Winter is coming to Monster Hunter Now

It seems there’s still an audience who want to play games while on the go as Niantic’s latest geo-based AR title Monster Hunter Now has seen over 10 million downloads since the title launched this September. At a private event which Gaming Age was fortunately enough to be invited to, the team at Niantic shared what’s in store for the title as the climate gets colder.

On December 7th the game’s latest content update Fulminations in the Frost will go live and bring a slew of new monsters, weapons and updates. Each season is expected to last roughly three months and the monster who will be the signature beast for the update will be Zinogre, an agile lupine creature who utilizes electric attacks to keep hunters at bay. Joining it are Banbaro, Barioth and Radobaan. Whether these beasts are available moving forward or are just season hunts remains to be seen.

Players who are persistent in their hunts will be able to craft up to 46 new weapons and armors from the parts culled from these newly revealed beasts. The game will also see 2 new weapon types added via this update. The lance and dual blades, both series staples, will join the 6 existing weapon types which have been made available since the title’s launch. The lance is most effective at mid range while wielders of the dual blade will be to get in close to make the most of these daggers. Fulminations in the Frost will also adjust damage scaling to weapons so that long range weapons see a reduction in damage output while short range weapons see the opposite to help bring a risk/reward mechanic to the game’s battles.

While we were shown a bevy of dealers, the developers did hold something back until the day of the title update’s launch, a feature which will encourage players to team up rather than go it alone.

For a lapsed Pokémon Go player who tried this title at this event I’m finding myself enticed to take more walks in my neighborhood to gather crafting materials and hunt monsters. Now I just need to find an active hunting party…

Monster Hunter Now is available on iOS and Android.