Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate

Genre: Action-RPG

Players: 1-4 Co-Op (Online)

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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 3. Also known by the title Monster Hunter Tri, this game was originally released on the Wii in 2010, and later ported to Nintendo 3DS and Wii U as Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate in 2013. It may seem somewhat unfair to review the game in 2022, over a decade after the game’s first release. However, I tend to think that a truly great game should be able to withstand the test of time, and I know there are many that truly swear by the Monster Hunter franchise as truly great games, so… let’s test that assertion.

While the Nintendo 3DS version of the game is quite impressive considering the limited hardware of that platform, the Wii U version is more of a mixed bag. The character models are jarringly low-poly with blurry textures, and while environments do feature more detail than the Nintendo 3DS counterpart, it’s not nearly up to par with what this platform is capable of. The environments are at least somewhat large (though nowhere near the seamless large areas that more modern games feature), and the monsters in particular still feature a lot of detail, personality, and animation. However, overall this game just isn’t especially impressive on the Wii U.

However, the sound is at least still quite impressive here, doing a truly excellent job of making you feel like you’re in a wild natural environment filled with life and danger… at least until you challenge a larger monster, and have your fight backed by fittingly epic fanfare.

Unfortunately, my issues with the pre-World/Rise Monster Hunter games rear their ugly head here once again. It’s the same combination of issues I had with Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate – the controls are unnecessarily clunky, the game’s menus and mechanics are unnecessarily complicated, and overall the game just isn’t fun to play, even though I know there’s a wealth of strong mechanics underneath for those wanting to explore them.

I also have to credit this game for allowing players to 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. Make no mistake, this is an excellent addition to the game, but it doesn’t fix the underlying control issues.

And of course I have to mention the multiplayer play being limited by a lack of online players, though at this point that can’t be a big surprise – there have been no less than four Monster Hunter games since this one came out, so most players have likely moved on. At the very least you still have the option to play with others locally, and there’s even StreetPass support.

I really do appreciate that there was a real effort to address the core problems of the monster Hunter series in this release, but unfortunately it’s just not enough. Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate is just too compromised by its poor controls and convoluted game design to be worth going back to, especially when its much-improved successors, Monster Hunter World and Monster Hunter Rise, provide players with the same great deep gameplay without anywhere near the same level of hassle. The Wii U version of this game still presents players with some worthwhile gameplay, but most players are better off sticking with newer games in the franchise.

tl;dr – Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate is a decent port of the Wii entry in the series to Wii U, but it suffers from frustrating controls and convoluted game design. If you have any modern platform, stick with the newest Monster Hunter games in the series – they’re much better.

Grade: C

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