As someone who only recently was introduced to monster hunter. The entirety of 4U's low rank not only was a great introduction to the series but to the world of MH. This is a world filled with dangerous monsters, but it's not scary its exciting. I'd honestly love to see more of your journey through 4U.
Yeah, I feel pretty similarly about it. I started with 4u when it released and I'm kind of glad about it, cause it still feels like it has the most likeable tone and characters of any of the games to me. The world felt well explored and the lighthearted vibe helped it stay engaging. That could also just be bias talking, I dunno.
Totally agree! I started in 4U as well, before going backwards through 3U and FU. I've loved every title since as well, but this video reminded me just how much 4U drew me in. I knew after reaching Val that this was going to be a top 5 game for me.
MH4U was my first MH game, too! Despite some clunky mechanics (especially when compared to later titles, even Generations) it had a certain appeal that was immediately evident.
MH4U having the best story of any MH game is a given for me at this point. Rise is alright, but I will never forget my journey with all the caravan members through low rank, and the high rank story line was fun as well. I think that MH should really step up its storytelling. By that I don't mean doing what World did, because World was completely deaf when telling its story. I also don't mean what Rise does, since Rise doesn't commit to its setup in the slightest. Playing Rise, it felt like the game was scared of putting me off with the whole "you've lived your entire life here, you're a villager of Kamura" theme. Coupled with the super easy village it felt like the story was simply there because, well, "these quirky and likable characters have to be doing something but let's not overdo it, ok?". I get that MH doesn't need a good story, but a good story would only make it better, and a bad story forced down your throat, or even a mediocre story that's just "there" are both wastes of development resources that literally just make the game worse.
4u definitely has that classic shounen story. Reminds me of One Piece when luffy was still collecting his crew members. Island hopping and seeing new characters.
By the time you finish this game, the nightmares filled with Handler’s derpy face will be replaced with heavenly dreams of being called doodle and discussions about the beauty of Brachydios
MH4 is still my favourite by far, especially in its story and world settings. While it still retains the same formula of gearing yourself up in your base and choose a map to hunt monsters in, rinse and repeat, it does a much better job at setting things up to get you feel involved and absorbed into its world, like you're really going on adventure with the caravaneers. Even in Rise, where you're allowed even more interaction with the world, going high and low to discover secrets like the rare endemic life and such, I still don't feel as "absorbed" in that world as I did in 4. And you know, that scenes where they set off to Harth village and you see the sun rising in the horizon, still gives me chills! The characters are also very memorable and endearing, because they're pretty exaggerated, in a good way, and full of personality even without having to rely on dedicated character development arc or proper spoken dialogues. With just their texts, some really nice CG cutscenes and the MH language of "Hrummph", "Hohoh" and whatever grunts and giggles they do, these characters still ooze personality more than some of the tryhard characters in later games. My personal favourite is actually the Palico Chinese Chef! Another thing I really like in 4U is the monsters' introduction videos where they range from being cinematic, action, creepy and even funny like having a Tetsucabra burping in your face or seeing the Palicos getting freaked out by a Zamtrios one. The game doesn't always take itself super seriously and know when to inject light-hearted moments in here and there to mix things up. The cutscenes also feel more personal and engaging as your characters don't just react to the monsters but also interact with them more like when you're breaking free from a Gendrome that's pinning you with its foot and even your Palico when it takes on Gore Magala. Then there's the multiplayer monster intro that also show other players. I was so surprised the first time seeing other real players in the intro with me, interacting in different ways to the situation and the monster, and it still works even if there are less players or even just you by your lonesome. This is probably one of the best features yet, and it's a real shame for them to stop doing this. The Japanese theatrical intro in Rise is super cool and all, but I'd take the MH4 style intro over it any day. I look forward to more of your MH4 journal logs!
I think one of my favourite things that came out of World and Rise is people going back to the older games I started hunting with (3U/4U) and being able to relive those amazing moments like moving on from Val Habar or seeing Lagiacrus REALLY early through journals and streams. Hope to Gog you have a great time with 4U, because I sure did in my 500 hours some years back.
This only falls behind GU in terms of content and honestly is one of my favorite games in the franchise, I hope you enjoy it as much as we old 3DS did at the time ❤️
Your absolute BEST take yet. I haven't gotten the chance to play 4U yet (I have no idea how to emulate and never had a 3ds) but just through watching the cutscenes and dialogue interactions in the game, I understand and empathize with the characters. And that's not because they're especially deep or anything, but because they're likeable! The dialogue is exactly as you would expect from a game called "Monster Hunter", equal parts cheesy, rugged and charming. Some have described the aesthetic of MH as cavepunk and 4U's atmosphere embodies this trait perfectly, the Dah'ren Mohran setup being a wonderful example of just that. I would love to see a good story for MH, but before they focus on achieving that, I hope they take a step back and remember what made 3U and 4U so charming. Fortunately, I think they touched close to it with Rise on both a story and atmosphere perspective, but I hope they go further in World's sequel. By the way, if anyone hasn't already, PLEASE check out "Monster Hunter, a Culture of Danger" by SugarPunch Design Works. It's an amazing video, one of my favorites.
4U was the game that started me on the series. Really great game, aside from the map design. I hope you end up enjoying it as much as I did way back when.
When you have interesting characters and a well-built world, a satisfying story will come naturally. That's why people enjoyed this game's narrative more than other MH games in my opinion.
