Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate

Combat is, at its core, simple enough that you can pretty much use any weapon against any opponent, though some weapons do lend themselves to certain enemies a tad bit better. I recently fought, for example, what amounts to a gigantic spider-creature, using a lance. Now, the lance is a rather slow-moving weapon that focuses on blocking attacks and delivering constant damage from behind the safety of a shield, and it was a pain in the rear keeping up with this spider flinging itself all over the place and shooting webbing from afar. A better choice would probably have been a ranged weapon or a fast melee like sword and shield... but I fought it with a lance, and though it took longer, I managed (and without more than a few scrapes, because lance is great at defense).

There's no dedicated monster climbing system like in Dragon's Dogma, and while I once might have considered that a con, looking back at the weirdness of climbing things in DD, I'm kind of glad there isn't. No, Monster Hunter very much focuses more on ground combat, going toe to toe with whatever you're fighting and ensuring that you stay out of the way of the larger attacks. You can use traps to immobilize monsters, but really, you don't need to unless you're fighting something remarkably tough (or you're trying to capture said monster). The level of preparation needed to go on a quest is minor, but it's there. Don't bring enough healing items with you, and you may miss them when you get hit by several big attacks. Forget to tow along a few antidotes while fighting that poison-spitter, and you could be losing more health than necessary. Wear armor that is vulnerable to fire against a fire-spouting giant? Probably not gonna end well if you mess up when dodging. But as far as weapons - nah. You can pick whatever weapon type you like best and use it for the entire game if you like.

I know that was a long-winded explanation, but that's the best I can give you. Any more questions, feel free to throw 'em out there... but honestly, if you want to know whether the game's worth it or not, you really have to play it. The combat is paced waaaay differently from any other action game I've ever played, and you can't be sure you'll like it until you give it a go.

 

Brace for another wall of text. I'll spoiler this one.

Spoiler: Wall of Text

Every action is very deliberate in MH, especially using the heavier weapons. Once you lock into an attack, there's typically no backing out of it early, so if you get greedy and try to get in too many swings, you risk being punished because you can't dodge. Generally, the game does this rather well, but if there's anything I dislike about it, it's the way that it forces to you continue attacking in the same direction in a combo. If you're using a sword and shield, for instance, attacking with rapid slashes, there's no turning ninety degrees in the middle of your combo. You have to stop, turn, and then start attacking again. Some weapons get a bit of leeway, like greatswords, which can turn 25-40 degrees or so after charging an attack to aim it slightly better, but for the most part, once you start attacking, you're locked in, so you really have to aim well.

The game is pretty punishing if you mess up. Unless your current armor is absurdly strong and you spent time making it and upgrading it, taking a big hit from a monster (and most hits are big hits) will usually take at least a fourth of your health. Missing is not really punished, which is nice, because as I said before, you have to be pretty accurate with your attacks. No, I'd say getting greedy is punished more often.

Flow is done really well. Monsters will attack you constantly while you're fighting them, at least at first, making it difficult to land hits. They won't follow any strict patterns, like "charge three times and then reveal my weak point." No, they'll attack randomly and violently. But, even if you're not landing attacks, as long as you don't get hit you're still accomplishing something, because every attack a monster uses will tire it out a bit. After a few minutes of nonstop attacks, most monsters will get a little winded, and they might stop for a moment to take a breather, which is your chance to attack. If you land a particularly powerful blow or series of blows, you can also knock them down, and continue dealing damage while they struggle to get to their feet. A number of monsters will retreat if they're tired in order to get something to snack on, which will recharge their stamina and allow them to continue to attack you relentlessly. Stopping them before they can reach their meal will help you bring them down faster, but a couple of monsters are particularly clever; a monkey known as the Congalala will actually hold onto a mushroom with its tail and eat that when it needs a boost.

Despite their not adhering to a strict rules concerning their attacks, learning a monster's patterns is key to defeating it. Getting used to how quickly a Barroth will reach you with its charge, or guessing when a Gravios will swing its tail will help you land more hits and take less. It's this subtle learning curve that makes MH great, in my opinion. Back when I was playing Tri, the game for the Wii, I fought a dragon called the Rathian dozens of times in order to get a rare item from it (my luck with drops was really bad). The first time I hunted it, I got hit over and over, got poisoned by its tail and had to use antidotes, and expended most of my healing items. But after hunting it over and over, I got so good at knowing what it was going to do, when to dodge and when to block, that I fought it several times in a row without taking any hits. I stopped bringing antidotes and healing items altogether. I had learned to fight it.

