Monster Hunter Now’s progress over the last nine months has been impressive. What could have been a low-effort Pokemon Go clone has grown into a fantastic location-based mobile game in its own right, and something worthy of the Monster Hunter title. With the new Elder Dragon Interceptions added in this week’s Season 2 launc💜h, Monster Hunter Now is even outdoing Pokemon Go in a few important ways.
If𒊎 you’ve played Monster Hunter Now, that shouldn’t be surprising. Since the beginning, it’s had features that directly responded to common criticisms of Pokemon Go. I’m a big fan of Now’s map, which shows you biomes, resources, and monsters within a large radius around you. Instead of aimlessly wandering my neighborhood like I do when I play Go, Now lets me plan my route based on the upgrade materials I need to collect. It also has a far more engaging combat experience, which is to be expected from a Monster Hunter game.
Last year, Pokemon Go introduced Routes, a new mechanic that rewards players for exploring specific routes while playing. This has helped give some directio♒n to my play time, but not as much as Monsꦦter Hunter’s detailed map.
The new season introducees Elder Dragon Interceptions, which unsurprisingly, function similarly to raids in Pokemon Go. The first Elder Dragon, Kushala Daora, will appear at gathering nodes around the world, giving players a high-difficulty encouﷺnter and a chance to earn crafting materials for high-tier weapons and armor.
Does Mons🌄ter Hunter Wilds Even Need Weapon Swapping?
Monster Hunter Wilds will allow you to bring two weapons🅰 in🅘to a hunt.
Liಞke the Hunt-a-thon points introduced last season, Elder Dragon Interceptions have a matchmaking option. If you queue into a Kushala Daora hunt and there aren’t any other players in the area to help you, the game will automatically pair you with other people around the world who are simultaneously queuing to fight Kushala in their local area. This way 🦩you won’t end up in a situation where you’ve made the time and effort to go find an Elder Dragon Interception, but you can’t participate because there’s no one there to help you.
This kind of matchmaking helps even the playing field for rural and suburban players who often struggle to find other people to play with, and it’s something that Pokemon Go raids have despera♔tely needed for years. While Niantic attempts to devalue Remote Raid Passes and disincentive people from using them, the Monster Hunter Now team has effectively solved the problem by adding a matchmaking system for group content.
There are other subtle differences between Pokemon Go raids and Elder Dragon Interceptions. Rather than use some kind of pass to access the Interceptions, you’re instead put on a 180 minute cooldown before you can hunt🍒 an Elder Dragonܫ again. Naturally, you can buy Ultra Hunting Tickets to bypass the cooldown.
A Niantic rep I spoke with says⛎ Ultra Hunting Tickets are not currently earnable in game, but that it’s something the studio will explore in the future.
You also don’t have to defeat the Elder Dragon to earn rewards. The monster’s health bar has two segments, and if you’re able to damage it halfway you’ll earn more time on the clock to try to finish it𓆏 off. If you can’t kill it, the monster will be repelled and you’ll still earn partial rewards. This way, you can still farm Elder Dragons even if you aren’t yet strong enough to defeat them.
Niant𒁃ic is also adding a new Friend Quest system that allows people to team up and complete objectives together over the course of a week. Thanks to player feedback, you’ll also be able to send friend requests at the end of a multiplayer hunt to anyone you played with. These features are all designed to enhance the social functions of Monster Hunter now and make it easier for people to play together.
It’s strange to see Monster Hunter Now solving problems that Pokemon Go players have been complaining about for years in just a matter of months. I’m glad that similar games from the same studio can be so different, but at this point, I’m looking to Monster Hunter Now as the studio's flagship game. It’s innovative in ways that Pokemon Go won’t, or can’t be, and I’m excited to see how it continues to grow from here.
Mon🌠ster Hunter Wi♕lds Gameplay Preview: A Bigger, Deadlier World
Monster Hunter Wilds is changing the formula in both big and smaꦯll ways.
