imo the best in the series. Weapon balance, hub quests, visual design, music, monster design - It all hit exactly how it needed to for me. There are only a few downsides. Underwater combat, this game's main gimmick, just didn't work with the 3ds' control scheme. It's a lot better emulated or on the Wii U version, but most people (Including me for the majority of my playtime) played on the 3DS version. They also decided not to include online play on the 3DS version, which as mentioned is the version most people played.

Still a great game when you get down to it though.