Aug 28, 2018  Objectively speaking, Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate is a better version of Generations. For starters, it has all the content, hunter styles. Playing Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate in 2019. Do you recommend rushing through the main story line quests or completing every single one for 100% progression? Plenty of hubs in Low rank and high rank. Not very many for specific monsters, but plenty of key quest hubs and urgents and random monsters etc.

1. Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate Village Quests
2. Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate Key Quests Online
3. Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate Main Key Quests Online Play

Controls when out on a quest are a bit more complicated. But never fear, this table is here to guide you! These controls are universal to all weapon types. Weapon-specific controls have (and very well deserve) their own section farther into this guide for you to learn from.

You can still do an evasive roll when your weapon is unsheathed, however you cannot jog/sprint by pressing R, as that will activate your weapon’s special ability instead. Different weapons also have different standard walking speeds depending on their size and weight.

For example, if you use Sword and Shield, you can still run (albeit slower than if the weapon were sheathed and you used R to run), meaning it’s reasonable to keep the weapon unsheathed as you fight the boss. However, a weapon like the Great Sword causes you to slog around as if you were caught in quicksand. Definitely a weapon you’ll want to sheathe and unsheathe as is necessary!

Additionally, the Sword and Shield is the only weapon that can use items when still unsheathed. All other weapons must first sheathe before using an item, so be careful.

Ten times. That’s how many times I’ve bought and re-bought games in the Monster Hunter Generations series, including Japanese versions Monster Hunter X and XX.

That doesn’t even include all the times I’ve bought multiple versions of other entries in the overall series since Monster Hunter Freedom Unite. Heck, I remember arriving in Japan for vacation several years ago and asking my ex-girlfriend to take me to a video game store so I can buy the newly released Monster Hunter 4. Correction, buy two copies of MH4.

They say the definition of insanity is to do the same thing over and over again. If that’s the case, then I’m clearly insane about the Monster Hunter series. Unlike crazy people who do the same thing over and over, though, I wasn’t really expecting a different result each time like insane people supposedly do. Nope, I usually buy multiple copies of the game so I could spread the word and share the love by playing it with other people in my family. I mean, if they ever make an embassy for Monster Hunter, they could name me its ambassador for sure.

All that being said, Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate comes at a bit of a strange time. First off, I’ve played this game twice now — first when it came out on the Nintendo 3DS in Japan in March of last year and then a second time when it was released in Japan on the Switch last August. Technically, you can even say that I played it four times when you include my time with MHX and Generations. On top of that, Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate arrives AFTER I’ve plunked in 600 hours on the newer Monster Hunter World, which I gave a 10 out of 10, by the way (only the second time I’ve given a game such a high score since I started doing reviews). At the time, I called World arguably the best Monster Hunter game ever released, thanks to its improved presentation and visuals, fine-tuned mechanics and large number of quality-of-life improvements. Some might find it blasphemous to call World the best in the series but it’s something I continue to stand by. Yes, it doesn’t have as many monsters but neither did Tri when it first came out, and that game pretty much kickstarted the last generation before World. Basically, World is the Tri of the new Monster Hunter generation and serves as an excellent foundation for upcoming games in the series.

Needless to say, there are a bunch of factors that definitely impact how I view Generations Ultimate now. Let’s just say that my review probably would be a bit different if I wrote it back in early 2017 when MHXX first came out. To be fair, I felt that MHXX at the time was already starting to feel a bit old — and that’s even before I knew World existed. It’s strange, too, given that I rated Monster Hunter Generations a 9.5 out of 10. Even Monster Hunter fans might consider that an overly generous score, which I understand. In my case, I gave it that score primarily due to one key reason: hunting styles. Hunting styles, along with the ability to play as a Palico, are pretty much the biggest change in the base mechanics of the series in a long, long time. Prior to that, the only big notable changes I remember to the core gameplay of Monster Hunter are underwater combat in Tri and mounting in MH4. Otherwise, Monster Hunter really hasn’t had any groundbreaking changes in its base experience outside of the improved hitboxes that Tri thankfully brought about.

