Which Monster Hunter Title Had The Best Endgame?
Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate (Fourth Generation)
Number of Monsters: 81
Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate has the second largest number of monsters out of any game and retains many of its armor-customization options such as charms, decorations, etc. Acquiring rare materials is a bit easier this time around (I say that only because it took me forever just to get one immortal reactor), so that’s always nice.
This, however, is where Monster Hunter starts getting interesting; since from Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate and onwards, each game will have a unique spin that makes it more interesting. In this case, we have the addition of the Frenzy/Apex system to grace us (something that I like), as well as guild quests (something that I don’t really like). Both of these combined provide a near-limitless amount of endgame potential, and it’s definitely the reason why Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate is one of the best in terms of its sheer amount of content.
Let’s get the things I don’t find as good out of the way first, guild quests. These are for the most part great because they are pretty much randomized, meaning that you’ll always be able to end up finding new quests to do, with different challenges for each quest. These quests also level up with each successful completion, with the monsters getting progressively harder every time it levels up. They are also the only avenue for you to obtain some of the best weapons and armor in the game. So it really rewards players who have mastered the game, since only the best of the best can tackle these quests (unless you HAME of course).
By the glorious NCHProductions
Now, while this is great for its challenge and limitless possibilities, I find that it’s actually really hard to find the quest that you want BECAUSE of its randomization. On top of that, after you find the quest that you want, you’ll have to grind it up all the way to its max level just so you can have a chance at getting the weapons/armor that you want. This is the main reason why I’m personally not a huge fan of guild quests, since it is just wayy too grindy. Nevertheless, I still wanted to talk about this since I can see why others would like it.
Now for the Frenzy/Apex system. This, in my opinion, is a great addition since it adds some nice challenge for people like me, who are starting to get used to the whole “Monster Hunter formula”. I especially like the frenzy mechanic, which encourages players to play with a different playstyle than usual (that being more aggressive). However, on the other hand, I can understand and even agree with some of the criticisms of the Apex mechanic. Though since I never played this game solo, the problems with Apex aren’t nearly as apparent and applicable to me.
With the inclusion of the Frenzy/Apex mechanic also comes the inclusion of weapon augmentation. This basically allows you to specialize your endgame weapons to be more attuned to your playstyle, and can only be acquired by upgrading with special items that you get only from fighting Frenzied/Apex monsters. This adds yet another layer of customization in set-building, which I find to be great for min-maxers such as myself.
Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate (4.5 Generation?)
Number of Monsters: 93
In terms of armor-customization and material acquisition, this game is pretty the same as Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate. However, the biggest factor in favor of this game is easily its number of monsters, having by far the most out of all the other Monster Hunter games. This title brings back pretty much all of the monsters from previous titles into one big orgy, as well as adding many new monsters and subspecies. The endgame is also pretty brutal, with the strongest having enough power to almost one-shot you (basically guild quest level difficult). While I haven’t played this title myself (though I don’t think many have, since the game has yet to be released in the West), I have played Monster Hunter Generations, which is its base game counterpart. From my experience with Generations, however, this title definitely has the potential to have the most rewarding endgame yet.
While Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate had the Frenzy/Apex system, Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate provides its equivalent with its Hyper/Deviants. Hypers and Deviants pretty much serve the same purpose as what the Frenzied/Apex monsters did. However, this time they also added a guild quest-like system with the deviants, streamlining it to be less grind-heavy. This already potentially makes this game even better than Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate.
I don’t want to give my full opinions for this game just yet (mainly because I can’t). So please take everything I just said with a massive grain of salt. I’ll probably update this after I play the game.
Monster Hunter World (Fifth Generation)
Number of Monsters: 31
Finally, we have reached the finale, Monster Hunter World…at least for now. This game is easily the best title in all of Monster Hunter in terms of its accessibility, graphics, mechanics, and many more. But how does its endgame fare with the rest of the series? Before we dive head in, I just want to remind everyone that this is still a base title, meaning that there is a possibility for future expansions like the inclusion of G-Rank, which I know is a big factor in how many players view the endgame of monster hunter. Things are still changing as we speak, and probably will continue changing for a good while, so be patient.
With that out of the way, let’s first discuss the number of monsters in the game. As you can see, the numbers have drastically decreased all the way back to how it was in the first generation, and many people have criticized Worlds for having an abysmal number of monsters to fight. However, my counterpoint to this statement is that it makes sense for Worlds to have so little monsters since each of them are basically entirely new.