I definitely think the biggest difference in a good MH story and a bad one, is that the good ones give you a jump off point that makes sense, and works as a good backdrop for what is inherently your own story. 4U worked so well because it made you a part of living and breathing world, and you so happened to become a part of one of many fantastic journeys taking place in that world. Rise works well, because you become a member of a fun and charming family of villagers, who you start to care about throughout your journey. They don't shove the story down your throat, it's there, there is a point, and you and your new family are doing what you can to take care of it, while at every other step of the way, it's pure charm, nothing overly dramatic. I will agree that 4U probably had the best storyline, but I do think Rise, over all, has a tad bit more charm to it; but that's I think mainly a question about personal preference, because both are hallmarks in Monster Hunter History.
Would say that 4U and Rise are the two best: 4U was the peak of the old Gen and I believe Rise will be the peak of the new. World I would say is the absolute worst of the series, not that it’s a bad game by any means. It’s a great game. I think it’s a sub par Monster Hunter game because it became riddled with horrible characteristics of mainstream games. Fomo event quests and Sieges, Arch tempered fights having shitty artifical difficulty mechanics, and an overly rigid and unwelcoming emphasis on meta. On top of this, farming for rng decos is just a horrible excuse for “fun” in endgame. Iceborne fixed a lot of these issues, but still didn’t quite shake the issues of the base game. I’ll give it to them for opening the franchise to the world, but you can clearly see Capcom retracting their mistakes in Rise, while keeping everything that made World a step in the series.
MH4U is where the majority of my MH playtime goes into. It's by far and away my most favorite entry of the series. It has the most compelling and immersive story of all the games (my opinion), good progression speed, but also a really solid endgame that is challenging, fun and rewarding. I wish you all the best and may you too enjoy the game as much as I do! ...Guildmarm easy S+ tier tho, you'll get there eventually ;D
MH4U was incredible and it's still my favorite MH game up to this day. It has left a mark on me that will never disappear, and it wasn't even my first mh game. I just love that you give it a bit more light and i hope people will want to try it. Thanks for making me remember all the good times i've had with this game.
4u cast feels like my jolly friends in an adventure. Rise has a warmth and comfy tight community feeling and generations is empty. Man, if they introduced the old towns in gen 1 by 1 instead of dropping everything at once and a narrative that guides you through the experience it would have been fantastic for me.
Crzy I came here fuh ur concise detailed LS tutorials Nd now I can easily say i luv ur thought process Nd how u can articulate dat shii sooo damn well Nd still have it be hella entertaining. The tone of the video hit, Jokes hit, ur commentary hit. Likeee wtf do u ever miss😂 buh in all seriousness I’m really glad I sticked around. Ik u have sum amazing content comin for us in the future man👌🏾
I just recently started a new character on 3U, and I gotta say that game opens super slowly. It's not necessarily a bad thing to have a slow burn, but 4 does a better job at pulling you in right from the beginning.
We still have to finish Rise' Story, but for me, 4U has the best story of any MH game. Characters are memorable and likable, cutscenes are fantastic, atmosphere is great, etc Rise could become better or a close second. We have to wait and see.
This is the single best intro in MH, imo. It sets the tone so incredibly well and gives you a good idea of what the game is gonna be like without you even noticing it. Actually, MH4U does a lot of stuff that can be considered the best in the series. The pace of battle, is a big one for me. Also, MIDDLE-AGED MAN WINS THE WAIFU WARS ONCE AGAIN!
I recently started re-playing 4U, I played it on release, apparently only around 80 hours, hitting village high rank and a bunch of low/high rank hub stuff. I started a new file to re-experience everything again, and man, there are a lot of things I miss about this game compared to worldborne/rise. Glad you are trying it out. I really enjoyed it the first time, and playing it again with all the experience I have is a refreshing experience, hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
I've come to realize over the years exactly why I enjoyed MH4U more than I did Generations back when they released. Aside from the content gap at the time, it really is the aesthetic and overall tone that made me really fall in love with the world of MH itself, and I felt that that tone was missing from both 3U and Gen. The Aztec/Mayan-like carvings on the load screens, the red ruins of the Ancestral Steppe (my favorite map in MH), the simple but effective story with charming characters... I felt no such connection to Bherna, and only slightly towards Moga. I feel that GenU is *ultimately* the superior game, but I think tone and atmosphere is incredibly important to the experience of Monster Hunter, at least in my experience.
MH4U is one of the best if not THE best MH game out right now. Lets see how Rise does when all the updates are out. I personally believe that it will be eventually on par with 4U and GU and who knows? Maybe it will be the best ever.
MH4U was an instant classic when it release, you could just feel it from the start, and it continued to keep up the quality. Most MH games are, but something... no, many things... about 4U just put it above the rest.
Would love to see more of you playing this. More of the journal type videos would be great. As someone whose intro game to the Monster Hunter Franchise was 4U, it's really something special, and is still my favorite to this day, with Rise and GU tied for 2nd place. 4U just has such a good story and characters (not that MH necessarily *needs* a story. I share your opinion about World's story tbh. Got in the way much too often and was forced down your throat annoyingly more often than not. Also agreed that MH works best when it sets the right tone through cutscenes, character dialogue/interactions, atmosphere, music and such)
I love this game so much! Even though I'm a Moga hunter from birth, my heart belongs to Val Habar and the Caravan. Rise is great too, but as far as story goes, 4U is too great
My favorite video game of all time. Words cannot explain the experiences I had within that tiny cartridge. My first HR999. I absolutely adore the old hub system and the 3ds made it so easy to talk to my friends through the chat. My bottom screen got so chewed up from it, you can definitely tell where the vowels on that little keyboard were. I think I will go back to it, Rise is great but it is missing something. Did I mention I adore this game?
This is my first experience at monster hunter and I always find myself coming back to it constantly its just to good. And I agree everyone setting out from val harbor is one of my favorite moments but there are other ones just as good.
