Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate: Review

My switch has been waiting patiently in its dock, waiting for Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate. Ever since Capcom made this game available only to Japanese audiences, my switch has been jealous. Green with envy, green as a Deviljiho, but not without patience. When Capcom finally allowed us in the west to play their first Nintendo Switch Monster Hunter, it was like the Switch and MHGU were made for each other. Two halves to a whole, that make up an endless hunt.

When I was younger, I would tell people that my favorite game series was Legend of Zelda, of course. Yet then my brother introduced me to MH4U on 3DS and I fell head over heels for one of the most satisfying game loops in gaming history. It’s not only the wonderful game loop but each game in the series has almost endless content. Legend of Zelda still holds a special place in my heart for being the first series I fell in love with but I have never put more hours into a game then the Monster Hunter series. Over 200 hours in MH4U, over 100 on MHG and on MHGU I so far have over 70 hours, which according to my guide card is only through 20% of the game.

There is a reason for these huge amount of hours into Monster Hunter and I mentioned it before, the most satisfying game play loop in gaming history. The loop goes a little like this, you hunt monsters, then use their body parts to build better and better armor, to fight stronger and stronger monsters, so you in turn become stronger. It is so satisfying because Monster Hunter is no easy game, a lot of people say that fighting is very much like Dark Souls, so it takes a while to get used to how deliberate every one of your moves are. Yet as you progress through the game, you face certain monsters again, maybe monsters that gave you serious trouble and then a beautiful moment happens, you think “I remember when this guy was hard”. The game makes you have to improve yourself and get better at the game. When you build a new armor set or new weapon, you MADE that! You put blood, sweat and time into each piece and you can feel proud that you look dope in your new armor.

Now enough about Monster Hunter in general and onto Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate. Right off the bat, I have to let you know, I have not played Monster Hunter World, I don’t have the consoles for it but I have watched a bunch of it. Sure MHGU doesn’t have the quality of life improvements that Worlds has but that was never gonna happen for sequel to a 3DS game. Sure World’s has a wonderfully rendered HD world but MHGU brings a world I already loved from MHG’s and pops in some beautiful HD graphics.

Two major things that MHGU has on Worlds is portability and Monster List. Worlds has 30 something monsters, MHGU has a whooping 96 Monsters in it, that you can hunt on the go! That big of a monster list leads this Monster Hunter to be literally the most ultimate game to date, it is truly a celebration of all the previous games. This game includes new versions of all the great maps in the MH series, all the locals/towns from previous games, and basically every monster to ever grace a MH game. They even pace the monsters out really well. You never feel overwhelmed by the amount of them. They start you off with some less furious monsters and slowly ramp it up; they even reintroduce monsters in high rank, with new moves and behavior, just to show you that you ain’t shit. Also all the DLC from MHG, and all the Japanese dlc that has come out already, is available from day one. That is a huge amount of added content, from new monsters, to new costumes, to a ton of new titles and guide card backgrounds and so much more. Yet the biggest single improvement in MHGU for me is the lack of loading screen when you enter your house from a hub. Even Worlds has a screen when entering your house. It’s the simple things.

One of my favorite features that is new to the Switch and couldn’t have been on the 3DS, is the HD rumble. Not only does it give some great tactical feedback on hits, each monster has a unique yell when it first sees you, that the HD rumble perfectly reflects. It is so great because it just brings you right into the hunt. The Rathian screams, it’s unique music starts and you are in it. Speaking of music, I think on 3DS, you didn’t get to appreciate all the wonderful and unique soundtracks each monster has. Now when you plug into your dock, you can have the music and sound blaring as much as you want and it deserves to be.

Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate may be the game I will put the most hours into on my switch. I have already put in over 70 hours into single player and a little of the online. I have so much more game to play and instead of being intimidated by the near endless content before me, I’m excited and pumped to play more. I love seeing my favorite monsters in HD and with a cast of 96 monsters, this game is constantly fresh. The only thing I can say against the game is that Worlds was super new player friendly but MHGU is not. Yet if you can fall in love like I have, you will not regret it.

 

10 out of 10

 

Galaxy of Geek’s first perfect ten rating

 

TLDR Review: your Switch has literally been waiting for this wonderful game, now quickly join the hunt!

 

 

 

PS. GUNLANCE 4 LIFEEEEEEE