Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate

Genre: Action-RPG

Players: 1-4 Co-Op (Local Wireless / Online), StreetPass Support

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Review:

I feel like at this point any Monster Hunter review I write needs to start with a preface. I am not a Monster Hunter series fan. I have tried many times over the years to get into the series, and just could not do it. I generally find the series to be overly-complicated, clunky, and just simply not as fun as its premise seems like it should be. My review of Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate pointed largely to these issues (as well as an underwhelming presentation) as reasons why I found that game to be lacking.

Later, I would briefly play Monster Hunter World on other platforms, and while it didn’t quite suck me in, I found it to be a much better experience, one that put to shame prior entries in the series. However, it wasn’t until Monster Hunter Rise that this franchise truly “clicked” with me. The much-improved movement, streamlined game elements, and better controls all made it easier to appreciate the things this series has done right all along, and the outstanding graphics certainly didn’t hurt either. I was so impressed with Monster Hunter Rise that I named it my Game of the Year for 2021 (as well as giving it multiple other awards).

In the time since, I have tried looking back into Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate to see if perhaps now I could look at the game with a better insight in the series and gain a new appreciation for it… and no. My opinion on that game still stands – while I can understand why others might have been willing to tolerate its severe issues to get to the deep and rewarding gameplay underneath all of those issues, I just couldn’t, and now that Monster Hunter Rise exists, I don’t have to.

And that brings me to Monster Hunter 4. The original version of this game was only released in Japan on the Nintendo 3DS, but an updated re-release of the game was brought over in the form of Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate in 2015. This game uses many of the same systems and mechanics that were present in Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate on Nintendo 3DS, and as a result it shares many of that game’s positive qualities, along with many of its flaws.

One place where this sequel has been improved is its presentation, which was already top-notch in Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate, but which reaches even greater heights here, with beautifully detailed areas, wonderful setpiece battles, and a sense of scale that’s well beyond this game’s predecessor… though still with segmented maps – those will stay with the series until Monster Hunter World and Rise. And as before, this game features some highly-detailed monsters that are not only massive in scale, but detailed and with wonderful animation. This game also features the same excellent sound design that was present in the prior game.

Having said that… the gameplay here features many of the same problems as Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate, problems that plagued the series prior to Monster Hunter World and Rise. The mechanics are clunky, the gameplay is overly complex, and while there’s an amazing amount of depth here, it’s hard to appreciate that when simply controlling your character and the camera at the same time is an ordeal.

Yes, once again, this game works with the Circle Pad Pro attachment (and subsequently the New Nintendo Switch’s second analog pad). And once again, players using this to control the camera while moving won’t easily be able to use the attack, item, and dodge buttons, making its usefulness in the middle of combat unfortunately lacking.

And yet again, players can customize the touchscreen how they like, allowing players to arrange a variety of widgets on the screen, not only giving them a fully-customizable display, but customizable touchscreen controls too. An excellent addition to the game, but it still doesn’t fix the underlying control issues.

Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate did distinguish itself from its predecessor by supporting not only local wireless play, but online multiplayer as well… but as you often see with Nintendo 3DS games these days, finding others to play with online is an unlikely task.

Just to be clear, I don’t think Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate is a retread of Monster Hunter 3 – the scope here is grander, the visuals more impressive, and overall I do think this is a better game. However, “better” doesn’t change the fact that it still suffers from pretty much all of the problems of the prior game. If you’re a Monster Hunter fan looking to play the series on the Nintendo 3DS, this is the best way to do it… but you’re still much better off playing one of the most recent games in the series if you have a current-gen platform.

tl;dr – Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate is an improvement over the previous game in the series, with better visuals and a greater scope. Unfortunately, the gameplay is plagued by all the issues the prior game had. If you have a current-gen platform to play your games on, do yourself a favor and get Monster Hunter World or Monster Hunter Rise instead.

Grade: C+

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