Did I mention the cats?
Monster Hunter Diary DXfor the Nintendo 3DS is a silly game. That much is evident from watching the series of commercials presented on a nearby TV screen at TGS, which shows a variety of cats in a variety of different kooky situations — like trying to open a shaking Monster Hunteregg.
The actual game is equally adorable, even if it’s a fairly shallow experience from a simulation standpoint.
Diary DX is very much like Animal Crossing, or in a more relevant but more obscure comparison, Disney’s Magical World. It’s part simulator in the sense that you can roam around talking to other Palicos in the Monster Hunteruniverse, but the end goal is to participate in a bunch of mini-games located within each micro hub.
The hub itself is made of different spokes, with the ability to fast travel instantly with the tap of the bottom screen. Palicos are front and center here, inhabiting each realm and going along for the mini-game rides. During my time with the demo I was able to play two such micro-games — a pig race, and a Patapon-like sidescrolling adventure sequence.
The former sees players betting on pig-riding Palicos, with the power to control a single rider, jumping over logs and other obstacles in the race for first. It’s simple, and not something I’d likely want to do more than a few times in total. The Pataponbit was a tad more enjoyable, as it provides options as you follow a set path, like the choice to eat a mushroom, ignore it, or harvest the ingredients — likewise, enemies can be approached with a stealth or combat option.
For the most part, this seems really geared towards Monster Hunterfans, and it’s something that the younger audience would enjoy more than a seasoned veteran of the franchise.Monster Hunter Diary DXwas recently released this past week in Japan, with Mario and Tom Nook costumes. There’s still no word on a localization, but it might be possible if the series continues to sell like gangbusters in the US.