I really enjoyed Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate on Wii U and have spent many hours into that game in single and multiplayer. Before that too with the original Monster Hunter Tri on Wii, I was hooked into the gameplay. I’ll admit though, I couldn’t get into the PSP games for some reason that I can’t exactly remember. It really was thanks to my friends who were really into the series, that I eventually caught the bug. I bring this up because I think it was also due to the changes and progressions made to the overall Monster Hunter experience since it first began on PS2 and PSP that it has grown into something more accessible and enjoyable for not only long-time fans but for newcomers as well. I feel this is further exemplified in Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate for the Nintendo 3DS. Not only is it the best entry point in the series, it’s probably the best game in the franchise.

Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate is the next major installment in the long running Monster Hunter series of games. Not only bringing in new Monsters to hunt and environments, but new weapon types to utilize and new gameplay mechanics. Although, you do also get a lot of returning monsters in the mix as well, so long-time veterans will continue to feel right at home.

The Good: One thing I noticed immediately when I first started up Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate was how much info the game is sharing in terms of mechanics. Your first fight in the game is against a special type of Monster, and is not actually how these major monster fights go. This really stood out to me because this type of monster was first introduced in MH Tri, and was an online only encounter. I remember first facing this type of monster with my friends and we had no idea what to do. So starting the game off with that type of monster fight helps everyone learn how that fight operates when they eventually reach that moment again later. It’s also nicely planted into the storyline.

There are also several other things that players will go through in the beginning that help out newcomers. Like the first quests you’re tasked to do help explain a couple of the game’s major mechanics, which are cooking meat and combining materials. While a bit slow in the beginning, since you’ll do quite a bit of stuff first before you begin hunting the big monsters, I really liked how the game has set up their tutorials and I feel like newcomers can easily grasp how the game works. Another great example is how you have all the weapon types available to you from the start and can undergo tutorial missions to familiarize yourself with them. I’ll also credit the great Monster Hunter community, as it’s not too hard to find answers to some of your questions, since the game can be a bit vague on some certain items.

While the game does a good job for getting new hunters into the game, there’s also a lot in store for long-time fans of the series. Like new weapons! The switch axe was a nice addition when it first appeared in MH Tri. In Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate there’s now the Charge Blade and the Insect Glaive. Both offer their own set of combos and unique characteristics. From MH Tri to MH3U, I’ve always ended up using new weapons. And now in MH4U I’m really digging how these two new weapons play. They’re both fairly simple to understand, but you’ll soon learn that they have quite some depth to them. For example, being able to launch yourself with the Insect Glaive so you can mount monsters, which is also a new mechanic of the game.

This is really quite the step up from previous Monster Hunter games, and I don’t want to spend too much time explaining the finer details on what’s new to the table. To summarize it all though, Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate changes up a lot of the traditional formula, while maintaining what made the game fun in the first place. No problems either with being on the handheld platform. Playing online is a easy and simple process and I’ve hardly run into any problems in performance, other than a couple disconnects.

The Bad: While I’m really enjoying my time with the game, there are some small negatives that I feel need to be known. These probably won’t be that big of a deal for many though, but it does help to keep in mind of them. Like my first one being that single player is more involved this time around to your overall experience. Not exactly a bad thing by any means, since the story is one of my favorite things about the game. My negative towards that though is that it’s kind of a requirement this time around to play the single player. One of the best things about Monster Hunter is the multiplayer, and I can see people only playing multiplayer and hardly touching the single player stuff. So for those types of players, you’ll be missing out on a lot of really helpful items that only become available to you by making progress in the single player story. In previous games, you were pretty safe if you hardly touched the single player. This time around though, it’s actually a strong requirement, especially if you’re hoping to tackle some of the game’s most strongest monsters.

My second negative also falls into the personal preference category. This is a handheld game. While Monster Hunter grew popular because of its availability on a handheld, it’s still disappointing that there was no console release this time around. Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate looked great on Wii U. While Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate isn’t bad looking by any means, and looks pretty great on the 3DS. It’s still disappointing that Capcom didn’t go the same route they did with MH3U. This not only affects the look of the game, but the controls as well. Those who’ve played MH3U on 3DS will be right at home, but it did take me a while to get use to the 3DS control scheme from the Wii U Pro Controller. I’m playing on the original 3DS and I find it completely fine. Still, I’m sure there are many who would have liked to see a console version.

Another issue I found with the game is something I’ve always felt with the Monster Hunter series. It can get overwhelming at times since there’s a lot of things to manage with this game. One of the things I always thought Monster Hunter could improve on is with how they introduce and teach these systems. While MH4U does a decent job, it’s still being presented with lots of text without too much examples and pictures involved. So it’s easy to feel confused. Although, you’ll find these side systems quite easy to understand once you try them for the first time. There’s still a ways to go in terms of further “mainstreaming” the Monster Hunter experience, but MH4U is a step in the right direction.

The final thing I want to bring attention to is with what was removed. Monster Hunter Tri introduced the ability to fight monsters underwater. I actually enjoyed these water fights and the monsters that came from it. Not everyone felt the same way. so in Monster Hunter 4, underwater fights were removed. Not sure if it was due to the negative feedback or the transition to handheld only, but I was disappointed to not see underwater fights not returning. Especially since monsters like the Lagiacrus and the Ceadeus were amongst my favorite monsters to fight against.

Overall Thoughts: Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate is easily the best Monster Hunter game in the series. It does a great job in maintaining what made the series so enjoyable in the first place and introducing new weapons and mechanics to it that greatly enhance the experience. I also felt that this latest addition does the best job in getting newcomers into the series. The story this time around has been very enjoyable to play through and the local/online multiplayer continues to be the best way to play the game. There’s a lot to experience, as I’ve already spent 150+ hours with the game and am hardly near the end of it. There is also plenty of free DLC coming in the future, so this game could keep you occupied for a good while. Definitely one of the best handheld games in 2015 and one that all 3DS owners should give a shot.

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