecraft.

Minecraft
Platform: PC
Started: N/A
Status: N/A

Speaking of Minecraft, we jumped back into Cirno (the world we play on) and I finally got a few new additions to my little underwater facility I’ve been working on. A Nether portal and a rail station. The Rail station is a full scale version of a test platform I have on the surface which automatically sends a cart back to the point of origin when a new one arrives if the queue is full. I still need to improve it such as call a cart is one is not available and a switch to add a 3rd station to the rail system. The above ground station needs to get buried (because I never do anything the easy way) and integrate it to our tower. I was also thinking of making a lighthouse not far from the subpen my friend is building. He’s nuts too, he’s doing it to scale of a Los Angeles attack sub.

Atelier Rorona
Platform: PS3
Started: October 9th 2011
Status: Ongoing

I ended up restarting the game because I’m sooo borked from my first attempt. The first game was so far into the bad ending it wasn’t funny anymore so I restarted with better knowledge of the world of Atelier and started making very good progress. I’m in the 2nd year at a good pace to hand the 3rd year the correct way now. I don’t think I’ll be able to get the ending for the master but at least I’m set for the true ending of the game. Good thing because Totori is on my desk unopened… along with Ace Combat and Rune Factory…

Guardian Heroes
Platform: Sega Saturn
Started: July 7th, 2011
Status: 2/5 endings

So this weekend has been kind of exciting, long, and tiring. On Sunday, I hung out with some friends to kill time before heading home. To talk about what we went through and to have a bit of fun. So out came Guardian Heroes for the Saturn, AFTER we fixed his memory issue. Dead batteries on the system are a bitch since once they die, so goes the save files. Like before I took the healer and turned it into a machinegun punching character. Funny how this is somehow similar to the character from Slayers. Though this time it was a little more difficult since we’re playing this on the harder difficulty. Can’t wait for this one to hit XBLA this year.

Stargate
Platform: Sega Genesis
Started: July 8th, 2011
Status: Ongoing

A very old movie game based on the Stargate movie. Although we didn’t get far before the game crashed I was enjoying it and was getting the hang of the game. I would like to play more of this game.

Ghouls n’ Ghosts
Platform: Sega Genesis
Started: July 7th, 2011
Status: Completed*

The last week has really been a lot of retro gaming goodness. My friend pulled this one out after watching Retro Game Master on Kotaku and decided to give this one a go. This is back in the day when Capcom was synonyms with sadistically hard. The furthest we got over the course of the two days we attempted it was the last stage of the first cycle. For those who aren’t aware, you have to complete the game twice, the second time on a much harder difficulty. We broke down after spending a good hour or two in the stage 4 and resorted to the debug mode. It’s necessary since the second run through is much much more sadistic.

Terreria
Platform: PC
Started: July 11th, 2011
Status: N/A

I have to blame my friend on this one! Over the weekend my friend bought the 4 pack copy during the steam sale and sent me a copy of the game. These games should have a surgeon general’s warning label of being addictive. True it’s a minecraft-like game but in 2D and side scrolling but that’s all you need. Coupled with the multiplayer option it’s a lot of fun. My castle (laptop save) is looking pretty good now!

Project Diva 2: Hatsune Miku
Platform: PSP
Started: September 2010
Status: 100% Completion

I pulled this out after spending a lot of time listening to the songs from the Mikunopolis playlist found on Mikubook. I was able to clear 2 songs on extreme but the rest are a bit too difficult. Still a lot of fun to listen to the music in the game. I’m surprised just how many of the songs were at Mikunopolis!

Phantasy Star Portable 2: Infininty
Platform: PSP
Started: 2011
Status: Stories Complete, Side Story Ongoing

Got a few rounds in while on the trip but not many since I was sleepy for a good portion of it. I did find some interesting weapons during the runs but not much I can remember. It’s hard to play on the grassy knoll waiting for Atlantis to launch :O

Monster Hunter Unite
Platform: PSP
Started: I forgot…
Status: Ongoing

We did play a round of the game on the trip but I was so sleepy I had to stop after one run. Also drain the crap out of my system. I forgot how different the longswords work in this game.

Ace Combat: Joint Assault
Platform: PSP
Started: July 8th, 2011
Status: Ongoing

True I did start this game back in September of last year but I had to restart since I didn’t have the save file on hand while on the road. The game starts of pretty mean with some of the slowest planes Ace Combat will give you. It’s not as mean as the canyon run however is probably the most annoying thing to run into in this series so far. They force you to fly a 747-200 through the canyon which unfortunately has much different flight characteristics then anything in the series due to it’s size. Game is fun though but it can be very very mean.

