Monster Hunter Outlanders hands-off preview — Adventure awaits

Recently, GamingTrend had the chance to view a short presentation on the upcoming Monster Hunter Outlanders for mobile devices. The game seeks to bring the typical Monster Hunter experience to phones and tablets, complete with character customization and multiplayer. While the game has no release date, it will be free to play and sign-ups for a closed beta test begin today. 

Instead of Hunters, the game follows various adventurers on a mysterious island with unique Radiant Species of monsters. You begin with your created character, the Fated Adventurer, but can also play as pre-made characters. These Adventurers can only use one weapon type, but in return they have unique abilities and playstyles. Each weapon falls under one of three roles: Assault, Disruptor, and Support, and each of those come with a unique Buddy, Palico, Rutaco, and Trillah respectively.

Outlanders is trying to convert the typical Monster Hunter experience to mobile, but it also has a few new tricks up its sleeve. For one, Adventurers can build structures to aid in the hunt, such as what looked like a zipline to get around easier. There are also teamwork attacks, which trigger when one player breaks a part of a monster. If another Adventurer attacks that part within a certain period of time, the team will deal a ton of damage to the monster. 

From what we saw, the game looked pretty, but still clearly early in development as there was no word on system requirements, monetization, or even if the game is zone-based or open world. With the smaller screen, however, they are trying to make monster tells a bit clearer and allowing the lock-on to target individual parts. TiMi Studio Group greatly emphasized that they want player feedback and that it will determine the direction the game takes, so a lot about Outlanders remains to be seen. The game is currently playable at TGS, and sign-ups for the closed beta are now open.