Going into Monster Hunter with relatively little experience with the past games I was ready for an overwhelming experience that would require my utmost dedication and time. I wasn't wrong. Knowing what to expect is perhaps the first step to make sure the slow pace and complexity don't turn you off as you begin the game. You hunt, you gather and you make equipment with the results of your forays into exotic places. That is, in a very simplified nutshell, Monster Hunter Tri.

Unlike previous games in the series, you can now hunt freely without any time limit in one of the game areas, Moga Woods, serving as some sort of "newb-friendly" zone and where you can gather some basic supplies at your own pace as opposed to the guild quests where you have a time limit.

Another addition is the underwater gameplay, bringing variety and cohesion to the game's world and its inhabitants not to mention forcing you to rethink your strategies. You will obviously move slower, so will you take the hunt on underwater where you can hit its otherwise inaccessible weak spot or lure him to land where you're more at ease?

This time around, Tri gives you the basics as you move along instead of tedious hours filled with tutorial text, a huge, huge help for those who might give up when faced with all these hurdles. The game has been made more accessible and enjoyable without being "dumbed down" to party game levels.

So what's special about the game that captured the Japanese? It's something hard to convey in words. Maybe it's the prep-work you need to do in order to tackle a quest, taking the right equipment for the right quarry and knowing the beasts' weaknesses. Its challenge is definitely enticing, it's not cheap or unfair, when you get bashed into oblivion you will curse yourself, not the game, for not noticing the animations that signaled an attack or when you realize that you're not ready for this particular hunt yet.

On the other hand it might be the lack of a conventional level up system relying instead on your own skills as well as the ones you obtain with your equipment, which was in its place crafted from the materials gained on your hunts. Each piece of armor gives you certain skill points, when you reach 10 points these are activated, meaning you'll want to wear the right combination and pay attention to more than just big attack or defense numbers.

Inevitably all this talk will lead to the old cliché "it's all of these together yadda yadda", but without doubt the biggest part of the game is the teamwork needed to take down that gigantic monster that's been tormenting you for so long. While there is fun to be had solo, ignore the multiplayer side of the game and you'll be throwing away the best.

So, is online what Nintendo and Capcom promised or, like many others does it fall short? If playing alone isn't enough, it's only fitting that someone else gives their views on Tri's online. Enter fellow N-Europe staff writer Stephen Thomson!

Stephen Thomson: Sounds like a mighty fine plan Jo