Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate

I was gonna wait a bit longer before I made this thread (the JP release, to be honest).

That being said, I can compile a list of some new MH4 features later on, when I get some time. I'm gonna leave a picture of this fabulous N3DS that's coming for MH4G, maybe US will get something similar:


Also http://www.capcom.co.jp/monsterhunter/4G...d=67&cat=9 will probably be in MH4U because Nintendo and Sega are pals even in the US nowadays.

And also

 Trailers

[video=youtube;koI16NrnRcc]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koI16NrnRcc[/video]
[video=youtube;cNojl-pqZtk]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNojl-pqZtk[/video]
[video=youtube;CDknVt_MYTM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDknVt_MYTM[/video]

CRABS ARE BACK! WOOH!

Edit:
Okay, so I'm going to provide some general information for the Monster Hunter fans among us. I've played a lot of Monster Hunter 4, and plan to get Monster Hunter 4G on release, so I've got a good bit of experience in the game overall, and can provide some decent information.

 New Weapons

Two new weapons were added in Monster Hunter 4. The below information is based on Monster Hunter 4, and is subject to change based on changes made in 4G.

Insect Glaive - The Insect Glaive is a large pole-arm type weapon with an attached bug. The bug can be commanded to attack, and flies in a straight line to the monster. It can be told to target a specific area by aiming and shooting a pheromone, although in my experience this is rarely used (as it takes a long time to aim). Based on where the bug hits, it can provide various buffs to the Hunter, including: Damage Buffs (Red), Speed Buffs (White), Defense Buffs (Orange), and small amounts of healing (Green). This is determined through the color that the bug gets when it hits, and is different on monsters based completely on where you hit the monster with the bug and that specific monster. You recall the bug to obtain the buff, or can call it to attack again to attempt to get a different buff.

The Insect Glaive is a quick combo weapon, similar to Dual Swords. When you have at least two buffs (you can get one of each of the first three types at any one time), your move set changes similarly to how Dual Swords go into Demonization. You switch to a new move set that includes long multi-hit combos. The biggest difference between Insect Glaive and Dual Swords is that you cannot leave this mode at any time, unlike Duals where you can press R and cancel Demonization whenever you want, but it also does not spend Stamina to be in.

Overall, at least in my opinion, the Insect Glaive is pretty clunky. The base combos are slow and drawn out, and the buffed combos are extremely long and drawn out. Most combos feel like you're just stuck in them for way too long, and you can't evade out of them. I'm hoping 4G fixes some of these issues. I've rarely ever seen a person online use Insect Glaive for the actual weapon move set...but instead...

The main thing most people use Insect Glaive for is for the vaulting. By pressing R+B, you can vault into the air and complete air combos, something that is normally only possible when you jump off a ledge. I'll go over this feature more later.

Don't get me wrong, I've seen a few people who use Insect Glaive and use it well, and it can be a great weapon without ever touching the vaulting mechanic. But Insect Glaive, at least in MH4, is basically the new Kelbi Bow (everyone spams it because it's easy, not fun). I'm hoping there's some really good changes to the weapon to make it less clunky and promotes vaulting less.

Charge Blade - The other new weapon introduced in Monster Hunter 4. This weapon is a dual weapon similar to the Switch Axe. It has a Sword and Shield mode, and then an "Axe" mode (although it's more like a giant sword, really). The Sword and Shield mode plays extremely similarly to Sword and Shield (hence the name). But you can link in charged attacks and switch to Axe Mode mid-combo, or start combos with it. The Axe mode will use phials, similarly to Switch Axe, and deal a ton of elemental/explosive damage depending on the type the weapon has.

The key to the weapon is switching back and forth a lot. When the charges are ready, you can unleash powerful combos that can KO (if explosive charge type), or deal A LOT of elemental damage. The Charge Axe does exceptionally well against monsters that are very weak to an element you are using, as the charge's elemental damage is extremely high.

It's a pretty cool weapon, but requires a lot of learning, similarly to how Switch Axe did when it was added to the game.

 New Features

Terrain Upgrades - The main combat feature that's the trademark for Monster Hunter's 4 Generation is the terrain itself. It has replaced swimming, hopefully never to be seen again (I hate swimming). The entire vertical aspect of the game has been reimagined, redesigned, and reworked. Most maps are hilly, and have terrain with variating height. To combat this, monsters and players all now have improved reflexes when dealing with the terrain itself. Small inclines are simply walked, or quickly climbed over. Larger inclines can be scaled much more quickly, with the ability to dodge to jump quickly in whatever direction. One of the main changes is that in carrying quests, you are now allowed to carry said item up climbable surfaces. You can run off cliffs and just hold the Circle Pad forward, and when you land you won't have that very long and dramatic landing animation. You'll hit the ground and quickly start running again. Overall, the entire travelling aspect of the game feels A LOT more fluid and more enjoyable. They did a great job.

