Which Monster Hunter Title Had The Best Endgame?

So this post is going to a little bit different from what I normally post here. Usually, I try to write with a more informative, unbiased (yea I said it) perspective. But since this topic is way more subjective than what I’d normally deal with, I figured that it would be best if I were to just talk more freely. This is going to be 100% just my opinion,  so please feel free to let me know your perspective, cause I don’t want you guys to think that what I’m saying is absolutely right.

Got it? Then buckle up, cause this is gonna take a while.

So first a little bit of background. I’ve started playing Monster Hunter all the way back in 2009 with Monster Hunter Freedom Unite. I’ve then gone on to play Monster Hunter Tri,  3 Ultimate, 4 Ultimate, Generations, and finally Worlds. Needless to say, I am what the cool kids call a “hardened veteran” of the Monster Hunter Series. I’ve even beaten MHFU solo, so now you know that I got them mad skills…Okay maybe I haven’t completely beaten it yet but dangit I’ve played over 600 hours of this game and I’m gonna wear this achievement all the way to my deathbed.

Anyways, I’ve noticed a lot recently that Monster Hunter fans (especially the veterans) have been harking on and on about how Worlds has the worst end-game out of all Monster Hunter games. And from what I can tell, this seems to be a very touchy subject within the Monster Hunter community. Since everytime you ask this type of question on forums, there always seems to be many different answers. It can sometimes even get to the point where people completely write off certain entries because it didn’t give them more than 400 hours of content (Yes I’ve seen these comments before). And this can be pretty off-putting for newcomers who are just coming in with Worlds and are loving every second of it, but don’t want to show it in fear of having their opinions being shot down by these “veterans”.

So I figured with my experience and investment in the franchise, I might be able to provide some possible insight as to how these opinions may have come to be, as well as give my own personal ELITE opinion on what game I think has the best endgame. Cause let’s be honest I’ll only be adding fuel to this neverending spiral of flames if I made this topic too broad.

First, some house rules

When looking at the endgame content for each game, I’ll be looking at three main factors:

• Number of monsters (Large monsters)

By Betab00m

This is pretty self-explanatory and is probably the most important factor in terms of the endgame for many fans, especially the veterans. If there are more monsters to fight, then there are more things that you can do, more materials to collect, more armor sets to build, yada yada yada.

• Set-Building

This is basically how easy it is to build armor sets that you want, as well as the diversity with what kind of sets you can build. This will include the making of the armor and weapons, decoration farming, charm farming, etc.

• Material Acquisition

This describes how hard it is/how long it takes to get all the materials that you want. Because let’s face it, Monster Hunter games are very grindy. It’s part of what makes it fun for most of us.

There are also some factors unique to each game that help differentiate themselves from other monster hunter titles. However, to keep things consistent, I’ll only be mentioning them when I talk about their respective games.

Also, I’ll only be looking at the final expansions (if available) for each generation of Monster Hunter titles, since these games are often the exact same as their base game counterparts just with more content added to it. So games like Monster Hunter Tri and Monster Hunter 4 will be excluded from the list. This will hopefully help level the playing field as well as prevent me from talking more than necessary, we don’t have all day after all. Yes, this also means that MMO titles like Monster Hunter Frontier won’t be included, sorry but we only deal with main titles over in this joint.

Monster Hunter Freedom (First Generation)

Number of Monsters: 31

Admittedly, I did try to play Monster Hunter Freedom for a little bit back in the day but never ended up finishing it. So I apologize in advance for not having too much of an insight with the first generation titles. However, from what I can gather, the second generation titles of Monster Hunter are pretty much the same as the first generation titles, just with better controls, more maps, more monsters, and in general, more content. For example, Monster Hunter Freedom never had decorations, so that already limits the type of sets that you can build.

What I’m trying to say is that most of my opinions with the second generation titles should still apply to the first generation as well. So with that in mind, I think it’s fair to say that Monster Hunter Freedom has objectively the worst endgame out of them all. And that should be a good thing because future games should always strive to improve upon their predecessors am I right?

Monster Hunter Freedom Unite (Second Generation)

Number of Monsters: 58

The monster hunter title that broke all kinds of records in Japan. Monster Hunter Freedom Unite had a lot to offer back in the day, and it even holds up now…mostly. The game has a good amount of tough monsters to fight at the very highest level, and that kept me playing for a pretty long time. However, on the flipside, there’s just not much to go for in terms of set-building. Since there were only decorations and base armor skills, there’s not as much freedom to build more wacky and zany sets compared to the newer games.

On top of that, while it’s nice that there is have a farm to collect bug parts and ores, something that isn’t present in future titles, gathering essential items like honey and mushrooms is just a pain. This is because the farm simply doesn’t give you enough of these items to sustain long grinding sessions. As a result, this can dramatically slow down the endgame grind. For instance, I’ll have to sometimes go on gathering quests just to collect honey, herbs, mushrooms, etc. This got annoying really fast, and is why I eventually dropped the game (though admittedly I also wanted to play it with a friend, but was never able to find one).

So overall, it’s a pretty solid title with a pretty decent endgame, just be ready to go out occasionally to gather things for your consumable items, that is unless you’re REALLY good and never ever waste a mega potion.

Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate (Third Generation)

Number of Monsters: 51

The only game in this list to feature underwater combat (which I love by the way, at least as long as I play the lance). Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate, like Freedom Unite, has a good number of monsters in the game, as well as many tough fights for the grizzliest of hunters (anyone remember Clashing Fists?). In that regard, I never found myself bored when playing for long hours, since there’s always different monsters I could be fighting. This game also improves upon Freedom Unite by having a farm that actually produces enough items for repeated use, so goodbye gathering quests. However, the farm, unfortunately, has also lost the ability to provide ores and insect parts, so hello gathering quests.

This generation of games also introduced charms to monster hunter, which are basically an extra item that you can equip to acquire armor skills, as well as having the ability to slot in decorations into. This really helped to open the doors for more armor customization, that is if you manage to land on a good charm table. Speaking of charm tables, this is one aspect of the endgame (or the game in general) that I don’t like, though I don’t think anyone likes it anyway. Having our armor customization options limited just because we’re not on a certain charm table sucks. To be honest, however, this problem isn’t really that big of a deal unless you land on a cursed charm table, and if that happens, well…..I think it’s best if for you to make a new save file.

The game also has certain quests that make farming certain monsters a little bit easier (fighting 3 of the same monsters in succession comes to mind), as well as having a bit more generous RNG than in other titles. However, even with all that, trying to get the materials that you want can still be pretty painful. I, for instance, don’t like how a lot of the endgame armor pieces require you to have at least one of the rare items like mantles, rubies, and other junk that takes way too long to get. This can make getting a certain armor set that you want to be a very long and excruciating experience, since you’ll more often than not need at least 5 rare items in order to even make that set.

Other than that, however, Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate has a very healthy endgame grind, and as long as you’re willing to give it time, you’ll eventually get everything that you want.