Hello folks,

So next week I'm likely to pick up the New Nintendo 3DS XL with a game or two. One of which will probably be Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate but I'd love to know just how beginner friendly MH4U is for someone somewhat unfamiliar with the game. Now I intended to read a good few guides and watch that video Jason did with Brad to learn some early tips but I'd like to know more if possible about how best to tackle MH for a new player like myself. I imagine there were a lot of new players when MH4U came out so how was your experience.

I know online multiplayer is a big part of the game to, how is that on the 3DS and is it possible to matchmake or can you only link up with friends. Plus I've heard of folks playing MH for over a hundred hours, what is it that keeps people playing that long?

I hope you don't mind answering any questions I ask. If you have any guides, tips or basic MUST KNOW fundamentals I'd love to hear them. Anything that a new player should know is appreciated.

Thanks.

I put about 20 hours into Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate and came away feeling pretty indifferent. Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate I have put in over 100 hours and have thoroughly enjoyed it for multiple reasons.

1. Playing Monster Hunter with friends is a huge inspiration when you are playing the game, you want to unlock the quests and create better gear so you can keep up with them. I played MH4 with friends and 3 withough.
2. Monster Hunter 4 has a lot more of a compelling narrative than the third entry in the series. You aren't going to be fully captured by it but the characters are a lot more fun and you have a rivalry with a specific monster.
3. The tutorials are better in Monster Hunter 4, but they are still not the best. I learned the weapons a lot easier in MH4 than MH3 which helped me discover that the switch axe is my favorite weapon in the game. That being said the tutorials still leave a lot of details out so you will have to watch some videos depending on the weapon you like to play the most.

Those are just my reasons for why I played Monster Hunter 4 more than the third one. But the biggest question is do you want to grind for loot? That is essentially what Monster Hunter is at the end of the day, a skill-based loot focused RPG.

This is my first time playing a game from the MH franchise and I'm doing it on my own. I've absolutely loved most of the early encounters and found most of the concepts fairly easy to grasp without too much digging. I've only just come across the capture mechanic, which was fairly complex and difficult for me to get a hold of, but other than that it's been smooth sailing.

I've just crafted my first "real" armor set for the game and found it really satisfying that hours of combat and victories led to fantastic gear for my character to wear. I could see that lasting for dozens of hours, if not more. I've picked Dual Blades because I didn't necessarily love how slow some of the bigger weapons are, but I've had a good time playing around with the hammer and greatsword. I absolutely recommend DB if you're worried about the pacing of the combat though.

Also, I'd love to also get to play with someone who's new! Feel free to message me with friend code stuff and we could go on newb runs together. I've only done one co-op hunt with randoms and it was very, very satisfying.

I just looked into getting this game as a first timer. I was never interested before because of how much time and homework it required to play correctly. It seems like a great game if you're willing to put the time into it, but that's purely the reason I never could get into the Souls games - I frankly don't have the time it requires. This game seems like the same situation. From what I've read, both games seem to have a similar "great if you have the time and drive for it" trait.

So I've been watching ProJared's Beginner's Guide to Monster Hunter videos, actually do a pretty fine job of explaining the basics. I still don't understand some of the structure to MH but I'm sure once I start playing I'll figure some of that out myself. Even though he made the videos with Monster Hunter 3 I imagine most of the fundamental are the exact same still.