All About Monster Hunter Freedom 3

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Capcom formally announced Monster Hunter Freedom 3 (Monster Hunter Portable 3rd) at a press conference yesterday. But the announcement was a bit slim on the details. For a closer look at the game, we turn to this week's Famitsu, which has a 12 page spread complete with interviews with series producer Ryozo Tsujimoto and MHF3 director Yasunori Ichinose.

The interview clarifies some of what Capcom alluded to in its announcement yesterday, most notably the updated Felyne Companion system. "We've put a good amount of effort into the Felyne Companion system in order to up the fun in single player mode," explained Tsujimoto in the interview.

You can now take two Felynes out with you on your single player quest, up from the single companion of Freedom Unite. When you take a Felyne out on a quest, monster attacks cease to be concentrated on your character, making the hunt easier. Because you can take two this time, Tsujimoto feels that the play will expand as more challenging multiplayer quests become accessible to solo play.

Also new for Freedom 3 is the ability to customize your Felyne companions' equipment. Doing so will change the creature's physical appearance and properties. The magazine offered up a few examples of Felyne customization, all of which looked horrifically cute. You'll be able to customize the mascots in three areas: weapon, head parts and torso parts.

The actual creation of Felyne equipment will use a different system from what's currently used to create hunter weapons. You'll still have to create the weapons using materials that you earn from your monster hunts, but the actual process will be different in ways that were not specified in the interview.

Outside of the greater variety due to customization, you'll find increased movement patterns for the Felynes. Ichinose said that the team is putting effort even in such areas as the little gestures the Felynes make. Different Felynes will have different motions. He recommended that players go hunting with a variety of Felynes in order to see them all.

Non-Felyne-related improvements mentioned in the interview include the ability to use kanji, hiragana and katakana characters for names, in addition to roman names. Ichinose said to expect more in the way of download quests, although he didn't provide details. The Famitsu article also made mention of "new communication features," without clarifying what those are.

Here's what Freedom 3 won't have: a data import feature for Freedom Unite players. Tsujimoto did suggest, however, that Capcom might allow players with save data to get some bonuses.

Outside of new gameplay features and systems, this week's issue provided a first look at the game's new monsters, weapons, fields and new central village.

The new base of operations for your hunting is Yukumo Village, a mountain village that's known for its hot springs. This village has a Japanese taste to it, both from its design to its residents. The village chief, a lady who looks like she's ready to star in a kabuki play, gives you quests during solo play. During multipayer, you'll take your quests from a younger, cuter receptionist girl.

You'll find all the expected facilities here, including item and accessory shops and a home where you can save your data and change your equipment. But the biggest facility in town is a common bath area, which takes the place of the Felyne Kitchen from Freedom Unite. Located in the center of town, you go here to take on multiplayer quests from the receptionist girl.

You and your party members can actually take a bath in the common bath area. Doing this before quests will lead to status upgrades. Ichinose refused to clarify.

Regarding creatures, the magazine revealed MH Freedom 3's poster creature to be Jin Ogre, a large forest-dwelling monster who's often spotted in the surroundings of Yukumo Village. This is the first target for hunters visiting Yukumo. This creature was shown in the official art that emerged from yesterday's press conference. Incidentally, MH3's poster creature, the one that appeared on the box, was the water/land dragon Lagiacrus.

The magazine also has a look at Gagua, a small flightless bird-like monster, and Aoashira, a larger beast who loves honey and is also known for catching fish in lakes. Gagua has become an important livestock for the people of Yukumo Village.

A new field introduced in the magazine is Keiryu, or Mountain Stream. Set in the forrest surroundings of a mountain stream, this area was originally home to Gagua and Aoashira creatures, but large monsters have recently come over in search of food.

Speaking about fields, Ichinose said that we can expect all the fields that appeared in Monster Hunter 3, along with the addition of the Mountain Stream field. Some of the MH3 fields have seen changes because unlike the Wii title, Freedom 3 does not have underwater sequences.

As far as weapons and equipment go, the magazine confirms that all 12 weapon categories from past Monster Hunter games will appear in the game. Those are: Long Sword, One Handed Sword, Flute, Broadsword, Dual Sword, Lance, Hammer, Gun Lance, Bow, Slash Axe, Light Bow Gun and Heavy Bow Gun. All weapons are seeing changes, even greater the changes that were made for Freedom Unite. Tsujimoto mentioned the Gun Lance as an example of a weapon that has seen a particularly large set of changes.

The equipment creation and fortification systems are also seeing a variety of changes. While not providing specifics, Ichinose said to expect the same Monster Hunter, but with new ways to play. Tsujimoto said that this area of the game will keep what was good from Freedom Unite and MH3 and add new elements.

Famitsu managed to get a first look at one set of armor. It's the armor that was shared in the official artwork and looks like it's from a Shiren the Wanderer game. This armor, which serves as your default armor when starting the game, has an Eastern taste. The magazine speculates that, beyond its defensive strength, the armor is easy on movement.

It looks like Capcom is packing Monster Hunter Freedom 3 with new content. This may come as a surprise if you were expecting a quick update to Freedom Unite or even Wii's Monster Hunter 3.

Freedom 3 is actually based off neither those two games. Ichinose took particular care to note how the game has changed from the last PSP title. "The majority of the game has been remade. Because of this, monster movement and graphics have become markedly better, and the breadth of expression has expanded. I expect you to make lots of new discoveries while out on the hunt, stuff like 'they can have this many monsters move with this quality of visuals' and 'You can even do this.'"

Monster Hunter Freedom 3 is currently just 50% complete, so you can't "do this" just yet, but you will be able to before the year is up.