That ‘if’ though
Here we are in 2014 with an iOS port of a PSP game, in the form of Monster Hunter Freedom Unite. The kicker? It’s very, very good.
As a port of 2008’s Freedom Unite, everything is faithfully recreated on an iOS device. The hundreds of hours of gameplay, the countless training sessions, the lengthy hunts long into the night, the complex combat system — it’s all here.
The classic Monster hunter style remains — hang out a bit in town, grab a timed mission, complete it for materials and rank, and repeat 100 or more times. Capcom even boasts that there are “no additional hidden fees or boosts” after downloading. Since they’ve done that before I find that claim pretty damn funny, but nonetheless, it’s true in this case — it’s a solid port.
Of course, the elephant in the room is touch controls. If you do not have an MFi controller for your iOS device, you’re going to have a bad time. Touch controls are contextualized to the point where there isn’t an excessive amount of buttons on the screen, but having to manage movement and a camera in a pinpoint precision game is a nightmare.
If you have that controller though, it’s a picture-perfect port that actually has a framerate superior to the original, with an extra analog nub (depending on the controller) that functions as a camera — giving it a leg-up on the PSP version. It’s crazy to think that an iOS game can outshine a dedicated portable, but that’s what happened here. It even has four-player support via WiFi.
If you’re keen on giving Monster Hunter a try and have a controller on-hand (look for sales, some have dipped below $30), go grab it for $14.99. Everyone else should wait for a sale on both the app and the MFi device — but once that happens, jump on it.
