For years, the Monster Hunter RPG series has served as a Japanese portable-gaming weathervane, determining which way the wind blew. The series' riotous sales on the PSP, including the platform's fastest-selling game of all time, pretty much saved Sony's beleaguered handheld in its home country, while Monster Hunter's shift to the Nintendo 3DS was (arguably) the biggest Japanese sales tide-turner a series has caused since Final Fantasy left Nintendo behind in the '90s.
The game's many iterations—which flip the Pokemon formula of "gotta catch 'em all" into a more brutal, giant-sword-fueled journey to kill 'em all—haven't done as well in the States, possibly because they have each come with years-long delays after their Japanese counterparts. In traditional Monster Hunter fashion, the series also took its sweet time reaching smartphones and tablets. Today marks its first-ever appearance on iOS.
Monster Hunter Freedom Unite, priced at $14.99 for both iPhone and iPad, doesn't crib from last year's Monster Hunter 3G release on 3DS; instead this is a port of the 2009 PSP game Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G, presumably because its wimpier 3D assets would run efficiently across iOS devices. The only changes involve MFi controller support, which includes a camera stick that the original didn't have, along with touch-screen controls. The latter function in a pinch, with touchscreen camera adjustability as well as context-sensitive buttons that appear during less-active scenes. Still, when you're getting into position, wielding giant weapons, and actively dodging huge monsters, you won't want to depend on a touchscreen control stick.
Read 1 remaining paragraphs | Comments