Monster Hunter Tri
Platform: Wii
Started: 2010
Status: Ongoing

We played a bit online and was able to unlock the urgent quest for HR50. Wow… that boss is mean. We then went after Jehn a few tims before I had to call it for the night.

Star Trek Online
Platform: PC
Started: Feb 2010
Status: Captain, Rank 3

I have to thank Q the next time I see him in STO. Why? Well funny enough Q decided to visit Starbase One to screw around with everything and was handing out double skill points. That included kills as well as mission rewards. The quick exit from the sperm ship… no seriously, the ship I had looked like one with a rocketpack! Reaching captain in just under a day was a joy since I’ve never seen beyond Commander rank which was as far as I got during Closed/Open beta. Captain rank gave me the Intrepid class as well as it’s variants. It just also happens to be one of my favorite ships in the series mostly for it’s unique look and design. You know those nacelles that fold up when they go to warp? Well Cryptic between the time of launch and now have fixed them so they actually do just that! They pylons I use are actually from the Discovery variant which gives it a unique look when in warp (astrometrics view). Actually now that I think about it the only part that comes from the Intrepid class is the saucer section. The rest are a combination of the other two variants! I’m going to play a bit more and see what lays beyond here but this fulfills one of my goals/desires of the game.

Solar 2
Platform: PC
Started: June 27, 2011
Status: Ongoing

An unusual game to say the least. You start of as an asteroid that has to absorb other asteroids to gain mass to become a planet then from there to a planet with life to a star. The idea of the game is to grow into a large star system to not only take out other galaxies but defend and grow yourself till you stab all your planets in the back by turning into a black hole. Addictive and fun. It’s available from steam: http://store.steampowered.com/app/97000/

Monster Hunter Tri
Platform: Nintendo Wii
Started: April 20, 2010
Status: Offline Completed

Even more play and finally hit HR50 which means I’m on my way to running the final phase of the online game and face the online final boss! So far I’ve been able to upgrade my older Rathlos armor to withstand the hits from advanced monster hunts however I’m still suffering from a few inefficiencies… mainly weapon upgrades. At this level you have to hunt some rather punishing bosses to get the parts you need and even then they are super rare. As soon as I get my friend high enough we can all go hunting the advanced stuff.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Platform: Nintendo 3DS
Started: June 19, 2011
Status: Ongoing

Surprisingly I’m lost. Not using a strategy guides trying to use the in-game guides… I’m seriously lost. Either I’ve already broken the pattern it seems and can’t seem to buy certain items. Doesn’t help that the upgrade in graphics mean that my problems are now magnified. So far I’ve gotten 2 of the 3 key items in the child story portion however I’m now found myself stuck with Ruto in the belly of the beast. 3D graphics aside, I’m just lost. I think I played the last game with a strategy guide in hand. Now I’m trying to do it without one and I have no idea where I am in the game now.

Monster Hunter Tri
Platform: Nintendo Wii
Started: April 20, 2010
Status: Offline Completed

This is the most I’ve played the Wii this year now. Got several local friends together to go hunting. A lot of fun and rather amusing trying to not overkill the early monsters. I did play with my friend I meet on PSU and we upgrade my equipment to handle plus versions of the monsters.

Shin Megami Tensei Devil Survivor
Platform: Nintendo DS
Started: June 7, 2011
Status: Ongoing

I tried to rush through the last bit before Zelda came out but damn it… it just got very hard. Story is awesome but damn am I underleveled. Will probably have to grind a bit to avoid getting beaten to hell and back.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Platform: Nintendo 3DS
Started: June 19, 2011
Status: Ongoing

A classic that’s all i can say. The upgrade in graphics are amazing and it looks so much better. Why this didn’t come out when the system did, I’m not certain but Nintendo really should have held the 3DS launch till this was ready.

So this has been a long time coming. I’ve been tweaking this post for a while and finally now getting around to posting it. Between work, including an event that happened during the first part of may and all the stuff leading up to it and the release of Monster Hunter Tri, I’ve been kinda swamped.

True I’m still running an pen and paper RPG on the side but that’s more of stuff I dream up when I program. So what does the 3rd console installment in the main Monster Hunter series hold? Actually this is the 8th game to bear the Monster Hunter title if you count the other console, PSP and PC release of the series.

Well in the most part, it’s the same game. Which by the way is not a bad thing. The weapons have been reduced down to a smaller list compared to those in the PSP iterations however the damage and mechanics have been tuned a bit. Sadly my favorites, the Gunlance and Bow do not make a return. Well the bow would be a disadvantage in this one since there isn’t enough ledges you can hid on to snipe things from which was my favorite tactics when hunting stuff in United.

