31.12.2016

Monster Hunter is a great series. I've had this from launch and as of recently starting a new character, I thought I would pop up a review.----- Series Summery -----Many people like to make comparisons with difficult games as it's the "Dark Souls of...". Well, Monster Hunter has been around much longer and been handing players their beaten hides more often as well as more ruthlessly, possibly why it never took of quite so well in the West. You're thrown in with very little explanation for anything to work out how the world works via trial and error as well as regular failure and death. Fights with a single enemy can easily last 15-30 minutes, you're thrown in against monsters with the only trial and error to beat them,status effects and stats are left to you to work out and if you die you have to start all over again with no rewards.In short, it's a fantastic series that doesn't hold the players hand and does not reward failure.----- New to Monster Hunter 4 -----Many new players came in with Monster Hunter 3 and the biggest change from that is the removal of underwater mechanics. A lot of people were happy about this, underwater segments often being a hated part of any game. I personally liked the underwater areas of 3 which I feel added a new level of challenge to the game, as well as new monster potential and potential mechanics. It wasn't perfect by any means but to me, this is a negative for 4 since refining underwater areas would could have brought out the massive potential it had in a game like this rather than removing it.In its place though we get better overall movement mechanics. Climbing ledges and walls is now more fluent, the 'stiffness' for certain movement in previous games being almost non-existent. Jumping and climbing across stalactites and palm tree leaves to get the drop on a monster, quickly dashing up ledges for a high ground advantage. It's especially great as a light bowgun user as in previous games it could feel like you're trapped if a monster got too close, now it feels like there's a lot more of a fair escape for this more squishier ranged class.Mounting monsters is a new mechanic. Jumping attacks can allow you to ride the monster in an attempt to knock it to the floor for a stun, as well as opening up a good opportunity to break some specific parts of its body. It's a pretty cool mechanic and it feels great to pull off...Though sometimes it can feel like it's too good, that you'll end up focusing on just trying to get mount after mount in certain areas because of how easy it is to both pull off in some environments and how effective it is at opening up some free hits. I hope this is a mechanic they continue to improve and refine rather than remove...Two new weapons with the charge blade and insect glaive...Which I won't go into detail with since I've never been able to get the hang of them.----- Story ----Not something I'll say much about. It's the first Monster Hunter game to really focus this much on the story, but thankfully, if you're here solely for the gameplay then it doesn't really intrude upon that. Yep, I didn't pay any attention to it whatsoever which both makes my opinion on the games story irrelevant BUT does let me say with some authority that the bigger focus on story absolutely does not interfere with the gamelplay.----- Gameplay -----The typical Monster Hunter ordeal: pick up a quest to slay a monster, then slay the monster. A few quests for 'kill xx amount of easy trash enemy' or 'deliver me an egg', but mostly just slaying beasts.The weapons all feel great, with a couple of the returning weapons having a few tweeks and mechanics added to them, of which I've played around with I feel have made them a more enjoyable to use. All weapons, as usual, are free to use and switch between whenever you want as long as you have the materials to make them, with one of each being available right from the start.We have palico's back, our fuzzy felyne companions. You start with your first fully customizable main palico with the option to have a second join your hunts, of which can be found out in the wild waiting to be hired by you. Dress them up, put them in silly hats, send them on their own adventures...You get a cat, it's all you need.Money, as usual, is pretty useless and it doesn't take long before you're swimming in it. Some items have become a little TOO easy to come across due to the many new ways to buy or manufacture your own in some way, meaning in Monster Hunter 4 I've spent almost no time taking trash quests just for the materials I need for another quest. To a degree, this is a nice thing since it is less time being wasted looking for spiderwebs, but having to forage for your materials did add to the experience and does seem to becoming less of a necessity with each game.In terms of overall content: there's a lot. You can spend a hundred hours in this game and there'll still be new monsters you've not seen yet. Single player content is bountiful, multiplayer can be overwhelming, there's a LOT of (all totally free) DLC quests and a bunch of arena fights with specific rulesets attached to them. There's tons to do and it always feels like you're progressing rather than hitting a point where it feels like you're just going through the motions.In terms of negatives, the camera can be a real pain. L trigger will either reset the camera behind you or target the monster you're locked on, which often can leave the camera in a position that's awkward at best. The d-pad lets you move the camera freely but isn't exactly well positioned, with another d-pad available on the touch screen which whilst easier to use still isn't fantastic. Having played on the 'new 3DS' with the c-stick, again, it's easier to use but not fantastic. It's also not uncommon for another monster to walk right in front of the thing, or even for the camera to be totally obscured by the monster you're currently fighting.The camera at times can be feel like another enemy working against you and even with hundreds of hours into the game and getting used to the sub par camera, I still find myself dying from times where the camera just positions itself in a place where it's impossible to see what's going on.The ranged weapons suffer from some control issues as well. If you sink enough time into those weapons (as I have. Love the light bowgun) then you can get used to it, but they're