The popular Monster Hunter series is coming back to consoles with Monster Hunter: World, which was announced in Sony's E3 2017 press conference.
Monster Hunter: World, coming to the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in early 2018 and to the PC at a later date, was revealed through a trailer that featured both new and familiar elements of the franchise.
Monster Hunter: World Unveiled
Capcom filed a trademark for Monster Hunter: World last week, leading to speculation that a new installment in the series was on its way.
The announcement at E3 2017 confirms the speculations and reveals what is possibly the most visually breathtaking entry in the franchise.
The trailer for Monster Hunter: World reveals a lush jungle environment, with a hunter carrying a massive sword on his back as he treks through the land. Familiar moves such as foraging for materials, hiding under a camouflage, and putting creatures to sleep are present in the trailer. Meanwhile, similar to recent installments for the Nintendo 3DS, players can scale walls and leap onto monsters to attack. There are also a few new things, including a weapon that looks like a machine gun and a grappling hook for swinging across great distances.
The trailer then focuses on a battle against a monster that resembles a T. Rex, with the hunter pulling out all the tricks. A flying monster then appears, and the hunter fires a flare into the sky. Several hunters are then shown heading toward the direction of the flare, carried by flying creatures.
The arriving hunters likely showcase the online drop-in multiplayer system of Monster Hunter: World, which Capcom announced as a newly designed feature. The game will also offer a seamless experience when moving across its expansive map.
Monster Hunter Back In Consoles
Monster Hunter: World, which signals the franchise's return to consoles, was a surprising announcement for most fans of the series.
This is because Capcom just recently unveiled Monster Hunter XX, a port of Monster Hunter X and known in the United States as Monster Hunter Generations, for the Nintendo Switch.
The announcement of Monster Hunter XX sent Nintendo's stock soaring, as its arrival on the Nintendo Switch is good news for the hybrid console due to the franchise's popularity. A gameplay video showed how Monster Hunter XX would look like on the Nintendo Switch, with Capcom announcing that players on the Nintendo Switch and Nintendo 3DS can team up with one another in multiplayer sessions.
The hype surrounding Monster Hunter XX, despite no release date yet for the United States, caused players to be blindsided by the unveiling of Monster Hunter: World.
Monster Hunter: World is the first Monster Hunter game on the PlayStation and Xbox since Monster Hunter: Frontier G, which was released for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 back in 2013 but only in Japan.
The Monster Hunter franchise has sold 35 million copies over its lifespan, but it did not pick up in popularity in the United States until the 2015 North American release of Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate for the Nintendo 3DS.
