Monster Hunter Outlanders is a Logical Progression From MH Now

Monster Hunter Outlanders is a Logical Progression From MH Now



The Monster Hunter franchise is going strong right now, with lots to look forward to in the near future. Monster Hunter Wilds is rapidly approaching while giving fans plenty of tantalizing previews, and a brand new Monster Hunter mobile game was just announced. Dubbed Monster Hunter Outlanders, it is the most ambitious looking Monster Hunter title to hit phones and tablets yet. While Monster Hunter Wilds is still top priority for veteran fans, Monster Hunter Outlanders is attempting to appease those same fans while enticing newcomers with brand-new elements.




Jointly made by Call of Duty: Mobile and Pokemon Unite developer TiMi Studio Group and Capcom, Monster Hunter Outlanders is another crack at an open world Monster Hunter like Wilds, but with a twist. This appears to be a more traditional “wide” open world where players can scale everything they see instead of Monster Hunter Wilds’ larger areas within a more traditional Monster Hunter map. Outlanders also introduces survival crafting elements like base-building and special tools alongside Monster Hunter’s usual item crafting. However, Monster Hunter Outlanders’ biggest departure isn’t from console MH, but from its mobile predecessor, Monster Hunter Now.

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How to Sign up for Monster Hunter Outlanders Beta

The upcoming mobile game, Monster Hunter Outlanders, has a beta for players to test it out. Here is how to sign up for it.

How Monster Hunter Now Paved The Way For MH Outlanders


Developed by Pokemon Go creator Niantic, Monster Hunter Now was released for iOS and Android in September 2023 and is still in operation. As of August 1, 2024, Monster Hunter Now has amassed over 15 million downloads, surpassing other Niantic games like Pikmin Bloom by a wide margin while still trailing tens of millions of installs behind the cultural phenomenon that is Pokemon Go. Like many Niantic games, Monster Hunter Now uses Niantic’s GPS-integrated augmented reality technology to turn neighborhoods into hunting maps traversed in real life by traveling players.

Where Monster Hunter Now Hits Its Limits

MH Now was a successful adaptation of Monster Hunter in the mobile space, and compressed its complex hunting experience down into something that anyone could enjoy anywhere. However, Monster Hunter Now’s greatest strength is also its greatest weakness. There is no mistaking MH Now for a regular Monster Hunter, especially with its large monster battle length cut from 20 to 50 minutes down to 75 seconds. Speed and convenience were traded for depth, and even after a year of updates, MH Now still hasn’t matched base Monster Hunter World’s stable of weapons types and monsters. It’s a noble effort, but Monster Hunter Outlanders looks more like the real deal.


Monster Hunter Outlanders Bridges The Gap Between MH Now and MH Wilds

While the full extent of its mechanics and gameplay isn’t known yet, Monster Hunter Outlanders looks much more like a facility of a traditional Monster Hunter than MH Now ever will be. Its combat was allegedly optimized for accessibility, but Outlanders still seems to capture Monster Hunter’s standard combat with all of its complex interactions. Outlanders’ unique features also seem mostly additive rather than subtractive; whipping out special tools, weapons, and animal follower assists in combat is a lot more than MH Now’s pared-down fights can muster.

Monster Hunter Outlanders
has been implied to be a character-based gacha game like
Genshin Impact
, but details are still sparse.


All of that being said, Monster Hunter Outlanders may not have been as primed for success as it is without Monster Hunter Now. Niantic’s ability to penetrate the casual gamer market can’t be understated, and it is remarkable how the Monster Hunter core is still visible in Now’s compressed scale. Even though these projects both come from considerably different mobile developers, Monster Hunter Now and Outlanders smoothly cover each other’s weaknesses while also gradually bridging the gap between mobile and console Monster Hunter. Monster Hunter Outlanders represents the next logical step after MH Now, and hopefully it recaptures the traditional MH experience on mobile devices like it promises.

Monster Hunter Outlanders Tag Page Cover Art
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