If you’ve spent any time around our neck of the woods, you almost certainly knew this was coming; while I totally understand that Monster Hunter isn’t for anyone, I have a pretty big love for the franchise, so I was almost always going to be buying whatever crap Capcom and Nintendo released with the franchise attached. This is probably due to the fact that holy crap people LIKE Monster Hunter now, so we’re starting to see all of the crazy stuff that used to be exclusive to Japan, like exclusive consoles and special editions, which we’ve not really had in the US until recently. It also has a lot to do with the fact that, frankly, Nintendo released the New 3DS around the same time as Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate (which was almost certainly on purpose), which has its very own right stick built in, meaning no more Circle Pad Pro required. Since I generally don’t pick up special edition consoles (the Persona Q 3DS XL notwithstanding) I decided to give it a go, so here we are with both the Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate special edition, and the associated 3DS. Let’s take a look at both and see what’s here and what’s good.
These are the outsides of the boxes of the 3DS and game, respectively. Also shown is the Felyne pin that came as a pre-order gift, though the pin itself is apparently still available at places like Amazon if you’re interested. I haven’t really gotten into the collectable pin thing as of yet, but it’s cute enough and it seems sturdy, so it’s not a bad bonus if you’re into pin collections or just cute stuff.
The outside of the Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate themed 3DS. It’s got a shiny, silver matte finish, meaning that fingerprints and such show up a bit more than you might like, honestly. The design on the top is pretty cool, though, as it’s the MH4 symbol in a color-matched blue that fits and highlights the silver of the exterior nicely. Aesthetically, I think the Persona Q 3DS did a better job making use of exterior real estate, but the minimalist design means you’ll be less likely to make obvious scratches in the design, so it works all the same.
The inside of the 3DS (I couldn’t get a good shot with the screen on, sorry). It basically looks like a 3DS XL, with two extra triggers and a bigger screen. The new button layout works fine, and for the most part everything’s in a good position functionally speaking.
For those who are wondering how the New 3DS performs, with ten hours into Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate I’d say “not bad at all.” The right analog stick is responsive and, while it doesn’t allow for the range of motion the CPP does, it responds to interaction well overall. I generally don’t overshoot what I’m looking at and it responds well enough to quick adjustment taps. It’s not ideal, of course, but it works well and for the most part I like it for what it is, and feel it’s a fine enough substitution for the CPP. The console itself is mostly solid as well; it’s basically a 3DS, and the changes are either functionally a non-entity (the movement of the cartridge slot to the bottom-left) or generally fine (the dual triggers on the back). The only exception is the mounting of the memory stick under the casing on the back, meaning you have to unscrew the case to get to it, but frankly, while that’s not at all a good thing, you can get a jeweler’s screwdriver from Home Depot (along with thirty others) for about five bucks, and a single 64GB Memory Stick is about $33 on Amazon, so you shouldn’t have to swap out too much.
Insofar as data transfer goes, it works fine; I did it via Wi-Fi to see how bad it’d be, and it took about 20-30 minutes and only required a minimum amount of input from me. It does wipe Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate off of the internal memory, sadly, but the console remembers that you own the game so you can just jump online and redownload it, at least. I am also using the original charger from my original 3DS for the time being, but no, it doesn’t come with one of its own, and yeah, that is kind of stupid no matter what you think of the handheld otherwise. If you happen to have a spare lying around it’s not a huge issue, but if you don’t, you’ll either have to get one or you won’t be trading yours in anytime soon.
The Collector’s Edition, slid out to show the Supply Crate exterior design. The box is cardboard so it’s not exactly hardy or anything, but it’s a cute design and it has a magnet in place to hold it closed if you want to display it for some reason.
A group shot of everything that comes in the box. We’ll get into the specifics as we go.
This is Gore Magala, or specifically, the pieces that come in his box (which rips open, so you can’t easily close it again, sadly). His wings attach to his body at the top of the model, and the orange thing on the side is what appears to be some sort of base for him, if you don’t want to use the black one that comes separately.
The assembled Gore Magala, as well as the separate base. The black base looks good for display purposes, though I should note that the orange base seems like it has snappable edges underneath it, which looks like it means this goes with other figures, though in what fashion I’m not sure, honestly. Probably as a part of other Monster Hunter figures. It also bears noting that snapping together Gore Magala takes a little doing, as the wings kind of snap into each other as well as the body, and getting enough force behind it can feel risky. It worked out well enough though.
The lanyard. It has a bunch of the primitive cave-art style artwork from the game along its exterior, and it’s cute if you have need of a lanyard for some reason.
The screen-cleaning cloth. The artwork is pretty and the cloth itself is soft and useful for cleaning the screen of the 3DS as you’d need, though given the choice I’d sooner use a disposable one rather than a collectable one.
The Felyne pin that comes with the game as a bonus gift, alongside the Felyne pin that comes with the Collector’s Edition. The CE pin is the more interesting looking of the two, I think, but both of them are pretty interesting looking, and if you’re into pins, as noted above, they’re pretty nice.
We’re working to get a review out to you fine folks as soon as we can (so far, it’s pretty good though), so keep your eyes here for further updates.
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