| Monster Hunter Outlanders | |||
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| Release Date | Gameplay & Story | Pre-Order & DLC | Closed Beta Test Review |
Monster Hunter Outlanders is the newest Monster Hunter title on mobile, and we dived into Aesoland for its Closed Beta Test. Read our review of its early-access build to see what it did well, what it didn't do well, and if it's worth buying.
Everything We Know About Monster Hunter Outlanders
Monster Hunter Outlanders Plot
The story of Monster Hunter Outlanders remains largely unknown, but if it follows series traditions, it may center on a young Hunter from the Hunter’s Guild who is sent to a remote village to investigate unusual monster activity tied to a powerful creature. The reveal trailer teased this direction by showing a massive beast shrouded in clouds, hinted to be responsible for "certain environmental conditions" that have made local monsters more aggressive.
In Aesoland, where the game takes place, such disturbances may be linked to Radiant species. These are monsters with "altered appearances and abilities." These variants are prone to entering a frenzied state when hunting. The abnormalities they display are believed to stem from Radiantite, a mineral that glows "with a brilliant orange-yellow hue" and valued by locals for its warmth and everyday use.
Monster Hunter Outlanders Gameplay
Similar to mainline Monster Hunter games, Outlanders will see players progress through the story by completing quests: hunting monsters and gathering resources within a large map. Each activity yields rewards, such as materials for crafting and in-game currency. Materials collected in the game are essential for crafting weapons, armor, and various tools for future hunts.
Monster Hunter Outlanders marks a notable change for the series, as players now take on the role of the Fated Adventurer—a customizable main character—while also being able to choose from preset Adventurers before hunts. Each of these preset characters comes with their own weapon specialties and unique abilities, offering varied playstyles within the same account. This structure suggests a stronger narrative focus than previous Monster Hunter entries, as players may get to explore the individual backgrounds and personalities of these Adventurers throughout the game.
Monster Hunter Outlanders Release Date
Monster Hunter Outlanders is set to release on Android and iOS devices, although a specific date and time have not yet been announced.
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Monster Hunter Outlanders Review [Closed Beta Test 2]
Mobile Monster Hunting On The Go
Monster Hunter is one franchise I’d consider a classic, spanning two decades and more of its signature blend of…well, monster hunting. Although I got into the series quite late into its lifetime, I thoroughly enjoyed my several hours (read: several…long days) of Monster Hunter Rise and my brief time with Monster Hunter Wilds (which I constantly remind myself to try and go back to).
One of the reasons I failed to get into Monster Hunter earlier in my youth was because of the fact that most of their earlier releases were on consoles I didn’t have (or that broke down) or required a proper PC rig to play, a privilege not accessible to me back then. Even at present, most of the Monster Hunter mainline titles need a decent PC or a console to play.
Until now, at least. While not a mainline title, it has all the familiar elements and mechanics of its flagship releases, which were not exactly present in its previous mobile games like Monster Hunter Now. Now, the basics of the signature experience are here, right at your fingertips.
With mobile gaming and live-service games all the rage in the gaming industry as of late, it was just a matter of time to see when the Monster Hunter IP would get its own spinoff. TiMi Studios’ answer to that is Monster Hunter Outlanders, a game we were lucky enough to snag a spot in its Closed Beta 2. Without further ado, here’s a quick look at this exciting and engaging mobile action RPG.
To The Outlands Of Aesoland
The prologue begins in a flying airship, and you are the Fated Adventurer, the captain from the Adventurer’s Guild, who, along with Commander Freya, is on a mission to investigate the "Aurora", a mysterious being or phenomenon (the introduction cinematic doesn’t exactly make it clear). Discovery and examination of this "Aurora" appear to have been their goal for quite some time, based on how determined they are to make this work even against the stormy weather outside.
However, their already rocky voyage is made even rockier with the presence of a Rathian that attacks the airship before changing its target to a nearby island with a village. You, refusing to just sit back and watch, dive into the turbulent sky and use Gliders to fly towards the island with three members of your crew, hoping to save the villagers from destruction.
