Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate (NS) - Review

by VGChartz Staff , posted on 11 September 2018 / 10,307 Views

There's no sugar coating it - Capcom’s Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate is a gruelling experience. Those expecting this to be even remotely similar to the more western-oriented, accessible, open world sibling available on other platforms will be extremely disappointed in what they find here. On the flip side, series stalwarts will probably revel in its obtuseness and complexity. If you fall into the latter group then you may find that this review is not to your tastes.

Are you still here? Then on we go! Unfortunately I had a completely miserable time playing Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate. I spent four or five hours alone trying to get used to the horrible controls, annoying niggles with weapons losing power in the midst of battle, and a host of other inconveniences. This was not designed to be a fun game, but rather one that you feel immensely proud of yourself for overcoming when you finally do manage to defeat a large monster, no matter how many hours or countless attempts it takes to achieve.

One of the more annoying aspects of the combat system, other than the controls, is the fact that if you 'faint' then you may lose track of the creature you've been fighting, and thus lose any progress you've made towards slaying it (causing you to have to abandon the quest and start over; something that happened more times than I care to remember). Another annoyance is weapon dullness. Apparently, taking five or so swings at a beast somehow dulls your sword, and you're then forced to either keep fighting the boss until it runs or try and squeeze in seven or so seconds of uninterrupted sharpening of your weapon, which is hard to do with little minions running about attacking you from all sides.

To make matters worse, Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate is a visually upgraded version of a 3DS game, making it graphically lacklustre for a Nintendo Switch title. It also lacks a story; the whole point of the game is merely to accept new quests, beating them by collecting or slaying a number of enemies or defeating larger monsters (all of which requires a lot of grinding). As you progress through quests and beat the more important ones, you'll unlock even tougher quests, but that's about it as far as narrative progression is concerned.

Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate is highly instanced and has very limited movement and allied minion controls, which makes it somewhat reminiscent of a game from the mid-2000s (a likely hold-over from its 3DS origins). Player dependency on items in combat is also a bit too extreme. Usually, when fantasy replaces real-world logic in a video game, it is done so in order to enhance the experience, because the real world has annoying limitations. In this title, I would've preferred real-world limitations over the in-game limitations; I wouldn't have to sharpen my sword after attacking something a few times that way, and I wouldn't have to eat ten pounds of food in a five minute-long fight in order to stay alive.

On the upside I was pleasantly surprised by how quickly the zones loaded. Going from village to village and then into a hunt doesn’t take a whole lot of time and so naturally compliments the Switch's portability. I also really digged the soundtrack, which is usually an important part in my forming an emotional connection with a game. Finally, the multiplayer is a boon, allowing people to team up with each other on specific hunts.

But despite these positives I simply didn't have fun playing through Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate. Look, I get it; the Monster Hunter series is a mega-franchise that has achieved incredible commercial success and it has a very hardcore fanbase, but try as I might I just couldn't get into this particular entry; I found it to be frustrating bordering on the maddening, inaccessible, and unenjoyable.

VGChartz Verdict

4
Poor

This review is based on a digital copy of Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate for the NS, provided by the publisher.

Read more about our Review Methodology here

15 Comments

routsounmanman (on 11 September 2018)

So basically the reviewer is shitting on the game because he expected it to be something else entirely. Why was he chosen to review it then? Horrible review.

Areym routsounmanman (on 13 September 2018)

It really just sounds like he played MHW and then came to this and found it archaic. I don't blame him, I remember the PSP version being god awfully clunky and obtuse. I think it's clear that he doesn't have a ton of history with the game. I think it's a decent look at what new players to the series might experience, despite some of the falsehoods some people have pointed out.

johnsobas routsounmanman (on 14 September 2018)

sure i can understand the frustration if you don't give the game a lot of time without judging. Not being accessible to new players was the main reason it couldn't get a foothold in the west. With that said the reviewer doesn't even understand the basics about the game and reviewing it. If it was just a post in a thread I would understand. I was reading the review and just face palming throughout, I don't know how you can call that a review.