flawed regardless.The light and heavy bowguns require you to stand in place to free aim, which may be a controller limitation BUT I do feel this is necessary and that the weapon has been balanced around that. Being able to move and shoot like a regular shooter would make these over powered. Being stationary in free aim, this leaves both the circle pad and the d-pad available to move the crosshair. The issue is there really isn't any analog aiming to it, so the crosshair either remains stationary or it moves at 100mph, there's no fine aiming by slightly pushing the circle pad as you would expect (which is odd since just slightly moving the circle pad does make a difference to movement). The circle pad has a massive dead zone when you're trying to aim making it feel highly unresponsive and slow which makes the d-pad a lot more viable, but certain weapon upgrades force you to use the circle pad (such as the zoom which automatically takes over the dpad) making these useful upgrades practically something to avoid.Again, the 'new 3DS' does provide the best option with the c-stick, but it's still not ideal.Overall, the game does suffer to a degree due to the limitations of the 3DS but if you enjoy the game then they aren't problems that occur enough to make the game unplayable and are something you can at least get used to after a while.----- Aesthetic -----Visually, for a handheld game, it looks fantastic. The monsters are very well detailed, there's tons of variation in weapons and armor and some of the environments are beautiful. The animations overall seem very natural, from monsters movements visually letting you feel how powerful and threatening they are from your own hunters animations really making you feel weak and insignificant in comparison. The animations in the game are a really important part to making you feel like you've overcome something out of your league, and they nail it better than a lot of other really high budget games on more powerful hardware.That said, there are a few areas of the environment that do stand out and look really out of place and 'tacky'. The honey covered wall on one map feels like they've slapped a google image of honey onto the wall, some plant textures on walls/floors seem like they've just taken a photo and stuck it on. It doesn't look like these parts even belong in the environment at all, which is a shame when compared to how much effort has clearly gone into other areas of the map, as well as the monster and character models.New armor and weapon designs are top notch with some really fantastic looking sets being added alongside many returning sets. The variety of weapons and armor in the game has always been a huge appeal to me and MH4 doesn't disappoint in adding to that.The new weapons, the insect glaive and charge blade, do seem to be severely lacking in visual variety compared to older weapons though, which to a degree can be expected since they've not had the gradual additions each game the others have had.The sound design is as always great. Each returning monster still has their 'theme tune' (the Zinogre remaining my favorite), new monster themes are the same great quality being easily distinct from one another. Even the new minor themes for things like cooking are as always nice and catchy.----- Multiplayer -----Multiplayer has always been a huge part of Monster Hunter ever since the original took advantage of that new fangled interwebs thingy on PS2.Local play or online with friends is a blast. There's a lot of opportunities for great teamwork with the game. Distracting enemies whilst other members set up traps and explosives, many weapons and items providing buffs and heals to the team or simply coordinating attacks to focus on a specific part of a monster you need to destroy. It's rewarding to make an important move against the monsters with a well coordinated push.Online however is a bit hit or miss.Firstly, there's no voice chat and text chat is pretty limited as well as not being very user friendly with pretty short text limits and chat options being hidden through a few menus you've got to go through every time you want to access that feature again. Missing what somebody has said and having to scroll the box up is more of a chore than it should be. If you're playing with friends you can at least use something like Skype or Discord but with strangers, expect a lot of silence since text chat is often just too awkward for anybody to bother with.Monster Hunter 4 is also the first one I've really played online with the random members of the community, previous games sticking to playing with friends only. The purpose of online also seems to be high level players joining low ranked players and boosting them up to high ranks so that they themselves can boost low ranked players. If all you want is a high rank and good gear without putting in the effort yourself, you're in luck.A LOT of people can also seem pretty self centered and selfish. You'll VERY often get lower ranked players joining your lobby and start attempting to dictate which quests you do, which with them unable to join your higher level quests means they're essentially saying "screw you guys, do my quests now". It also seems frowned upon to kick players that do this, with other players calling me out for doing so pretty often, even when I myself have been on a low rank character trying to level myself up.I dunno, maybe that's how it's supposed to be, some rule of "you should always help the lowest level first", but it came across as pretty toxic to me. If I make a lobby it's probably so I can do quests in my own level range and whilst I don't mind helping out others, they could at least ask first. Manners go a long way, and nobody online seems to have any.----- Overall ------If you don't like games where you could easily spend 20 minutes of your time to fail and walk away with nothing, where learning a majority of things is done through trial and error rather than in game explanations and tutorials or simply trying to get a new piece of gear could mean hunting the same enemy 5 times waiting for it to drop one specific item: this isn't for you.It's a very fun game but it also demands a lot of time and patience. Playing with friends only makes it better but if you go online, either get used to using the 'kick player' button or have fun doing the same few level 2 quests over and over.

