We’re officially in the release month of Monster Hunter Wilds, the next big game in the Monster Hunter franchise. 2018’s Monster Hunter World was a juggernaut success that catapulted the series to uncharted levels of popularity in Western gaming markets, and with Wilds being a direct continuation of the mainline game series, what better time to give an introduction to the Capcom franchise for those who may be unfamiliar with it?
Monster Hunter began way back in 2004 for the PlayStation 2, and evolved into a huge franchise that spans big home console exclusives, handheld spin-offs, mobile games and even a feature-length film. With new game releases, ports of some spin-off games and a big online fanbase, there’s never been a better time to jump into the world of Monster Hunter, so we’re going to breakdown exactly how a beginner can jump into the world of Monster Hunter, what to expect on your journey, and where to begin based on your ideal style of play.
What is Monster Hunter all about?
As the name suggests, most Monster Hunter games are about two key things – monsters and hunting! Loosely speaking, all the games are set in the same fictional world with many returning monsters across games, but there is no solid canon that ties all the games together. Whilst the games do contain good stories, the primary focus of each title is a solid gameplay loop, in which you hunt for monsters to complete quests, and then use the loot you obtained after much slaying to create better gear, allowing you to hunt bigger, meaner monsters and get even better gear.
Whilst this is the core gameplay loop of each Monster Hunter game, it can vary wildly in what else is available to do, depending on the game you’re playing as we’ll dive into later. Monster Hunter games also tend to be area-based, with large explorable areas available to travel to from a central hub location, such as a village or town. The central hub will be your main location for crafting better gear and getting yourself prepared for expeditions into the wilderness of the large explorable areas, with options like meal preparation, item crafting and/or earning stat boosts depending on the game.
Once you head out into an area, monsters have their own way of life, with specific areas they spawn, interactions with other monsters in their habitat and different rarity-based chances of appearing in a certain scenario. When fighting monsters, there’s a huge arsenal of weapons to choose from in most games, with different types of damage, or different magical element attacks, being able to exploit different weaknesses in different monsters making it easier to take them down. Choosing a weapon that suits your playstyle is an essential part of any Monster Hunter game. As a key part of monster slaying is the earning of loot, it helps to exploit enemies’ weapon/element vulnerabilities, as this can help you break off parts of their bodies in select instances, which in turn makes them drop a perhaps rarer loot piece.
As you’re a hunter, sometimes going after a monster won’t be as easy as simply looking for its spawn location. Each game has varying levels of complexity when it comes to actually tracking down certain monsters, from needing to use footprints or scratches left in the environment to detect trails left by monsters, to tracking down the nest of a beast and entering its den to face it atop its pile of eggs. Hunting is not just a simple hack-and-slash mechanic used for the title, but rather a fully fledged focus of the franchise, where awareness of the monsters you’re dealing with, their ecology and their temperaments is just as much a part of the gameplay as actually clashing with them.
As you may expect, hunting is not just a solo affair, but something done in groups across the animal kingdom – both within Monster Hunter and the real world! As such, almost every Monster Hunter title has some kind of online gameplay option, ranging from full online co-op and questing in the modern titles, and local multiplayer or region-restricted online play in some of the older titles from the PS2 or PSP era. Whilst online play is a big element of the game, it certainly isn’t mandatory. In a game like Monster Hunter World there really is a lot of player choice in how you want to use multiplayer, if at all; you can explore and quest solo for the whole game, play the entire story with a buddy, or just summon a friendly stranger randomly for the boss fights you struggle with and then return to your solo adventure.
What makes Monster Hunter games different?
So that’s the typical Monster Hunter gameplay experience – track down and slay monsters in your own preferred playstyle with your choice of weapons and your own choice of solo or co-op expeditions into beautiful landscapes teeming with life. With so many games though, fans tend to separate the games into their own generations, based on the hardware era they released in and their gameplay features. The series has changed quite a bit over the years, so let’s quickly skim through the generations. Each generation has games belonging to the mainline series and portable series, but these titles get blurry as mainline games are ported to handheld consoles and vice versa. Just know there are lots of games, but they all share a similar gameplay focus.
The first two generations of Monster Hunter lived on the PS2, with PSP games and ports also available. These games introduced the core gameplay loop, but started out with quite clunky and slow combat. Online play was Japan exclusive, with only local co-op available to those outside the region. The second generation did expand on the first, adding new weapon types, more difficult monsters and the iconic Felyne (cat) companion, but the series really started to take shape in its next iterations.