Just as it was about to incinerate a poor girl named Holly into ashes, you and your trusty Palico, Icarus, barely manage to distract it—and now, it has its sights on you. With a few aerial movements and a really flashy sword slash up in the sky, you manage to give that brute a pretty solid smack straight down its middle. Good job! Although…it came with the price of you falling to the jungle below, glider-less, separated from your crew. All’s well that ends well?
Er, not exactly. The Rathian is out for blood and chases you down through prickly brambles and giant trees until you manage to get your bearings and decide to defeat this terrifying beast once and for all! Here is your entry ticket to Aesoland, and the requirement is: don’t get burnt to a crisp by an enraged Rathian.
Signature Monster Hunter Combat Made Slightly Easier
The very first gameplay mechanic you encounter is, of course, as an action RPG, combat. Armed with a Long Sword (by default), you are taught the basics of gameplay as you attempt to defeat the Rathian.
There are two modes to choose from: Adventure Mode and Classic Mode. This freedom of choice allows for ease of accessibility—Monster Hunter is a franchise known for its combo and strategy-centered action gameplay, something that not all gamers are familiar with, and it’s nice that the mobile version accommodates both veteran players and fresh greenhorns to the series.
At its core, it very much is similar to what the mainline titles offer. Different weapons have different movesets, and you attack the monster’s weak points and exploit them for maximum damage. There’s dodging, there’s parrying, bursts, elemental damage, and all the good stuff, along with three generally distinct playstyles—the Assault, Disruptor, and the Support. Now, before you shrink away and get overwhelmed, the developers have surely taken into consideration the mobile gacha aspect of it all.
Monster Hunter’s basic combat was translated well into the mobile action RPG gacha format (yes, it’s a gacha, surprise), managing to capture the essence of what makes Monster Hunter fun without being overly complex or tedious given the touchscreen limitations. It comes with a few more additions to make sure the experience is quite close to other mobile action-adventure RPGs in the market like Genshin Impact, Wuthering Waves, Arknights: Endfield (outside of the factory, okay), and others.
One of its standout features is the option to play as any Adventurer, and each Adventurer (Hero, Champion, whatever you’d like to call it) has its own unique playstyle based on their Adventurer Class and their weapon. You’re not limited to just using the Fated Adventurer, who is essentially like any other Monster Hunter protagonist, where they are a blank slate for you to power and upgrade in any style and shape you’d like.
If you want a variety of playstyles to take on, then a good way to do that is through setting other characters as the Main Adventurer that is controlled. And how do you get these other heroes? Other Adventurers are attainable by…of course, the way of the gacha gods.
Gacha Is Standard
While we’re on the topic, the game’s gacha aspect is of the usual standard—a system very much familiar to those who already play gacha games. But for the record, let’s go through that real quick: There is a sub-1% chance of pulling SSRs at 0.6%, split among the pool of SSR Adventurers and Buddies (your adorable partner-in-crime technically, but known in other games as the pullable Weapon, or Light Cone in Honkai: Star Rail’s case). Hard pity for an SSR character caps at 90, and on the Standard Recruitment banner, you get a free SSR Adventurer or Buddy of your choice at 300.
For Featured Recruitment, it’s the same, with the only difference or added feature being the infamous 50/50 system. When pulling an SSR, you have a 50% chance of obtaining the Featured Character. For example, in this current beta, it’s Midori. If you win that chance, then congratulations—you win, and the pity resets. If you lose, your next SSR is guaranteed to be Midori, or you can save that guaranteed limited character for the next featured banner. For these limited banners, players are guaranteed one copy of the limited character within 120 pulls, another pity count that doesn’t carry over.
Very, very standard stuff. With the game at its closed beta test state, there is no guarantee that this will stay the same for launch (I’m looking at you, Stella Sora), nor do we know how the monetization will go in the long run. For now, it’s decent; it’s average, although in its current form, Rutacoin (premium currency) resources for free-to-play players aren’t looking so hot. We’ll see later on.
Exploration Is The Name Of The Game
Aside from its clear focus on combat, another great feature about the game right now is exploration. Going back to the story for a bit—after you take down the frenzied Rathian and reunite with your crew at the village you just saved, you’re then introduced to Aesoland’s village chief, Bale, the uncle of the girl you saved, Holly.