14.2.2015

As a long time Monster Hunter fan, I've been waiting to play this and experience the thrill of starting out as a new hunter and eventually working my way up the monster chain. Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate kept myself and many, many others entertained for hours upon hours. Now that this new game in the series is out, here's why you should invest in Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate.-------------------------------------------------------Story-------------------------------------------------------Players of the previous games will know that there's not much story to a Monster Hunter game. The first hour or so is usually just you slogging your way through numerous tutorials about how to kill a basic monster,cook meat and pick up eggs. This time, however, CAPCOM have at least implemented a tutorial/opening mission that creates a more enjoyable beginning to the game. The game kicks off with you, as a new hunter (you'd never have guessed, right?) on board a ship heading towards the main city of the game. Before you get there your ship is attacked by a massive monster and are forced to defend yourself. It's nice to see a change of pace from CAPCOM here but after this opening sequence, you'll have to go through a few boring and mundane quests before you're able to start TRULY experiencing the game. Just stick with it - it DOES get better, I promise.Throughout the game you're able to go to different villages and explore on expeditions to unlock new areas, items and monsters. This is a new mechanic for the series and it works really well. Like I said above, there's not much of a story to these games but this new mechanic helps pace the unlocking/upgrading system and gives you, the player, more freedom than before. The game also has a lot of new features that unlock as you progress (such as the ability to re-roll any charms you find or the option to go on randomized hunts with randomized loot) that help keep the game feeling fresh. The offline modes in Monster Hunter games never normally stood out before but this time around, CAPCOM have given it some much-needed love and it really shows. If it can impress an age-old fan like myself, it should impress everyone else as well! It's really quite nice to see CAPCOM tweaking the series a little here and there.-------------------------------------------------------Graphics-------------------------------------------------------The series has never been known for its lush visuals but you can't help but appreciate the look of these games when you realize what's actually going on in them. Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate has much the same look as the previous games on 3DS but that's no bad thing. Monster animations are very polished, your hunter movements are fluid and the attack animations and effects are still as over the top and satisfying to watch as they have always been. CAPCOM never cease to amaze as they've created even more interesting and diverse monsters to look at (such as Gore Magala or Kecha Wacha) that really show off what they can do. The monster designs in this game are by far the best to date with more diversity in the monsters and how they look, move and behave. Just when you think CAPCOM might be struggling for ideas, they go ahead and create even more monsters!However, much like the previous game, you can see that in some areas of the game it all looks a little bland and lazy. For example, the first region you go to has nice bright colours and a great setting but if you just look around in the backdrop you'll see that it looks very simple and as though no detail was given to it. This kind of thing has always been present in Monster Hunter games and it's up to you to decide whether this is a good or bad thing. Having been playing the series for years now, I've grown used to this sort of thing but I imagine that newcomers to the series might not be so forgiving.-------------------------------------------------------Gameplay-------------------------------------------------------Chances are that if you're a long-time fan of Monster Hunter or know what it's about then you aren't even reading this review and you're already playing the game. Still, MH4U offers yet more things to do, unlock, play with and hunt down. Like I said in my MH3U review, this game is much of the same as before but with even more stuff included. If you're a fan of the way Monster Hunter games work then you'll already know that this is no bad thing as hunting monsters over and over with different weapons, armours and skills are what make Monster Hunter what it is! However, if you're new to the series and are wondering what all this fuss is about, read below.***If you've played Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate/recent games, read below***MH4U offers you even more things to do, hunt, slay, craft and unlock that will keep you busy for hundreds of hours. Featuring two new weapon classes to add to the already large collection of weapon classes, a brand new setting from the previous game, new regions to explore, brand new monsters to fight and new climbing/jumping mechanics it's hard to see how you wouldn't like this newest addition to the series. There is no underwater gameplay in this game which is a disappointment but the addition of all the new features substitutes this quite nicely.Whilst a lot of the monsters in the game are new, a fair chunk of the older monsters return as well. Monsters such as Monoblos, Basarios, Yian Kut Ku, Akantor, Fatalis and Tigrex all make a welcome return to this game. Players of MH3U will be fighting these monsters for the first time unless you played the PSP versions but, even if you did, all the returning monsters have new attacks and mechanics meaning that you'll have to learn all about them again! If you're a fan of Monster Hunter you're probably already playing this but, on the slight chance that you're on the fence about buying this then do not hesitate if you enjoyed ANYTHING about the previous games. MH4U can do everything the other games could, only with more stuff, so what's not to like?