The third generation of Monster Hunter began on the Wii with Monster Hunter Tri, with enhanced ports later going to the 3DS and Wii U in the form of Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate. These games delivered the first full online multiplayer experience outside of Japan with the Wii release, and introduced seamless areas in certain locations, greater advancements of monster combat behaviour such as the ability to destroy parts of the environment, and more.
The real fun starts with the fourth generation, as Monster Hunter 4 continues the mainline releases, and Monster Hunter Generations continues the “portable” part of the franchise (even though both games were released on 3DS). This generation introduced global online co-op on the 3DS, mounting monsters during combat to deal massive damage, alongside more movement options in verticality to increase area sizes and dynamics. This era of Monster Hunter grew its fanbase globally, and Generations Ultimate continues to be a highly recommended title for players to try out due to its availability on the Switch, despite being the last of the “older” style of Monster Hunter games.
This takes us up to the fifth generation, the modern era of Monster Hunter, delivering Monster Hunter World and Monster Hunter Rise. World is the best-selling game in franchise history, with rich open maps, realistic graphics, drop in-and-out co-op options and more customization options than ever for your characters. Rise meanwhile continued the “portable” branch of the franchise, with less focus on dramatic visuals and deep combat, and the introduction of some aerial movement mechanics, along with a rideable mount dog companion (the Palamutes) to accompany the existing Felyne combat companion.
What Monster Hunter game should you start with?
So there’s a lot of games and they all evolve the franchise in different ways, with slightly different mechanics between them – but where should you start? I’m going to give you three different starting points, each having their own benefits that might be more enjoyable to different types of players.
Quick Start – Monster Hunter Rise
I’d recommend Monster Hunter Rise as a first title for those who are itching to dive straight into some Monster Hunter action, with minimal research, prior experience or the need to maybe look for help online. Monster Hunter Rise offers some great tutorial sections for those new to the series, and also strips back a little bit on the resource and crafting element, in favor of more action, traversal and a central story arc. If you want to try out Monster Hunter and learn the ropes quick, check out Monster Hunter Rise first.
Deep Dive – Monster Hunter World
Yes, the biggest and best-selling Monster Hunter game also makes for a great starting point for newcomers. World is a little more methodical than Rise when it comes to combat, so can involve a little more thinking and planning ahead. That is a key element of the series though, so it will help to get accumulated to it early on. Whilst Rise offers fast-pace action and some quicker quests, World has deeper exploration, plenty of preparation and gathering tasks, and really gives you an entire world of Monster Hunter to begin with. Monster Hunter World also does a good job at providing tutorials for the player, but as it’s a lot deeper, I’d say it can sometimes get a bit tougher than Rise. This is a good choice for those who are committed to diving into Monster Hunter, and really want to sink their teeth into it.
Casual – Monster Hunter Stories
Now… this may be a surprising recommendation for those familiar with the series, but hear me out. Monster Hunter Stories is completely different than the other Monster Hunter games, in that the combat is turn-based. It plays like a Pokémon game, where the character collects monsters of their own, and battles alongside them in quick turn-based battles, with a similar strength/weakness system to Pokémon. The Monster Hunter experience this series of two spin-off games offers is wildly different than the core franchise, but I find they’re a great introduction into the world of Hunters, Riders and what makes the Monster Hunter franchise what it is. There’s still elements of resource gathering and crafting, combined with a more relaxed story, colorful areas and very bright and recognizable monsters. If you’re really unsure of Monster Hunter’s world, vibe or its core gameplay loop, check out Monster Hunter Stories to dip your toes into the aesthetics and heart of the franchise, without the intense gameplay.
The Future (Monster Hunter Wilds)
We’d be remiss to not at least give a little shout out to Monster Hunter Wilds before we close out this article. The game isn’t even out yet, releasing on Feb. 28, which is later this month at time of writing, but we’re very excited. Wilds is a sequel to Monster Hunter World, so it’s a direct follow-up to the deep, fan favorite game that seeks to make everything even bigger and better. Wilds, much like World, will likely also be a good jumping-on point if you’re looking to just catch up to everyone else and dive in the deep end straight away. As the game is unreleased right now though, we can’t exactly confirm how well that will work out.
And there you have it! Our beginner’s guide to Monster Hunter. We’ve broke down exactly what these games are all about, the history behind them and their evolution to where they are now, where to jump onto the franchise and what’s next. All that’s left to do now is to get out there and get hunting!
Did you enjoy this beginner’s guide to Monster Hunter? Will you be starting with an older game of diving right into Monster Hunter Wilds? Let us know in the comments down below, and keep your eyes on GameLuster for more gaming news, including more Monster Hunter coverage.
