Genre: Third-Person Action
Developer: Capcom
Publisher: Capcom

Looking at any and every scene in Monster Hunter 3 is like staring into a painting; the art direction is simply astonishing. The texture work, the use of colors, the stage designs, the character art, and especially the monster designs are sublimely portrayed. The animation is surely some of the best ever; watching the Royal Ludroth shake the water off of its fatty mane is instantly recognizable to anyone who has ever let a dog into the house during a rain storm-- the game is filled with cool ideas like that perfectly executed.

Monster Hunter 3's hub area is set in an oceanic, tropical island village, and the music is appropriately relaxed. This choice in itself was a good pacing decision, as it contrasts the dramatic action of the actual hunts nicely, which feature some well-composed, high-tempo, orchestral battle songs. Sound effects are extremely memorable, especially the song and subsequent "So tasty!" voice acting following a successful meat grilling operation.

The core control scheme will be immediately recognizable to anyone who has ever played the Souls games, because it's obvious that Demon's Souls essentially borrowed the control scheme, pretty much wholesale, from the Monster Hunter games. To add sophistication, there are ten weapon classes, and each one completely changes the way that the player goes about combat.

Between Monster Hunter 3's outstanding control scheme, unbelievably beautiful aesthetic, even difficulty curve, and great pacing, it's not difficult to see why so many people spend their days in front of the television collecting items, crafting, and fighting giant monsters. Some of the design decisions-- the quest-oriented approach, load-time separated areas, and the fact that the first five or six hours are non-stop, dialog-based tutorials-- feel a bit antiquated. But the fact that the series has additional room in which to grow makes the prospects of future entries just that much more exciting.