***If you've never played Monster Hunter before, read below***There's a lot to get used to and for the next hour or two you'll be staring at tutorials that try to ease you in gently. You'll learn things like where the spots to gather materials are and how to fight and dodge. It helps to repeat these tutorials if you need to as you won't be getting many reminders after that and the game does get much harder and more punishing in the later quests! The thought of loads of tutorials is frightening indeed but trust me, you won't actually need them all. After an hour or so of play, you'll have virtually everything you need to know to progress confidently but you'll need to just push through the beginning sections of these games before the really fun stuff unlocks.Whilst there's no story to the game, the idea is that you progress up through the ranks by completing numerous quests. At first, you only have access to the lowest level quests which limits what you can do. However, stick with it and you'll soon unlock the next level of quests and with that, new monsters to fight and areas to explore. You might be thinking that fighting one monster over and over is boring and repetitive and I can't deny that Monster Hunter games are repetitive but that's the fun of the game.Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate adds two more weapon types to the collection -- the Insect Glaive and the Charge Blade. Both are fun to use and are great additions to the game. The various different weapon types play differently and it's up to you to use them all and figure out what ones suit you best. You can change/choose between any of them whenever you like. For example, the greatsword is slow but heavy whilst the dual blades offer fast, precise strikes whilst allowing you to easily dodge enemies. The hammer can knock monsters out, allowing you more time to attack them or, if you're more of a range kind of player, you can try your hand at using the bow, light bowgun or heavy bowgun weapons. You're bound to have a favourite weapon type but don't let that stop you from trying out the others! That's what hunting monsters is all about!So, you've read this far but you want to know how to kill those monsters and progress? Once you've defeated a monster, you can carve it to obtain various pieces of it. Scales, hides, horns, tails and loads more items can be obtained. Heading back to the village with your new items in your bag, you can dash to the blacksmith and see what new armours and weapons you can make. This is where you're going to rack up the hours because there are HUNDREDS of weapons and armours to create and combine, each with their own skills and abilities. Each weapon or armour piece requires a certain amount of materials and, if you don't quite meet them, you need to go and find them if you want that weapon or armour piece. This is where the grinding/repetitive element of Monster Hunter comes into play. Invest enough time into the game and you'll soon be hunting the biggest, baddest monsters you've ever seen in the hopes of making awesome armours and weapons out of it!You might think that fighting monsters over and over is going to get boring eventually. With all the different weapons and armours you can mix up and try, it's hard to see how anyone can get bored whilst playing this game. However, if you feel like you need an extra pair of hands (or three) you can hop online and meet up with other hunters and take down those monsters. The addition of online multiplayer for the 3DS for this game is absolutely fantastic and will greatly extend the longevity of the game. Teaming up with people around the world to hunt down any monsters you choose is great fun and is largely what the game is about so just enjoy yourself!Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate features the introduction of jumping attacks and climbing atop monsters to inflict damage. As such, a lot of the maps and areas have been designed to allow this sort of verticality and a lot of the monsters have more aerial-based attacks and movements. You are able to climb up and down various surfaces to get to other areas or, if you're more daring, use the terrain to leap onto a monster and start attacking it. If you attempt to jump on a monster and are successful, you'll initiate a mini-game where you have to hold the R button to stay on the monster as it thrashes about, all while attacking it furiously! Needless to say, when this happens it's pretty entertaining and satisfying even to someone like me who's been playing these games for ages. This is a nice addition to game and provides the combat and navigation with that little breath of fresh air you didn't even know it needed.As a final note, you are able to use the touchscreen to perform a variety of things in the middle of combat just like in MH3U. You can customize the bottom screen with the things that you'll find most helpful, such as -- camera control, direct routes into your item inventory, access to your combo lists and an enlargement of the map. Utilizing the touch-screen for this purpose is pretty neat but it's up to you whether this is something you'll use in depth.All in all, Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate is another successful and enjoyable entry into the series. Fans of the series will lap this up instantly and the new changes and content will keep even the long-time fans happy and entertained. Newcomers to the series will be pleased with the easy-going nature of the game and the accessibility compared to previous titles but there's still that danger that you'll be put off by all the long-winded tutorials and the slow beginning of the game. Monster Hunter games are never going to change their nature but I promise you that if you just push through the first couple of hours, it will all get much, much better. These games demand A LOT of your time but if you want to jump into a game and sink hundreds of hours into it at the same time then look no further. Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate has everything you need.PROS+ All new monsters, weapons, items and areas to explore+ CAPCOM are continuously improving the series with new content and ideas+ New jumping/climbing mechanics are great additions+ Challenging at the later levels+ Online multiplayerCONS- Some areas look bland and backdrops can appear very simplistic- No underwater gameplay- Slow to start (but it DOES get better!)

