Did we really used to live like this? Going back to the last generation of Capcom's long-running series having spent the best part of 100 hours with all the mod cons of this year's Monster Hunter: World can be a galling experience. It's a bit like being in The 1900 House as you marvel at all the inconveniences and quirks that people used to contend with on a daily basis. Did you really have to carry multiple whetstones with you to keep your weapon sharp? Why am I having to repeat so much for multiplayer quests? And where are my beloved scoutflies?
This is a more primitive spin on the series, and the gulf between Generations Ultimate and World feels a lot bigger than the 18 months that have passed since this first came out in Japan might imply. Every system and quirk that the series has acquired over the years clatters around in often nonsensical ways, and if you're new to the series - or if Monster Hunter World was your first taste - it's a game to be played with a wiki by your side or, if you're lucky, a patient friend familiar with Monster Hunter's many foibles. There's no clean through-line, and the sheer amount of admin required between hunts as you organise items and sets is staggering.
But good god what we lost in the transition to Monster Hunter World, a game that serves a foundation for the new breed of the series - whereas Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate is a finishing point for the old ways. It's a ludicrously generous game, the 14 weapons each served by six movesets, with art styles and supers - a layer introduced in the original Generations and absent entirely in World - giving an obscene amount of depth and complexity to how you approach each hunt.
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