Monster Hunter Double Cross for Nintendo Switch seemed like a lost cause in the West with not even a murmur of a localisation chance after Monster Hunter: World saw brilliant success worldwide. In fact as of today, Capcom has announced 10 million copies shipped and sold digitally for World across all 3 platforms. Nintendo Switch only owners weren’t too happy about the lack of a localisation for Double Cross and thankfully Capcom announced it a few months ago. It will be around a year since it released in Japan but Monster Hunter Double Cross for Switch is finally releasing worldwide as Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate only on Nintendo Switch. I’ve been playing the final build of the game on Switch and here’s everything you need to know including preview impressions:
What is Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate?
Monster Hunter X or Cross in Japan was released as a spinoff game that celebrates the Monster Hunter franchise as a whole. It featured new mechanics, a ton of returning and new content in the form of quests, areas, and monsters, in addition to new game modes. This eventually released in the West as Monster Hunter Generations for the Nintendo 3DS family of systems. Usually, Capcom waits for the “Ultimate” or “G” versions of games to localise but with Generations we got the base version. In Japan, Monster Hunter XX or Double Cross was released first on the 3DS family of systems and this is what was ported to the Nintendo Switch with huge improvements visually across the board. In fact it is pretty mindblowing seeing how far the game has come visually going from the 3DS to Nintendo Switch. Generations Ultimate is the localised version of the ultimate version of Monster Hunter Generations.
Do I need to have played previous games?
Absolutely not. Each Monster Hunter game can be played and enjoyed as a standalone release. If you had to play another game after this and have access to multiple platforms, I’d recommend Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate or Monster Hunter: World but the latter might cause some trouble for you.
How different is this compared to World?
This is where things get tricky. World has a ton of enhancements and gameplay improvements alongside UI fixes and a lot of modern conveniences that are missing in all previous games. Things like the radial interface for items or even being able to auto combine and the way you consume potions is either absent or different here. If you’re ok adjusting, this is well worth your time from what I’ve played.
What platforms is this releasing on?
Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate in the West is Nintendo Switch exclusive. It is also releasing in India officially for Rs. 3999 and this will be the UK version of the game which happens to be the same build as North America.
How big is the download size?
Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate is 11.3GB. There has been no patch for the current build but things might change around launch day.
What about 3DS save transfer?
You can transfer your 3DS save from Monster Hunter Generations but as of now there’s no clarity on whether you need to match regions with your Nintendo Account and NNID (the 3DS and Wii U account system). More details will be available at launch for this but you will need to link your NNID and Nintendo Account.
What is G Rank?
As I mentioned earlier, the West usually got the “Ultimate” versions of previous games which included new content, balance changes, some enhancements, but most importantly had G Rank which is the hardest difficulty. These quests are balanced for 4 players and monsters are much harder overall. World might get G Rank through a full paid expansion which makes sense but Generations’ G Rank comes in the form of Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate’s new content. This preview (the impressions below) doesn’t cover that aspect of the game.
How’s the multiplayer?
World offered a very different take on multiplayer in Monster Hunter. Generations Ultimate has local and online multiplayer and these quests are different from the single player ones. Many consider the single player quests to be practice before the real game begins in multiplayer helping others and then G Rank where you are properly tested.
Is there a demo?
If you are unsure of the game’s performance and visuals, you can download a free demo on the eShop that has 3 quests that can be played online or locally in addition to single player.
Is it worth playing this in a post Monster Hunter: World world?
So far most definitely. After putting in dozens of hours into the Japanese import of the game last year and playing the initial hours of Generations Ultimate in English, there is definitely room for both Monster Hunter experiences. They both are true to the franchise but each offers advantages over the other.
Preview impressions:
Having only properly gotten into the franchise on the 3DS, it has been great seeing how it evolved over time through Generations and then World. World is still a game of the year contender (LINK TO REVIEW) but the draw of the sheer amount of content in Generations Ultimate made me not want to wait for a possible English release. Thankfully with limited knowledge of Japanese and by knowing most symbols and having played Generations on 3DS, Double Cross was awesome to experience on the Switch last year. Initial impressions of Generations Ultimate are great as well and the only real problem you will face is the lack of many of the enhancements and quality of life improvements world had. Generations Ultimate feels more intimate with the focus being on you and the monster as opposed to the environment as well in World. Production values are obviously lower but the sheer amount of quality content through monsters, quests, gameplay changes, modes, and more is pretty crazy. It is nice to see that Capcom even added good HD Rumble and touch screen functionality as options for the release. I look forward to playing more over the week. I’ll have a full review of Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate next week.