New Monster Hunter XX to release on 3DS in Japan at same time as Switch launch

By Jon Martindale Published March 8, 2017

A new Monster Hunter game is coming to the 3DS in Japan, and its March release date has raised a few eyebrows. That is suspiciously around the time Nintendo’s Switch console is expected to debut, and traditionally these “Ultimate” versions of Monster Hunter have appeared on Nintendo consoles. It’s probably just a coincidence, though.

We can speculate and nudge each other as much as we like, but there is nothing about Monster Hunter XX that suggests it will be on any platform other than the 3DS. While Monster Hunter has found some international acceptance and has a die-hard community of fans across the globe, Japan is its bread and butter, and it has released some games exclusively for that market in the past.

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Regardless of platform or region, Monster Hunter XX looks to be this generation’s “Ultimate,” a sort of .5 version or Game of The Year edition of the latest Monster Hunter game. Capcom did it before with Ultimate versions of Monster Hunter Tri and Monster Hunter 4 (though they were called 3G and 4G in Japan, respectively).

This version of the latest Monster Hunter installment features a lot of old faces, as well as a lot of new ones. Returning monster include Barroth, Barrioth, Uragaan, Zamtrios, and an angry, upgraded Diablos. Additions include a sort of wide-winged, hypnotic dragon, something that looks like an even larger Gigginox, and some kind of rocket-powered dragon at the end. Clearly, he’s the new game’s big bad.

There looks to be a new region to explore as well, with airships used as the new hub world for it. Hunters have a couple of new tricks up their sleeves, with some new styles for traditional weapons.

All of this will show up in Japan on March 18. While it would be nice to imagine an up-ported version showing up on the Switch at launch, Japanese releases for Monster Hunter games have traditionally been a few months ahead of Western releases. If this does show up on the Switch, expect it sometime in the summer.

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