Monster Hunter Portable 3rd

The monster is marked on the map with a mean-looking little blue dragon icon in an area three loading screens away, presumably just for the purposes of the demo. Running through sprawling mountain scenery, complete with waterfall, pools of rainwater and spectacular views from the top of cliffs, I'm reminded once again that Monster Hunter just doesn't care about the limitations that a portable system is meant to impose. It's determined to be as beautiful and wide in scope as it wants, and damn the loading times, small screen and awkward camera controls.

The first monster – the Aoashira, or Blue Bear Beast – is lurking in a clearing. It's like a giant, scaly badger with Wolverine claws, aggressive but clumsy. The closest thing to it is the Congalala, the equally brutish but nowhere near as threatening giant pink monkey from Freedom Unite. It attacks with slow, powerful claw swipes and charges and can take a lot of punishment from gunlance stabs and shells.

Combat feels exactly the same as it ever has. We've got the weapons we're used to against a creature that's new, albeit with small adjustments and some new combos. With a greatsword it feels weighty and dangerous, with dual blades it's flighty and super-fast. Monster Hunter's great strength is its ability to transform completely depending on which weapon you use, making you adapt your style to whichever fanged monster is roaring in front of you.

After Aoashira succumbs to the gunlance, a rather more nasty opponent swoops in to say hello. The Jinouga is a Thunder Wolf Wyvern – a horned, ugly, vaguely canine and fast-as-all-hell dragon. It flings itself straight at me with a roar, making me flinch away from the screen – the monster design in this series is exceptional – and paralyses my with an electrically-charged swipe. It's a huge, energetic beast, throwing itself around with somersaulting attacks that shudder the forest floor and squish my Felyne companions flat. It kills me in minutes. This is more like it.

Monster Hunter hasn't changed. It probably never will. It's a winning formula, and series director Ryozo Tsujimoto has openly said that the core concept of the game mustn't be moved by so much an inch. Millions of people have learned its quirks and accustomed their delicate selves to its brutal difficulty curve and unforgiving nature, digging deep enough to find the incomparable rewards in these bravely uncompromising games.

It's arguably too big for the platform that's become its natural home, and too ambitious – the control system will never be accessible on the PSP. Portable 3rd will almost certainly be the best yet in the series on a portable system, and its weapon balance and monster design is as brilliant as ever, but it will have the same problems, too. The dream of a high-definition Monster Hunter that you can play with a pad is still alive.