You don't get knocked down when struck by low-level monsters. It seems like a mild thing, but getting staggered or completely knocked on your ass in Freedom Unite is annoying, since Monster Hunter has, historically speaking, always felt heavy and slow. So getting slapped around by raptor-like monsters and having to get up, or recover from the interruption, has always been a pet peeve of mine. Now you don't get knocked down. I'm sure the big stuff will still knock you on your keister, but now when you get hit by something less than Godzilla-sized, you take damage, but you stay on your feet, swinging away.
Everything feels faster. Understand that I'm not playing using the Wiimote/Nunchuck set-up. I'm using the Classic Controller Pro, which has the same button layout of Sony's Dual Shock, and feels super comfortable for long play sessions. The buttons are distinct and responsive, the pad is big enough for large hands, and the analog sticks do the trick. Running, dodging, evading, attacking feels quicker. It's not exactly Devil May Cry, but it's been fine-tuned to be faster all around than in previous versions.
You don't need to select bug nets and pick axes any more. If you have them in your inventory, and you reach a harvesting area, you'll automatically farm items without having to manually select these items first. It's a small tweak, but a welcome one.
No blue and red chests at the start of levels. Now, it seems, you do all of your item management pre-quest. There's a lady who gives you quests in town, but she hasn't actually given me any yet. My first few quests happened simply by leaving town, and there weren't any chests to get temporary items from, or to deliver quest items to. Now you see the entire map from the outset. No need, I guess, to collect a physical map that takes up a precious inventory slot. Remember, this may all change the further you get into the game, but after the first few soujourns out into the wild, I haven't had to deal with any of the classic Monster Hunter conventions of this nature.
I'm going back to playing for now, but so far everything seems really cool. I can't tell you how many times I've played through MH Dos, MH Portable 2, MH Freedom 2, MH 2nd G, and MH Freedom Unite, so it was a real treat to finally see some new towns (I really like Tri's seaside village). There's a character in it that tasks you with collecting items to help rebuild the village, and as I progress I'm imagining that the seed rows, honeycombs, mushroom trees, and other upgradeable facets of my Pokke Farm (it might be called something different in Tri) will blossom once again. You can even name your Poogie.
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