Full of gratitude, Bale and the village now welcome you and your crew with open arms. Commander Freya, convinced that this island holds the key to finding the Aurora, accepts the invitation and begins to establish a base while rebuilding the village. Hence, we, the Storm Crew (so called after being saved by coming in the middle of a storm), help out the village in various ways while also exploring the great beyond.
You have a vast open world to freely explore, and exploration is not just for the heck of it, though—most of the map is initially covered in a white fog (on your map, at least), and to clear them, you must restore Watchtowers scattered across the map to learn more about your surroundings as well as to unlock fast travel and useful icons to track what is around you.
In this large world, what can players with a lot of freedom do? You can go gathering for resources through nodes, take down monsters without needing to get into mission mode, and discover points of interest. There’s a variety of
Moving around the map isn’t as tedious as it should be, either, despite the map’s large size. There are no ridable Seikrets here, but you have Gliders, Zip Lines, and Trampolines to help you get through to places like Tarzan. With plenty of spots in the map requiring some form of vertical trekking, Gliders are your best bet to get to high places for more land to cover or for simply a better view of things. Zip Lines can be built with the right amount of material and the perfect spot (not too dissimilar to Arknights: Endfield).
Unpolished Edges Here And There
As it is in Closed Beta, it is inevitable that it’s got a few janks that slipped through the cracks. Of course, always good to note that this is definitely not the game’s final version, but even these can be easily overlooked in the grand scheme of things.
There are instances where subtitles don’t always match the voices, either not in text (completely different lines being said), or they’re not in sync (like when another character is already speaking but the subtitle is lagging behind or too forward). There are several lines with no subtitles either, which makes understanding characters like Raya a little harder for non-native English speakers. Moreover, there are lines said in a male voice even when you’re presenting as female, which caught me off guard more than once.
Progression Is Already Grindy, Made Grindier With Limitations
Monster Hunter, in essence, is one grindy game. Even in the mainline titles, you will need to replay countless missions to gather the resources you need to craft the armor pieces and weapons you want. Now take that…and multiply it by four. Or more, depending on how many Adventurers you actually use.
Outlanders already makes it easier to deal with than in other games, with shorter missions and easier enemies (relative to the mainline games) to fit the on-the-go mobile lifestyle, with hunts being less than five minutes long compared to the 10-15 minutes in the bigger MonHun games, but that doesn’t make it any less of a chore to do.
There is also an Energy system in place, a real-time system usually found in other mobile games to limit daily activity. While you can still get monster parts from out in the overworld, you won’t be able to get them from the Free Hunts until your energy replenishes, which is technically the easiest way to take down these monsters, which makes it a bit more difficult to be fully kit out.
A Promising Contender in Mobile Action RPGs
Monster Hunter Outlanders might feel just a huge IP’s sudden jump into gacha gaming (which usually results in…less-than-optimal games), but it feels solid even at its beta testing phase. Not perfect, but it’s got limitless potential and nowhere to go but up.
If you’re already a Monster Hunter veteran or a big fan of other mobile gacha RPGs, Outlanders is a bit different but still manages to have familiar content for both sides. Signature Monster Hunter gameplay mechanics mixed with multiple character systems, and action-adventure exploration elements—it’s got its basics down, a solid foundation. There are still things to look out for when the full release comes out, like monetization and premium currency economy and all that, and how it might end up looking like it's pay-to-win, but those are worries we shall tend to when the bridge is crossed. For now, I’ll enjoy my life in Aesoland.
Also, I have found a new Monster Hunter non-human species to love—Rutacoes are the most adorable monkeys I have ever seen in my life and I will fall over and die for them. That is more than enough to keep me around until the Beta Test ends.
Game8 Reviews
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Monster Hunter Outlanders Product Information
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| Title | Monster Hunter Outlanders |
|---|---|
| Release Date | TBD |
| Developer | TiMi Studios Group, Capcom |
| Publisher | TiMi Studios Group |
| Supported Platforms | Android, iOS |
| Genre | Open World, Action, RPG |
| Number of Players | 1-4 |
| ESRB Rating | RP |
| Official Website | Monster Hunter Outlanders Official Website |
