Grab your almost comically oversized weapon, don your fluffy more-revealing-than-protective armour, and grab your mates because Monster Hunter returns to the Nintendo 3DS!
Capcom and Nintendo have both announced that Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate (the European follow-up to the critically acclaimed Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate) will be arriving in the UK on February 13th, alongside the recently announced New Nintendo 3DS and New Nintendo 3DS XL consoles, and just in time to ruin Valentine's Day for the partners of Hunters nationwide.
For those not familiar with the series, Monster Hunter throws you into a fantasy world of beautiful vistas, lush forests, frozen glaciers, and blazing deserts, all rammed full of larger-than-life monsters to overcome. From the lithe and nimble Great Jaggi, to the ponderous and gigantic Jhen Moran, and everything in between, as a Hunter, it's your job to head into the wild, and track and slay these impressive beasts. After each kill or capture, the monsters can be harvested for parts that allow you to create new weapons and armour that, in turn, allow you to hunt even bigger, nastier beasties.
Into this mix, Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate introduces new weaponry, new monsters (and some returning favourites!) and new combat mechanics, including the ability to finally tackle your prey from above. Diving from a cliff onto the back of a Tigrex is a moment that I, personally, cannot wait for - especially since the new console will finally allow me to enjoy it in full 3D. Of course, veterans of the series will know that the gameplay alone is not the main draw, but the ability to Hunt alongside up to three of your mates - and Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate will finally allow you to do this online too (without the need for a Wii U this time)!
The release naturally coincides perfectly with the New Nintendo 3DS and New Nintendo 3DS XL handheld consoles, but apparently will be playable on the current models too. For the avid Hunter with only the previous models of 3DS, a Circle Pad Pro attachment was a highly advised (if not outright required for some fights) accessory to add much needed right-stick functionality, but cunningly, the New Nintendo 3DS's both feature a right-stick. It's almost as if a launch title had been timed to showcase the new model's hardware!
Of course, with such coincidental timing, there was bound to be a Special Edition console, and Capcom have not disappointed. Alongside the game, February 13th will see the launch of a New Nintendo 3DS XL Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate pack, a stunningly beautiful New Nintendo 3DS XL featuring a fur-effect finish and the Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate emblem, and a copy of the game pre-installed onto the machine.
Sadly, it does appear that this Special Edition still suffers from Nintendo's absurd policy of not including a charger with a portable console, but for folks like myself who are upgrading, it's not too much of an issue.