Double cross: Can Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate survive post-World? | Technobubble

Final-freaking-ly.

That was my initial reaction after news broke out today that Monster Hunter XX is finally making it to western shores as Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate.

Of course, the million-zenny question now is, will it do well?

As someone who religiously played Generations as well as Japanese versions X and XX, I was admittedly disappointed that the G-rank follow-up to the last traditional Monster Hunter game never made it outside of Japan. Granted, it didn’t sell as well as past iterations of the franchise — its opening week sales of 848,467 on 3DS was the lowest for the series since Monster Hunter Freedom 2 in 2007. I mean, those are actually killer numbers for most any other game in Japan but a step down for Monster Hunter.

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The Switch port did even worse than that, selling only 84,277 units on opening week, according to Japanese game sales tracker Media Creates. We could ruminate and postulate as to why that was the case. Despite introducing some revolutionary concepts via hunting styles, the Generations series was never really seen as a main-line Monster Hunter game. It was basically more like a polished, amped-up extension of the Monster Hunter 4 series, a game to tide fans and the company over while the main team worked on Monster Hunter World.

Capcom’s decision not to release the game last summer was one of the more disappointing decisions I’ve seen as a Monster Hunter fan. I honestly thought the timing would have been perfect. There was ample time prior to the release of World and releasing XX to the west would have been a nice swan song for old-school Monster Hunter that would have generated hype for World among fans as well as goodwill among players who supported the Nintendo releases outside of Japan.

To this day, I still don’t understand why the game was held back. Maybe Capcom didn’t want it to steal World’s thunder, though that really doesn’t make sense as the new game was still half a year away. Perhaps the localization team was swamped with work on World, which I imagine necessitated an all-hands-on-deck approach. Regardless, the decision caused some ill will, particularly among the Nintendo fanbase who felt cast aside following World's move to the PlayStation 4. Granted, the PlayStation fanbase likely felt the same way when Tri moved to the Wii and Nintendo got the last couple of generations for the series. Personally, I’m a console agnostic so I play games regardless of what system they’re in. Still, it’s always good business practice to do right by your fans and give them every opportunity to play the games they want.

It’s actually quite ironic, then, that just when I gave up and finally convinced myself that XX was never going to be localized, Capcom decides to announce its release as "Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate" for the west. Touche, Capcom, touche.

Timing, however, is everything. The question now is whether releasing the game this summer in a post-Monster Hunter World, um, world helps or hinders the game.

I could very well see it going both ways. On one hand, it can be pretty tough going back to old-school Monster Hunter following the changes in Monster Hunter World. I’m not even talking about the graphics as the classic Monster Hunter style has its own charm for me. Instead, I’m talking more about the quality-of-life improvements, which have been the biggest change for me in World. These include the streamlined tracking and gathering, the more user-friendly bowgun mechanics and even the radial menu, which I admittedly have a love-hate relationship with. For a lot of folks now accustomed to World, it could very well be a matter of too little, too late.

All that being said, releasing after World could also prove to be a stroke of genius. For starters, World has been out long enough that fans who have squeezed a lot out of its endgame grind could be open to a different experience. While playing World just last week, for example, I suddenly felt the urge to boot up my Japanese version of XX on the Switch to fight Valphalk and Zinogre with my old aerial HBG set. Generations and XX introduced some pretty crazy hunter arts and styles and I have a feeling I’m not the only Monster Hunter veteran who misses them from time to time. Double Cross, which further builds on the fourth generation of the series, has way more content than World as well, which has been a key point of contention about the latter for series veterans. Then there’s the fact that portable Monster Hunter will always have a place in fans’ hearts and a Switch XX basically gives you the best of both worlds in that regard.

A Switch release could also reinvigorate members of the Nintendo fanbase who never made the transition to the PS4 or Xbox One. Some of those might be by choice as each system has its devoted loyalists who couldn’t picture themselves playing another system. However, there are also a lot of folks who don’t make the transition due to financial reasons. Not everyone, after all, could afford to buy two systems due to their own personal situation. I could definitely see some Nintendo players being excited by this news.

Thirdly, the explosion in the Monster Hunter fanbase after World’s release just might work in Generations Ultimate's favor by ginning up interest in the game. While some folks likely would not have given Generations Ultimate a shot if it released prior to World, the influx of new fans to the series could very well increase the profile of the Switch game. On a side note, some of them are definitely going to be in for a rude awakening as I still consider XX to be much harder than World. Between the less streamlined controls and mechanics as well the G-Rank monsters, I wouldn’t be surprised if some newcomers get unceremoniously wrecked by foes like G-Rank Black Diablos, who puts up a tougher and more stressful fight than her high-rank counterpart in World. There’s also the matter of solo online being much harder due to the lack of solo player scaling.

Personally, I’m glad that the game is finally coming to the West. As someone who just imported the English-translated Asian editions of Girls und Panzer: Dream Tank Match and Super Robot Wars X, I’m a big believer in giving gamers access to the games they want to play. Anything that makes that easier, including a localized release, gets a thumbs up from me. One gripe I do have is the decision to not release a 3DS version. A younger cousin of mine who currently plays Monster Hunter World sounded so excited about the announcement until he realized it was only for the Switch. He’s one of those guys who can’t afford to buy another console right now and it would’ve been great if he could play the game on his 3DS, which still has his old Generations save file.

In the meantime, I definitely will be one of those guys who will quadruple dip on the Generations series once again when the port finally makes it to western shores this summer. I fully expect this release to rekindle the Nintendo vs. Sony wars among console fanboys within the Monster Hunter community as the game and systems have passionate fanbases after all.

The localization also raises the question of whether the so-called Monster Hunter B-Team will work on enhanced versions of World or create new versions of the old-school line of games for the portable audience. I mean, technically, we still haven’t gotten a Monster Hunter 5 after all. But that’s a discussion for another time.

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