The latest in Capcom’s ultra-popular action roleplaying game series, Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate takes the thrill of the hunt to a whole new level. From agile carnivores that hunt in packs to monolithic beasts capable of wiping out a village in moments, there is more than enough impressive quarry available to keep you playing for some time.
In lieu of earning levels or stat points, characters in Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate prepare for bigger game by crafting armor and weapons from their carapaces, teeth, and everything else they can harvest from corpses. There are also a few NPCs in town to buy gear for you or your cat-like Palicoe companion, though I’m hoping all of those sweet costumes that have been previously been released in Japan will make their way overseas. Who wouldn’t want to fight colossal dragon alongside a kitten dressed as Sonic the Hedgehog or Isabelle from the Animal Crossing series?
Aside from a slew of new crafting recipes, this enhanced port of Monster Hunter 4G (released last year in Japan) features online play for the first time in the series’ history. You and up to three of your buddies can join up over the Nintendo Network or local wireless to try and conquer creatures that are multiple stories tall. I emphasize the word try because you’ll likely need to employ a few clever tactics to come out victorious. Maybe you’ll need to use the new Insect Glaive or Charge Blade weapons. If that doesn’t work, climbing to a higher ground and striking in mid-air or while on the monster’s back could do the trick. Either way, enemies are smarter this time around, so you’ll have to be as well.
The aforementioned increased online functionality is also important if you want to take part in the game’s “Guild Quest” system. You can trade quests with other players via the 3DS’ StreetPass feature, each one of which offers random armor and weapons as a reward.
With all of the equipment and enemy variances offered in Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate, there is one minor hindrance I came across that you should take into consideration. The first hiccup is the size of the game itself; 20,000+ blocks of data is needed to download and play MH4U. To put that into perspective, I needed to delete data for both Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds to make room on my SD card. This issue could have easily been taken care of had I another SD card to download the game onto or if I would have bought a physical copy instead. It’s a tiny annoyance, but worth noting.
Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate was one of the most engaging action RPG titles I’ve had the chance to play in a long time on any system, handheld or otherwise. If you enjoy strategic enemy encounters and a rich equipment system that you can sink extended hours into, then you’ll enjoy it as well. Just be sure to tend to your pet pig, because that little thing can get really cranky if you don’t show it some love.
Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate is now available on the Nintendo 3DS.
Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate Trailer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13aG-nThTJY