Objectively speaking, Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate is a better version of Generations. For starters, it has all the content, hunter styles and hunting arts from its predecessor and then some. It also brings in G-rank quests and the tougher monsters that come with them. While it has more content, however, it does not feel as fresh as Generations did when I first played it. That’s because it simply builds on its predecessor as opposed to drastically changing the formula like Generations did. It’s an interesting conundrum for a reviewer such as myself who tries to consider a wide range of factors and viewpoints in my reviews. This includes factoring in the experience and expectations of gamers who never played Generations, those who played it but never played MHXX, and those who count Monster Hunter World as their first ever game in the franchise. A review, by definition, is subjective but I still try to bring in as many objective elements as I can while accounting for the various viewpoints and needs of gamers who might read my articles. What might feel like old hat to me could be totally fresh for others.

Given all that, I will try my best to factor in all those varying experiences as I dissect MHGU for this review. Crypto key generate rsa meaning. Now, I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve always scored Monster Hunter games higher than the norm. I remember giving MH3U the equivalent of a score of 90 way back in the day when we still used our old website. That’s eight points higher than its Metacritic average. Although more reviewers were starting to warm up to the series at the time, many still considered the mechanics clunky and unwieldy. In contrast, Monster Hunter veterans such as myself saw a more deliberate system that typically encouraged discipline and purpose as opposed to mindless hacking. I just historically enjoy this series more than the average person.

Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate Village Quests

The good news is that despite having played Monster Hunter X, Generations and XX to death — as well as getting used to the mechanics introduced by World — Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate’s weapon mechanics still feel great. In fact, I was surprised at just how much I enjoyed playing it even after getting used to the changes brought about by World. The base mechanics for combat, for example, remained spot-on and I was able to adjust in no time with the timing and combos for the weapons, especially those I was most familiar with.

I started with the last weapon I had equipped in my old Generations save file, the Sword and Shield, which I’ve rarely used in 3U, 4, 4U and Generations. See, I normally main Bowguns and the Insect Glaive but I didn’t have a good status-based Light or Heavy Bowgun to test with my Level 10 Dreadqueen Rathian Gunner nor a good paralysis Glaive to use with my Level 10 Dreadqueen Rathian Blademaster set. So I decided to test the status-based armor with a Viper Bite 4 paralysis SnS instead. Despite now being more used to World and its more forgiving Spiral Slash mechanic for Sword and Shield, the SnS combat with MHGU actually still felt great and I found myself quickly adjusting to it in no time. I especially loved the weapon’s synergy with Striker Style, which allows you to use three hunting arts at the expense of losing your backhop, which is a minor sacrifice. I ended up having a blast using Chaos Oil to buff my attacks with exhaust, stun, affinity, partbreaker and Mind’s Eye to prevent weapon bounce, then weaving in Sword Dance into my attacks and eventually knocking out monsters with Shoryugeki.

Admittedly, there are a few nuances with some weapons where I do miss the changes brought about by World. I now find Kinsect control and essence gathering, for example, a lot easier in World than MHGU. Marking a body part on a monster with your Insect Glaive in World, for example, pretty much guarantees your bug will extract that part’s color. That’s not the case in MHGU where your bug can get the wrong color if the monster moves, which it almost always does. I also find aiming and hitting ideal spots with the Light and Heavy Bowguns easier in World thanks to the latter’s more intuitive controls and added mobility. For Sword and Shield, I miss World’s Spiral Slash, which allowed you to readjust the direction of your attacks on the fly and made SnS combat feel much more fluid.

