The jungle is filled with a thick brush and howls come from all around when suddenly a 30-foot tall dragon comes rushing towards you. Simply dodge, recover and strike back even harder in the world of “Monster Hunter Generations.”
“Monster Hunter Generations” is the newest game in the “Monster Hunter” franchise to be released in North America. The previous title, “Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate,” was a favorite of mine, and I logged over 40 hours into its deep single and multiplayer content.
“Monster Hunter Generations” is a bit of a Greatest Hits collection, with some small improvements and additions thrown in. Players begin in the village of Bherna, where the player is newly recruited as a hunter at the town’s Wycademy. Over the course of the game, hunters will travel to villages such as Pokke Village from “Monster Hunter Freedom 2” and Kokoto Village from the original game to take on requests and challenge bigger monsters.
The game’s major theme is, as advertised, hunting monsters in various ways. Hunters are given a choice of 14 distinct weapon types, ranging from longswords and bows to an insect glaive, which allows them to control bugs to fight monsters. Each monster you kill can be skinned for scales and bones that can be used at the blacksmith to craft better armor to take on the next, more challenging, monster.
As well as offering a multitude of weapons, one of the newest additions to the series is Hunting Styles and Hunter Arts. Hunter Styles allow players to choose a play style that works best for them, be it a hunter that can easily mount monsters for devastating blows to one who can more easily evade and counterattack.
Hunter Arts add a new layer of strategy to the gameplay of “Monster Hunter,” allowing for easier evasions and powerful new attacks such as the long sword’s Sakura Slash, which lets its user boost their damage and deliver two powerful strikes. I personally chose the Hunter Style “Striker,” which allows players to take in three of these boosts and even charge them at a faster rate.
New to Generations is “Prowler Mode,” a new mission type and playable race, which allows you to take control of your feline companion known as a Palico. While acting as helpful allies during normal play, switching to prowler mode opens up new ways to take on giant threats, and gives new players a chance to play the game without having to worry about items or stamina. This mode also gives players nine lives to go through before failing the mission, instead of the usual three.
“Monster Hunter Generations” is quite possibly the most accessible entry in the series yet, offering robust tutorials for new players while still giving series veterans a challenge. With new additions such as Hunter Arts and Prowler Mode, there’s something for everyone to enjoy as they take on fearsome foes like the Tetsucabra and Great Maccao.
However, the harder-tiered G-Rank quests are nowhere to be found within the gathering halls of “Generations.” That being said, “Monster Hunter Generations” is packed full of content, from its low-rank quests, over 100 villager requests and its online Hunter Rank quests spanning the series history.
For those who have played since the PS2 era or for those wanting something more challenging than “The Legend of Zelda” or “Pokemon,” “Monster Hunter Generations” is a fantastic jumping-on point. The game is available now for Nintendo 3DS for $40.
