[Impressions] Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate

After playing through a large majority of Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate’s campaign and, consequently, playing fifty hours of Monster Hunter Generations (MHGen) on the Nintendo 3DS, I stopped at that point because I couldn’t bare anymore playing it on a small system with my hands cramped. Then, earlier this year, Monster Hunter World (MHW) released and I ended up playing another dozen hours or so of the series but, still, it’s not a game I can keep playing for days and days. Now, with Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate (MHGenU) being released on my favorite system, the Nintendo Switch, I felt it was actually the best shot I could give the series, specially given the fact that I could transfer over my progress from the 3DS version.

Wait, so MHGen and MHGenU are the same game? Not quite. As the name implies, the Switch version is an “ultimate” version of the game. It includes all the content found in the original 3DS release, but it expands upon with a couple of new monsters, new variants for existing ones and the addition of G-rank, a super high-level rank of quests geared towards the hardcore players. As a consequence of the addition of G-rank, new armor sets and weapons have also been introduced to the game, some that are just better versions of existing gear, others exclusive to G-rank. MHGenU also introduces two new Hunter Styles: Valor, a more “solo Hunter Style” and Alchemy, a Style used for support. And, of course, bringing the game to Switch means the game got a bump in resolution and overall performance, making it an even more stable experience, along with a somewhat updated control scheme to accommodate the new hardware.

Gameplay-wise it’s pretty much the exact same game: you pick a quest, go out there and fight a giant monster that’s at least twice your size to carve its monster parts at the end. If you have enough parts, you’ll be able to craft some new armor pieces or perhaps a brand-new weapon. This latter part is specially important because it’s what makes you want to keep playing. Sure, going head-to-head with a dragon or a colossal mammoth is amazing, but even that can get boring after dozens of hours. It’s the fact that after you do the fighting you can go back and craft some new gear to show what you’ve accomplished that makes the gameplay loop compelling. The gear itself will tell the stories of your hunts, how you beat that Rathalos and now you’re using a Switch-Axe made of his parts or how tough that Tetsucabra was but you’ve beaten him multiple times and now you can craft its full armor set. In other words, the gear is an absolutely essential aspect of the Monster Hunter series, it is the physical evidence of what you’ve achieved, it makes you stronger for future hunts and, last but not least, makes you look cool!

Content-wise, this game seems to have a never-ending source of content. From the constant introduction of new monsters to the gradual increment in quest difficulty, playing remains fresh with each new monster introducing its own unique encounter. Even after playing for over fifty hours, I’ve only finished the first four and half tiers of quests, that is, I’m still making my way through low-rank quests (also known as the easy mode where you can fight in whatever way you want without worrying too much). For the sake of clarity, you can play through just the critical path, which in this game equates to playing through the marked quests. So far, I’ve been a completionist, trying to play through every quest available in the current tier before advancing to the next one. I think people who only play through the critical path would’ve at least finished the “campaign” by this time, but I enjoy playing through all the quests the game has to offer, not to mention it gives me the chance to carve some extra monster parts. Oh, of course I can’t finish this paragraph about content without mentioning the incredible amount of day-1 downloadable content this game has. Ah, pardon me, I don’t mean insidious dlc, all dlc for MHGen was made available for free: challenge quests, item packs, miscellaneous content, etc., and a vast majority of that content was made available day-1 for MHGenU, for free as well. It also includes a handful of new quests, some of which allow you to collect parts for crafting The Legend Of Zelda: Breath of the Wild gear, while quests from MHGen allow you to craft other collaborative gear such as Marth’s armor from Fire Emblem and Samus’ suit from Metroid, just to name a few. On top of all the content made available in the main game, there are still dlc quests which you can play through to craft some even cooler gear.

Honestly, since these are my impressions of the game instead of a full review, I’m not keen into going over every single detail of the game, instead I just want to tell you what I think of the game at the moment of writing. If there’s something else I should address in this post is probably the MHGenU vs MHW dilemma. Yes, it’s true MHW is by far the most technically advanced game, with its maps being packed with fauna and flora, not to mention MHW got rid of diving the map into smaller zones where you have to load in and out of each zone, along with some other quality of life improvements. However, if MHW is a technical powerhouse, MHGenU is a game that’s straight to the point: it’s, in essence, a three-year old game that is completely focused on the combat, with much simpler maps. Due to the hardware limitations of the 3DS, the game had to choose between gameplay and visual prowess and, fortunately, the game was taken in the right direction. Hunter Styles and Arts, combined with the fourteen types of weapons available, allow you to create all sorts of strategies for taking down a monster and, at the end of the day, this feels like a more direct showdown between you and your prey. Ultimately (ah!), MHGenU being on the Switch is the decisive factor for me: it’s where I spend almost all of my time playing games and the system’s versatility allows me to play whatever way I want whenever I want. If you’re indecisive about whether to play Monster Hunter World or Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate, I’d tell you to pick the one that’s on the system you like the most, you can’t make a wrong choice and both games will offer you plenty of great content that will keep you entertained for hours and hours.

#monsterhunter #monsterhuntergenerationsultimate #2018 #impressions #nintendoswitch