Monster Hunter Now is the first game being fully developed by Niantic's Tokyo studio, and I got to meet with one of the developers for a play session at Summer Games Fest's Play Days. Before he handed me the phone he asked how much I know about Monster Hunter, to which I responded "a lot", which is kind of an understatement. Then he asked what my favorite game in the series was, and for a second I thought I'd try to sound cool and say Freedom, but I decided to be honest and tell him I have a few hundred hours between World and Iceborne. He smiled, handed me the phone, and told me I'd know exactly what to do.
It never occurred to me how well the Monster Hunter gameplay loop would mesh with Niantic style of location-based games, but the second I got my hands on it I immediately got the impression that this was meant to be. Niantic is quickly developing a reputation for making IP-driven Pokemon Go clones, but this is no simple reskin. Monster Hunter Now is hugely different from Pokemon Go in some important ways, and it's authentic enough to Monster Hunter that it feels like a worthwhile experience. I've been flirting with moving on from PGO for awhile, and Monster Hunter Now looks like it will be the game that finally leads me away.
Related: Foamstars Could Be Great, But It Doesn't Have A Chance
The first thing I did when I picked up the phone was jump straight into a hunt. While the controls are pretty simple, it still feels like a massive leap from Pokemon Go's battles. The monsters move around the battlefield and attack, using the same animations and moves you remember from the games, and you can move, dodge, and unleash a variety of attack combos, depending on the weapon you have equipped. You can also target specific parts of the monster by tapping on it, so you break a horn or sever the tail if you're trying to farm a specific part. Other players can join your battles, and you'll actually see them fighting alongside you and breaking parts in real time. Battles never last more than 75 seconds, so you don't have to stop walking and find a place to stand and play for long stretches, which the developers say was an important part of finding balance with the real-world experience.
All of the iconography and staple mechanics of Monster Hunter have been translated into Monster Hunter Now in ways that feel natural. The core loop is the same: you go out on hunts and kill monsters to collect crafting materials that you can then use to make armor and weapons. Each piece of equipment provides different skills, and weapons have different elemental advantages, so the more you craft, the more equipped you'll be for different types of hunts. Your hunter rank is tied to XP earned from challenges, which will ask you to go hunt specific monsters or collect specific materials. The higher your rank, the more rare and dangerous monsters you'll encounter. Every single Monster Hunter thing I could think of was represented here somehow, including paintballs, which you can use to tag a monster and summon it later on if you want to fight it with your friends.
What excites me the most about Monster Hunter Now is how full the world is with things to collect and monsters to fight. When you look at the map you'll see that the world is divided like a pie into three different biomes that rotate and refresh over time. One day, the desert might be to the north, while the forest is to the west and the swamp is to the south. You can see exactly where all the monsters, bone piles, mining nodes, and other collectible resources are. You don't have to wander around and hope you encounter the things you're looking for, because you always know where to go to find the things you need.
This is something that I always felt was missing from Pokemon Go. Other than gyms and Pokestops, I never felt like I had enough direction. Tracking never really worked well, and even when I tried to use it, the Pokemon I was after would always flee before I could get there. Monster Hunter Now fixes that problem by putting all the points of interest on the map and so that you have the information you need to decide where to go and how to spend your time.
What I played was very much a work in progress, and I'm surprised that September is still the current release date, considering how much was missing. Only some of the weapons types are in the game right now, which means I didn't get to try out my beloved insect glaive. There's also no AR features at all, though the developers say that's something they're still working on. I can't speak for monetization, which is definitely something we ought to be concerned about here, but everything I did see impressed me a lot. Monster Hunter fans will be pleased by how well the formula translates, and I think disillusioned Pokemon Go players might find that Monster Hunter Now has a more consistent and rewarding grind.
Next: Thank God, Sonic Superstars Understands The Assignment