6.6.2015

I have a LOT of time in the Monster Hunter series. I have played every US formatted Monster Hunter game, so I'm familiar with this series.I see a lot of questions asking if this is better than Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate (MH3U). The answer is yes AND no. MH3U is MUCH more polished, and it's difficulty is more balanced. This game, MH4U, is a step onto a new level of hunting. The hunters, the weapons, the monsters, the game itself, have evolved, bringing a lot new nuances.In MH3U, the game throws you into the hunting field with a few tidbits of advice, then you're on your own. The game is hard right off the bat for a new comer, but, it's difficulty stays constant.If you can successfully hunt the first few monsters and catch on to the game's many nuances, you'll eventually become an expert, guaranteed.In MH4U, the game eases you in, there are "training" quests to familiarize you with the different weapon classes, you receive a lot more advice throughout the game, the story mode even actually guides you through certain parts of quests!! The first few monsters you hunt are easy, laughably easy, almost boring. From there, it gets tougher...and tougher. As a gamer that is familiar with the series, MH4U has been downright frustrating at times. The monsters hit super hard, and as I said, they've evolved. They've learned that driving you into a corner or to a wall, then pummeling you until you're down works well, they'll track YOU, and they'll change their behaviors according to yours. That being said, MH4U is still much more polished than the older MH games, and it is still a lot of fun.Moving to the online play. I play MH3U on my Wii U, and it's online experience is very rich. You can see which of your friends are online, what designated lobby/room they are in, and you can even message them in game even though you aren't with them. I believe in online manners, so, when I want to hunt with a friend, I message them and ask them first. Once you meet up with some people, you can use the gamepad's touchscreen and/or microphone, and/or a USB keyboard to chat.In MH4U, you can see which of your friends are online....and that's it. You can't see where they are or what they're targeting/hunting for, you can't message them either. All you can do is warp to them and hope the people they're with don't mind you coming, and hope the room host doesn't kick you out. While you're in the "Gathering Hall", you can use the touchscreen to type very short lines to others. Once you head out on a hunt, you are restricted to preset (can be edited) "shoutouts". You cannot chat at all, which, to an experienced hunter, hinders the experience. Monster Hunter's online quests are all about teamwork, and of course, communication is key! I wish Capcom would have added more communication features to MH4U, it would've made the online co-play MUCH more enjoyable.So, which is better? MH3U or MH4U? Neither. Both are excellent games in their own right. MH4U has more content overall, but MH3U is more balanced and polished.A final note: If you're contemplating buying MH3U over MH4U and you own a Wii U, buy the Wii U copy, not the 3DS copy. The Wii U copy of MH3U has stand alone online multi play. The 3DS copy of MH3U CANNOT be played online, not on it's own.There is a way to play MH3U 3DS online, but you'll need a Wii U, and you'll have to buy a USB to ethernet adapter, connect the Wii U to the internet via ethernet cable (hence needing the adapter) and you'll have to download and run a Packet Relay app on the Wii U.This game, MH4U, has stand alone online multi play, though as I discussed, it's features online are sparse.