One of the main aspects of this feature, in battles, is to be able to jump off cliffs and perform air combos. When your weapon is drawn, you can dodge off a cliff to leap off and then attack as normal. The main issue with this is that if you're actually dodging an attack, you will lose your evasion invulnerability time and most likely get hit. Probably my least favorite part of this change, but overall it's not a big deal.

Monster Riding - When you stagger a monster while in the air, you will then jump on their back and begin to ride them, stabbing at their back. This, in my opinion, is the worst new feature in the entire game, but mostly because it is abused by users of the Insect Glaive. When the monster is being ridden, no one can do anything else. It's the most anti-cooperative feature they've ever added. Melee users cannot go near the monster because the monster is literally flailing about and will do massive damage to you regardless of where you are (think of a Rathalos tailwhipping everything around him all the time). If you are ranged, and you cause a stagger, you'll knock the player off the monster (which will usually result in said player getting pissed off with you). The end result is that you pretty much just sit there if someone else is riding a monster (The Japanese players will actually start using dancing emotes and stuff). If the ride is successful, the monster is then tripped for a longer-than-normal period of time (not long enough to offset the time wasted in most scenarios). In very small doses, this is a decent feature, but a lot of people using Insect Glaive spam the hell out of it and it gets very annoying, very quickly.

I had someone ragequit on me because I was playing Bow and didn't care when he started riding Kecha, the new monkey monster. He's one of the first monsters you'll fight in the game, and this guy was trying to spam riding on him and I just didn't care for it at all. The guy ragequit when I told him as much. If he had had his way, the quest would have been twice as long because he was spamming it so much it was wasting incredible amounts of time.

Felyne Companions - Anyone who played Monster Hunter Freedom Unite or Monster Hunter Portable 3rd, remember Felyne Companions. They're pretty similar to the Shakalakas, although they don't dance. They've been re-added to the game with Monster Hunter 4, although with a slight twist. When you make your character, you also make one Felyne. This Felyne will go with you on hunts, even online (provided there are two or fewer players). The only problem is that you can never take any other Felyne with you; this one is basically your best friend in the whole wide world.

Felynes can be customized giving them weapons, armor, and training. This is done in the Felyne farm that you will unlock as you progress the game. Most materials are obtained through a mini-game similar to the old PSP Felyne game (Poka Poka Felyne Village), and even has a similar art style (which is absolutely adorable).

You can also assign combo skills to your Felyne, which will make it so that when it teams up with another Felyne in the quest, they can do some pretty cool combo attacks. One of the trailers has a Felyne Tank shooting at a monster, and this is one of those abilities.

The only major problem with the Felyne Companion system is that in Monster Hunter 4, they talk all the time...and the game has an issue with the chat system altogether. The game will literally freeze for half a second when they talk, and they will have conversations (freezing the game for seconds at a time). It has caused quite a few deaths. I hope that Capcom has worked on the chat system to resolve this issue (it is present even when normal players talk to each other).

Story and Town System - The game has a larger focus on the story now. You're basically on a caravan that travels from town to town, helping each town with their monster issues and then moving on. This system is pretty decent, and it gives more life to the game. In the end, though, you'll end up at the Guild Hall which is accessible from the beginning. The cool thing is that unlike previous games, you are not forced to stick to the Guild Hall when online. You're allowed to go to the other villages and create armor, gems, buy items, etc. Everything you can do normally (except visit the Felyne Farm, probably because of the mini-games) can be done while online. You just can only take quests from the Guild Hall when online.

Feral Monsters - The Feral Monster system is a pretty interesting one. Some quests will have a purple question mark icon, that will indicate that the monster goes feral during the fight. At some point during the fight, it will pass out, and then it will start smoking purple. Feral Monsters are faster, stronger, get new attacks, and can infect hunters. Infection is both a pro, and a con. Infection will cause a bar to appear below your name on the left side. If you do enough damage before the bar maxes out, you will receive increased affinity and damage for a short amount of time. The reverse is true if the bar fills up and you receive the negative buff. The best part is that it makes some of the crappy, boring monsters interesting again...although some monsters are crazy enough without it (Hello Rajang).

Guild Quests - The new end-game for Monster Hunter 4/4G is the Guild Quest system. By going to a random generating map offline, you can receive guild quests that you can do online. These quests level up, and the monsters in the quest get stronger. At Lv.75, the monsters in the quest are always feral, too. At very high guild quest levels, you will get the best weapons in the game, and some materials that are not available otherwise. You can also get some broken charms like Attack +13; which is why a lot of skills have new levels (Attack Up Ultra, Evasion +3, etc.). The Guild Quests are extremely hard at high ranks, and should be taken with caution.

That's all I've got for now. If you want information on anything specific that I didn't address, please let me know.