Monster Hunter

The Monster Hunter (モンスターハンター, Monsutā Hantā) franchise is a series of fantasy-themed action role-playing video games that started with the game Monster Hunter for PlayStation 2. The series is developed and published by Capcom. As the title suggests, the player takes the role of a hunter in a fantasy environment and completes quests by hunting out specific kinds of monsters to kill or capture. The series has branched out into PlayStation Portable games and a massively multiplayer online game. In Japan, the Monster Hunter series is immensely popular, and it has gained a cult following in the west, with the port Monster Hunter Freedom (known in Japan as Monster Hunter Portable) and its sequels, Monster Hunter Freedom 2 / Monster Hunter Portable 2nd, Monster Hunter Freedom Unite / Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G, Monster Hunter Portable 3rd and an online game called Monster Hunter Frontier Online selling millions of copies, and Monster Hunter Tri becoming the highest-selling third-party Wii game in Japan. Since the series debuted, it has sold 28 million units as of March 31, 2014. As of February 17, 2015, the series has sold 32 million units. There is also an anime based on the spin-off game Monster Hunter Diary: Poka Poka Airou Village and a book called Monster Hunter EPISODE (モンスターハンター　EPISODE~).

Monster Hunter (video game)

Monster Hunter is an action role-playing game for the PlayStation 2. The game was developed and published by Capcom. Monster Hunter was released in North America on September 21, 2004. It was later remade and expanded in Monster Hunter G, which was released in Japan and was brought to North America and Europe as Monster Hunter Freedom for the PlayStation Portable.

Although much of the game can be played offline through single-player, the majority of the content is in the online section of the game. Not all of the monsters are found in single-player and the player's rewards are smaller when they are offline. The goal for players online is not to defeat the most monsters but to reach the highest hunter rank, which is the storyline that is carried out online by NPC characters.

Gameplay

Monster Hunter places the player in the role of an up-and-coming hunter who must accomplish various quests to achieve glory. Armors, weapons, and other items are created from the remains of slain monsters by carving off their horns, scales and bones. Monster Hunter plays in a similar fashion to Phantasy Star Online allowing the player to team up with up to three other hunters online to take down stronger monsters.

Monster Hunter 4

Monster Hunter 4 (モンスターハンター4, Monsutā Hantā Fō) is an action role-playing video game developed and published by Capcom. It is the second game in the Monster Hunter series to be released on the Nintendo 3DS. Originally released in Japan on September 14, 2013. On January 26, 2014, an enhanced edition titled Monster Hunter 4G was announced for release in Japan on October 11, 2014, and allowed players to utilize Monster Hunter 4 save files. This version was released in North America and Europe as Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate on February 13, 2015. The new version of the game was released alongside New Nintendo 3DS in all regions except Australia, and in addition to the separate game release, it is available bundled with a 3DS XL variant of the newer console model.

Gameplay

As with the other games in the series, Monster Hunter 4 has the player take the role of a fresh Hunter that undertakes quests and challenges to hunt dangerous creatures that inhabit various locales. As they proceed through these quests, they will gain various items, in-game money, and other rewards that are used to craft new weapons, armor, additional gear, and health, restoration, and temporary buffing items that can be taken into later quests. The player's character does not intrinsically improve over the course of the game, but their abilities are set by the weapon and armor they carry into the quests, which improve as the player takes on more challenging quests. The game allows the player to use any of the twelve basic weapon types in the game, each having unique battle approaches that the player must master, and can switch between these weapons before departing on quests.

Monster Hunter Tri

Monster Hunter Tri (モンスターハンター3（トライ）, Monsutā Hantā Torai, "Monster Hunter 3 (tri-)" in Japan) is the third console installment in the Monster Hunter franchise, developed by Capcom and released for the Wii in Japan on August 1, 2009. Monster Hunter Tri was released on April 20, 2010 in North America, April 23 in Europe, and April 29 in Australia.

The game was originally planned to be a PlayStation 3 title, but due to high development costs for that console Capcom instead decided to develop it for the Wii. Prior to its debut, a demo of Monster Hunter Tri was included with Japanese copies of Monster Hunter G. A special bundle was also released on August 1 featuring the game packaged with a black Wii console and a Classic Controller Pro. On August 3, 2009, Capcom issued a press release confirming the game would be localized for North American and European markets. On February 24, 2010, Capcom announced that online play would be provided free of charge. Although now, online play is no longer supported. In America and Europe, separate servers are used and Wii Speak is supported, making the first game in the franchise to include native VoIP capability. It was a critical and commercial success. An enhanced port called Monster Hunter 3 (tri-) G in Japan and Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate in other territories was released for the Nintendo 3DS in Japan in December 2011 and in North America and Europe in March 2013. The online servers for the Wii version of the game have been shut down as of May 1, 2013.