A 12 months faraway from its twentieth anniversary, Capcom’s monster-hunting franchise returns in 2025 with Monster Hunter Wilds. The prolific sequence has lived by a number of generations of dwelling and moveable consoles, reaching new peaks with 2018’s Monster Hunter World and 2021’s Monster Hunter Rise — the sequence’ best-selling video games so far and Capcom’s two best-selling video games of all time.
With Monster Hunter Wilds out on February 28, we’re trying again on the franchise’s historical past with a listing of the sequence’ most essential video games, ordered chronologically by launch date.
There are upwards of 25 Monster Hunter video games when contemplating all base video games, spinoffs, cellular entries, and enhanced variations. Nonetheless, for this checklist, we have compiled the 12 most related Monster Hunter video games. Our checklist excludes mobile- and arcade-exclusive video games (Monster Hunter i, Monster Hunter Spirits, and so forth.); beforehand shuttered MMOs (Monster Hunter Frontier, Monster Hunter On-line); and the FromSoftware-developed, Japan-exclusive, Animal Crossing-like sport Monster Hunter Diary: Poka Poka Airou Village.
There isn’t any steady story all through the Monster Hunter franchise, so you’ll be able to take your decide of which sport to start out with. If you happen to’re leaping into the world of Monster Hunter in 2025, you may need to wait and and see reactions to the newest sport, Monster Hunter Wilds, which will probably be launched on February 28. If you happen to’re desperate to strive the sequence earlier than investing in Wilds, we advocate Monster Hunter World or Monster Hunter Rise. World ought to enchantment extra to those that worth exploration and immersion; Rise is best suited for individuals who put a better worth on pace and fluidity.
Monster Hunter Wilds – Commonplace Version
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Each Monster Hunter Recreation in Launch Order
Monster Hunter (2004)
Monster Hunter, alongside Auto Modellista and Resident Evil: Outbreak, was developed as a part of a three-game plan to discover the market potential of the PS2’s on-line community, Capcom’s Ryozo Tsujimoto informed Eurogamer in 2014.
The primary Monster Hunter laid the inspiration for the franchise, introducing lots of the sequence’ defining methods. Gamers, on their very own or with others on-line, are given quests to hunt monsters, after which they use supplies harvested from the world and the monster’s stays to craft and improve weapons and armor earlier than embarking to battle, effectively, stronger monsters.
An expanded model known as Monster Hunter G was launched solely in Japan the next 12 months.
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Monster Hunter Freedom (2005)
The sequence discovered its dwelling on moveable consoles in 2005 with Monster Hunter Freedom, an enhanced port of Monster Hunter G tuned for single-player play on the PSP. This primary moveable entry within the franchise offered over one million copies, in accordance with Capcom, starting a development wherein Monster Hunter’s moveable variations handily outsold its dwelling console counterparts — a development that held till the breakout success of Monster Hunter World in 2018.
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Monster Hunter 2 (2006)
Capcom returned to dwelling console for the sequence’ second correct entry, Monster Hunter 2 (aka Monster Hunter Dos). It was launched solely in Japan for PS2. Monster Hunter 2 launched a day-night cycle and gems, additional enhancing your alternatives for weapons and armor customization.
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Monster Hunter Freedom 2 (2007)
The second handheld sport within the sequence, Monster Hunter Freedom 2 once more took the core of its dwelling console counterpart (MH2) and constructed upon it with new content material and a single-player focus. The sport was expanded additional in 2008’s Monster Hunter Freedom Unite, which added new monsters, missions, maps, and the flexibility to have a Felyne fighter be part of the participant in battle.
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Monster Hunter 3 (2009)
Monster Hunter 3 (aka Monster Hunter Tri) debuted in Japan in 2009, earlier than being launched internationally in 2010. The third mainline MH sport was initially in improvement for the PS3, although it will ultimately be launched as a Wii unique. Along with new monsters, weapons, and areas, Monster Hunter 3 launched the sequence’ short-lived underwater fight.
It later got here to Wii U and 3DS as Monster Hunter 3 Final with new monsters, a reworked single-player expertise, up to date graphics, and a brand new multiplayer space.
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Monster Hunter Transportable third (2010)
Like the 2 mainline entries earlier than it, Monster Hunter 3 was tweaked and ported to PSP as Monster Hunter Transportable third. In contrast to the 2 moveable variations earlier than it, this sport additionally acquired a console launch on PS3 as Monster Hunter Transportable third HD Ver.
Regardless of by no means being launched within the West, Monster Hunter Transportable third is the best-selling sport amongst Capcom’s handheld-exclusive Monster Hunters with 4.9 million copies offered.