I’m really glad you’re enjoying the game so far, it’s really interesting hearing you’re thoughts and opinions . And yea one of the things I loved about 4u was the characters, I can’t wait till part 2!!!! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did :)
4U probably has the best story in the series in my opinion. I dont wanna spoil anything but even though its not anything revolutionary, the devs did a dang good job at getting me invested into these characters and the dilemma(s) that unfold during the game. Also nice to see that Guildmarm is growing on you. Fun fact, its confirmed her name is Sophia.
4 Ultimate is probably one of the more story-intensive games in the series, it had a lot of things I liked, especially since this was when they were really starting to play with verticality in the maps, but G-Rank still broke me sadly
My first Monster Hunter ever. It'll be interesting to get a fresh look at this after playing through four generations of Monster Hunter. Curious to see if Wystones were as bad a mechanic as I remember.
Looking back at these cutscenes make me want to go back and play 4U honestly. I only recall falling out of it during the G Rank quests because those started to grow harder and the kind of gear it expected me to get at the time solo...was nuts...granted, I probably could handle it better since I was playing a lot of Generations Ultimate before Rise came out...although, having to build gear with the early G Monsters is gonna be a bit to get used to.
Ahh nice, 4u. I was shocked when you put guildmarm at b-tier, but I saw what you did there. Now something you'll probably realize as you progress is 4u was a bit of a perfect storm, the way all the elements of this game interact is something I don't think they can really pull off again without just rehashing it. aside from that, the gameplay has definitely been improved, though the atmosphere here is peak. If I recall there's a few things in this game that I suppose you could call staples of the series in the later games, but I'll wait until you get to them.
MH4U is an incredible game and still my favourite in the series. You have an amazing adventure ahead of you. There was only one thing I didn't like but I rather not say it incase you are going into this game blind
How dare u putting Guildmarm at B rank......*the world will remember this* edit* OK she's at A now. Just need to wait for Ratatoskr to see her other cut scene and I'm sure she will be S rank.
The characters in Rise just fall flat, they all wanna save the village and they do fight in the Rampage which is great, but the lack of in action cutscenes means that you don't get to trully feel the tension and struggle of the fight. Plus, other than saving Kamura they have no secondary goals, the Caravaneer wants to get that money, but also see the world, find the source of the article and support you in your dreams, Fugen, he's the leader and wants to save Kamura... And that's it. Once Magnamalo is deafeated you hardly even talk to him, he's pretty much gone from the story and the whole Hub experience feels disconnected from villagers much like GU. They could have a side story about expanding the village, spreading the reach of the Dango and Steel market, something that makes Kamura more meaningful, but no, we don't get that at least for now.
I think I imported but didn't finish either 4G or X, but this is a great reminder of why I resonated with the games enough even as a solo scrub. This may be why I didn't resonate with X as much but I'll have to boot the game again to find out.
I’m in the middle(or low rank at least) of playing this game. The progression is better in my opinion than World. I know some people don’t like the Village and Hub quests separately, but I actually don’t mind it. The story of this one is pretty fun and the characters are fun. I do think Rise is an underrated game. Storywise there are criticisms of the characters not feeling scared or being too bubbly during the Rampage. They have been preparing for this moment for 50 years. To me it shows the power of everyone uniting and acting as one. Sunbreak is kinda the opposite. The characters aren’t always on the same page, which causes friction between them. The Hunter brings that Uniting spirit from Kamura. My two cents anyways.
Absolutely agreed on the atmosphere part. In fact, I'd say 4U's atmosphere is DEFINITELY better than Rise and World's. I think MH nails its out-of-story character interactions most of the time. They are charming, sometimes funny. And always very expressive. I even thought as much about World when I replayed it in full this year. But it's very rare that the story and the out-of-cut scene atmosphere match up. MH4U did it very well, World took itself way too seriously when it had all these whacky characters and Rise... well, I love Rise, I really like the atmosphere of the village, but I feel a disconnect between the story and the atmosphere in Rise. The game begins talking about how the rampage destroyed the village in the past and how the threat rears its head once again. Very sinister, very dark. The village however, is very happy-go-lucky about everything most of the time if not always. It's really weird. And the monster introductions, while awesome-looking, again create a much MUCH darker picture than what we're actually presented with. 4U's story is a hero's journey through and through and all its parts match up very well compared to the other two games.
OMG! This was my first Monster Hunter (since I instantly droped Generations) and I loved it, THAT GAME hook me into the franchise, it is so damn wonderful... I was still replaying some stuff this weekend and I don't want to go back to grind there lol, but the story... it left a mark in your heart, also the think it was is how the story is told, yo FEEL THE NEED TO KNOW what is going on whereas in other games it is like "Sure... whatever", World was kind of interesting but never reached that level, and Rise is at least better in that aspect but I feel it is still missing something, they could have done something better with Magnamalo, like they do with Gore Magala in 4U... never foget EDIT: I want to clarify, a friend made me play Generations and I was like "What is this? Why do we do this? What is the meaning? Why am I killing this creatures?" It simply didn't click, didn't generate me any sort of interest regardless the weapon, but then... when I played 4U it had an interesting narrative, a story developing, and that is what caught me forever, then I played World which was at least interesting, and finally I went to XX because it was like "Oh this is sort of a nostalgia game with new mechanics and all the monsters" but after saying that I played for fun only without a drive to advance in story or anything since it isn't there for me. In the other hand... Rise made a pretty damn good job at recreating some atmosphere but got short at the Magnamalo closure, I don't mean it should be some elder dragon or super important stuff, but neither should have they "solved" the trouble of it so much off screen and give you a mission to hunt it, it felt... weird... like a part of the story they could have shown simply skiped it and "Oh there, go fight him"
Out of all the Monster Hunter games. 4U is the one I want to see a HD remaster of the most. It's also up there for full on Remake. Only losing out to Dos for games I want to see Remade.
man i do love your more analytical/philosophical videos , i could listen to you the entire day ! please keep making the journal logs :D btw , i'm a relatively new MH player , do you recommend 4U and GU ? do you play on an emulator or what ? ( also , is GU the expasion of 4U ? its kinda confusing lol ) i want to play the older games but i'm afraid to fuck up on the software/hardware settings and having a shit experience
GU is the switch expansion of the 3ds game Monster Hunter Generations, 4U and GU are both part of the 4th generation of monster hunter. If you have a switch I'd reccomend Trying out GU but if you don't 3U, 4U, and Gen are all avalable on the 3ds eshop for pretty low. I don't know too much about emulating sorry.
