Monster Hunter Outlanders Looks Like The Perfect Game For Newcomers, But With One Glaring Caveat

The Monster Hunter series has been gaining popularity in recent years thanks to the likes of Monster Hunter World, Monster Hunter Rise, and the upcoming Monster Hunter Wilds. With it adding more and more features to make it accessible to new players, it’s no surprise that its fanbase has expanded dramatically. Naturally, with an increase in popularity, the number of projects within the Monster Hunter series increases. There’s the aforementioned Monster Hunter Wilds as well as a brand-new game from mobile game developer TiMi Studio Group called Monster Hunter Outlanders.

Monster Hunter Outlanders is a mobile-only release that promises a seamless open-world as well as authentic gameplay that feels just as compelling to play as the mainline series. However, while existing fans of the series are naturally joyous at the announcement – they will be able to play Monster Hunter whenever and wherever – it is those who’ve never touched the series before who should be the most excited. Monster Hunter Outlanders has a range of features that will appeal to a newcomer, making it the perfect entry point.

Monster Hunter Outlanders Is The Perfect Entry Point

It Looks Set To Be An Easier Experience

Monster Hunter Outlanders looks set to be the perfect entry point for newcomers to the series, in large part thanks to being available completely for free on mobile. The fact that anyone can download it and hop straight in already means the barrier to entry is low. Players don’t have to invest potentially $70 just to find out whether this Monster Hunter adventure is for them. While Monster Hunter is easier now than ever before, its complex systems can understandably still feel daunting to newcomers.

Fortunately, it feels like Outlanders was designed with newcomers in mind. In a producers interview, TiMi Studio Group producer Dong Huang explained how Outlanders is perfect for both hardcore fans and those who’ve never touched the series before. In the interview, he said, “It would also be wonderful if this game could be the first hunting experience for those who are not familiar with Monster Hunter yet.” Additionally, while Outlanders will retain a lot of the new innovative Monster Hunter features, it will also put its own spin on combat.

It’s very likely that combat will be simplified to work on mobile devices, with Capcom specifically requesting TiMi design the game with mobile controls in mind, not a controller. So, performing complex movements will likely be out of the question or assigned to a single tap of the screen. That’s not to say that veterans of the series will find it boring; rather, it will feel like a different experience from the mainline titles. This should, in theory, appeal to both newcomers and fans.

Ultimately, the lack of a financial barrier as well as simplified controls and a seamless open-world will make Monster Hunter Outlanders one of the easier entries in the series. There’s also the option to play with friends, which will make things significantly easier. Of course, there aren’t huge lobbies like with Monster Hunter Wilds’ ridiculous multiplayer, but people can join forces with a small group of friends to take down the tougher monsters if playing solo is too challenging.

Monster Hunter Outlanders Is Free, But With Microtransactions

Players Will Still Get A Fully-Featured Experience

As aforementioned, Monster Hunter Outlanders is completely free-to-play. However, IGN has confirmed that it will have microtransactions of some kind, although it has not yet been announced what they will be. Of course, this isn’t inherently a bad thing. There are plenty of enormous open-world single-player free-to-play games with non-intrusive microtransactions that don’t require players to pay for anything, like Genshin Impact.

In the producers interview, it is mentioned that players pick from a pool of pre-existing characters in Monster Hunter Outlanders, rather than making their own. Each character comes with unique skills as well as a specific weapon type, so it’s likely that the microtransactions will be tied to them in some way. The most obvious choice would be a gacha-style monetization system, in which players pay to unlock rarer characters or ones with the weapon they prefer to use. Additionally, there are various unique armor sets and weapons players can unlock, which could also be tied to a gacha system.

However, considering crafting armor from monster parts is such a big aspect of the Monster Hunter series, it’s more likely that players would be able to pay to speed up the crafting process, like unlocking the necessary resources faster, rather than unlocking entire armor sets. Of course, both options being included is also an incredibly likely possibility. Regardless, including microtransactions in a free-to-play game is not really an issue, although Nintendo’s approach to mobile games is definitely preferred. What may be an issue is the game’s framerate.

Monster Hunter Outlanders Framerate Is Worrying

This Will Be A Game For Higher End Phones

The Monster Hunter series can’t escape criticisms of framerate issues, especially after the laggy Wilds Beta. Well, it looks like Outlanders may be having the same issue, although on a perhaps less concerning scale. The game’s initial reveal trailer featured a mix of cinematics and gameplay footage, although almost all the gameplay footage was fairly laggy. Characters sliding down hills did so at around 10 frames a second, and whenever the camera panned across the game’s vast open world, the framerate chugged.

It’s definitely an odd choice to release footage of a game that’s not quite optimized yet. However, it absolutely remains to be seen how the full game pans out, and frankly, it seems unlikely it’ll be released in a laggy state. Fans should consider the idea that Monster Hunter Outlanders will likely only run on higher-end phones. This isn’t particularly surprising, as some of the best mobile games only run on more modern phones. With Outlanders being fully open world with fairly impressive visuals, it’ll likely end up being one of the most demanding games on mobile.

Ultimately, potential framerate issues and microtransactions aside, Monster Hunter Outlanders looks like it’ll be a lot of fun. Simplified monster hunting on mobile with visuals that good is an amazing combination, one that will entice newcomers to finally give the infamously complex series a go. Even if the game gets players onboard and willing to try the mainline titles, then it’ll have done a good job. Monster Hunter Outlanders could end up being not just an excellent mobile game, but a great entry into the beloved Monster Hunter franchise.

Source: Monster Hunter Outlanders/YouTube (1), (2), IGN