You might be able to pull off 10 minute sessions but really, it is the type of game that is broken up into missions and it feels best when you can at least complete a whole mission during one session. And missions can range from well... 10 minutes to like 30 to 45 minutes or more. Tough to predict in advance. Plus there is some management in between missions, etc. I usually spent a few hours each time I played, especially if I was playing online with others, as it feels kind of weak to just show up for one mission and then leave right away.

I started off playing mostly single player and then I moved to mostly multiplayer. The gear you obtain in one can be used in the other, and vice versa, which is convenient in some ways but I feel like it adds a bit of imbalance to the single player.

Co-op is 4 player at most and I think 4 player is the funnest. With the right people.

@Zero Thanks that's just what I was looking for.

@Zero
@vids

10 minutes? Wow, Do NOT plan on that. In solo missions and group missions, multiple times we hit the time limit, and other times we finished with SECONDS on the clock. Like Zero also said, 30-45 is a much better estimation. The game is super addicting though; I spent like 14 hours on it one Friday afternoon - Saturday early morning.

Zero said:

With the right people.

*scoff*, well 'hello' to you, too!



@vids

Oh, sorry, I missed these questions.

I do a split. We had a standing MH Night where we'd do a few missions (it was usually myself, Anand, Mikey, and a "guest", haha..so 4, always if possible. 2 is..a challenge.), and I'd use that to get better weapons (online has better weapons..that can be used offline..and you'll probably need them).

I don't know why I post with all of those parenthesis. Sorry. But anyway, when you're online, you use a LOT of materials (healing stuff, etc), so I'd use my offline during the week before MH Night to stock up, and do some other things. Bother people to say "uh, hey guys, I need more Honey..." is annoying for all parties, and you annoy yourself at the same time. So yeah, taking care of those things before the night is a good idea, though if you need to do it late in your session, no one is going to complain.


I'm EXTREMELY excited for the next round, and no offense to anyone else, but I'm looking hugely forward to hitting the field with Anand and Mikey again. We'll be older and wiser! (I HOPE HOPE HOPE we have a SOLID group of SOLID players who go out ALLLLL THE TIME, like 12 of us! Maybe we can mix and match...like swingers! Speaking of swingers..our group never had a hammer guy, haha. RIP Fabz' NW MH character...)

I more meant like... I enjoyed playing with you guys more versus strangers.

@Zero

Oh. Yeah. MH Strangers are BALLS, I'd advise against it 100% of the time, legit.


--Story time everyone, gather 'round!..

I went out once, and I think it was someone's friend around here; maybe it was Fabz or maybe it was NinSage. I know each of those guys were deep into MH and had a network outside of NW. I did not. Though I guess I did have awesome Chack. What a cool guy..

Oh, right. So, I went out with somebody, and I wanted to do this one mission. It was some Fire-themed mission. I think we had to kill an Agnaktor, a Rathalos+, and something else. Or maybe it was just two.. It was on the Volcano board. So this guy, looks at my stats, pretty much REFUSES to go out with me because it will be a waste of his time or something since I'm just going to die out there. I'm like "dude, I'll be fine," "I'm not going to bring these guys because I don't want to waste their time either!" Cripes. I explain to this guy over and over how I've been playing the game for, uh, like two hundred hours, and I know how it works. I know what my guy can handle damage-wise, how the game works, how do dodge (duh), etc. He draws a heavy sigh, and reluctantly accepts, but he isn't happy about it.

What happens? His overpowered friend faints once, I don't go down at all, and we get out of there with a gigantic win. Just a pile of BS. That kind of crap would NEVER happen on NW. Somebody would go "hey, I want to take down X and Y," and someone would go "sounds tough. I'll help you." ..Except for that one time that Fabz was drunk, fainted ONCE on a Double Uragan mission, and backed out leaving me to eat the entry fee and NEVER complete that mission ever. Ugh, Fabz, UGH. (Another example of someone with overpowered armor thinking they're stronger than they are and then blowing the mission themselves.)


We have enough guys here, Vids (or anyone "new"), where you can say "hey, I want to go out later," and somebody WILL join you. We don't NEED any outside help from "pros" or people who live and breathe MH..because WE live and breathe MH. Trust us on this one; you'll enjoy it much more this way (I promise), and everyone will have a great time.

vids said:

1. How long are your play sessions? co-op session? battles (usually)?

2. On a 3DS would it lend itself to pick up and play for 10 minutes or should a chunk of time be set aside? If so how long would you recommend?

3. What percent of the time do you play co-op vs solo (eg 40% co-op / 60% solo)?

4. How many players do you usually play with in co-op? How many do you prefer?

1. If you want to make progress, setting aside at least two hours is best.

2. No, this game is not pick-up-and-play at all. You won't get anywhere in 10 minutes. Most quests have a 50-minute time limit, so you should give yourself at least 50 minutes to play the game if you want to make progress. The game isn't really suited for a handheld.