19.2.2015

Monster Hunter is massive in Japan, and only really gaining popularity in the West over the past few years. The game itself consists of hunting down various large creatures to obtain materials to create new weapons and gear. The game has 14 weapon classes to choose from with various pathways to creating different weapons. Each weapon class has it's own mechanics and move sets that give them a unique feel, 3 out of the 14 weapon classes are ranged, which you can create specific bullets/pellets for that have different ailments.Armor is created much in the same way as weapons and there's a large variety of different armors to be made, each with their own specific attributes which can be mixed and matched,some attributes however are better suited to certain weapons to make the best outcome during the hunt. Weapons and Armor are best created by killing/capturing monsters and obtaining materials, however there's a shop in the location you are in which you can buy armor/weapons, however these are usually low levels, cost more and would become obsolete rather quickly.This game also has multiplayer and for the first time in the series on 3DS it has online MP. This is a welcome addition to the series especially since a lot of players prefer to play from the comfort of their own home, or are unable to find close friends to play with locally. 4 hunters team together to take on quests similar to single player with slightly increased difficulty, however this does not scale with the more players in the game. You can still tackle these by yourself as well, from MP you can rank up your Hunter Rank, known in-game as "HR". This unlocks you new quests to go through and is different to the single-player quests you can be given. The game has various areas you can hunt in, but you must beat certain questlines before reaching them. The maps usually consist of various small areas, between 7-12, depending on the map.Monsters are the biggest part of this game, they are the way forward and the way to create your new fancy weapons and armor. Every monster has its own unique set of moves which are to be learned while fighting them. If a monster seems too hard or you are dying often, best thing to do is to try and learn it's moves, this makes it more predictable and easier to dodge, however they also sometimes go into a rage and start doing moves in quick succession, however after this they become tired. This is the best time to hit some damage onto them. Don't be discouraged if you don't beat a monster first time or even after multiple tries. The game is all about trial and error and if you start getting frustrated you can't beat a monster, maybe check your armor or weapons as they could do with an upgrade, or it could even be your weapon has an element that doesn't really affect it, switch out to another one.Expeditions are something new to this game as well, they appear every so often and you can hunt monsters you wouldn't normally see on other quests, you also have to be more prepared for these as they are not your standard quests, you aren't given potions/food or even a map to help through these, however a map isn't really necessary as the paths are very linear.The game also has better tutorials compared to it's predecessor Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate, and anybody who hasn't played the series, or found MH3U hard to follow, will be able to get more out of this game.I recommend this game to any fan of the series, and any newcomers to the series should feel welcome with the new and improved tutorials provided.

23.3.2019

You kill monsters, carve them up and use their parts for crafting better weapons and armour to hunt stronger monsters. It takes some adjusting if you are buying this after playing monster hunter world.First a few negatives:The beginning can be a bit boring to people that have played other monster hunter games, as the game introduces it's different features and and mechanics. Also the first 4 or 5 beginning quests are boring, but necessary to new players. It does baby you a bit.It can be seen as a bit repetitive to someone new to the series. It's called monster hunter because you hunt monsters. It is obvious, but I have seen a lot of people writing negative reviews saying all you do is hunt monsters.Now some positives:There is a story to this game which is,

4.12.2015

I played Monster Hunter Freedom and Monster Hunter Freedom 2 on the PSP, and followed that up with Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate and now 4 Ultimate on the Nintendo 3DS and I can honestly say the game has constantly been improving and evolving, and this latest iteration is easily the best in the series. The classic hunt-gather-forge gameplay remains, but they've worked more of a storyline in to the game this time round. The new areas have that classic monster hunter feel to them, and the new monsters add some great new hunts.Most of all though, the new vertical elements added to the game are fantastic. The new charge blade is great but requires some very carefully timed hits to really make the most use of it,

17.2.2015

If you've ever played a monster hunter before you'll feel right at home here, on the surface not much has changed as you'll soon be equipping your gear and heading out on the hunt as usual, there's two major differences however: The single player and climbing.Single player caters much greater to beginner hunters than previous games, letting them know how to do important things and giving them a situation in which to do them. Story mode progresses through different towns as you complete missions and it adds to an already prominent sense of progression in the series. There's a fair amount of text throughout, so if you're a slow reader, I pity you, but stick to it and you'll be a pro in no time.The other major difference is climbing,