Since the 3ds/Wii U servers are about to shut down I really hope that capcom will port 4U and 3U to the switch or PC so new players will be able to experience these absolute gems
4u is one of the best, if not the best mainline series game. It's fantastic. The only thing is that weapon combat in 4u is really becoming outdated considering what we have in gu, world and rise. Outside of weapons like cb, ig, gs and maybe longsword, you can definitely feel how outdated the weapon combat was in terms of limited movesets and combos we've come to know since world. Ratatoskr you even mentioned in your recent podcast that experiencing longsword in 4u sucks cause it lacks foresight slash and all these things you've come to expect since you started with world. Ls prior to world wasn't a counter weapon. It was a weapon that benefitted from good positioning, was excellent for cutting tails and had good reach. I hope you can adjust to the old style of playing where your weapon strikes must be deliberate and timed. Since world, this aspect of weapon combat is heavily lost, and even more so in rise since you attack even faster meaning that you benefit the most from just hacking and slashing as fast as you can to achieve optimal dps (generally speaking)
Even with the DLC, I doubt Rise's story will live up to 4U. The LOW RANK portion of 4U's story alone is better than that of the ENTIRETY of World/Iceborne and everything in Rise so far.
4u is fantastic. It has the most content out of all the mainline series games. Gu (which is like a spin off game) is the only game that surpasses it. 4u has 75 regular large monsters. Gu also has 75, but it's the deviants of existing monsters that bumps it up to 93 monsters in total. Worldborne has 71 large monsters. All else are far less. Fu has 58 and 3u has 51
I think the only thing holding back 4U's story from being the best we could possibly get out of MonHun is their adherence to the stupid MonHun tradition of addressing any character not a Shakalaka by their title rather than name. Naming characters makes it easier to remember and empathize with them. MonHun has fantastic characters, but it's reluctance to actually name them until Rise only served to cripple those characters. It's telling that I have an easier time remembering the names of Rise characters than I do remembering the titles of characters from older games EVEN when the older character with a title has a more memorable personality.
But rise doesn't even have a story to begin with lmao. Rise's story is about as non existent as 3us story. Rise just has a lot of charm. It's cutscenes are few yet practical, and I guess the writing is okay.
@@WisdomAkpan211 I liked the memes that the MH community generated that the localizers threw into the game, like "Spin to Win" and "Oh my Gog," but other than that the writing and characters don't really feel that exceptional to me. The only thing really oozing character to me is the Dango songs and the design of the village. The way they handled Magnamalo was pretty weak too, didn't have nearly as much oomph as Gore even though I think Mag has an equally cool design and a better fight. Rise feels like it doesn't have a story because it isn't even concluded yet. The build up is really weak too.
As someone who only recently was introduced to monster hunter. The entirety of 4U's low rank not only was a great introduction to the series but to the world of MH. This is a world filled with dangerous monsters, but it's not scary its exciting. I'd honestly love to see more of your journey through 4U.
Yeah, I feel pretty similarly about it. I started with 4u when it released and I'm kind of glad about it, cause it still feels like it has the most likeable tone and characters of any of the games to me. The world felt well explored and the lighthearted vibe helped it stay engaging. That could also just be bias talking, I dunno.
My game that started it all for me. Such a masterpiece!
To this day it’s my Number 1.
Totally agree! I started in 4U as well, before going backwards through 3U and FU. I've loved every title since as well, but this video reminded me just how much 4U drew me in. I knew after reaching Val that this was going to be a top 5 game for me.
Agreed, best video game of all time.
Yes
MH4U was my first MH game, too! Despite some clunky mechanics (especially when compared to later titles, even Generations) it had a certain appeal that was immediately evident.
Imagine a mh4u remake with RISE graphics on switch😍
I would cry if this happens.
Heck, I would play it even if it didn't had better graphics
As long as I don't need to play with those camera controls I'm fine
@@fredleoplayer let's pray🙏🏼
MH4U U
Would still play it even if they ported it to switch like dmc3
MH4U having the best story of any MH game is a given for me at this point. Rise is alright, but I will never forget my journey with all the caravan members through low rank, and the high rank story line was fun as well.
I think that MH should really step up its storytelling. By that I don't mean doing what World did, because World was completely deaf when telling its story. I also don't mean what Rise does, since Rise doesn't commit to its setup in the slightest. Playing Rise, it felt like the game was scared of putting me off with the whole "you've lived your entire life here, you're a villager of Kamura" theme. Coupled with the super easy village it felt like the story was simply there because, well, "these quirky and likable characters have to be doing something but let's not overdo it, ok?".
I get that MH doesn't need a good story, but a good story would only make it better, and a bad story forced down your throat, or even a mediocre story that's just "there" are both wastes of development resources that literally just make the game worse.
The atmosphere that this game has and the story behind it is truly amazing. Monster hunter 4 ultimate is one of my favorite games, and for good reason
I love 4U with a passion. It wasn't even my first Monster Hunter, but I'd be damned if it didn't make me fall in love with the series all over again.
One of the greatest. Glad to see you playing through it!