Cerebralbore101 (on 11 September 2018)

This review is factually false on so many levels. First off, fainting does not cause you to lose all progress towards a hunt. The sharpening animation does not last 7 seconds. It lasts about 4 seconds. Weapons do not lose sharpness after five hits, unless you are using a weapon that dulls quickly. Most weapons are good for ten to fifteen hits before losing sharpness. You have even more control over your minions than you do in world. You get to choose what skills they have, train them and customize them to a ridiculous level.

Mnementh Cerebralbore101 (on 12 September 2018)

The starting weapons dull pretty fast. That's why I upgraded them quickly. You can see the areas of sharpness, and if they are short, they are fast through it, but if they are long you can stay a fight long without sharpening. And upgrading your weapons is a core to the MonHun experience, that's why the weapons have all different names and looks. Seems the reviewer didn't played it long enough. Given, long enough are hundreds of hours.

Cerebralbore101 Cerebralbore101 (on 12 September 2018)

Yeah exactly. There are weapons that take 30 hits to dull if you play right. I've been using longswords with the style that let's you take three active skills. I might sharpen my sword once or twice for the entire fight. Meanwhile, this reviewer is taking a weapon with a very short area of sharpness, hitting extra hard spots on a monster, and then wondering why he has to sharpen every 5 hits. :D

sundin13 (on 11 September 2018)

You don't have to be a series veteran to realize that this review is fairly awful. Not only is it factually incorrect in multiple places, but it is also extremely bare bones, doing little but telling you that the author doesn't like what this game is (and doing virtually nothing to inform the reader about how they will likely enjoy the game).

The fact that it spends seemingly half the review complaining about how unrealistic it is for a giant sword to get dull when hitting a giant armored lizard doesn't really help.

hentai_11 (on 12 September 2018)

OMG, you really quited quests, because you couldn't find the monster after you fainted? You could have used the free paint balls you get in the chest to mark the monster.
Or you could have built an armor set with the skill Autotracker.
Or you could have used a Psychoserum.
Or you could have teamed up with a "minion" with the Monsterdar skill.
Or you could have just searched every area manually (twice in case the monster moved).

Slownenberg (on 12 September 2018)

I don't get this. Monster Hunter is one of THE huge franchises in Japan, and the reviewer is basically acting like now that Monster Hunter World came out all the other MH games are total shit (or at least "4 - poor"). Pretty sure MH didn't become one of the most major game franchises in Japan based off a bunch of 4 out of 10 rated games.

AngryLittleAlchemist (on 12 September 2018)

Well ... I wrote a post quoting you and giving criticism on what was factually wrong, but it's formatting was awful so...

Anyways, nothing wrong with a negative review. Just not well written. Good effort though

Mnementh (on 12 September 2018)

Hehehe, LOL. MonHun is no game for the casuals and faint of heart. Well, except World it seems. All the negatives given in the review are strong points of the game. Because they can be overcome, if you learn to play the game, git gud. In MonHun you learn to use items, like the ones marking the monster on your map so you find it after you faint. Or you have to search. The weapons are upgradeable, and in so many paths, you can form them to your liking. And longer time staying sharp is something I clearly want to achieve by upgrading. But the riskiness of sharpening or other actions and opening yourself to attacks is clearly a thing that enhances the feeling. In the end you can overcome all the obstacles and the feeling of beating a monster is great. This review is like: Mario is bad, because if I time my jump wrong I fall into the pit and have to start over. Can't I fly magically? By the way, did the reviewer try online? Many things can be learned by watching other hunters.

xxbrothawizxx63 (on 03 October 2018)

This is the review I would have written after playing the Tri demo years ago...

It didn't click for me until the 3DS re-release. I'd imagine it would have been even more difficult if I'd already played a more streamline version.

A pretty poor review though.

Wizav (on 12 September 2018)

Only a people who have completely mastered certain game are qualified to review it. That can't be said for this reviewer.

Mnementh Wizav (on 13 September 2018)

I wouldn't say you have to master a title to review it. But you should stay objective: do I really understand the game or do I only scratched the surface?