Man, if a few years ago you told me that I’d be addicted to a game that’s focused on killing monsters several times to craft equipment and weapons based on them I’d tell you that you’re crazy. How would I? There are so many games out there! I can’t be bothered to play a game whose sole purpose is grinding monsters to grind more monsters!
How wrong I was.
Monster Hunter Generations: Ultimate is the last classic Monster Hunter game. In case you don’t know, with the release of Monster Hunter World, the franchise made a massive rework in its gameplay and structure, probably in an attempt to bring in new players, or perhaps as an experiment. Whatever the reason, World was an outstanding success, currently being the best-selling game in the franchise with little over 20 million units! Quite impressive. From that moment onwards, the division between classic and modern became a reality.
Aside from being a classic Monster Hunter, it also belongs to the group of portable Monster Hunter. Now, I’m not really sure what this actually means aside from “they’re flashier”, but that doesn’t make sense. Like, 80% of Monster Hunter games are portable, but the only ones that fit into the flashy category are Generations Ultimate and Rise. I don’t know, I’m not an expert in the franchise, yet.
Last, but not least, this is an expanded version of Monster Hunter Generations, which originally came on the 3DS. Ultimate is also available on the 3DS, but that version didn't come out of Japan, so you'll have to own a Switch to enjoy this piece fo software.
WELCOME TO THE WORLD OF MONSTER HUNTER!
This happens more often than it should.
Aside from the village of Bherna, you also have access to Kokoto (from Monster Hunter/Freedom), Pokke (from Monster Hunter Freedom Unite) and Yukumo (from Monster Hunter Portable 3rd). While this may seem cool at first (especially if you have played those games before), in reality they are mere reskins of Bherna, as they offer no unique facilities. You can, however, meet NPCs from those games, all of them with their unique and distinct personalities; as well as getting quests from them. Most of these quests are optional, while others are important towards progressing in the game, so do be sure to pay them a visit.
Of note is the Hub, where you can play with your friends, effectively making Generations Ultimate a complete multiplayer experience, from the moment you boot up the game. You can play locally using the wireless functions of the Nintendo Switch or play online with people in the whole world (provided you pay for the online).
I LOVE KILLING PEOPLE MONSTERS
Uragaan had to be useful for something.
To this, we have to add the Hunter styles. This mechanic is exclusive to this game and allows you to customize your weapon to your playstyle. The styles are the following:
- Guild Style: A basic, straightforward style that has all the attacks and allows you to equip two Hunter arts.
- Strike Style: An offensive oriented style that allows you to equip three Hunter arts and focuses on using these arts as soon as possible.
- Aerial Style: An aerial oriented style that allows you to jump after certain attacks, giving you access to jumping attacks. Excellent for mounting monsters.
- Adept Style: A dodging oriented style that allows you extend the length of the dodge roll if you do it at the right time. These dodges allow you to do powerful attacks for a while.
- Valor Style: A defensive oriented style where you can hold a defensive position that drains stamina but allows you to automatically dodge any attack.
- Alchemy Style: A support-oriented style that gives you an exclusive Alchemy pot that can create unique, powerful items to help on the hunt.
Aside from modifying the controls of each weapon, you can equip the previously mentioned Hunter arts (skills that can be either offensive or utility) that are tied to a meter. This meter is filled by attacking or taking damage, and they can take a while to be available, so a correct use of those skills can make a difference between victory and defeat. Overall, Hunter styles are a great addition to the game, as they make the combat much more fun and dynamic. Although this risks ruining the Classic identity of these games, the intended jank is ever present: a small inventory, having to paint the monsters to track them, questionable hitboxes and more!
Aside from playing as a Hunter, you can also play as... a Palico! That's right, you can play as one of your cat companions! This is called Prowler mode. Just like the Hunter, Palicos have their own weapons and armor. The controls in Prowler mode are vastly different and somewhat simpler. Unfortunately, I haven't played on this mode much at all, but the fact that it's there is honestly quite incredible.
I’M WEARING YOUR SKIN
Sometimes, literally.
To help you in this endeavor, the game sports several weapons to suit your needs. There’s a total of 14 weapons, each with their own strengths and weaknesses.
- Great Sword: A weapon of mass destruction that hits hard but moves and attacks slowly.
- Long Sword: A weapon with good range, mobility and damage that gets more powerful the more you use it.
- Sword and Shield: A jack of all trades, master of none that can do anything depending on the situation.
- Dual Blades: Low damage and range, but high mobility and attack speed. Perfect for applying status effects.
- Hammer: Short range, but perfect for stunning monsters by hitting them on the head.
- Hunting Horn: Play music to buff yourself and your allies.
- Lance: A basic weapon with good range and damage that allows you to attack while defending. Low mobility.
- Gunlance: Like the Lance but allows you do to explosive attacks that deal damage that can’t be reduced.
- Switch Axe: Switch between a long range, powerful axe and a precise and fast attacking sword.
