1.16.2015

Preview: Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate


The release date for Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate has been announced.  February 13th, 2015 will be here before we know it but how do you know if you will like the newest addition in the Monster Hunter franchise.  Well I have a preview that may help make a decision on trying out this new Monster Hunter game.  As of yesterday Jan. 15th, Nintendo has been sending out demo codes for the newest game in the Monster Hunter series.  The game is Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate and after playing the demo the game is pretty amazing.


Just a little backstory, I have been playing Monster Hunter since it's initial game released back in 2004 on the PS2.  Over the years we have seen some great additions to the game franchise from new weapons to new armor sets and the monster list has grown throughout the years as well.  Japan has seen more games in the series than the United States because in Japan the following is so much larger than the following stateside.  I wish this would change because the game is absolutely amazing.  I hope that my preview will entice more people to purchase the game and see what is so amazing about it.

In Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate, we welcome the newest monster, who will be the iconic monster for the game, Gore Magala.  Gore Magala adds a new twist in the hunt because of a dark matter, called Frenzy Virus, that he produces that effects the state of the hunter once they are hit by it.  Once hit the virus will try to consume the hunter.  Once a hunter is fully consumed by the virus it will start to take effect on things like recovery of health and stamina.  You can counter the virus by consuming a Nulberry which has been used in previous games to negate things like ice and water that will effect a hunter.  So add this to your inventory when fighting a Gore Magala because it will help out immensely.  Better yet try to stay away from the Frenzy Virus altogether.

We also welcome some other new monsters to the game like Tetsucabra and Zamtrios to name a couple.  Also we welcome back some monsters to the series that were not in MH3U like Yian Kut-ku and Gypceros, both from the original Monster Hunter on PS2.  With all the new and returning monsters we will get to see a large amount of new weapons and armor sets to make.  If you are knew to the game or a veteran hunter you will have a blast completing all the quests and carving the monsters for parts to make some also full armor and custom armor sets.  The best advice I can give a hunter is that even though it is easier to make a full armor set of one monster, you can sometimes get more skills that you like out of making a mixed armor set.

For new hunters I will explain a bit more about armor sets.  Each part of the armor will have skill points geared toward different things, i.e. earplugs-for when a monster roars or wind res-for when a flying wyvern flaps their wings.  These skills can help out immensely during a fight because it allows the hunter to have an upper hand with skills to fight better through a monster.  I prefer mixed armor sets myself because they usually look cooler than a full armor set of one monster and I can customize my skills better.  I also will recommend to make multiple sets depending on the monsters you fight.

Now that you have an armor set it is important to equip a weapon to go along with it and in this new game Capcom has added two new weapon types.  The new weapons are the Insect Glaive and the Charge Blade.  The Insect Glaive is like a staff that is accompanied by an insect that you can throw at the monster and depending on certain areas of the monster you hit with the insect you can retrieve the insect and get a power up like defense up or offense up and even retrieve health.  The Charge blade starts off as a sword and shield and as you attack you charge up the weapon.  Once your weapon is charge you hold down the R trigger and press A to fill your phials with the charge and transform your weapon into an axe where you can unleash attacks and use the elements you charged up in the phials to do some crazy damage.  I was able to use both weapons in the demo and was truly impressed with how effective both are and how they will be some main weapons for me to start making because of how much fun they are to use against the monsters.  All the weapon types in previous games of the series are making a return including the Hunting Horn, Bow, and Switch Axe.  I am really looking forward to making numerous weapons and seeing which ones fit right with my hunting style and the team I usually hunt along side.

Another new thing in Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate is the inclusion of some companions called Palicoes.  Now in Monster Hunter Tri you were accompanied by Cha-Cha and in MH3U Cha-Cha and Kayamba joined you in your hunts when you were playing solo.  The Palicoes in MH4U are felynes and you can now equip them with some cool armor so that they can have some more defense and special abilities when helping fight monsters.  Capcom has also done some creative work with the Palicoes armor in making armor look like things we have seen in previous video games.  You can dress up your Palicoes to look like Mega-man, Mario & Luigi, Characters from Animal Crossing, and even Sonic the Hedgehog.  I believe that the Palicoes will be less annoying than Cha-Cha and Kayamba and will help out immensely in some solo hunts.  Can't wait to see them in action when the game releases in February.

Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate is not just a single player game where you do solo hunts.  There is also online multiplayer so that you can hunt with a group of up to 4 hunters and the quests are much harder online because you can be in larger groups.  Online will have low level, high level, and G level quests.  G quests are the hardest of the 3 levels and that is where some awesome looking weapons and armor sets can be crafted.

I hope that you have all enjoyed this preview of Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate and I hope that more people will play it here in the states.  It is a lot of fun and enjoyable to play alone and in a group.  Now let's get together and go for a hunt!

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