10.4.2015

I've never played a Monster Hunter game before. A friend of mine and his wife are huge fans, however, so I was excited about finally giving the series a try with MH4U. My first impression? This game has a really big learning curve. It was not really a matter of jumping in and immediately feeling like I had a solid handle on the game. My understanding is that MH4U is much better than previous games in that regard, but as a brand new player it felt like I had a bit of a hill to climb before I was really able to progress on my own two feet. There is a lot of systems to learn, how the items work, a LOT of experimenting to see how the different weapons feel, and that's before even getting into the monsters themselves.However,

19.3.2015

Best of the series so far. They utilize the extra mobility in this game a lot. You can climb on tons of things and you have ledges in every area of the map in order to do jumping attacks on monsters and even be able to mount the monsters. The gameplay and control is genius level. The new weapons like the Charge Axe and the Insect Glaive are awesome. The Charge Axe feels like a Switch Axe + Hammer and is great for KOing monster as the Insect Glaive allows for great power ups and a feature to launch yourself in the air to mount monsters.The storyline isn't just one small village like Tri and MH3U but you go to multiple villages and a large city to help the citizens out with their monster problems.

30.5.2015

i'm 39 hours into the game, the game is very addictive and you can't put it down, graphics are good for a 3ds game and the 3d is ok, a bit of ghosting, armour sets and weapons are worth the time trying to find the monster parts to make them, the only annoyance was halfway in the game there was a boss that was way too hard, i had to look online for tips on how to beat it as it just kept on killing me in a few hits.online community is ok, you may find it hard to find someone who is willing to help you do the online quests but most of the time you end up soloing missions because you get fed up of waiting for anyone to help you.a few tips, use the practice arena to help you find the weapon that works best for you,

20.5.2015

A really great game. It doesn't reinvent the wheel, but it does have some features that are rare among most games and the action RPG genre itself. I would say the main draws for the game are the combat, equipment improvements, and atmosphere.While battle beasts both big and small, you actually have to TRY while fighting and THINK about which buttons are being pressed, no X=win here. Also, you'll often be balancing between thinking a step or two ahead past your (intentionally long) attack animations (the time it takes between a button being pressed and being FINISHED swinging your sword/hammer/other [not all weapons are swung, just an example])

10.3.2015

Wow, what have I been missing. I had my doubts about getting this game and even while playing it for the first few hours I did not understand what other people found so enjoyable about it. Well that changed when I met the first few big monsters and they decided they did not like me much. Each monster and the environments are well thought out and enjoyable to explore and each monster is different and each battle is massive. I can see why a lot of people like playing the game and loving it while doing it. A clue: if you spend a couple of hours playing the game and thinking its been 10 minutes your are addicting to hunting, gathering, crafting, and laughing and some rare cases getting really nervous (

17.2.2015

I'm reviewing this based on the demo and my first 2 hours of gameplay, so it's mostly based on my first impression of the game.MH4U is extremely beginner friendly, starting the game straight away with a short dragonship hunt. This was lacking in MH3 so it's definitely a great addition, but not so for veterans who had to learn it themselves in MH3. If you've been playing Monster Hunter, the starting is probably going to bore you out again. But hey, overall it does not hurt much once you're past it.Perhaps the two main additions to the game that make it such a winner are the online gathering halls and the new weapons. Like the switchaxe in MH3, the charged blade and insect glaives are both interesting and cool.

27.6.2017

Honestly my all time favourite Monster Hunter games, relatively newbie friendly but challenging enough for veteran hunters (who should and probably do already own this).Basic essence - Go out, kill big monsters for village(s), gather materials, make ridiculously large weapons and armours, repeat but with bigger monsters, progressively getting bigger and deadlier as you get more talented, well geared and knowledgeable of the prey.There is no "levelling up" system - You, as a person become better at hunting, You recognise move patterns and when to dodge, you know when to sneak a slow but strong combo, you know when to strike and retreat quickly. You recognise it's weaknesses,

22.2.2015

I have been eagerly awaiting this game since its first announcement way way back, so what is the game about?You play the role of a hunter who is employed by the local guild and caravan in this one to slay monsters that range in size from man size beasts up to the huge dragons of legend.However this is more than just a hack and slash button masher it requires a LOT of skill and patience when confronting these beasts, you need to wait for opportune moments to attack and others for defence or evasion as the monster counter attacks or flees. If you go all out in a tekken style play i guarantee you will fail very quickly. This is like playing chess,

Monster Hunter 4: Ultimate (3DS) - Reviews

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