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Monster Hunter 4 (2013)
Monster Hunter 4 was initially launched solely for 3DS, solely in Japan. Solely the improved version, Monster Hunter 4 Final (Monster Hunter 4G in Japan), was launched globally as a launch sport for New Nintendo 3DS. This era of Monster Hunter video games most notably improved traversal by pairing elevated verticality with extra fluid participant motion. It additionally improved the single-player expertise with a deeper story and extra NPCs.
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Monster Hunter Generations (2015)
Capcom adopted up MH4 with Monster Hunter Generations (Monster Hunter X in Japan), one other installment launched solely for 3DS. Generations had, as our overview acknowledged, “the enchantment of a best hits album,” mixing outdated and (on the time) new mechanics from the sequence’ then-10-year historical past. Most notably, Generations featured new wrinkles to customization and fight by Looking Kinds and Arts.
Generations later acquired an enhanced version, referred to as Monster Hunter Generations XX in Japan and Monster Hunter Generations Final internationally. It was the primary Monster Hunter sport launched on Nintendo Change.
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Monster Hunter Tales (2016)
Monster Hunter Tales is a derivative that takes the motion sequence into the world of RPGs. True to the style, Tales trades within the real-time motion of the mainline video games for a turn-based fight system and places extra emphasis on story and exploration.
It was initially launched for 3DS, although it’s since come to PS4, Change, PC, and cellular.
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Monster Hunter World (2018)
Monster Hunter World is, so far, the sequence’ excessive level from each a crucial and business perspective. With 27 million copies offered, it’s the sequence’ (and Capcom’s) best-selling sport, and with a Metascore of 90, it’s additionally the sequence’ best-reviewed sport.
With World, Capcom moved the first improvement of Monster Hunter again to dwelling consoles, particularly PS4 and Xbox One. For the primary time, it made a concerted effort to achieve a wider Western viewers by shifting to a extra seamless open-world design, lowering the training curve of the sequence’ intricate methods, totally supporting on-line play with world servers, and releasing concurrently throughout all areas.
An enormous enlargement, Monster Hunter World: Iceborne, was launched the next 12 months. Much like the Final variations of previous video games, Iceborne added new monsters and mechanics to the bottom sport, in addition to an all-new story that rivals the scale of the marketing campaign in World.
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Monster Hunter Rise (2021)
Monster Hunter Rise is the sequence’ second best-performing sport, rating solely behind World by way of gross sales and Metascore. Because the subtitle ‘World’ denotes the earlier sport’s extra world strategy, ‘Rise’ signifies a higher concentrate on verticality, a design resolution supported by the introduction of the Wirebug, a brand new mechanic that enabled wall-climbing and general extra fluid traversal.
Rise builds off of the earlier Change entry, Generations Final, as a lot because it does World, given World and Rise have been, for a time, being developed in tandem. As acknowledged in our overview, “a lot of the streamlining World did has been carried ahead” in Rise, whereas “different issues like separate Village and Hub questlines for single- and multiplayer and the flexibility to tweak a weapon’s playstyle a bit return from older Monster Hunter video games.”
Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak was launched the next 12 months. The enlargement features a new storyline, monsters, and areas.
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Monster Hunter Tales 2: Wings of Smash (2021)
Capcom adopted Rise with Monster Hunter Tales 2: Wings of Smash, a sequel to the 2016 RPG. Co-developed by Marvelous Inc. (Story of Seasons), Wings of Smash leans into tried-and-true JRPG methods like turn-based fight, character customization, and an emphasis on story. Tales 2 once more helps you to battle alongside monsters (aka Monsties) as a substitute of strictly looking them, creating a celebration system that must be acquainted to anybody who’s performed a Pokemon RPG.
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Monster Hunter Wilds (2025)
Monster Hunter Wilds would be the newest sport within the sequence when it’s launched on February 28 for PS5, Xbox Sequence X|S, and PC. Wilds is a mainline Monster Hunter sport that builds on the design rules of World and Rise. It boasts “dynamic, ever-changing environments” and the sequence’ “most developed motion and improved immersion,” in accordance with Capcom.
As famous in our 2024 Monster Hunter Wilds preview, it’s shaping as much as be “a Monster Hunter that embraces the components of Rise that made it a lot extra inviting but in addition doesn’t shrink back from the bigger scale and spectacle that helped make World the extra enduring entry.”
Wishlist
Upcoming Monster Hunter Video games
Subsequent up for the franchise is the aforementioned Monster Hunter Wilds, due out February 28 for PS5, Xbox Sequence X|S, and PC. You may learn up on all we learn about Wilds by our in depth IGN First protection:
Capcom can be working alongside TiMi Studio Group (Name of Obligation Cellular, Pokemon Unite) on Monster Hunter Outlanders, a free-to-play cellular sport with multiplayer hunters and “a large open world.” A launch window for Outlanders has not but been introduced.
Jordan covers video games, reveals, and films as a contract author for IGN.
