Monster Hunter has grown to be one of the biggest gaming franchises in the entire world, with each new game selling north of 10 million copies as of late. There’s nothing quite like squadding up with friends and taking down giant monsters together, especially when you’re grinding for a new upgrade, weapon, or piece of gear. While the Monster Hunter series is playable only on handhelds, consoles, and PC, that changed in 2023 with Monster Hunter Now, a fresh take on the series from Pokémon Go developer Niantic. The company took that core Monster Hunter experience and combined it with augmented reality technology to create a game that can be played anywhere.
Speaking with members of the Niantic team, I was told that the goal is for Monster Hunter Now to be a “10-year game”, which is incredibly ambitious. The team seems to have endless ideas on how to introduce new content to players, which is generally released through Seasons, occurring once each Quarter. The next season for Monster Hunter Now, Season 6, is titled Scarlet Gaze in the Gloam. After spending some time with the update at Summer Game Fest: Play Days, I feel that there has never been a better time to jump in and experience Monster Hunter on the go.
So, what does Scarlet Gaze in the Gloam introduce? The focus of Season 6 is clearly put on giving longtime players more content to discover. There is no greater example of this than Riftborne Monsters, which are super-powerful monsters that spawn from the influence of abnormal rifts. If you’ve played since launch and fought all the available monsters in the game, these new battles are going to provide a new challenge. Rathian, Tobi-Kadachi, Barroth, and other monsters are included in this first batch of Riftborne Monsters, and Niantic plans to release more in the future. I was able to fight a Riftborne Monster with some members of the Niantic team, and let me tell you: these fights will absolutely be a challenge, even for veteran players.
Additionally, a new feature called Style Customization has been added, which allows you to boost the stats of Grade 8 of higher weapons. This acts as a new upgrade to unlock, so players who have previously maxed out weapons can now work to upgrade them even more. By changing your weapon’s style, you can change the actions of each weapon type; every weapon has two new styles available, with each offering different actions and combos to discover. This feels like another great addition for longtime players, further offering more content to expand the endgame.
Another major addition in Season 6 is the Hunting Horn, which is finally being added to Monster Hunter Now after months of fan demand. If you’re unfamiliar with this weapon type, the Hunting Horn is able to boost both yourself and your allies by playing notes in a certain order. This could be increased attack power, increased defense, or even acceleration of the Special Gauge. From the brief time I had with the game, I felt that Niantic did a great job implementing this weapon into Monster Hunter Now. The Hunting Horn is incredibly popular in Monster Hunter Wilds, and I’m guessing it likely will be here, too.
Finally, what would an update be without new monsters? The big new monster for this season is Nargacuga, with Beotodus, Bishaten, and Great Wroggi also joining. Every new monster brings with it new armor sets to unlock, so you can plan on hunting these down to unlock some slick new gear. It’s fun to see monsters from games like Monster Hunter Rise and Monster Hunter World: Iceborne make the transition over, and I think this gives console players a leg up over players new to the series entirely. There are a ton of different monsters available in the game already, and I think the release of new foes every few months is a great way to keep anticipation throughout the year.
Overall, I came out of my preview of Monster Hunter Now Season 6 incredibly impressed. Niantic clearly has put an immense amount of passion into this update, as it has with Monster Hunter Now as a whole. If you’re like me and you’ve never played Monster Hunter Now, I feel that Season 6 is a great time to try out the game for the first time. Many of the previous seasons focused on tuning and improving the experience for beginners, with recent additions including a training dummy to test weapons on.
As a whole, Monster Hunter Now is designed for easy pick-up and play. You can play with one hand, and despite the game focusing on swiping and tapping, there’s a real skill layer that you must master to be successful on the battlefield. Regardless of your familiarity with the Monster Hunter series, there is something here for everyone, and Monster Hunter Now allows you to get as little or as much as you want out of it.
Monster Hunter Now Season 6: Scarlet Gaze in the Gloam launches on Thursday, June 19.