4u definitely has that classic shounen story. Reminds me of One Piece when luffy was still collecting his crew members. Island hopping and seeing new characters.
Then it goes to the side characters' stories like the Ace Hunters and their fight against an old kushala.
By the time you finish this game, the nightmares filled with Handler’s derpy face will be replaced with heavenly dreams of being called doodle and discussions about the beauty of Brachydios
MH4 is still my favourite by far, especially in its story and world settings. While it still retains the same formula of gearing yourself up in your base and choose a map to hunt monsters in, rinse and repeat, it does a much better job at setting things up to get you feel involved and absorbed into its world, like you're really going on adventure with the caravaneers. Even in Rise, where you're allowed even more interaction with the world, going high and low to discover secrets like the rare endemic life and such, I still don't feel as "absorbed" in that world as I did in 4. And you know, that scenes where they set off to Harth village and you see the sun rising in the horizon, still gives me chills!
The characters are also very memorable and endearing, because they're pretty exaggerated, in a good way, and full of personality even without having to rely on dedicated character development arc or proper spoken dialogues. With just their texts, some really nice CG cutscenes and the MH language of "Hrummph", "Hohoh" and whatever grunts and giggles they do, these characters still ooze personality more than some of the tryhard characters in later games. My personal favourite is actually the Palico Chinese Chef!
Another thing I really like in 4U is the monsters' introduction videos where they range from being cinematic, action, creepy and even funny like having a Tetsucabra burping in your face or seeing the Palicos getting freaked out by a Zamtrios one. The game doesn't always take itself super seriously and know when to inject light-hearted moments in here and there to mix things up. The cutscenes also feel more personal and engaging as your characters don't just react to the monsters but also interact with them more like when you're breaking free from a Gendrome that's pinning you with its foot and even your Palico when it takes on Gore Magala.
Then there's the multiplayer monster intro that also show other players. I was so surprised the first time seeing other real players in the intro with me, interacting in different ways to the situation and the monster, and it still works even if there are less players or even just you by your lonesome. This is probably one of the best features yet, and it's a real shame for them to stop doing this. The Japanese theatrical intro in Rise is super cool and all, but I'd take the MH4 style intro over it any day.
I look forward to more of your MH4 journal logs!
It's just a matter of time until you bump the Guildmarm up to SSS tier
I think one of my favourite things that came out of World and Rise is people going back to the older games I started hunting with (3U/4U) and being able to relive those amazing moments like moving on from Val Habar or seeing Lagiacrus REALLY early through journals and streams.
Hope to Gog you have a great time with 4U, because I sure did in my 500 hours some years back.
This only falls behind GU in terms of content and honestly is one of my favorite games in the franchise, I hope you enjoy it as much as we old 3DS did at the time ❤️
Your absolute BEST take yet. I haven't gotten the chance to play 4U yet (I have no idea how to emulate and never had a 3ds) but just through watching the cutscenes and dialogue interactions in the game, I understand and empathize with the characters. And that's not because they're especially deep or anything, but because they're likeable! The dialogue is exactly as you would expect from a game called "Monster Hunter", equal parts cheesy, rugged and charming. Some have described the aesthetic of MH as cavepunk and 4U's atmosphere embodies this trait perfectly, the Dah'ren Mohran setup being a wonderful example of just that. I would love to see a good story for MH, but before they focus on achieving that, I hope they take a step back and remember what made 3U and 4U so charming. Fortunately, I think they touched close to it with Rise on both a story and atmosphere perspective, but I hope they go further in World's sequel.
By the way, if anyone hasn't already, PLEASE check out "Monster Hunter, a Culture of Danger" by SugarPunch Design Works. It's an amazing video, one of my favorites.
3ds is probably pretty cheap these days, you should get on that
4U was the game that started me on the series. Really great game, aside from the map design. I hope you end up enjoying it as much as I did way back when.
4U really needed a wirebug with that map design lol
When you have interesting characters and a well-built world, a satisfying story will come naturally. That's why people enjoyed this game's narrative more than other MH games in my opinion.
I definitely think the biggest difference in a good MH story and a bad one, is that the good ones give you a jump off point that makes sense, and works as a good backdrop for what is inherently your own story.
4U worked so well because it made you a part of living and breathing world, and you so happened to become a part of one of many fantastic journeys taking place in that world.
Rise works well, because you become a member of a fun and charming family of villagers, who you start to care about throughout your journey. They don't shove the story down your throat, it's there, there is a point, and you and your new family are doing what you can to take care of it, while at every other step of the way, it's pure charm, nothing overly dramatic.
I will agree that 4U probably had the best storyline, but I do think Rise, over all, has a tad bit more charm to it; but that's I think mainly a question about personal preference, because both are hallmarks in Monster Hunter History.
Would say that 4U and Rise are the two best:
4U was the peak of the old Gen and I believe Rise will be the peak of the new.
World I would say is the absolute worst of the series, not that it’s a bad game by any means. It’s a great game. I think it’s a sub par Monster Hunter game because it became riddled with horrible characteristics of mainstream games. Fomo event quests and Sieges, Arch tempered fights having shitty artifical difficulty mechanics, and an overly rigid and unwelcoming emphasis on meta.
On top of this, farming for rng decos is just a horrible excuse for “fun” in endgame. Iceborne fixed a lot of these issues, but still didn’t quite shake the issues of the base game. I’ll give it to them for opening the franchise to the world, but you can clearly see Capcom retracting their mistakes in Rise, while keeping everything that made World a step in the series.
Words can literally not describe how much i want a remake of this game so I can play it with my friends who are new to MH.
MH4U will always be my favourite from the franchise. I had soo many good memory from it. And Gore Magala was my favorite monster of all time.
