Niantic’s catalog of augmented reality (AR) games for mobile has grown with the launch of Monster Hunter Now, co-developed with Capcom, which brings the monsters of this popular franchise into the real world using the smartphone camera.
Monster Hunter Now is an AR game for a new generation of hunters who need to explore the real world with their friends and fight dozens of monsters along the way. It is designed to enjoy parks and open spaces around the world.
Behind this project are Niantic, developer of titles such as Pokémon Go and Peridot, and Capcom, the original developer and distributor of Monster Hunter, which promote hunting powerful monsters alone but also in groups.
In AR camera mode, the monsters appear directly in front of the player in the real world, who can interact with them and observe their reactions. If you encounter a monster you can’t defeat, you can hunt in groups. The system automatically assigns nearby hunters to the player so they can team up.
Multiplayer mode supports up to four nearby people who can become friends in-game (with a QR code, friend code, or invite code) and earn rewards such as recovery pills.
There are also hunting groups where you can team up with a specific group of friends and hunt together, even if they are not in the same area. Each member can work together to hunt the monsters they find.
Monster Hunter Now makes hunting easier by allowing hunters to pre-configure their gear and weapons so they can be changed on the fly.
The game requires the use of your smartphone’s camera, but can also be kept in your pocket thanks to the Adventure Sync feature. It involves using a paintball to track monsters as you explore the city, later hunting them from home.
After more than 3 million pre-registrations, Monster Hunter Now is available starting this Thursday on the App Store and Google Play in nine languages: Japanese, English, Korean, Traditional Chinese, French, Italian, German, Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese.
