Garou
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Q: When, Where, How Much?
A: Monster Hunter 4G will release in Japan on Nintendo 3DS on October 11 (Saturday) 2014. Official pricing is 6,264 Yen for retail and 5,990 Yen for the Download-edition (both incl. tax). The download-edition will need 2,667MB (21,330 blocks) space on the SD-card and will go live sometime before noon on Saturday (no midnight-release).
Q: Any Special Editions?
A: There will be a Special Edition of the New Nintendo 3DS LL bundled with a retail copy of MH4G for 27,648 Yen. Also there are some Limited Editions on the e-CAPCOM-store that will bundle the game with some figures and/or figure-straps. Amazon.co.jp has their own bundles with either their own set of figures or 3DS LL decorations-sets.
Q: Any deals?
A: If you live in Japan, Amazon.co.jp seems to be the cheapest online-shop as of now, with the retail-game at 5,118 Yen and they also sell codes for the download-edition for 5,391 Yen.
Outside of Japan shops like Nippon-Yasan, Play-Asia and YesAsia are usually your best bet, or using a forwarding-service like Tenso. Of course MH4G will also be available on the eShop.
Q: Whats the difference between 4 and 4G?
A: 4G expands on the original 4 with more story, more monsters, more gear, more stages, some new item-mechanics and of course a huge amount of G-rank quests in addition to the Low- and High-Rank ones from 4. In addition to the 51 monsters of MH4 we have the new cover-monster Seruregios, 7 brand-new subspecies and 7 returning monsters from previous games officially confirmed as of now, making this the biggest Monster Hunter ever, and there is even more to be found in the final game.
Q: What are some of the new mechanics and features?
A: New moves for Heavy Bowgun, Dual Blades and Charge Axe. Two new trends for Felynes. New multiplayer-options like unique codes for lobbys to share online so people can directly join, being able to kick other players as lobby-host, auto-chat that you can set to display if you do certain actions like setting a trap/barrel, etc. There is a new permanent item that you can use to buff yourself against monsters that are virus-infected. Other new items like one-time earplug drinks, hot-steam bombs that can cure negative status and others. New Episode-Quests, that will bring back characters like ChaCha & Kayamba and others from previous games.
Q: If I have MH4, can I import my save?
A: Yes, you can! The details have been revealed here. Basically everything (Gear, Items, Story-progression, charms, etc.) from 4 will be transferred, except the following: Guild Quests, Event Quests, Challenge Quests, the contents of your mailbox, the content of page 3 of your guild card and some settings like the order of your item-crafting list and multiplayer-quickchat. You even get a one-time chance to change the gender and appearance of your hunter in the import-process. Also, true armor-sphere upgrades will be reset and refunded.
Caution
According to the site you need to take special care if 1) You are planning to import your MH4-save + 2) You are planning to do a system-transfer to a different/new 3DS + 3) You are going to get the download-edition of MH4G. It is strongly advised to buy from the eShop/redeem you download-code for MH4G AFTER you have done your system-transfer, otherwise there might be problems importing your MH4-save. It is not known at this time if this is just cautionary or if there is some sort of bug involved.
Q: So I need to craft those Event-Quest items now before moving to MH4G?
A: The FAQ says that they plan to re-offer the MH4-DLC again for MH4G, although it is not clear if that will include every single one of them.
Q: Can I mix retail/download saves from MH4 with retail/download-editions of MH4G?
A: Yes, all combinations are possible. Your MH4-save will stay usable and you can import your save as many times as you like into MH4G (although the import-process will always completely overwrite your whole MH4G-save for all characters, so be careful).
Q: The New 3DS releases on the same day as MH4G and I'm buying both, is there something I need to know regarding the system-transfer process?
A: Nintendo has an extensive FAQ, have a look at it. System-transfer is an option in the system-settings. Both systems need to be present and connected to WiFi. The tricky part will most likely be to get your data from the SD-card in your 3DS, to the microSD-card in your New 3DS. Nintendo offers several options:
a) Transfer all data wireless between systems (4GB take around 2 hours)
b) Transfer only licenses and savedata wireless between systems, then re-download games from the eShop (recommended if your microSD is smaller than your original SD)
c) Use a PC to copy the contents from your SD-card to the microSD-card.
d) If you already use a microSD-card with an SD-adapter inside your 3DS, you can use the microSD as is.
Q: Will this release outside Japan?
A: Yes, the international edition Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate will release sometime in the first quarter of 2015.
Q: There is no Wii U-version this time?
A: As of now there is no Wii U-version announced. Keep in mind that in the case of MH3G there was a whole year between the release of the 3DS and Wii U-versions in Japan, so it is too early to completely rule out a Wii U-version.
Q: What are the collaborations with other games this time?
A:
Q: Show me some videos!
A: Thats not a question! Anyway here is the latest promotion-video and the opening-cinematic. You can also watch this 53 minute-video from TGS showing lots of the new stuff and monsters.
See the Monster Hunter 4G Nintendo Direct here
Happy Hunting!
