The Monster Hunter series is coming to the Wii later this year, and it’s bringing along a friend.
Capcom has announced that the latest game in the Monster Hunter series, Monster Hunter Tri, will come bundled with the Wii’s new Classic Controller Pro for $59.99. While the original Classic Controller bares a resemblance to a traditional controller, the Classic Controller Pro adds two shoulder buttons and grips to make it look, and hopefully feel, more like what the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 offer control-wise. The Classic Controller Pro will also be sold separately for $19.99.
Not many North American gamers may care about Monster Hunter Tri, as it’s not the easiest series to get into, but the games sell millions in Japan. The main problem with Monster Hunter is its current home on the PSP, because the PSP control scheme will easily make a player’s hands hurt. “The Claw,” or one-handed control of both the PSP’s analog stick and D-pad, is pretty much a necessity and not all that comfortable.
Monster Hunter itself is not the typical RPG, with no story to speak of other than: “You are a monster hunter, go hunt monsters.” However, a story is not necessary, as Monster Hunter is all about fighting varied kinds of monsters and collecting massive amounts of loot/ingredients that can be turned into useful items and equipment. It’s a pretty good series if the PSP’s control scheme doesn’t give you early arthritis.
Which, makes it pretty awesome that Monster Hunter Tri is coming bundled with a Classic Controller Pro. The bundle will cost $10 more than the game’s regular version, but as a recent Monster Hunter player I would recommend that anyone looking into this series consider the bundle first and foremost. It’s very considerate of Capcom and Nintendo to include a special controller with a game known for having control issues in the past. I’m not sure how well the Wii Remote control scheme works, but the Classic Controller Pro seems like a better method. Now, we’ll have to see if anybody other than me cares and will be picking up Monster Hunter Tri at all, currently set for an April release.
