Monster Hunter Freedom Unite to Monster Hunter portable 3rd

Monster Hunter Freedom Unite is the expansion of MH Freedom 2 and the english version of MH portable 2nd G. If you check the opening of MH freedom unite, it gives you an idea about the gameplay and it also shows the mechanics of the game. For those who haven't tried to play monster hunter, try to watch the MH freedom unite video first and you'll see that its not a normal hack and slash monster killing game. I started to play monster hunter when the MH portable 2nd G released. I saw my officemates playing MH during break time and they asked me to join their hunting session. Its actually a real time game and more on team work and strategy, the game gives you lots of option to beat the monsters.

The game has more missions, equipment, and monsters than MH Freedom 2 including the main monster of the game, Narga Cuga(Wyvern with glowing red eyes). A new feature is a Felyne fighter (its like a Cat) to help you on your quests. You can also get Rarity 9 and 10 armors and weapons. In addition, the player can now hold up to 99 of each item type in his/her item box, store up to 20 equipment sets, and get ten equipment pages instead of six. A new type of quest, the "Epic Hunting Quest", will be introduced, which will enable the hunter to take on, one by one, up to more than 4 different monsters in one quest. Weapons can now have up to purple sharpness which is higher than white sharpness. You can now accept HR 7-9 quests (G-Rank) in the gathering hall and new elder quests outside the gathering hall from a Felyne beside the village elder. The downloadable content can give you special armor for your felyne along with early unlocks for some of the felyne skills.  

Adhoc Party

On November 6, 2008, the beta version of a new online service allowing voice chat through the PlayStation Network (and a LAN connected Wi-Fi capable PlayStation 3) was released on the Japanese PlayStation Store. Adhoc Party for PlayStation Portable beta version is compatible with Monster Hunter Freedom Unite. 

We always play MH together using WLAN or Wi-Fi but I didn't try the Adhoc party for PS3 because it requires you to update your PSP Custom Firmware(CFW) to the latest version that will make your PSP incapable of playing downloaded ISO games.

Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G has enjoyed much commercial success in Japan. The Japanese version of the game sold 690,000 copies on its release day, and in its first week sold 1.5 million copies. As of July 8, 2009, the game has sold 3.5 million copies in the region. Monster Hunter Freedom Unite has achieved great critical response with an average metric score of 80% with IGN and Eurogamer giving the game a 8/10. One of very few negative feedback was from GameSpot who gave the game a 6.5, stating it still contains camera issues, no lock on feature and the lack of an online mode.

Monster Hunter Portable 3rd opening shows that new feature of the game that include revised Felyne combat system, new regions and monsters and the new Flagship monster of the game, Jinouga(an enormous, Wolverine-like Creature that use Lightning attack).

What I really like with this game is, you can take two Felynes out with you on a single player quests, up from single companion of MH Freedom Unite. When you take Felynes out on quest, monster's attention are divided between the player and the companions, making hunts easier. If you want to play online and its only two of you, game will allow you to take one Felyne each but if there are three hunters in online gathering hall, you cannot bring any Felyne. Also new to MH portable 3rd is the ability to customize the felyne's weapon and armor to improve their attack and defense and it also change the creature's physical appearance and properties. Felyne weapons can either be Slash or Impact damage, The creation of Felyne equipment will use monster "scraps". These are obtained when you create armor, the scraps left over are used to create felynes equipment so they progress as you do. Felyne now have more emotions and features, when outraged will become mad and powerful with an ! over their head. Same feature when in panic or taunting, a symbol will appear. They also now have 3 methods of attack (melee, boomerang, and bomb) and for targeting trends, they can mainly attack large or small foes, or even a balance of both.

Weapons

All weapon classes from previous games (Great Sword, Long Sword, Sword and Shield, Dual Blades, Hammer, Hunting Horn, Lance, Gunlance, Switch Axe, Light Bowgun, Heavy Bowgun and Bow) are present in the game.They also added Switch Axe that transform from ax to sword and they made the bowgun into two types, Light bowgun and Heavy bowgun.

Sales

Within two weeks of release by December 20, 2010, Monster Hunter Portable 3rd sold 2.58 million units in Japan. According to the game's publisher, Monster Hunter Portable 3rd is “now the fastest selling PSP title ever in Japan” and “the fastest selling game in Capcom's history. By March 2011, the game's sales in Japan had reached 4.6 million units.