Monster Hunter Now is a new AR game from Capcom and Niantic, the maker of Pokémon GO. The first major real-life event in Tokyo saw 20,000 hunters compete in what felt like a real-world MMORPG. MeinMMO editor Sophia Weiß was there for you at the invitation of developer Niantic.
Monster Hunter Now has been live since mid-September 2023. On the weekend of October 12th and 13th, the Ninantic team hosted the game’s first major real-life event, the Monster Hunter Now Carnival Shibuya 2024.
According to the organizers, around 20,000 participants met in the streets of Tokyo to collect clues and lay down the new raid boss Nergigante.
I was there for you and logged, leveled, fought and felt like I was in an MMORPG raid. The difference is that instead of sitting down, I recorded almost 17,000 steps on the tracker.
Nergigante – One of the coolest beasts from Monster Hunter.
A mobile game like my favorite MMORPG
It’s the same thing with mobile games. They take up a lot of space on the phone and use a lot of power. I therefore try to play as few of them as possible and put my gaming on the PC.
But I like to make an exception for Pokémon GO and now also for Monster Hunter Now. Even though I would rather nurture and care for dragons than fight them.
But that’s exactly what Monster Hunter Now is about: the world of monsters seems to merge with our reality. Now it’s up to the players to save our real home from nasty Pukei-Pukeis, Barroths and Rathalos.
I started playing Monster Hunter especially for the event in Tokyo and I have to say: This mobile game is also really fun. With enough players, it even feels like my favorite MMORPG, Final Fantasy XIV. Just that I have to get out of the house to do it.
By the way, this is what it looked like live and in color:
Monster Hunter Now had its first live event in Japan and we were there
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On a (monster) scavenger hunt through Tokyo
The gameplay loop of Monster Hunter Now is simple: you collect resources, kill monsters of different levels and develop your equipment with the loot from the beasts. The better your weapon, the stronger the monsters you encounter.
At the same time, you complete quests and advance in your hunter rank. This advances the game’s story, which in turn unlocks new features.
For the Carnival in Tokyo I only worked through the tutorials. Together with journalists from the USA and Great Britain, I started at one of five so-called base camps on the Saturday of the event. These were parks and platforms that Niantic and Capcom equipped with all sorts of chic Monster Hunter decorations.
This fancy beast could be seen at the Nigiwai Stage near JR Shibuya Station.
The task of the day: A new, really nasty monster has made it to Tokyo and is causing mischief. We should track it down, identify it and neutralize it.
Always with our cell phones open and our eyes downcast, our squad wandered from one resource collection point to the next: According to the event quest, we were supposed to collect paw prints. However, these were only available at certain resource sources, which determined the paths to be taken between the base camps.
So that no one gets bored between the stations, there were also new versions of well-known enemies that spawned in moderation. These made new, cool armor possible.
It took our squad almost two hours to unlock the new boss. Our opponent for the rest of the day should be the Elder Dragon Nergigante – the first event-exclusive raid.
17,000 steps and pain in the legs for that MMORPG feeling
Even collecting paw prints felt like a big group quest. We joked around, took coffee breaks, compared values and exchanged equipment tips.
Basically, we talked about everything that I would go through with my guild friends from Final Fantasy XIV in preparation for the next raid drop or Fate or Hunt train. And that’s exactly how it went in the game.
But that’s actually what makes it so appealing for me: we all quested together and created a new, cool raid boss together. The difference is that we walked a few thousand steps together through a city that was unfamiliar to us. For me there were 17,000 on Saturday alone.
Monster Hunter Now comes very close to this feeling. But as already written: After a normal raid day I don’t have any pain in my calves.
Shortly before the end of the event, a super heavy version of the new raid Nergigante spawned. Exactly two people from our group had the appropriate hunter level and the appropriate equipment. So the two of them nervously rose to the challenge while the rest of us formed a circle around them and cheered them on.
This is how I last felt when there was only one of us alive in the 8-man raid and the boss was almost dead. Simply wonderful!
Sword Art Online in traffic chaos
The Monster Hunter Now Carnival was really fun. Walking through the streets of Tokyo, supporting each other in the game and tackling new challenges together was just cool.
In fact, the event reminded me a bit of the game Ordinal Scale from the first Sword Art Online movie. Kirito and Asuka compete together in an augmented reality game against monsters that spawn in the middle of the city.
The way Monster Hunter Now works is very similar. The biggest difference is that in real life we still have to stare stubbornly at our cell phones.
That’s actually the only point that left a slightly bad taste in my mouth: If you play really intensively and move slowly from Basecamp to Basecamp, your eyes are on your phone almost the entire time.
This can sometimes go wrong in busier areas, which is also a point with Pokémon GO: Concentrating on your smartphone distracts you from traffic and puts road users in danger. MeinMMO already reported on this in 2020: Pokémon GO is said to have caused 30,000 injuries and 250 deaths in the USA
According to the organizer, a total of 20,000 players were in Shibuya over the event weekend. I myself was able to observe how much consideration Japanese cyclists and pedestrians showed towards gamers. But I don’t know whether that would work so well in my hometown of Munich.
Basically, Monster Hunter Now is an exciting game. It is recommended for anyone who loves either Monster Hunter or Pokémon GO. Monster Hunter Now is a great way to play on the way to or from work or school.
However, I recommend the game not only because it is good, but also a bit out of self-interest: the more of you start with the game, the more players I have for the next boss opponents. So I’m looking forward to seeing you. So: hopefully see you soon at the monster!