Monster Hunter Frontier G, Capcom’s MMO-ish spin-off of the main Monster Hunter series, will be extending the boundaries of its frontier over to the PS3 and Wii U later this year.
Frontier G was originally released for the PC in 2007, and was later ported to the Xbox 360 in 2010. The new PS3 and Wii U port seems like it’ll feature most of the same content as the older versions of the game. Capcom says they will add trophy functionality to the PS3 version of the game, and that they’re experimenting with some sort of 3DS connectivity for the Wii U port.
The Frontier series is an MMO spin-off of the main Monster Hunter series, and it doesn’t exactly have the best reputation among hardcore Monster Hunter fanatics: the combat mechanics and controls aren’t as tight as they are in the main series, and the boss monsters designed specifically for the game aren’t nearly as cool as the iconic bosses from the “real” MH titles. Despite originally being designed for the PC and Xbox 360, the graphics are only slightly better than the PSP Monster Hunter ports.
With all that said, I’d still probably buy this game if it came out in the States, if only to show Capcom that the series does indeed have a fanbase in the West. Despite better than expected sales of Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate last March, Capcom still seems strangely skeptical of the franchise’s chances in America, so it’s still hard to predict whether Capcom will localize this title (or the upcoming Monster Hunter 4 for 3DS) or if they’ll decide to keep the game as a Japanese exclusive, as they did with the PC & Xbox 360 versions of Frontier G. (You probably won’t be able to import it either, as previous versions of the game had their servers IP locked.)
Monster Hunter Frontier G comes out for the PS3 and Wii U in Japan this holiday season. The game will be free to download for owners of both systems, but it does require a monthly fee of 1,400 yen (about fifteen bucks.) A physical version of the game — which will still require the monthly fee — will also be released for 6,090 yen (about 60 bucks,) which seems like a bit much, considering the digital version is free(-ish.)