Ah man I've played MH from the start and nothing beats MH4U storywise, amazing story and characters
4u was a real treasure. the guildmarm is the most precious cutie.
and it introduced the glaive, jump attacks and mounting
probably the most important game in monster hunter history
Except the first (but that's just pedantic) and *maybe* world Wich changed mostly everything (for better and mostly for worse)
MH4U is where the majority of my MH playtime goes into. It's by far and away my most favorite entry of the series.
It has the most compelling and immersive story of all the games (my opinion), good progression speed, but also a really solid endgame that is challenging, fun and rewarding.
I wish you all the best and may you too enjoy the game as much as I do! ...Guildmarm easy S+ tier tho, you'll get there eventually ;D
MH4U was incredible and it's still my favorite MH game up to this day. It has left a mark on me that will never disappear, and it wasn't even my first mh game. I just love that you give it a bit more light and i hope people will want to try it. Thanks for making me remember all the good times i've had with this game.
The problem with world was it was boring, if it wanted to be serious it needed to go somewhere. Atleast the old world has character
My first mh game and the reason of my cb addiction. It's very good.
Same here yo
Love 4u, the game that got me into MH. Looking forward to watching more of your journey through it!
4u cast feels like my jolly friends in an adventure. Rise has a warmth and comfy tight community feeling and generations is empty. Man, if they introduced the old towns in gen 1 by 1 instead of dropping everything at once and a narrative that guides you through the experience it would have been fantastic for me.
3u will always be my favorite but 4u will always have the best story
Crzy I came here fuh ur concise detailed LS tutorials Nd now I can easily say i luv ur thought process Nd how u can articulate dat shii sooo damn well Nd still have it be hella entertaining. The tone of the video hit, Jokes hit, ur commentary hit. Likeee wtf do u ever miss😂 buh in all seriousness I’m really glad I sticked around. Ik u have sum amazing content comin for us in the future man👌🏾
I’m having a stroke reading this
@@MrComet101 Perfect loll
Just remember one thing Ratatoskr, you're the one to gets things done. Can't wait to see you go more on this game my favorite in the series.
Abi-Turials have a great video about the culture of Monster Hunter and the opening scene of 4U is very important to his argument.
I just recently started a new character on 3U, and I gotta say that game opens super slowly. It's not necessarily a bad thing to have a slow burn, but 4 does a better job at pulling you in right from the beginning.
Ah my first monhun, what an adventure it was. I'd love to see some of the maps from it reimagined in rise
Val habar my favorite town theme. That music bring a smile everytime I listen to it
thank you for another great video. this is my fav monhun game.
We still have to finish Rise' Story, but for me, 4U has the best story of any MH game. Characters are memorable and likable, cutscenes are fantastic, atmosphere is great, etc
Rise could become better or a close second. We have to wait and see.
This is the single best intro in MH, imo. It sets the tone so incredibly well and gives you a good idea of what the game is gonna be like without you even noticing it. Actually, MH4U does a lot of stuff that can be considered the best in the series. The pace of battle, is a big one for me.
Also, MIDDLE-AGED MAN WINS THE WAIFU WARS ONCE AGAIN!
I recently started re-playing 4U, I played it on release, apparently only around 80 hours, hitting village high rank and a bunch of low/high rank hub stuff.
I started a new file to re-experience everything again, and man, there are a lot of things I miss about this game compared to worldborne/rise. Glad you are trying it out. I really enjoyed it the first time, and playing it again with all the experience I have is a refreshing experience, hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
Didn't even play it, beautiful video esp with the Tier as you go edit. Love it.
I've come to realize over the years exactly why I enjoyed MH4U more than I did Generations back when they released. Aside from the content gap at the time, it really is the aesthetic and overall tone that made me really fall in love with the world of MH itself, and I felt that that tone was missing from both 3U and Gen. The Aztec/Mayan-like carvings on the load screens, the red ruins of the Ancestral Steppe (my favorite map in MH), the simple but effective story with charming characters... I felt no such connection to Bherna, and only slightly towards Moga. I feel that GenU is *ultimately* the superior game, but I think tone and atmosphere is incredibly important to the experience of Monster Hunter, at least in my experience.
MH4U is one of the best if not THE best MH game out right now. Lets see how Rise does when all the updates are out. I personally believe that it will be eventually on par with 4U and GU and who knows? Maybe it will be the best ever.
I started in MH with MH4U and its an masterpiece. I Loved the Story
MH4U was an instant classic when it release, you could just feel it from the start, and it continued to keep up the quality. Most MH games are, but something... no, many things... about 4U just put it above the rest.
Would love to see more of you playing this. More of the journal type videos would be great.
As someone whose intro game to the Monster Hunter Franchise was 4U, it's really something special, and is still my favorite to this day, with Rise and GU tied for 2nd place. 4U just has such a good story and characters (not that MH necessarily *needs* a story. I share your opinion about World's story tbh. Got in the way much too often and was forced down your throat annoyingly more often than not. Also agreed that MH works best when it sets the right tone through cutscenes, character dialogue/interactions, atmosphere, music and such)
Dude I’m so happy your taking the time to play this game! It will always be the top monster hunter game in my opinion.
I love this game so much! Even though I'm a Moga hunter from birth, my heart belongs to Val Habar and the Caravan. Rise is great too, but as far as story goes, 4U is too great
My personal favorite game in the series and the best story easily. Hope another game has a story like this
My favorite video game of all time. Words cannot explain the experiences I had within that tiny cartridge. My first HR999. I absolutely adore the old hub system and the 3ds made it so easy to talk to my friends through the chat. My bottom screen got so chewed up from it, you can definitely tell where the vowels on that little keyboard were. I think I will go back to it, Rise is great but it is missing something.
Did I mention I adore this game?