- Insect Glaive: A mobile weapon that allows you to jump on the air and do a lot of aerial attacks. Can also send bugs to the monsters to buff yourself.
- Charge Blade: Switch between a sword and shield and a huge axe. With the sword, fill up phials; then switch to the axe to deal big damage.
- Bow, Light Bowgun and Heavy Bowgun: I haven’t bothered to give these weapons a try, so I don’t have much information about them. There are three: the Bow, the Light Bowgun and the Heavy Bowgun. The Bow has the shortest range of the three. As for the Bowguns, the Light one is more mobile while the Heavy one is more powerful. I think? I don’t really know. Ranged weapons have to wear defensive equipment that’s objectively weaker (whether it’s because they have less defensive values or less skills), probably to compensate for the fact that you don’t have to be in the face of the monsters to deal damage. I don’t know in this game, but in World and Rise they are considered some of the best weapons.
EVERYONE IS HERE!
When you find a monster for the first time, you will be greeted with a small cutscene.
The biggest strength of Generations Ultimate, as well as its whole purpose, is that there’s a LOT of monsters. And I mean, A LOT. Granted, you’ll have to go through both the village and the hub to experience them all, but they are all there! I’d wager that, in terms of content, Generations Ultimate is the big daddy. There are some monsters that are not present, however. For example, the playful Qurupeco, terror of high rank players for its ability to call the terrifying Deviljho, is absent. Most of the monsters from Monster Hunter Tri are also not present (Lagiacrus, somehow, is in here despite the fact that biologically it doesn’t make sense). At any rate, you have over a 100 monster to hunt. Very impressive, lots of content for you and your friends.
On the other hand, we also get some of the best newcomers in the series, like the mighty Glavenus, the graceful Mizutsune and what’s currently my favorite monster in the series: Valstrax. With so many monsters, you’re bound to find one that you’ll like, and then kill it.
WHAT’S THE STORY, WISHBONE?
Bruv, who cares about some stupid story? I just want to kill this rabbit.
In Generations Ultimate there’s no plot of any kind. Yes, really. The most you get is the presence of the fated four: the imposing Gammoth, the fast Astalos, the elegant Mizutsune and the mighty Glavenus, who get unique cutscenes; and there’s also some tidbits about Valstrax, but that’s it. In truth, it doesn’t really matter, as this helps to keep the flow of the gameplay steady and stable. On the other hand, the characters are very one-note, without any discerning qualities about them, but often have funny dialogues. Check them out occasionally!
CONCLUSION
Holy crap! What's THAT?!
Monster Hunter, and most especially classic Monster Hunter, is a tough nut to crack and get into. These games don’t have the most elegant gameplay, as they are intentionally designed to make the player feel powerless against these gargantuan creatures. However, once you understand the depth of the gameplay, you’ll be able to see that it’s all deliberately and beautifully designed.
Generations Ultimate is no exception. Being on the Nintendo Switch not only allows you to hunt on the go, but also gives you a proper control scheme that makes it very accessible. The Hunter styles make for a very dynamic combat that doesn’t lose the essence of classic Monster Hunter. The selection of monsters is wonderful, and I love it very much. This is probably the best classic Monster Hunter game, and one of the best games to have on the Nintendo Switch, as it is multiplayer and has lots of content (and by lots, I mean over 700 hours to do everything!). If the idea of Hunter styles breaks your conception of classic Monster Hunter, simply play with the Guild style and don’t equip any Hunter arts, and you still have the best classic Monster Hunter.
Play Monster Hunter.
Pros
- + There's no story!
- + Plays super well while keeping what makes classic Monster Hunter unique.
- + Hunter Styles are really fun and allow you to customize the combat to your liking.
- + A lot of content!
- + Great fun with friends.
- + Outstanding soundtrack.
- + Great performance.
Cons
- - There's no story.
- - You have to pay to play online (blame Nintendo for this).
- - A nightmare for completionists, with the amount of content it has.
- - It's still a classic Monster Hunter game, so it's not for everyone because of its quirks.
10
Gameplay
Classic Monster Hunter at its finest, it can't get better than this. EXTREMELY fun.
8
Graphics
Not sure about the rest but I like how this game looks, this is the best classic Monster Hunter has ever looked. The models of the monsters in particular are superb, and the scenarios look gorgeous.
1
Story
There's no story! This by itself isn't bad, because Monster Hunter doesn't require a story. In fact, the lack of a story makes the final product more enjoyable in this case.
10
Sound
The sound direction is amazing, and have you heard those monster themes? For crying out loud, this is the game that spawned Valstrax' theme!
10
Replayability
You get an infinite amount of gameplay and you can repeat any quest as many time as you want, simply because hunting the monsters is fun, but there's no real reason to start a new playthrough.
9.8
out of 10
Overall
A great experience both as a long time investment and as a time killer, very fun and enjoyable. Yes, I did count the story as a 10 for Overall Score purposes, and I don't care.
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