Reviewers are tackling the Wii U's most recent exclusive title, "Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate," as a mix between an HD upgrade and a director's cut style game + expansion release - it's the Wii's "Monster Hunter Tri" with a Wii U upgrade.. Extra missions and content, an improved online interface, gamepad functionality and upgraded visual aspects result in a fairly unanimous consensus: "Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate" is likely the best "Monster Hunter" ever released, but only for the upgrades and not the ingenuity. Longtime fans who haven't quite scratched that itch into scar tissue just yet will find some extra content and the gameplay they love and those who want to try "Monster Hunter" for the first time have absolutely no reason to look anywhere else. This is the definitive title in the series, it just isn't all that new.
NintendoLife's reviewer Thomas Whitehead summed up the series as a whole quite well:
"This is a time-consuming and all-encompassing game that demands your commitment; it won't serve occasional dabblers well. Ignoring its many intricacies, it's a title that places its emphasis on preparation, skill and grinding, with gradual progression teasing you along. It's also, if you skip or get any of these aspects wrong, brutally difficult. The challenge isn't unfair if you've put in the required time and effort, but if you try to rush ahead the game will repeatedly thrash you without mercy. If that level of immersion and dedication to a game isn't up your alley, then it's not for you - it really is as simple as that," Whitehead writes.
If that didn't turn you away, you might just be in for a great time.
Everything Good about "Monster Hunter Tri"
Hundreds of missions and monsters to hunt make the "Monster Hunter" series a true test of devotion, but when the gameplay is as rewarding as it is challenging, it's hard not to get sucked in and lose track of your life. That doesn't change in "Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate." There's no reason it would have.
While RPG-elements outside of the missions make customizing and enhancing easy, it's the combat's diverse set of monsters that makes the series so endlessly intriguing. Instead of displaying statistics or providing specific elemental or strategic counters to your enemies, players are charged with figuring it all out themselves by simply observing the Monsters they intend to destroy.
Grimaces of pain, aggressive tells and common patterns all need to be understood and taken advantage of to time time the attacks properly. Capcom's ability to make each battle feel unique is a big reason why the series is so popular. It's brutal if you don't pay attention, but rewarding when you fell the beast. Various weapon classes allow the player to fight the way they want - massive hammers for slow but damaging attacks, bows for range, swords for quicker melee, etc. - and a couple new classes were brought back in "Ultimate" that were absent in "Tri." The reviewer over at Edge lays it out.
And doing it all together in a cooperative "hunting party" is really what makes the experience. "Tri" did this well, and as you'll see "Ultimate" makes some attempts to make the process of getting in a game a bit smoother. Additionally, to emulate that co-op experience in the single-player game, the player is now granted some AI-controlled buddies to serve a monster hunting fodder while figuring out what to do.
And, to varying degrees of success, "Ultimate" makes a few attempts to improve the core experience outside of simply adding extra missions and monsters.
The GamePad "Shines"
"You can use the pro controller (or the Wii's classic controller), but the GamePad really shines here; the screen offers additional buttons and functions, all of which can be customized. If you want the map on the GamePad instead of onscreen, it can be done. Targeting, camera controls, item management, and certain attack controls can all be mapped to the touch-screen interface and moved about to suit you. This interface is never intrusive, or mandatory, but it's a subtle and welcome use of the hardware," writes Gamespot's Ashton Raze.
The Wii U's trump card, that second touch screen in your hands at all times, is fulfilling all those "duh" uses every RPG player ever thought of when they first say Nintendo's next console. "Ultimate" ups the ante by allowing full customization, which plays well into the game's requirement for commitment. A devoted player is going to find the perfect gamepad setup and stick with it. But not every reviewer found the new option quite as intriguing.
"The second screen's customizable panels (including, bizarrely, a virtual D-pad for camera controls) force you to look away from the main screen, which, as seasoned hunters will attest, is rarely an option," writes Edge.
The reviewer makes a good point: you're not going to want to look down while you're fighting a ravenous beast, though the ability to customize that HUD and put whatever you want anywhere you want, on the TV or on the gamepad, sort of negates this issue. It's a choice, not a requirement.
Improved Online Infrastructure
"Monster Hunter Tri's" online interface was archaic on the Wii, and some reviewers have taken to the upgrades in "Ultimate" while others wished Capcom would have taken it a bit further.
"Local multiplayer is easy to set up, but the online interface on Wii U is unfortunately still as archaic as it was in Tri; one connection error and you'll be booted aaaaall the way back to the start screen. Once you've managed to connect to a lobby, though, it rarely stumbled in my experience," writes IGN's Keza MacDonald.
Surprisingly, Raze felt almost exactly the opposite way.
"Perhaps the most welcome aspect of Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate is the overhaul of its online systems. Joining a game is a simple affair: you head to the online port, join one of the lobbies, and pick a room or set up your own. From here, you can quest with friends or strangers, and the new text input interface, as well as voice chat using the GamePad, makes communication a lot easier," writes Raze.
The gamepad's ability to double as a communication device was not lost on other reviewers as well.
"The GamePad also lets you use its built-in mic for chatting with players during online matches and it offers clear sound that makes it easy to communicate with or without a headset" writes GamesRadar's Giancarlo Saldana.
"Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate," doesn't deal with connection-drops very well, which IGN found pretty annoying and I'm sure plenty of hunters out there will agree. That said, the interface for actually joining those matches seems to be much improved.
Visual Upgrade
Bottom line, Capcom could have probably done more to make "Ultimate" stand out as a beautiful game on the Wii U, but they released something a bit more middle-of-the-road in the HD era. Most of the resources went into improving monster and character models, this being a "Monster" and "Hunter" game, but the environments are also slightly improved with enhanced lighting models improved environments. The upgrade, however, is not ideal.
"Despite being an enhanced version of a Wii game, Ultimate still manages to provide Wii U owners with a lush world to explore - even if it doesn't take advantage of their console's full potential," writes Saldana.
Edge, as usually, takes a harder view on the subject.
"Ultimate's hardly a technical showcase for Wii U, either, with some ugly textures and an inconsistent framerate betraying the game's Wii origins," writes Edge.
The 3DS Version
"Whether you're playing on 3DS or Wii U, you're getting the same experience, which is pretty remarkable in itself," writes IGN's reviewer. Obviously there's a visual downgrade to the 3DS, but there is one more caveat.
The 3DS version cannot be played online. That's a major bummer, but it can be played locally with other 3DS players and, most intriguingly, with Wii U players as well. Players can also transfer their save files through a dedicated Wii U app from the 3DS to the home console, which means the most dedicated players can continue hunting with their favorite character on the big screen, the gamepad, the 3D screen and the really small touch screen as much as they want.
That's a lot of screens. Perhaps this pertains to the North American audience more, seeing as the series is ridiculously popular over in Japan, but "Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate" is asking a lot of players, similar to what the Sony PS3 to PS Vita do. I don't think players are going to out and buy an entirely new 3DS and extra copy of the same game just so they can co-op with a buddy at home instead of going online.