Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate

Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate for the Wii U is an excellent introduction to the series, easing you into its systems and ensuring that you are well-equipped for the challenges to come.

Everything is of a piece, whole and entire, as if the developers set out to make exactly this game and succeeded. That doesn't mean it's flawless. It only means that, sometimes, it feels like it.

Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate takes the already great Monster Hunter Tri and perfects it. The graphics might be a bit dated, but the gameplay stands for itself: a massive, engrossing quest that is a lot of fun solo and an absolute blast in multiplayer. Put in the time to master the learning curve, and the hunt will richly reward you.

In terms of content this is definitely the ultimate Monster Hunter experience. The visuals can’t hide their age, though. The world still is harmonious and confronts you with truly impressive enemies, but a lot of animations and effects date back to the PS2 era. That doesn’t take away anything from the still motivating hunting and gathering that is easier to control than ever before.

Whether you're playing online or solo in your home village, Monster Hunter exhilarates and excites with the same kind of thrill you'd get from climbing a mountain or conquering a fear you never knew you had. It might not be the prettiest game, but it succeeds in tying your emotions to the action on screen, whether that means dashing your excitement in a narrow defeat or encouraging you to pick a bigger fight after an illustrious victory.

With over 40 hours on my first character, I feel like I've barely scratched the surface of what Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate has to offer, and I'm eager to keep hunting.

It’s not much more than an HD update, but if you and your friends have the perseverance this is one of gaming’s most uniquely challenging co-op experiences.

Completely amazing. Everything from the detail on the monsters and the surroundings to the advanced armor skills system that can do anything from allowing you to eat raw meat to know when a monster is ready to be trapped, the game has everything that could be added without it being to overwhelming. good weapon types that are so well made they each need there own tutorials with amazingly complex upgrade trees. the story although not the strong part of the game is still quite interesting and makes you want to win. And with enough monsters and quests to keep you entertained for hours in the village alone. My playtime is way over 600 hours and i'm only hr 67 when I've seen some in the great multiplayer have reached the max of 999, but I'm not going to talk about the multiplayer because that is just to fun and enjoyable to put into words.

Pros: + Online Multiplayer (it makes this game) + Great monster design + super deep game + tons of weapons, items, upgrades + item crafting + 3DS/Wii U communication Cons: - single player is bland - map broken into small pieces and loading screens - grind, grind, grind - showing age

This game blows your mind with incredible monsters and environments, but it has one serious downfall. The text on the screen is hardly readable. This made starting the adventure difficult and unenjoyable for a first timer like myself with this. The small town area is also difficult to navigate, but once you begin to master things, this game really opens up.

I know very little about this series but somebody said it was amazing but I'm playing a "next gen" console- so why does this feel like an old clunky DS game from 2007?

Good lord, this game is a real mess. I've never played any MH games but I've heard nothing but praise for this game and after playing, I really don't see why. The game is mostly about fighting big, impressive looking boss monsters that require skill to beat. While the idea is nice in theory, it fails horrible in execution. Gameplay and animations are very slow, and stiff which makes the game feel dated. Half of the weapons in the game are very tedious to use in single player due to very low attack power which means these weapons aren't very good unless you're playing multiplayer. There are always time limits when fighting boss monsters which is stupid considering how killing them can often take up to 30 minutes or a hour. It doesn't matter how close you were to killing that boss, if you can't do it within the time limit, you'll have to waste another hour trying again. Sometimes bosses can feel cheap, like constantly stunning you for 5 minutes. Underwater combat is terrible and makes fights drag on for too long. Sometimes you're forced to fight huge monsters in very small areas which makes dodging near impossible at times. The reason why people say they get so many hours out of this game is because you're forced to fight the same monsters over and over to craft weapons and gear. You also have to collect materials to craft things like potions and other items. The boss fighting and material collecting wouldn't be so bad is it weren't literally the only things you do in the game. There is no story, no interesting characters, no big open world to explore, no interesting combat system, no skills to learn. It's a constant grind for more weapons and items with slow, tedious animations and punishing gameplay. It feels a lot like a generic mmo, except slightly more exciting.