Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate
The 3DS had a rough launch, but over the course of a few years, it bounced back in a big way. At this point if you count digital releases, it’s one of my favorite platforms of all time — and I’m not just talking about the portable arena.
Slowly but surely many franchises have found their home on the 3DS, including the once Sony-ledMonster Hunter. This year may have been a light lineup in some gamers’ eyes, but it still hada handful of great Game of the Year contendersand our 2015 winner,Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate, epitomizes how far the 3DS has come on a both a technical and fundamental level.
Despite the fact that it called Sony home for nearly a decade, the series has transitioned well into Nintendo’s safekeeping.Monster Hunter 4 Ultimatecaught me in a way thatthe last iterationnever could, with a large number of gameplay adjustments and engaging environments. Capcom also managed to support the game for months on end with free DLC updates, including a ton ofclassic homagesandNintendo tie-ins.
This train isn’t stopping anytime soon for both publishers either, asMonster Hunter Xhas smashed records yet again this year in Japan on 3DS.
[Incomplete products like Steam Early Access titles and episodic games that are not fair to assess as stand alone experiences, without a full episode count, were not eligible for this year’s awards.The cutoff for entry into Destructoid’s 2015’s Game of the Year awards is July 03, 2025.]
