Twenty years in the past, the authentic Monster Hunter first launched gamers to its ever-expanding arsenal of weapons and memorable monsters. Since then, the collection has grown in reputation round the world, and been refined into one in every of the most interesting multiplayer experiences gaming has to supply. There’s nonetheless a particular satisfaction that comes from taking down an unfathomably enormous creature by the pores and skin of your tooth, coordinating with your fellow hunters, and utilizing everybody’s weaponry and skills skillfully to topple the most fearsome foes on the market.
To have a good time 20 years of the collection – and Monster Hunter Wilds’ upcoming February 28 launch – let’s look at how the collection developed alongside PlayStation since its 2004 debut.
Monster Hunter | PS2
The largest behemoths typically emerge from humble beginnings. The sport that began all of it was launched in Japan in March of 2004, with a North American launch a few months later in September and a European launch in March of 2005. It launched the core gameplay that might outline Monster Hunter in the a long time to return: quest-driven development, useful resource gathering and administration, weapon and armor crafting, and the have to strategy and assault ferocious monsters with technique, planning, and perseverance to succeed.
By the collection’ present requirements, Monster Hunter appears to be like a bit sparse, with solely seven weapon sorts and thirty monsters (together with many now-famous creatures like the Rathalos), however the sport supplied fairly a little bit of selection in quest sorts and issue. Additionally, the sport was designed round on-line multiplayer when that was nonetheless considerably of a novelty, even providing particular occasion quests that would solely be performed on-line.
Monster Hunter did very properly in Japan, and whereas Capcom labored on the follow-up, they launched Monster Hunter G, an improve with enhancements, new options, extra monsters, and higher-difficulty quests.
Monster Hunter Dos | PS2
The true Monster Hunter sequel would emerge late into the PS2 period–and solely in Japan. Monster Hunter Dos launched for the PlayStation 2 in February of 2006, with new weapons, the additions of subquests, a distinctive day/night time and season system, and the addition of armor upgrades, amongst quite a few different small tweaks and enhancements. Monster Hunter Dos was warmly acquired in Japan, and was the remaining Monster Hunter sport on the PS2. However for the bigger world market–and the way forward for Monster Hunter–Capcom was wanting in direction of the PlayStation Transportable.
Monster Hunter Freedom | PSP
Even earlier than Monster Hunter Dos launched, Capcom wished gamers to have the ability to take the hunt on the go. Monster Hunter Freedom, often called Monster Hunter Transportable in Japan, launched in December of 2005 in Japan and in Could of 2006 for the remainder of the world. It was primarily based closely on the aforementioned Monster Hunter G, providing up each new monsters (together with the debut of Yian Garuga) and high-level “G” rank quests for gamers to get pleasure from
On reflection, it’s simple to see why the PSP felt like a true “dwelling” for Monster Hunter: the PSP’s functionality for adhoc native community play, alongside with its superior graphical capabilities and analog management, match the gameplay of Monster Hunter like a vambrace. It was adopted up by Monster Hunter Freedom 2, which took cues from Monster Hunter Dos by increasing the weapon repertoire (including collection staples like the Searching Horn and Gunlance to the armory) and revisiting Dos’s varied locales.
Monster Hunter Freedom Unite | PSP
“Phenomenon” is strictly the phrase to explain how enormous the follow-up to Monster Hunter Freedom grew to become in Japan. Monster Hunter Freedom Unite launched in 2008 in Japan as Monster Hunter Transportable 2nd G, increasing on the success of the earlier sport and reworking Monster Hunter into a family title. Freedom Unite would go on to promote a whopping 3.8 million copies globally, with lots of these gross sales coming from Japan.
Constructing on Freedom 2, Freedom Unite supplied a host of quality-of-life enhancements to the core expertise whereas including extra environments, extra monsters, further monster behaviors, and a host of latest high-difficulty quests. It launched the idea of CPU-controlled helper characters by giving solo gamers use of a Felyne companion to help in battle–a characteristic which later video games in the collection would construct upon.
Monster Hunter Transportable 3rd | PSP
Hitting the PSP at the finish of 2010, Monster Hunter Transportable third is one other Japan-exclusive Monster Hunter title–although that didn’t cease it from turning into one in every of Capcom’s fastest-selling video games ever. Transportable third pushed the PSP to the most, showcasing a few of the best-looking visuals on the system and setting a commonplace for high-quality visible designs that the collection would proceed in later installments. Transportable third additionally marked the first look of Zinogre, a fan-favorite monster to at the present time.
Monster Hunter World | PS4
If there’s a turning level the place the fervor for Monster Hunter grew to become world, it’s in all probability 2018’s Monster Hunter World. Headlined by the fearsome Elder Dragon Nergigante, Monster Hunter World was a large evolution of the collection each graphically and gameplay-wise, utilizing the PS4 to create a seamless looking expertise–in additional methods than one.
Not solely had been the tutorials and early-game expertise improved for collection novices, however the varied “zones” that made up the massive looking environments (and necessitated transitional load occasions) had been streamlined into one large, open area for an epic monster pursuit. And, for the first time ever, a Monster Hunter sport was launched concurrently worldwide, permitting gamers from throughout the globe to staff up and expertise the thrill of devising new looking methods collectively. True to the title of the sport’s setting, it felt like a New World had opened up for the Monster Hunter collection.
Monster Hunter World proved to be so profitable globally that an enlargement, Iceborne, launched the subsequent 12 months, reintroducing a few of the cold-weather mechanics seen in earlier Monster Hunter titles. Monster Hunter World continues to have an energetic participant base to at the present time.
Monster Hunter Rise | PS5, PS4
Monster Hunter Rise, alongside its foremost monster Magnamalo, vaulted onto PS5 and PS4 in early 2023. It introduced with it a host of distinctive gameplay additions: the fast-traveling, aerial-launching Wirebugs, a new sort of Canyne companion known as a Palamute, and “Rampage” battles the place hunters had been tasked with defending the village of Kamura from an onslaught of a number of monsters all at as soon as–together with notably harmful Apex monsters. Plus, alongside looking and capturing monsters, you could possibly truly commandeer the enormous beasts for a transient time with the Wyvern Using characteristic.
The already large journey grew even larger with the Sunbreak enlargement, taking hunters to the far-away Kingdom, including a number of new monsters (together with new main beastie Malzeno), further looking locales, and quite a few new abilities for all of the weapons.
Monster Hunter Wilds | PS5
The evolution of Monster Hunter from cult favourite to Japanese sensation to world reputation has been fairly a trip, and the anticipation for the upcoming Monster Hunter Wilds has already hit a fever pitch. From hanging new climate results to new skills enabled by a birdlike mount known as a Seikret, there’s a mountain of latest options for gamers to think about.
Final 12 months’s closed beta drew loads of curiosity from previous and new gamers alike. Happily for these of you itching to get that Searching Horn back out for a journey to the Forbidden Lands, you received’t have to attend an excessive amount of longer– Monster Hunter Wilds will probably be releasing on February 28.