I don’t think I saw my previous entry on any other game of the year list posted anywhere online. You might think I have bad taste in games, who knows. But if you’re reading then then youmust have come back for the Christmas day special to find out what I’ve put on number six on my list of games of the year.
Don’t hate if it isn’t want you expected. It’s all opinion remember, I mean feel free to tell me why I’m wrong, or tell me your top 10 games. It’s always interesting to see what people think. So I’m going to recap again and then get to the number six entry.
Also, Happy Christmas Everyone!
#6 Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate
Played on the Nintendo 3DS | Released 13th February | Developed by Capcom
Monster Hunter always seems to take longer to find its way to the west, and this title was no different. While it came out last October in Japan, it only got an English language release in February of this this year. I always think these games are worth the wait though, as you might guess I’m a big fan of the Monster Hunter series and it shouldn’t be a surprise to see this game on my list.
Monster Hunter games come out frequently, and they stay primarily the same from title to title. 4 Ultimate does bring some changes to the series though, all of them for the better. First off, they have removed the underwater combat, something a lot of players were very thankful to hear. While I personally felt there was a perverse charm to taking the hunt under the sea, they defiantly took an already difficult control scheme and gave it a new axis nobody asked for.
Instead, this new game adds a new level of verticality to the game. Climbing is much less of a commitment than it had been before, making transitioning between levels of the maps quicker. On top of this, a mounting mechanic made making use of these new functions something players should be focusing on right away. It’s nice to see and mounting is always fun, especially wight the added risk of a friend bashing you off.
Monster Hunter has always been a game that people either love or hate. This is, in no small part, thanks to the control scheme that takes some getting used to. However, 4 Ultimate might just be the friendliest game to new players I’ve played in the series. The controls, are much less arcane than previous games, finally allowing us to lock on to a monster, so we don’t have to wrestle with the camera as well as our hunters.
That being said, the actual playing of Monster Hunter is still very much a unique skill that needs to be learned to be able to master, and getting into it is still no small feat. Even I had to go watch videos online showing how to use the new weapons types because while the game has new tutorials, they don’t go into complete depth. Let me just say thank God for Gaijin hunter.
My one other big complaint is that it is exclusively a 3DS game. I spend a lot of time playing it, but my time with it was sporadic throughout the year. I would have much rather have spent my time lying back and playing in on a big screen on my T.V. than hunched over the tiny screen of my 3DS during the tense battles of the game. It’s exhausting in a whole new way.
Monster Hunter has always been a meat grinder of loot/gear until you run out of challenges. I feel that Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate brings a lot more to the series than it needed to considering the past games in the series. New mechanics, interesting new monsters and cool new weapons. All that, on top of the multiplayer focused aspects of the game makes me really enjoy this game. But again, I don’t know if I could recommend it to the average joe gamer.
A Richard Wood Text Adventure 
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