Last week, Capcom held an exclusive hands-on Monster Hunter 4 event called “Summer Hunting Tryouts”. In our earlier report of the event, we got a closer look at the new Insect Staff weapon. Following the event, Capcom shared a video summarizing it, along with a presentation showing the Charge Axe and the new jump actions.
For those of you who missed the latest trailer for Monster Hunter 4, the above video shows it off at the 3:23 mark. At the 15:50 mark of the video, fans who got to try out the Charge Axe and Insect staff got to voice their opinions on the new weapons thus far. According to several of the players at the event, the Insect Staff was a little tricky to handle at first, but after playing around with it, it almost felt like second nature.
One particular Switch Axe veteran went in thinking that the Charge Axe would be very similar to his weapon of choice, as it has similar mode-switching features; however, he comments that it was completely different from what he expected, and he feels that Capcom did a great job giving both weapons their own unique feel when you use them.
Other comments include how tough the fight against Goa Magara was, along how fun and useful the jumping feature is, as it adds a completely new dimension to the hunt.
At 19:20, Monster Hunter 4 producer Ryozo Tsujimoto and director Kaname Fujioka give us another look at hunting with Charge Axes, as both key developers go on to man the weapon for the hunt. They decide on fighting a Great Jaggi to make things easier to see, and a little less hectic compared to the likes of Goa Magara.
Fujioka starts out by giving an explanation of the basic controls for the weapon’s Sword-mode. According to the director, it is simple to use, and has some nice mobile attacks, such as the forward-dashing slash. Once you switch to Axe mode, it has a heavier and slower feel, but it does considerably more damage compared to the Sword-mode. Fujioka says that he believes players will be switching between both modes, as the basic play-style of the weapon.
The director then gives us a look at what it’s like to stock energy in Sword-mode, by taking down some helpless herbivores. The bottles that get filled on the upper-left part of the screen are your energy stock. Fujioka adds that the play-style will revolve around stocking up bottles, then unleashing it in Axe-mode for powerful attacks. For closer details regarding the charges, check out our report on their earlier presentation.
Next, the developers demonstrate the jumping feature that can be done by running off ledges. This action can be followed up with jump-attacks. Knowing the range and distance of your jumps will be a crucial factor in landing the hits.
Those of you who’ve played past Monster Hunter titles know that you can’t sprint while having a weapon out, so you might be wondering how this action will be possible unless you sheath your weapon. Tsujimoto shows that you can still do jump actions by simply dodge-rolling while you’re near a ledge. As seen in the demonstration, these jumps cover slightly less distance compared to the non-weapon holding version, so it could take some getting used to, as well.
Starting at 25:45 the two decide to take on the Great Jaggi. According to Tsujimoto, remembering the field will be a bigger factor compared to past titles, as it will be more important to know the whereabouts of specific features and where monsters can be found.
Many players who got to try the demo stated that it was pretty tough to jump-attack monsters and actually remain on top of them. Director Fujioka explains that you’ll need to press X or A while you’re on top and the monster is calm. Once it starts going wild, you’ll have to hold down the R button to stay on it, otherwise it will knock you out. You will then have to wait for it to calm down again until you can resume attacking. You “win” the fight once the blue bar fills up all the way, and according to the developers, it is very satisfying.
Monster Hunter 4 will be slated for release on September 14th for Nintendo 3DS.
