Why Haven't the Classic Monster Hunter Games Returned? – Heavy Wings



Over the years Capcom have been porting more and more of their older games over to current platforms. After the release of Ace Attorney Investigations 2 this year, I began to wonder what was the holdup for Monster Hunter, because as of now World, Rise and the Stories games are the only games buyable on modern platforms.

Monster Hunter Compendium Series
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLiycajElJ3oZtIjnoecBWLSM-b3nD5fB0

Monster Hunter Evolution Full Series
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLiycajElJ3oZE0xTc4qM9O4tybaDF99LI

History of Powered-Up Monsters
https://youtu.be/hxtgYKOHjGk?si=U5aXb6SbxbgMzlva

Escaton Judgement
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJtcQEFHkCE&t=1114s

Contents
0:00 Introduction
0:55 Chapter 1 – Why Bother?
3:15 A Brief History of Monster Hunter
11:00 Ports of the Past
14:28 Chapter 2: The Big Questions
14:33 Which Games are Brought Back?
18:02 How is Online Handled?
19:50 Are the Graphics Good Enough?
26:23 Framerates?
28:17 Engines?
31:01 Localisation?
32:17 Collaborations?
33:06 Collection or Individual Releases?
35:00 Gameplay Changes…?
37:38 Chapter 3: What Kind of Ports Could We Expect?
45:42 Conclusion + Ending

Music Used
Intro + Chapter 2
Prelude to a Girl Defence Attorney – GAA2
Athena Cykes Bringer of Revolution – Dual Destinies
Block Man Instrumental – Megaman 11
The Moving Sacred Mountain – Monster Hunter
Defiance Against a Powerful Enemy – Monster Hunter 2
Nargacuga – Monster Hunter Freedom Unite
Sandy Plains – Monster Hunter Tri
Zinogre – Monster Hunter Portable 3rd
Gore Magala – Monster Hunter 4
Valstrax – Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate
Simon Blackquill – Dual Destinies
Odyvataurus – Monster Hunter Frontier
A Broken Promise – Scarlet Nexus
Second Council Meeting – Iceborne
Colony 9 – Xenoblade Chronicles
Satorl Marsh – Xenoblade Chronicles
Battle Theme – Monster Hunter Stories
The City – Xenoblade 3
Stairway to the One and Only Future – Scarlet Nexus
Susato Mikotoba – GAA
Hyrule Field – Ocarina of Time
Investigation Core – Ace Attorney
Magnamalo – Monster Hunter Rise
Ryutaro Objection – GAA2
Cheval – MHStories
Shagaru Magala – Monster Hunter Orchestra 2023
Battle – MHStories 2
A Battle of Wits Opening Moves – GAA
Summation Examination – GAA

source

38 thoughts on “Why Haven't the Classic Monster Hunter Games Returned? – Heavy Wings”

  1. I think the real reason is that they want everyone in the latest game. If they rerelease this games, the player base will be split in 4 or 5 different games, games which I remind you will not be extensively monetized like Wolrd or Rise. Capcom will rerelease this games only in an emergency, we need money now type of emergency.

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  2. I'd love to see a console port of Freedom Unite. My first game was 3U, and hearing you and others describe the second generation of Monster Hunter makes it sound like a ton of fun. Im interested in returning to the "clunkier" more deliberate gameplay of past games, but setting up a PSP or ios emulator to play it doesn't feel worth it. So if I could choose any of them for a rerelease, it'd be that one!
    Also to answer your question, I think the older MH games look alright. Not amazing by modern standards, and I have a lot of more of an appreciation for older graphics than probably most modern gamers, but I think they look pretty nice. How much Id pay now? Probably around $30-40. Not full price but I recognize how much content Im getting and I think that price is worth it.

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  3. i've went back and played 1 a couple years back and it's hard to get used to the analog stick, I also dont see it doing well as a remaster.
    2 i'd like to see ported, some slight qol updates but largely untouched since its a pretty unique game in the series
    Freedom unite, good for a port though i think it would require some qol and hitbox changes. (i think this is the one i have the most hours in)
    4u I think just needs a port, maybe some qol but it's such a blast to play for me still.

    if capcom is feeling particularly crazy, release frontier as a standalone game

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  4. Before i watch this video in full, what if they made a new flagship for this game collection that appears in every game? Sure, they'd have to change something about it for each game, but it doesn't have to appear in the story at all. Just be an extra thing for each game that has something to do with the game's main mechanic, i.e. water combat, frenzy, etc.

    EDIT: I see now

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  5. For me when playing older games I’m not so bothered by the graphics as resolution, I can sympathise with lower quality models and textures but if the resolution is too low it is just annoying. As for not knowing which games to port. They could be bundled as a collectors edition where players can chose which to download from within.