That's where the addictive properties of Monster Hunter lie: getting your ass handed to you by a tough monster, fighting it again with better preparation, winning, then getting so good at fighting it that you can beat it with ease and make a suit of armor out of its hide. It's very satisfying.

Also, a combat simulator sounds like a very ambitious, but very cool project that I would definitely be interested in. I hope for my own sake that it goes well. :)

 

I've got MH3 on my 3ds, but I'm not sure about getting this one. The Zelda DLC (free) looks pretty cool though.

 

Seconding that. I played Tri and loved it to pieces. MH4U is everything I loved about Tri with more weapons, more combos, more monsters, more options, and most importantly... more cats.

If I had to complain about anything, it would be the fact that I can't play it on a larger screen with prettier graphics. But 3DS does a pretty good job of graphics for a portable system, and graphics aren't everything anyway.

Oh, and screw Nerscylla. Half of the fight with that little bastard is trying to get to him. I'll complain about that, too.

 

Ooh, snap, a special Charge Blade and Megaman palico armor? Do want.

 

Already nabbed my musical greatsword. :)

 

And in other news, Silver Rathalos is still pure cancer.

Honestly, if I had a dollar for every time I got hit by a noscope whip-around point-blank fireball attack, I would be able to buy this game a second time.

Maybe I should stop trying to solo quests that are typically meant for 4 players....

 

I honestly didn't have too much trouble with Silver Rathalos! I think Pink Rathian gives me far worse of a time!

I'm gonna gush a bit here, so bear with me. I had heard about Monster Hunter for a long time and never really looked into the series enough to give it a chance... Until I started checking out ProJared on YouTube, and when I saw his review for Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate and the fact that he said it's the best game in the series and one of the best games on the 3DS. 9/10. I know PJ doesn't usually rate games so highly, and is usually pretty critical about things, so I figured that warranted some investigation. His beginner videos, along with some full hunts on YouTube and I was convinced. I NEEDED this game.

I literally purchased an old model 3DS XL just for Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate. I have thoroughly played through the single player to hone my skills, and I'm currently HR6 in the multiplayer. It's a game that not only grabs your attention, it can make several hours blow by without even realizing it. I have over 200 hours sunk into the game, and I am still in love and still playing the game to this day. I don't know what it is, it just hasn't gotten boring yet and I doubt it will any time soon. There's still SO MUCH STUFF TO DO. I really enjoy fighting monsters more than once (in most circumstances, save for Khezu...) because it never feels like the same fight twice. You get rewarded for hunting monsters of different sizes and the armor and weapons you can make look fucking awesome and are actually useful. There is nothing more satisfying than finally taking down that monster that had beaten you 5 times already, and wearing it's skin to prove you did it feels pretty awesome too.

If I could bring anyone to the MH side, I would say this; if you have watched any videos of hunts or reviews and you feel like you have even the slightest bit of an interest, buy the game. My investment of like $160-170 is nothing compared to the amount of time and my genuine enjoyment of the game, even after 200+ hours of playing. It is brilliantly done, the environments you hunt monsters in are really fucking cool too, the monster designs are all really interesting. It gets even more interesting when you think about the premise; the monsters in this game are little more than wild animals to us, but they are all usually really big and powerful, posing a genuine threat to humanity. They're not legions of evil summoned by a sorcerer or enemies of the opposing side, they're just big animals in their habitat that sometimes cause problems to humans.

Oh! The art style is fantastic as well! The game and it's "culture" I guess I would say are really cool, like the monster icons you see when you are selecting a quest. I can't really describe what it's like, but I can compare it to something like Chrono Cross.

I will openly admit that the game doesn't look the best, the graphics aren't exactly on par with the PS4, but at the end of the day, it really doesn't matter. The game shines in replayability and it's just genuinely fun. That's not something I can say about most games nowadays.

tl:dr version: GET THE FUCKIN GAME