3. I find single player boring, so I always play online with others.

4. I gather up as many as I can. The full 4 players is always preferable. If you don't have 4, quests can take a long time to complete because monsters are not scaled down to accommodate less players. And if said players don't have adequate gear, it can be really tough to beat one under the time limit with 2 or 3 players.

@Mr_Mustache

I will only pick this up if the online is not region locked, I thought Unified Friends Lists would be the end of that but it seems Mario Tennis on 3DS has its online region locked, grrrrr. If its not region locked I will probably use the 3DS version to grind for loot offline then have some online sessions with you guys with the Wii U version. I like this idea of being able to use saves in this way. Its also cool that the 3DS version can play local multi with the Wii U version.

Wow I haven't been here in a while and people are playing again. For the person that started the game recently just so you know Capcom has said that sometime after Ultimate comes out the Tri servers will be shut down so that's about 6 months or so from now. As for my dissaperance I figured you guys weren't playing this anymore so I stopped posting in this topic and decided to go ahead and rank up a bit. I am in my 90's I think or low 100's now. I did my urgent about 3 months ago and I did this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1xGWBGDzn4&feature=plcp

I'm the gunner in the video.

@warerare
Is Mario Tennis Open really region locked? Meaning we can't even get a friendly match going? We'll have to try that out someday to be sure.

@NinTemple_Maxi
Indeed, but I think GelatinousEncore just wants to play single player, so he'll be ok.

I edited your url, basically just highlight it then click the "link" button.

Yep its totally locked down, we cannot even join the same friend room.

@GelatinousEncore
Sweet! I look forward to hearing your impressions. Unless they're bad. That would make me sad. :(

@vids
I think the solo and co-op are both super-strong in different ways. I would actually going free-hunting in solo mode to Animal Crossing. It's just kind of zen and relaxing. You can pick some plants, harvest some honey, dig up some fossils, kill some dinosaurs. It can go on for a really long time, and there are no penalties, really. And fighting the monsters solo, in general, is very different solo. Because EVERY attack is focused on you. Co-op benefits more from group tactics and covering up the weak spots of the other players. But online monsters have more health, so it isn't a cakewalk.

I guess what I'm trying to say is... I love this game. Probably my favorite Wii game.

Oh, back to your actual questions, though. You'll need at least 30-40 minutes to run a real quest. Online, you usually stay on for a bit longer, just to make the most of your appointment. And, as far as players, the more, the merrier.

@Mr_Mustache
Hey, you were always bummin' Honey off of me at the end! You Honey Mooch! (alt: Honey Bum)

I used a hammer for a while... But I was upset that I was never able to slice anything. All you can do is stun, but to do that, you basically have to look the dinosaur in the eye the whole time. I prefer cowardly tactics (see: bowgunning).

But, yeah. Super-pumped for 3U. I hope it has TONS of new shit and a bit of a graphical bump.

@Anand

Hey, those were traded on the open market! I probably gave you some awesome Husks or something! And you'll always be a Bowgunner to me.

--Your response to Vids; isn't there some sort of bonus if you go really fast? I thought there was..

@Mr_Mustache
Only in the arena quests, right?

I'm imagining "You'll always be a bowgunner to me" to the tune of Billy Joel.

@Anand

Oh, I'm not sure. I thought there was a bonus for the main quests, too, like better / more bonus items or something. Not Dana Carvey stuff, but the freebies.

And yes, the tune of Billy Joel is correct. --Hey, go to chat and supplant me! I gotta pee and do work!

I can't! I have to do work, too! On the weekend, like an animal!

Use a catheter.

About the bonus stuff, I'm too rusty to say...

I don't think there is a bonus for doing things quicker in normal quests as far as items go if that's what you are talking about you two in main quests in normal circumstances. However if say you have the skill Capture Expert and you capture a monster and that adds a capture reward to the total number of cap rewards by 1. Great luck it says it often increases the quest rewards from 22/32 to 29/32 until one failure or until maximum number of rewards is reached.

Wow thanks all for the details, strategies, and solid sense of what to expect when picking up this title. This and Animal Crossing will be my go to games of 2013.

This is a cool game. The first time I played it I think I was in a particular state where I didn't feel like reading obnoxiously small text so I totally didn't give it a fair chance.

I still don't completely understand how it works but I'm getting there; I'm having fun. It also looks gorgeous.

Also my character is a girl and she's super hot.

@GelatinousEncore
Blue hair?

You'll understand the details, eventually. You don't need to understand them right now. The single-player mode provides a nice, gradual tutorial to the game. After that tutorial, though, all bets are off. Instead of harvesting mushrooms, you will be harvesting the beating hearts of giant monsters.

Well, that was an exaggeration. Their tails and horns, more like.

@Anand

Isn't a Rathian Ruby the heart?