Anyway single player story is a lot better with a greater sense of urgency considering your there to help this beleaguered village. Most weapons are available to be made from the start except for Switch-Axe and Longsword. Like usual, you need to hunt monsters to gain materials to make equipment. A standard process for the series. Most equipment requires boss monsters such as Qurupeco or the Great Jaggi however those can only be done initially via quests given by the Village Sweetheart. Yes, they named the guild quest giver that.

One new feature is the ability to do a free hunt on the Deserted Island area (Why is it called deserted if there’s a village on the coast still?) In the free hunt mode, there are no penalties such as 3 failures ends a mission and you can gather or hunt till your pack bulges. The added bonus is that bosses will take up residence in the free area so you can hunt them without having to go through a quest. You can find out what boss monsters are in the island by checking the weather from the village chief’s son. Anything you kill and certain things you gather they can be reported to the village chief’s son to be turned into resources. These resources are used to send fishing boats out to catch stuff or work on the farm or even buy dinner. This sorta takes the place of Poke Points from the PSP series. There is also a new village quest which allows you to gain some new things by gathering items requested by the villagers. Bosses killed during free hunt give you trade goods which can be used to trade with a merchant who stops by every so often. The harder the boss, the rarer the trade good you get.

This time around you don’t have a felyne companion. In the PSP series starting from United, you could bring an Felyne assistant on your quest. This time around your stuck with a Shakalaka. Apparently they appear in the previous console versions of the game. You get him about halfway through the single player game and he gives status bonuses and comical relief to your hunts. Some of his one liners are pretty funny. His personality and abilities are tried what masks he wears. You can gain other masks through the village requests or even the merchant that stops by. Some are aggressive, some are passive so you need to be sure you have the right mask on before you head out.

Another new feature which I have mixed feelings about is the underwater combat. You can now swim underwater to fight monsters. This has both good and bad effects to the game. The good is the ability to dodge above or below a monster however the camera doesn’t like to respond right underwater sometimes causing a bit of disorientation when keeping track in a very mobile fighting situation. Second is the oddity of each weapon in the water. Some do not respond quite so well underwater as they do on land. Unfortunately for many, their first test of underwater battles tend to be with bosses on hand and becomes an uphill learning curve. Sometimes the dodge and sheath commands don’t respond the way you want them to which can be bad in boss battles but overall it’s a cool feature. Just needs some work for future games.

Where the game shines is online. With the Wii, most games requires a friend code which needs to be exchanged with someone you want to play with. Monster Hunter Tri doesn’t require that. You simply need to search for the Hunter’s name, or their Hunter ID which is assigned to a hunter which is only about 6 characters long. You can also just head to the server/city they’re at and join the game. Each City allows up to 4 hunters to join with each city gate housing somewhere around 39 different cities. You can join your friends or make new ones here. For those who need a picture painted, this is very much like the system used in Phantasy Star Online with the station/lobby/room setup and damn it, it works!

Most of the facilities you found in offline are here including a few others that weren’t there before. You can make equipment, buy supplies, trade goods for others, and even research artwork to display in your house. The guild offers quests in both arena, standard and event quests. Event quests seem to update every week with different quests coming online or going offline for a while. Event quests is where you can earn special carvings from monsters or rewards which are unique such as rare (and sometimes wacky) weapons or armor. Capcom Unity has a listing of them on the Monster Hunter Community site. There are some quests you can only take online which makes things interesting, especially when you take on a boss bigger then anything you’ve ever faced so far and you have to jump on it’s back to destroy weak spots.

The US and European versions offer the ability to use WiiSpeak however I haven’t figured out how the damn thing works still. I know you have to have the person as a friend within the game, required by Nintendo, but I don’t think I have my WiiSpeak properly configured. For those who did a bit of digging around, the cities originally allowed up to 10 players per city however the number was brought down with the implementation of WiiSpeak. I guess you get a few bad changes with the good. The Wii does support Wireless keyboards. Though good luck finding one locally. I had to order mine from Amazon. Seems like Logitech stopped making them or no one wants to carry them anymore. Any USB keyboard should work. i got the Wireless Logitech Wii version because I nearly took out my Wii the second night playing the game online. Tripping on the USB cable is bad.

Monsters in online mode are tougher and will use more aggressive tactics. That being said, you’ll be able to play with up to 3 other hunters which makes some battles easier. You can knock your fellow hunters over or launch them into the air when using certain attacks that happen to connect with your the others. This can be both good and bad. Though it’s a viable tactic to launch someone into the air to save their butts from being charged down or break a stun but be careful, you might launch them into the path of a charging boss.

Overall, aside from my short stint with Mario Kart, this is the best online experience I’ve had with the Wii and probably one of the few games (aside from Rune Factory Frontier) that I’ve run the system for a good amount of time. The game has a steep learning curve in terms of learning the mechanics behind everything but once you get started, it’s hard to stop.