Such niggles shouldn’t be as big of a deal for veterans of the classic Monster Hunter games, who have invested countless hours using the old mechanics and can reacquire them the same way one can always ride a bicycle once he or she learns how to, even after not using a bike for a long time. If Monster Hunter World was your first game, however, even minor changes to the combat mechanics can feel annoying. This is especially true when you factor in older mechanics like flexing your arms while being rooted on the spot when drinking a potion or having to deal with pickaxes that break when mining. If The fact that online Urgent Quests — missions you need to finish successfully in order to unlock the next batch of quests — can only be cleared by the person who posts it can make tougher missions such as Lao-Shan Lung a giant pain, literally. This is especially true if you help folks clear their Urgent, only for them to bail and leave you when your turn comes around. Unlike World, MHGU does not scale down its online quests for solo players, making team play practically a necessity for the game's harder monsters (it would be akin to soloing Kulve Taroth and Behemoth). Ultimately, if you’re used to the quality-of-life changes from World, the mechanics for MHGU can feel disjointed and archaic, perhaps even trollish. In fact, I can actually see some folks quitting because they find it too cumbersome.

Then again, that would be a shame because players who decide not to stick with Generations Ultimate will be missing out on the biggest advantage that the game has over World: hunting styles. I know I already mentioned them but I can’t say enough how much of a game changer these are, especially given how the franchise has stuck to the tried-and-true “Guild-style” mechanics pretty much throughout its whole life.

As much as I love the fine-tuned Heavy Bowgun mechanics used by World, it still has no replacement for the airborne spread shot shenanigans of the Aerial Style introduced in MHG, which can make short work of a Zinogre’s horns. Neither does it have an alternative that replicates MHGU’s new Valor Style ability that lets you literally do a power run with your HBG drawn out, then slide into a special Siege Mode that shoots bullets at an ever-increasing rate of speed. For folks who enjoyed the crazy dodge counters of Adept Style, the closest thing you’ll get to experiencing that in World is seeing the special dodge animation when using the Temporal Mantle.

When you multiply the six hunting styles with the 14 weapons, that’s a lot of combinations to choose from. That doesn’t even factor in the so-called “15th weapon,” the Palicoes, which come with various weapon subtypes of their own. You can hunt as a cat that specializes in boomerangs, bombs, healing or one that even turns into a miniature Wolverine-style beast. It’s literally something I miss in World and wish would be added in the future, especially given how nice cats look in the new game.

Another advantage for MHGU is its insane monster count, which makes World’s number of creatures piddly in comparison. Granted, it’s not really a fair comparison as MHGU is the culmination of a generation that technically started way back in Tri, so it has the advantage of being able to build on assets that have been amassed over several years. Nevertheless, the monster count remains a clear-cut advantage for MHGU over World. Add the ability to play it on the go and you’ve got the true spiritual successor to the portable Monster Hunter experience that thrived on the PSP and 3DS.

Having said all that, MHGU is admittedly showing its age even for this Monster Hunter fan. While World magnifies the advantages of Generations Ultimate, it also makes its warts more obvious. It’s not even the graphics as MHGU, while not as visually impressive as World, looks surprisingly good on the Switch for an older game. Instead, it’s the quality-of-life changes that make dealing with some of the game’s older mechanics and limits a bit more difficult than before.

It’s almost ironic how a newer Monster Hunter game ultimately ends us showing what MHGU can do better. It’s still a great game that boasts, in my opinion, the cooler mascot (I mean, Nergigante looks cool but Valstrax is a freaking jet-powered dragon). At the same time, it also appears to serve as a fitting bookend to the end of an era, even for a fan who would love to see Capcom continue the old series, at least on portable systems.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate is like my old 300ZX from years past. It’s not as comfortable or as fast as newer sports cars. But boy did I have fun driving that thing. Let’s just hope that Monster Hunter World or its successor incorporates the fun parts from MHGU, whether it be stuff like hunting styles or being able to play as a cat. Like its flagship monster, if this is the last hurrah for the previous monster hunter generation, it’s certainly going out with a jet-powered bang.

Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate Key Quests Online

• Rating: 8.5 out of 10
• Cost: $59.99, Switch
• Official site

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Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate Main Key Quests Online Play