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  6. The sad and real issue why old MH titles aren't being rereleased is purely BECAUSE of tied Online servers of each title.

    It takes money to run a server that can handle many thousands, and in some MH online servers, like Tri, there was the possibility to get banned/suspended from online play. This means that there were real people who were put to manage those online servers.

    If these games were to be rerelease, would we be satisfied if everything was made for single player content?

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  7. 3U, 4U, and GenU have an incredible amount of nintendo crossover events so if they were to come back those event quest along with its armor sets, weapons, and guild card backgrounds would jave to be removed. Also not to mention the anime event quest in 4U and GenU which is an entirely different problem

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  8. This is something that I've been thinking about for a while now and tbh I'm still very disappointed Capcom never gave us a monster hunter anniversary collection imagine how good it would be to play MH1 MH2 MH3U and MH4U with higher resolution, framerates, and online play at a reasonable price I would totally pay for that and a lot of other people would too Capcom dosen't realize how much ppl miss oldschool monster especially after the old eshops closed.

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  9. I absolutely do not want a remaster of old MH titles because the majority of the games still have fans maintaining close-knit communities and running private servers, and I guarantee that if they wanted to make a collection of older games, they would go after the fan servers legally

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  10. GU was exclusive to 3DS then it got a Switch port. Nah, the game has evolved, no need to play or re release the old ones, maybe they can do an anniversary pack of old games ports, but as long as they keep developing the franchise there is no need for that, i mean you even fight 80% of the same monsters in newer games with improved AI more moves etc, so theres really no need for it.

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  11. I still hold on to the hope that maybe someday they will finally decide to port these older titles. I personally never owned a Wii u nor a 3DS so I never got to experience Tri/3U and 4U, which I've always wanted to play since I was a kid after being hooked on the series with MHFU, so I'll gladly huff that copium. Same for a PC port of MHGU, it is an absolute SIN as far as I'm concerned that that game isn't on PC considering how much of a loveletter it is to MH fans. I always try to sell friends who started with 5th gen MH to give GU a shot but some people just don't want to buy a switch and I totally get it.

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  12. I personally would like all the games/versions even though that's so very unlikely. Like the differences between Monster Hunter Freedom 1 vs 2 vs Unite all are kinda unique. Example would be the Akantor Bow in MHF2 was OP but in MHFU it was nerfed so much, actually kind of crazy differences. Also some differences would be the new skills added in like Unite changes the way you play from Freedom 2 since there are more choices. Plus all the changes to weapon damage, or armor sets.

    I do hope they would also bring back or figure out how to work out the collaborations part, there are some collabs like you mentioned that are really cool, and some fun ones that the West never got. Plus then there is the Event Quests or DLC quests that has differences between JP version and West version.

    One small thing is I would love if Capcom started releasing the expansions complete on disk again. Like if you own a Switch and have Sunbreak there is no way at the moment to get everything on cartridge so you don't need online to get all the content. Luckily for something like Zelda: Breath of the Wild there is a Japanese version (with English) that has the base BOTW and DLC all included on cartridge without download, hope Capcom tries that again like they did between in the past with Monster Hunter Series.

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  13. This discussion can easily summed up with this: "Capcom wants you to play the latest Monster Hunter game"
    Despite Monster Hunter not being a live service game, Capcom treats it like one

    Also, couple of wrong informations/points that I would like to correct
    Portable 3rd on the PS3 actually looks better, not just in term of resolution. They made the textures 2x bigger
    You can play PSP games online through PS3 and PC (no, not emulation). Its a program called xlink kai
    You can increase a game's framerate from 30 to 60. It just takes a lot of work to convert things and very thorough testing

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  14. For me: The ideal games to port would be MH1G, Dos, Freedom Unite, Tri, Portable 3rd, 3U, 4U, and GenU (wider release). The biggest hurdle would be a of the collab events. I wouldn't like for them all the just be relived, rather I'd prefer them to just be "replaced" with similar looking gear to keep the vibe the original games, 4U just wouldn't feel the same without the Star Knight armor.

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  15. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think they only really need to do Freedom Unite, 3U (already HD), and 4U.

    Leave the control stick games and Tri for the weirdos like me who will buy original hardware/preserve via fan emulation.

    The fan servers for emulated Dos and Tri are probably about the best we'll get as long as Capcom doesn't pull a Nintendo.

    I'd freakin love to experience Freedom Unite on modern hardware. It's like the fanboys' #1 entry so I feel like I'm not a real fan until I experience it lol.

    Edit: Maybe include the village campaigns for 1, Dos, and Tri as a bundle with the Ultimates being the "main" games for all the masochists out there.

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