A Monster Hunter Retrospective
With the release of Monster Hunter: Wilds, the newest release in the popular action RPG series, I am sure that many fans, both returning and new, are falling in love with its simple but addictive loop. Hunting monsters, making new weapons and armor, and using what you’ve made to fight even bigger monsters is a formula that never gets old with these original titles.
With the franchise celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2024, there are some who may be interested in seeing the past releases in the series. As such, we will be exploring the main games of the series leading up to Wilds.
Monster Hunter: World/Iceborne (2018/2019) [Playstation 4, Xbox One, PC]
Monster Hunter: World and its expansion, Iceborne, are the games that popularized the series in the West and brought many new hunters into the fray. For those moving back from Wilds, World will be the most similar to it, being almost a direct predecessor. The game was revolutionary for the series, as much of its fat was trimmed away. Including the clunkiness of gathering, tracking, and crafting to give a much more streamlined experience.
Mechanics such as the Slinger seen in Wilds had their start here. Iceborne then offered the Clutch Claw, which lets a hunter grab onto a monster to weaken a body part for extra damage, similar to Wilds’ wounding mechanic. All of this gave us one of the most impactful games of the series.
Monster Hunter Rise/Sunbreak (2021/2022) [Nintendo Switch, PC, Playstation 4 & 5, Xbox One & Series S/X]
Monster Hunter Rise and its expansion, Sunbreak, are even more new-hunter friendly than World. It technically released after it, but it feels important to know of World before Rise for how much the latter builds on the former.
The freedom of movement and quality of life changes carry over from World/Iceborne. Rise simply chooses to remove a lot of the more complex features of World such as tracking and monster ecology to give a more hunting focused experience. Which also makes it a much faster paced game.
Rise actually puts a huge emphasis on the hunter’s ability to quickly move with small insects called Wiredbugs that act as grappling hooks for the hunter. This serves both for traversal, but also quickly repositioning and dodging in battle. The Wirebugs even allow for a hunter to use Silk Bind Attacks, which are special super attacks or buffs a player can give themselves and a customizable moveset for each weapon.
The hunters in this game are still joined by our Palico helpers, but now the player can also partner up with a dog known as a Palamute. They share the customizability of the Palicos while also being rideable, much like a Seikret from Wilds, to make it even easier to quickly move through the maps.
Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate (2018) [Nintendo Switch]
Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate is considered the last of the Old World Monster Hunter games. An era of much slower movements and hunting areas split into separate zones. These older games are where Monster Hunter got its hard as nails but deeply rewarding reputation.
Generations Ultimate stands out even among Monster Hunter games for its unique, game-defining central mechanic. That being Hunting Arts and Styles. Like Silk Bind attacks, Hunting Arts will allow a hunter to perform powerful super moves and buffs as desired. And Hunting Styles will change how a weapon is used, swapping out combos, adding or removing moves, etc. But it will come with being given new abilities such as being able to dodge attacks at the last moment and counter attack, leaping high in the air to crash down on a monster, or to spawn items at will.
Generations Ultimate also has the biggest monster list in history, standing at a huge 93 large monsters for you to fight. Including rare and powerful monsters only seen here among the series. As such, expect a lot of content to chew on if you pick up this game.
Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate (2015) [Nintendo 3Ds]
Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate, one of the most popular and beloved games in the series. Often considered to be a very good starting point for those curious in playing the Old World style games. This comes from both being a very solid game on its own merit, but also lacking the gimmicks like Hunting Arts that some may find distracting from the core of the game. Simply giving a strong core game without any bells and whistles.
This installment is the game that introduced jumping attacks and improved a lot of hunter movement options. Though not as maneuverable as World and Rise, the step this game took for making a much more mobile hunter cannot be ignored.
Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate (2013) [Nintendo Wii U, Nintendo 3Ds]
Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate is one of the more unique games in the series. Mainly for its status as the only game with underwater combat. Here you can jump into the water and fight monsters under the waves with your hunter lungs of steel in a fully 3D space!
This is an interesting mechanic that came from the desire to increase mobility for the hunter, which also led to the mounting and aerial attacks of later games. The trade off is that this is the first game a Wilds player might really feel the more limited moveset and slower fighting style. You also will not have access to the charge blade or insect glaive, both of which were introduced in 4 Ultimate.
With slower animations and no aerial attacks, some may find this era of the series limiting. Others may sense the simple charm that earned the series the place it has today. Not to mention the unique chance to fight underwater and battle monsters only seen in this game, such as the purely underwater Abyssal Lagiacrus.
Monster Freedom Unite (2009) [Playstation Portable]
Monster Hunter Freedom Unite, an even more stripped down experience than 3 Ultimate. A game with its own organically unique feel, being even more slow and methodical to it, with the hunter having to be even more calculating with their positioning. Monsters will also not become exhausted in this game, meaning you will be given even fewer openings and hits will hurt even more. Unfortunately for switch axe mains, that weapon type is also not available in this game.
But while this game can be punishing, it also has its own draw. It’s fun to have all the complexity of the newer games pulled away for something simple. It is just you, the monster, your weapon, and your little cat friend with a bomb. This game also can be very rewarding when you are smart with your positioning and dodges, letting you get away by the skin of your teeth and get those extra few hits in before avoiding an attack that would have 100% killed you.
One of the games that will make you feel the most like a hunter of monsters and understand where this series’ reputation came from.
But if you use a cheat to duplicate your honey, I won’t tell.
Monster Hunter (2004) [Playstation 2]
The Original Monster Hunter, the game to start the series, is… hard to recommend. Well it’s not that it isn’t fun, it is a Monster Hunter game after all, it’s just that it is the most rudimentary game of the series and is the most unforgiving. The movements are very simple, the monster roster is the smallest it has ever been, and the weapon list is small; having only seven weapon types to choose from. Monsters are also even more unforgiving in their moves, opening, drops, etc. The most unique thing is that this game has the attacks of your hunter not controlled by button inputs, but the right analog stick.
While not an awful game, it’s something better to go back to if one is curious of the series’ origins and not if they want to experience the old world. Other games are better for that.
Over the generations and the last 20+ years, the Monster Hunter franchise has gone through many different changes and evolutions. Some stuck around for the rest of the series, and some are underwater combat. But still, all have their charm and plenty more fans, even if some feel more limiting than newer entries. Especially when factoring in that many older games have their own unique monsters who have yet to return in any newer games.
I personally started in Freedom Unite but only had things click in Generations Ultimate years later. And both of them have found a place in my heart as the two best examples of both a simple and complex Monster Hunter game. Though I’d say Rise and 4 Ultimate strike the best balance of the two extremes.
Either way, any hunter interested in seeing more of this series is spoiled for choice when it comes to older Monster Hunter games.