Monster Hunter facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Monster Hunter
Logo for Monster Hunter
Genres	Action role-playing
Developers	Capcom
Publishers	Capcom
Creators	Kaname Fujioka
Platforms	PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation Vita, Windows, Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo Switch, Android, iOS
First release	Monster Hunter March 11, 2004
Latest release	Monster Hunter Wilds February 28, 2025

Monster Hunter (モンスターハンター, Monsutā Hantā) is a Japanese media franchise that includes a popular series of fantasy-themed action role-playing video games. The first game, also called Monster Hunter, came out in 2004 for the PlayStation 2. Since then, the series has grown to be played on many devices. These include computers, home game consoles, portable consoles, and even mobile phones. The games are made and published by a company called Capcom.

In these games, you play as a "Hunter." Your main goal is to hunt or capture huge monsters across different lands. You get quests from people in towns, and some quests might ask you to find special items. To succeed, you use items you get from hunting monsters, gathering resources, and completing quests. You can use these items to make better weapons, armor, and other tools. This helps you face even stronger monsters. Most main Monster Hunter games let you play with up to four friends online. You can also play by yourself.

Early Monster Hunter games were very popular in Japan and other Asian countries. This was partly because they let players easily connect with friends on portable game consoles. The series became a huge cultural trend there. In Western countries, the games were liked by critics but did not sell as well at first. This was partly because they were quite difficult to learn. However, with Monster Hunter: World (released in 2018), Capcom wanted to reach players all over the world. They used the power of newer game consoles and computers. Monster Hunter: World quickly became the fastest-selling game in the series. It also became Capcom's best-selling video game ever, with over 21 million copies sold by July 2022. Most of these sales were outside of Japan. By May 2024, the entire series had sold over 100 million copies. Nearly half of these sales came from Monster Hunter: World and Monster Hunter Rise and their expansions. The newest game, Monster Hunter Wilds, released in February 2025. It was the first game in the series to launch worldwide on all platforms at the same time. It became Capcom's fastest-selling game within three days of its release.

Monster Hunter games are usually divided into two types. There are the main games for home consoles and portable versions for handheld devices. There are also many spin-off games that have different styles of gameplay. These spin-offs are available on consoles, computers, and mobile devices. Beyond games, the Monster Hunter world also includes an anime show. There is also a manga comic series called Monster Hunter Orage and a book. A live-action movie was released in December 2020. An animated film, Legends of the Guild, was released on Netflix in August 2021.

How to Play: Gameplay Basics

The main Monster Hunter games are action games set in a fantasy world. This world exists thousands of years after an advanced civilization collapsed. Some cities still thrive, but many areas are wild because of dangerous monsters. You play as a Hunter, sent by the Hunters' Guild. Your job is to protect these wild areas by hunting monsters. You also work with a research team that studies these creatures. As a Hunter, you use many weapons and tools. You also use the environment to help you fight monsters.

Getting Stronger: Weapons and Armor

A key part of Monster Hunter is its "compulsion loop." This means your Hunter character does not get stronger by gaining levels like in many other role-playing games. Instead, your Hunter's abilities depend on the weapons and armor you choose. You pick the best gear for each mission. If you succeed, you earn in-game money ("zenny") and parts from the monster. You can use these parts, along with other items you find, to make or upgrade new weapons and armor. This new gear helps you take on even tougher monsters and harder missions. This completes the "loop" of playing. Harder missions often require a higher "hunter rank." This rank goes up as you finish special quests. Sometimes, you might need to hunt the same monster many times to get the specific parts you need. Weapons and armor can have special bonuses or weaknesses to different types of damage. They can also give you special skills.

The games have many different types of weapons. These include swords, hammers, and bows. The newest games have fourteen different weapon types. Each weapon has its own unique attacks and play style. Some are fast, some hit hard, and some can help your teammates or weaken monsters. In Monster Hunter, when you start an attack, you must finish its animation. This means you can be open to a monster's attack if you are not careful. You also need to watch your Hunter's health and stamina. If you lose all your health, you return to a base camp. If this happens three times, you fail the mission. Using certain attacks uses stamina. Stamina recovers quickly, but if you run out, your Hunter will pause to catch their breath. Monsters and the environment can also cause negative effects that make fighting harder. The key to combat is watching for a monster's "tells" (clues) before it attacks. This lets you dodge or counterattack. You also look for chances to use long attack combos. Many people compare Monster Hunter fights to a series of boss battles.