This is my first experience at monster hunter and I always find myself coming back to it constantly its just to good. And I agree everyone setting out from val harbor is one of my favorite moments but there are other ones just as good.
I’m really glad you’re enjoying the game so far, it’s really interesting hearing you’re thoughts and opinions . And yea one of the things I loved about 4u was the characters, I can’t wait till part 2!!!! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did :)
4U probably has the best story in the series in my opinion. I dont wanna spoil anything but even though its not anything revolutionary, the devs did a dang good job at getting me invested into these characters and the dilemma(s) that unfold during the game.
Also nice to see that Guildmarm is growing on you. Fun fact, its confirmed her name is Sophia.
4 Ultimate is probably one of the more story-intensive games in the series, it had a lot of things I liked, especially since this was when they were really starting to play with verticality in the maps, but G-Rank still broke me sadly
Good takes as always!
My first Monster Hunter ever. It'll be interesting to get a fresh look at this after playing through four generations of Monster Hunter. Curious to see if Wystones were as bad a mechanic as I remember.
it's nice to see in 2021 there's still peoples who play the best MH game of all time
4U is special because it was made for you
This was my first monster hunter! Hooked ever since
So much nostalgia for me man thanks For the video
Looking back at these cutscenes make me want to go back and play 4U honestly. I only recall falling out of it during the G Rank quests because those started to grow harder and the kind of gear it expected me to get at the time solo...was nuts...granted, I probably could handle it better since I was playing a lot of Generations Ultimate before Rise came out...although, having to build gear with the early G Monsters is gonna be a bit to get used to.
Ahh nice, 4u. I was shocked when you put guildmarm at b-tier, but I saw what you did there. Now something you'll probably realize as you progress is 4u was a bit of a perfect storm, the way all the elements of this game interact is something I don't think they can really pull off again without just rehashing it. aside from that, the gameplay has definitely been improved, though the atmosphere here is peak. If I recall there's a few things in this game that I suppose you could call staples of the series in the later games, but I'll wait until you get to them.
MH4U is an incredible game and still my favourite in the series. You have an amazing adventure ahead of you. There was only one thing I didn't like but I rather not say it incase you are going into this game blind
4u is and will always be my top number one mh game this is also the mh game that started it all for me
Damn I whish there's MH4U remake/remastered with 3U or Rise graphics
How dare u putting Guildmarm at B rank......*the world will remember this*
edit* OK she's at A now. Just need to wait for Ratatoskr to see her other cut scene and I'm sure she will be S rank.
you have good taste in waifus my friend
More of that critical analysis goodness we crave 🙏
The characters in Rise just fall flat, they all wanna save the village and they do fight in the Rampage which is great, but the lack of in action cutscenes means that you don't get to trully feel the tension and struggle of the fight. Plus, other than saving Kamura they have no secondary goals, the Caravaneer wants to get that money, but also see the world, find the source of the article and support you in your dreams, Fugen, he's the leader and wants to save Kamura... And that's it. Once Magnamalo is deafeated you hardly even talk to him, he's pretty much gone from the story and the whole Hub experience feels disconnected from villagers much like GU. They could have a side story about expanding the village, spreading the reach of the Dango and Steel market, something that makes Kamura more meaningful, but no, we don't get that at least for now.
I think I imported but didn't finish either 4G or X, but this is a great reminder of why I resonated with the games enough even as a solo scrub. This may be why I didn't resonate with X as much but I'll have to boot the game again to find out.
I’m in the middle(or low rank at least) of playing this game. The progression is better in my opinion than World. I know some people don’t like the Village and Hub quests separately, but I actually don’t mind it. The story of this one is pretty fun and the characters are fun.
I do think Rise is an underrated game. Storywise there are criticisms of the characters not feeling scared or being too bubbly during the Rampage. They have been preparing for this moment for 50 years. To me it shows the power of everyone uniting and acting as one. Sunbreak is kinda the opposite. The characters aren’t always on the same page, which causes friction between them. The Hunter brings that Uniting spirit from Kamura. My two cents anyways.
Hell yeah, I'm ready. Are you going to go all the way to the end of G-Rank?
Absolutely agreed on the atmosphere part. In fact, I'd say 4U's atmosphere is DEFINITELY better than Rise and World's. I think MH nails its out-of-story character interactions most of the time. They are charming, sometimes funny. And always very expressive. I even thought as much about World when I replayed it in full this year. But it's very rare that the story and the out-of-cut scene atmosphere match up. MH4U did it very well, World took itself way too seriously when it had all these whacky characters and Rise... well, I love Rise, I really like the atmosphere of the village, but I feel a disconnect between the story and the atmosphere in Rise. The game begins talking about how the rampage destroyed the village in the past and how the threat rears its head once again. Very sinister, very dark. The village however, is very happy-go-lucky about everything most of the time if not always. It's really weird. And the monster introductions, while awesome-looking, again create a much MUCH darker picture than what we're actually presented with.
4U's story is a hero's journey through and through and all its parts match up very well compared to the other two games.
