This is my first time Monster Hunting, and I don’t know what to expect. Little do I know that having played Soul Sacrifice and Toukiden for the PS Vita, I've played games that wouldn't have existed without Monster Hunter. It's almost a good thing that I've played the clones first, though, because as with any media when you finally experience the true trend-setting property, you understand why it is. Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate is an absolutely incredible game, simply one of the finest games for the 3DS.
In it you play a custom character that joins a guild of monster hunters, travelling from town to town in a caravan and taking care of any giant monster problems the locals have. It turns out that this world has tons of those, so there’s plenty of work for you - literally hundreds of hours of it if you so choose. The story is fun and light and the dialogue is snappy as well, but it's really just to get you to the meat of the game- all those monsters.
While the world is populated with plenty of little creatures that wish you harm, each monster is a boss battle in itself and offers different challenges, different strategies for taking them down. When injured they run off to their lair to heal, and the hunt to take them down before they can recoup is that much more thrilling because of it. You'll try to figure out where they flew away or burrowed off too, hitting them with a paintball to track their path if you're smart.
The other biggest addition to the game? Online multplayer. There's a Gathering Hall you can enter between missions that lets you set up an online game or join someone else's, and it's very easy to jump into a challenge. It's fun and easy and you can chat using the stylus and an on-screen keyboard and while it's not ideal, it works, and will add dozens of hours to your experience. As if you needed more.
I really wasn’t sure what to expect from this. Once in a while when I get into a beloved series that I have somehow missed (I'm looking at you, Pokemon) I emerge a little stumped from the experience, but the appeal of Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate is obvious. You’ll soon find yourself completely obsessed with hunting down new monsters for materials to construct new armor and weapons, combining items in a mad form of alchemy to find new and improved ways of killing monsters,, even outfitting your little cat companion with new duds. It’s very, very easy to get sucked into this game and you can’t even write about it for long without feeling that urge, that longing, to get back into the game and see who else you can go on a hunt with, and what massive monster you will face next.
An early, easy contender for game of the year.
--
Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate was reviewed from a retail copy provided by Capcom. It's now available in stores or via the Nintendo eShop, and you should own it.