Your Felyne Friends

Almost all Monster Hunter games have a single-player mode. In these modes, your Hunter often has a companion called a Felyne or Palico. These are cat-like creatures that walk on two legs. They help you in battle with small attacks. Felynes also help you cook meals, tend gardens, and can even bring you back to camp if you are defeated. The sounds Felynes make in the game come from real cats owned by the game developers! They have collected many cat noises since the first Monster Hunter game. Sometimes, these sounds are put together to create situations that would be impossible for a real cat, like being attacked by a monster.

Playing with Others: Multiplayer

Most Monster Hunter games have supported online play for up to four players. This lets groups hunt stronger versions of monsters together. However, this support has been turned off for older games. The games usually have a main story, often called "Low Rank" or "Village Quests." These can take up to fifty hours to finish. After you complete the main story, new "High Rank" or "Gathering Hall" quests open up. These quests feature stronger versions of monsters you have already fought. They also introduce new monsters and unique versions of old ones. These provide better parts for more powerful weapons and armor. This can add hundreds of hours of gameplay after the main story. Most games also have a third difficulty level called "G Rank" or "Master Rank." These are usually added later as downloadable content (DLC). They bring even more monsters, locations, weapons, and armor sets to the game.

Game Development History

The first Monster Hunter game was one of three titles Capcom made to use the power of the PlayStation 2 and its online features. Ryozo Tsujimoto, who has been the series' producer since Monster Hunter Freedom 2, said that the PlayStation 2 was starting to be as powerful as arcade games. He felt Monster Hunter was the best result of this new technology. He also believed the game was made for cooperative play. This way, players of any skill level could feel proud of defeating huge creatures together. The first Monster Hunter was a big hit, selling over 1 million copies, mostly in Japan.

Improved versions of the early games, with harder monsters and more quests, were released with a "G" added to their names (like Monster Hunter G). In Western countries, these improved versions were often called "Ultimate." A second team at Capcom worked on games for the PlayStation Portable. These games often had a lighter feel and expanded on the Palico system. In Japan, these were called "Portable" games, while in the West they were called "Freedom" games. Even after these names changed, it became a tradition for one team to make games for home consoles and another team to make portable games a few years later.

The series became incredibly popular in Japan with Monster Hunter G and Monster Hunter Portable/Freedom on the PlayStation Portable. It grew even more with their sequels, which supported up to four players. Handheld systems are generally more popular in Japan. Also, because Japan has many people living close together, it was easy for players to find friends to hunt with. This made the series a huge phenomenon there. Capcom's Ryozo Tsujimoto said that Freedom 2 came out when players in Japan did not usually gather at a friend's house to play games. So, the PSP's ability to connect players helped Freedom 2 succeed and boosted sales beyond the original PlayStation 2 games.

While Monster Hunter was a hit in Japan, it was not as popular in Western countries (like North America and Europe). In the mid-2000s, Western players preferred home consoles and computers. Also, because people live further apart, most players relied on online gaming rather than local connections. The series also had a difficult learning curve that made it less appealing in Western markets. Because of this limited interest outside Japan, developers often focused on features for the Japanese market. This included releasing games in Japan first and having in-game events just for Japanese players. This made Western players feel even more left out.

The series did not gain much popularity in the West until Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate was released on the Nintendo 3DS. This console had become quite popular in Western markets. While Monster Hunter was still a niche game in the West, Capcom saw the chance for more growth. They started to make changes to better suit Western players. Starting with Monster Hunter 4, Capcom worked more closely with their teams in the West. They got feedback to make the game's menus, tutorials, and dialogue more appealing to a global audience. Monster Hunter 4 was the first game in the series to sell over one million copies in Western markets. Capcom began to focus on making all their games for a global market. This was helped by the success of Resident Evil 7. In 2016, Capcom chairman Kenzo Tsujimoto said they wanted to make the games more popular in Western markets. He knew that consoles like the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One were very popular there.

Monster Hunter: World was the first major game in the series made for home consoles and computers. It was designed to be more appealing to Western markets without making the game too easy. The main development teams in Japan worked closely with Capcom's Western offices to find ways to improve the game. Many gameplay changes were made to use the new console technology. For example, older games had separate zones that required loading screens. World used seamless zones, and gameplay changes were made to fit this. Other small details were added to meet common expectations for action games. For instance, they added numbers to show how much damage you were doing. Developers found this also helped new players understand the game better. World became the series' best-selling game. By 2022, it had sold over 21 million copies. This made the Monster Hunter series Capcom's second best-selling series, after Resident Evil.

Because of the success of World and its changes, Capcom decided to continue this approach. The next major titles were Monster Hunter Rise for Nintendo Switch and Windows, and Monster Hunter Wilds for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and S, and Windows.