OMG! This was my first Monster Hunter (since I instantly droped Generations) and I loved it, THAT GAME hook me into the franchise, it is so damn wonderful... I was still replaying some stuff this weekend and I don't want to go back to grind there lol, but the story... it left a mark in your heart, also the think it was is how the story is told, yo FEEL THE NEED TO KNOW what is going on whereas in other games it is like "Sure... whatever", World was kind of interesting but never reached that level, and Rise is at least better in that aspect but I feel it is still missing something, they could have done something better with Magnamalo, like they do with Gore Magala in 4U... never foget
EDIT: I want to clarify, a friend made me play Generations and I was like "What is this? Why do we do this? What is the meaning? Why am I killing this creatures?" It simply didn't click, didn't generate me any sort of interest regardless the weapon, but then... when I played 4U it had an interesting narrative, a story developing, and that is what caught me forever, then I played World which was at least interesting, and finally I went to XX because it was like "Oh this is sort of a nostalgia game with new mechanics and all the monsters" but after saying that I played for fun only without a drive to advance in story or anything since it isn't there for me. In the other hand... Rise made a pretty damn good job at recreating some atmosphere but got short at the Magnamalo closure, I don't mean it should be some elder dragon or super important stuff, but neither should have they "solved" the trouble of it so much off screen and give you a mission to hunt it, it felt... weird... like a part of the story they could have shown simply skiped it and "Oh there, go fight him"
Oh boy, that last cutscene is a masterpiece, but for me here in that game is the one what even better than this one, and you will see it one day...)
4U is probably the best game in the series. Too bad I've worn out my 3ds too much to be able to play it much more. G Rank in this game is nuts.
If you love the story telling already you’re gonna love gore as an antagonist.
Man, I love this game.
Out of all the Monster Hunter games. 4U is the one I want to see a HD remaster of the most.
It's also up there for full on Remake. Only losing out to Dos for games I want to see Remade.
I started playing MH4U last week!
This game is the reasom i changed my hinters name from "Kota" to "Doodle"
I love this game
man i do love your more analytical/philosophical videos , i could listen to you the entire day ! please keep making the journal logs :D
btw , i'm a relatively new MH player , do you recommend 4U and GU ? do you play on an emulator or what ? ( also , is GU the expasion of 4U ? its kinda confusing lol ) i want to play the older games but i'm afraid to fuck up on the software/hardware settings and having a shit experience
GU is the switch expansion of the 3ds game Monster Hunter Generations, 4U and GU are both part of the 4th generation of monster hunter. If you have a switch I'd reccomend Trying out GU but if you don't 3U, 4U, and Gen are all avalable on the 3ds eshop for pretty low.
I don't know too much about emulating sorry.
My favorite Monster Hunter
Since the 3ds/Wii U servers are about to shut down I really hope that capcom will port 4U and 3U to the switch or PC so new players will be able to experience these absolute gems
4u is one of the best, if not the best mainline series game. It's fantastic. The only thing is that weapon combat in 4u is really becoming outdated considering what we have in gu, world and rise. Outside of weapons like cb, ig, gs and maybe longsword, you can definitely feel how outdated the weapon combat was in terms of limited movesets and combos we've come to know since world.
Ratatoskr you even mentioned in your recent podcast that experiencing longsword in 4u sucks cause it lacks foresight slash and all these things you've come to expect since you started with world. Ls prior to world wasn't a counter weapon. It was a weapon that benefitted from good positioning, was excellent for cutting tails and had good reach. I hope you can adjust to the old style of playing where your weapon strikes must be deliberate and timed. Since world, this aspect of weapon combat is heavily lost, and even more so in rise since you attack even faster meaning that you benefit the most from just hacking and slashing as fast as you can to achieve optimal dps (generally speaking)
Still waiting to be alienated by any of your takes and opinions, been subbed for a while now :)
I miss classic monhun cg scenes especially intros fking world removed intros then continued to rise
Even with the DLC, I doubt Rise's story will live up to 4U. The LOW RANK portion of 4U's story alone is better than that of the ENTIRETY of World/Iceborne and everything in Rise so far.
"This is probably the best cutscene in all of Monster Hunter." Oh just you wait.
A Wyvern turning into an Elder Dragon throughout the story is enough to make 4U the greatest story Monster Hunter has ever told.
guildmarm best girl!
You have good taste.👌
Agree, 4u is pretty great
4u is fantastic. It has the most content out of all the mainline series games. Gu (which is like a spin off game) is the only game that surpasses it. 4u has 75 regular large monsters. Gu also has 75, but it's the deviants of existing monsters that bumps it up to 93 monsters in total. Worldborne has 71 large monsters. All else are far less. Fu has 58 and 3u has 51
*Spoiler warning read at your own risk*
that hunter 3:01 is Julius, Aiden's mentor
I think the only thing holding back 4U's story from being the best we could possibly get out of MonHun is their adherence to the stupid MonHun tradition of addressing any character not a Shakalaka by their title rather than name. Naming characters makes it easier to remember and empathize with them. MonHun has fantastic characters, but it's reluctance to actually name them until Rise only served to cripple those characters. It's telling that I have an easier time remembering the names of Rise characters than I do remembering the titles of characters from older games EVEN when the older character with a title has a more memorable personality.
good vid, earned a sub
Next year I believe is the 10 year anniversary of the game. I just wonder if they do remaster it. Or port it to switch at least.
I don't think that 4U has a better story than Rise, I KNOW it has a better story. 4U nailed it.
But rise doesn't even have a story to begin with lmao. Rise's story is about as non existent as 3us story. Rise just has a lot of charm. It's cutscenes are few yet practical, and I guess the writing is okay.
@@WisdomAkpan211 I liked the memes that the MH community generated that the localizers threw into the game, like "Spin to Win" and "Oh my Gog," but other than that the writing and characters don't really feel that exceptional to me. The only thing really oozing character to me is the Dango songs and the design of the village. The way they handled Magnamalo was pretty weak too, didn't have nearly as much oomph as Gore even though I think Mag has an equally cool design and a better fight.
Rise feels like it doesn't have a story because it isn't even concluded yet. The build up is really weak too.
They need to port this game to the switch, certain fights are too much for my pc 😔
Best. Monster. Hunter. Ever.
Actyally, I would rank it on my top 3 games with AA: Trials and Tribulations and Zelda BOTW.
This game would have been the perfect MH for solo players if not for the LS's nerf and APEX monster gimmick.