The thing about previous titles is that most of the monsters there already had their assets and models built from previous entries, so it wasn’t really an issue including them into future games. However, since now that it’s in a new generation, those models can’t be used anymore. So the developers have to create new ones from the ground up, and that takes time. We can see that even now they’ve been steadily adding more monsters, so it’s not like they’ve stopped trying or stopped caring. The same thing happened with Monster Hunter Tri, which had even fewer monsters. And unlike Worlds, they never even got more monsters after release. Personally, I still find plenty of fun with the monsters they do have. Because now they have much more diverse and realistic move sets, as well as having interactions with other monsters and environment, which keeps the experience fresh for me.
Golden Pickle is best pickle
In terms of challenge, this game tries to be like Generations Ultimate and 4 Ultimate with the inclusion of Tempered and Arch-Tempered monsters. Though the only difference this time seems to be that they hit harder and drop special rewards (soon they’ll be able to kill you just by sneezing).
Most importantly though, this game has, in my opinion, has by far the best set-building and material acquisition out of all of Monster Hunter. Getting rare items have never been easier with melding and investigations. Weapon augmentation is also back (though trying to find the materials for upgrades now are more tedious than ever save for some event quests). Armor customization has been completely revamped and is the most amount of options that I have ever seen.
The only criticism I agree with in regards to armor set building is decoration farming, which replaces charm farming in previous titles (charms can be crafted now). It really is a pain when you’re trying to get that one decoration you’ve been trying to get for days but it just won’t show up. However from my experience, getting decorations aren’t TOO important in the grand scheme of things, and is in my opinion only a real hassle for those who want to min-max their sets. Besides, farming charms, in my opinion, are a far more tedious task than farming decorations, since at least you get to fight monsters instead of just running around collecting rocks (I wouldn’t exactly call mining ores fun).
Verdict:
So this is how I would rate the endgames of each generation of games
- Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate (Based on Generations)
- Monster Hunter World
- Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate
- Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate
- Monster Hunter Freedom Unite
- Monster Hunter Freedom
Now before you send your angry comments my way (I can already feel them coming), let me explain myself. The reason why I put Generations Ultimate as the best is due to the fact that you can pretty much play for hundreds and hundreds of hours and you’ll still find yourself having content that you have yet to cover. I have spent over 300 hours on generations, which doesn’t even have G-Rank, and I STILL have yet to finish everything.
That quality alone helps put it above Worlds, since for me, I only spent around 150 hours in Worlds and I have already gotten most of the things that I want. It’s also significantly less grindy in comparison to 4 Ultimate, since you don’t have to repeat the same quest as much as you did in 4 Ultimate in order to reach the max level (god grinding guild quests were a pain).
Monster Hunter Worlds is above 4 Ultimate simply due to the fact that it is significantly less grindy, while still, in my opinion, being able to provide the same amount of customization that 4 Ultimate has to offer. Even with the vast difference in the number of monsters, new monsters are still being added into Worlds, and the level of polish the new monsters far outweigh the number of monsters 4 Ultimate has (quality over quantity after all). The rest of the list should be pretty straightforward.
Obviously, this is all just my opinion. If you disagree with me that is completely fine, because to be honest, who even cares? Monster Hunter, in general, has never really had a supposed “endgame” anyways, there isn’t any optimal armor set you have to build (Yes I’m referring to the supposed “DPS” builds) or any monster that you can’t beat without certain equipment. As long as you got the skill, you can do it. Using the number of hours you’ve played as a metric for endgame content is absolutely pointless, since each person plays Monster Hunter at their own pace. For example, I only clocked about 160 hours into Monster Hunter Worlds, yet it is one of my favorites in terms of what type of content it provides for its players. Just because I didn’t meet an arbitrary number of hours, doesn’t mean that I didn’t enjoy the game.
What I’m ultimately trying to say is, as long as you feel that the time you spent with a monster hunter game is time well spent, then its time that mattered. Don’t let people put you down just because they played more than you.
So to end things off, I guess what I would like to say is this. I don’t stay with a game because it has X amount of monsters or has X amount of things do it. I stay because the game is simply fun to play, which is really what Monster Hunter is all about in the first place. If the game isn’t fun to play, then no amount of content will help persuade me otherwise. I may prefer certain games over others, but at the end of the day, it’s still Monster Hunter, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Anyway, I think it’s about time that I wrap this up. Please let me know of your opinions on which Monster Hunter title you think has the best endgame. Or better yet, which Monster Hunter games are your favorite in general? I’m gonna get going now cause I got an Arch-Tempered-Hyper-Apex-Super-Deviant Great Jagras to slay!