Games in the Series

Below is a list of games in the Monster Hunter main series. Each "generation" has several games that are based on the original release. The first four main games were numbered. However, later games, starting with World, use a keyword instead of a number. This keyword often reflects a main idea of that game. Players often divide the games into "mainline" (console) and "portable" titles. But Capcom sees each game as unique. According to Tsujimoto, each game is made based on "what it is we want to achieve with this title, what we want the player to experience, which hardware we're gonna target and how it's gonna affect the gameplay."

Main Series Games

Portable Series Games

Other Monster Hunter Games

Other Monster Hunter Media

The Monster Hunter world is not just about video games. It also appears in other forms of entertainment.

Game Crossovers

Sometimes, characters or monsters from Monster Hunter appear in other video games. For example, a female Monster Hunter was a playable character in Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite. The game also had a stage that combined a Monster Hunter area with Wakanda from the Marvel universe. Rathalos and Tigrex, two famous monsters from the series, appeared in Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker during hunting missions. Rathalos also appeared as a special boss monster in Final Fantasy XIV. This was part of a special event with Monster Hunter: World. In return, the Behemoth monster from Final Fantasy appeared in World. In 2018, Rathalos also showed up as a boss and a helper in the fighting game Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Later, in March 2021, some Mii Fighter costumes based on Monster Hunter were added. In 2020, Rathalos made a short appearance in the mobile game Dragalia Lost. In 2023, Rathalos appeared as a limited-time boss in the mobile game Arknights.

The Monster Hunter games themselves have also had special events with other games. These events let players earn armor and weapons inspired by other famous series. For example, Monster Hunter World had events with Resident Evil, Mega Man, Assassin's Creed, and The Witcher series.

Anime Shows

A series of short anime cartoons called MonHun Nikki Girigiri Airū-mura Airū Kiki Ippatsu started airing in August 2010. A sequel, MonHun Nikki Girigiri Airū-mura G, was also made. An anime series based on the franchise began in October 2016.

Manga and Comics

A manga comic series called Monster Hunter Orage was published by Kodansha and Capcom in April 2008. The author of this manga is Hiro Mashima. There are four volumes in total, with the last one published in May 2009. An English version of Monster Hunter Orage first came out in June 2011. Elements from Monster Hunter were also included in the Worlds Unite comic crossover from Archie Comics. This crossover featured characters from several other Capcom and Sega games.

Card Game

A trading card game called Monster Hunter Hunting Card was released in October 2008. New cards were planned to be released regularly.

Merchandise

Many different products have been made based on Monster Hunter. In 2013, several Monster Hunter 4 figures were given away as prizes in Japan, including ones based on Felynes. In 2014, a Mega Man crossover toy was released. There was also a set of Felyne-themed accessories for the Nintendo 3DS XL. To celebrate the series' 10-year anniversary, a 24-karat gold Felyne statue was made, costing almost $30,000! In 2017, Capcom released a very detailed Felyne doll for 162,000 yen. Some more unusual products include Felyne toilet paper holders. Beyond products, a Felyne-themed car was used to promote the series at the Odaiba Motor Festival. In 2022, characters from the series were used in a public safety campaign. This was part of an ongoing partnership between Capcom and local Japanese police.

Movies

A live-action movie based on the series was first thought of in 2012 by director Paul W. S. Anderson. Capcom officially announced the film in October 2018. Production started that month with Impact Pictures and Constantin Film. The movie was released in the United Kingdom and China on December 4, 2020. The film is about a United Nations task force that falls into another dimension. In this dimension, Hunters fight monsters. The task force joins the Hunters to stop monsters from coming through a portal to Earth. The movie starred Milla Jovovich, Ron Perlman, T.I. Harris, Diego Boneta and Tony Jaa.

Animated Film

In 2018, Capcom and Pure Imagination Studios announced they were working on a 3D animated film called Monster Hunter: Legends of the Guild. The story was written by Joshua Fine. It features a new hunter trying to defeat an Elder Dragon. The film was originally planned for 2019 but was released on August 12, 2021, on Netflix.

Digital Collectibles

On May 21, 2023, Capcom released the first digital collectible NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens) of Monster Hunters on the Veve platform.

Similar Games to Explore

If you enjoy Monster Hunter, you might also like these games:

• Dauntless, a free-to-play game with similar gameplay.
• Freedom Wars
• God Eater, another video game series with similar gameplay.
• Horizon Zero Dawn
• Lord of Arcana
• Soul Sacrifice
• Toukiden
• Wild Hearts

See also

In Spanish: Monster Hunter para niños