It’s time to dust off your giant sword, axe or giant sword/axe because Monster Hunter Generations is here, and we are quite impressed.
Monster Hunter Generations has been a long time coming for North America. The game was released in Japan in November of last year and players on this side of the globe have been waiting for quite a while to get into the hunt. The good news it, the wait is worth it.
The game is exactly as a player might remember it from Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate, a lot of the same mechanics have traveled over to the new game. Mounting and climbing are still ever-present and of course gathering and crafting your kills are still staples of the game. However Capcom has clearly be listening to its fans and researching what works and what doesn’t. Monster Hunter Generations has so many tiny changes from the last iteration that make game-play smoother and more enjoyable. Things like how your character doesn’t get up every time you carve or gather anymore is just one great example of how Capcom has made the experience of Monster Hunter easier – sort of.
Of course monsters in-game are just as difficult as you remember. Monster Hunter as a series is known for its difficulty so you can’t fault it for being hard. Learning how to properly assemble armor, talismans and weapons to make a deadly combination still takes a good time investment on the part of the player. Monster Hunter has never been a series for “casual gaming” and Monster Hunter Generations is no different. The information on your gear’s upgrade-ablility seems to be a little more straight forward this time around, so Monster Hunter Generations maybe the perfect starting point for players new to the series. The online multiplayer mode is returning from Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate. Players will still be able to go online and hunt with three other players to gain better materials and craft better weapons and better armor.
What the biggest change may be is the addition of Hunting Arts and Hunting Styles; in previous posts I’ve outlined the details. Thanks to Arrekz Gaming we have a full compendium of knowledge on how each weapon works and how to use it to its full potential. These Hunting Arts and Hunting Styles keep the game fresh and constantly give new ways to experience it. Changing your hunting style can change your movement, speed and power. Hunting Arts also make for a great addition to the game, it feels so good to rack up an amazing combo and finish with a Hunting Art to totally obliterate a monster. I’ve been using the bow – which is unusual for my hammer mentality – because the Hunting Art “blade wire” is too amazing not to go crazy with. A new mode is also available allowing players to become their little Palicoe buddies for extra side missions, which is just as adorable as it sounds.
Monsters and maps in Monster Hunter Generations look amazing even from its predecessor Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate. The addition of extra textures to monsters and objects give the player so much depth to experience. Capcom has also thrown in some crazy graphics on weapon swings and action moves – which maybe superficial – but add a great feeling of intensity and power to your fights.
It’s honestly hard to find something bad to say about the game. Of course, like with any Monster Hunter title there is a good degree of research involved, sites like Kiranico will be a necessity. However as of yet they’re not up to date on Monster Hunter Generations, so it’s a little difficult to find what you need for crafting and upgrading. That’s all part of the fun of this series, however. This Monster Hunter iteration has undergone some pretty significant changes in terms of how a player hunts, but the core of the game remains the same. It’s still about facing off against huge beasts and about grinding out a monster to get the best materials; full of replayability and a heavy dose of challenge mixed in!
If you liked Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate I have no doubt you’ll fall head over heels for Monster Hunter Generations. It’s the polished Monster Hunter game you’ve always dreamed of and so much more.
