Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate - Review

Monster Hunter is one of those games that has yet to find a foothold outside of Japan, and I for one cannot understand why. If you put the effort in your presented with a game with so much content that you will have a hard time deciding what to do in the game.

Gameplay

Monster Hunter can be described as a single player MMO. But of course you can play online with friends, so it’s not locked to one person. You start the game with minimal gear and are thrown into the world. As you progress into the world you earn money and can upgrade your gear and take down stronger monsters. Taking down monsters, while at the heart of the game, is not the only thing to do.

You are free to enter the world at any time and hunt monsters, scavenge for plants and other odd bits to help make yourself ready for when you take on a quest. That makes up the bulk of the money making options, quest range from gathering a few mushrooms, to taking down or capturing some extremely crazy large monsters.

The game gives you all the tools you need in order to complete any quest your given, but the problem is that it kind of throws you into the deep end and hopes you know what to do.  Its not hard to make your way around the world, but knowing what you need to make a flash bomb, or a pitfall trap is enough to send your mind reeling. Each of the things you need to know is buried in the games in build guides or menus, but locating exactly what you need is not easy.

Graphics

If you were not aware Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate is an upgraded port of the Wii release from a few years back. And while the Wii U version is now in HD, you can clearly see that the textures are only slightly higher resolution. This does not make the game ugly, not by a long shot, the game is beautiful. And most of that comes from the amazing designs done by the team. Monsters look surreal, and even the town you start from looks great.

Your armor and weapons take upon such details when you start getting into the world of imbuing them with bones and scales from your kills. Running around with a sword that looks like a peacock is quite funny, but at the same time, it might be the strongest weapon you could ever get.

While the overall quality of the graphics won’t wow you, the quality of the design easily should.

Sound

The monsters in this game sounds great. The first time you come across the largest version of the small Jaggi that you will have spent loads of time kills makes you realize that the designers have taken that familiar sound and turned it up to 11.

Just as the monsters draw you in, the score will also make you stand still with awe. When you first enter any new region you are treated to a sample of the music that you will hear as you explore every corner of that region, and I for one could not wait to get into more, just to hear that music.

Final Thoughts

While the game is a HD port of a Wii game, the extra effort take by Capcom has proven that they were not in this for a quick buck. Extra content and refined features mean that its worth your money, even if its just for a long weekend rental.

The Score

8.0

Review code provided by Nintendo

The Pros

+A nice HD version of the Wii classic

+Hunting loop is satisfying if you put in the time for it

The Cons

-The loop can also be punishing if you don't take the time to learn everything

-Still hard to get into for newcomers