iOS (iPhone/iPad) Critic Reviews

If you want the full-fat Monster Hunter experience, this isn’t quite it, but it shouldn’t be either. Instead, like a Diet Coke, Monster Hunter Now is a fantastic companion to the series fans know and love, and it’s got plenty of ways to pull in newcomers as well. We hope to see more monsters and features down the line, and this live-service game is surely set to provide them, but this is a thrilling and satisfying twist on the geo-location format that every mobile gamer should try out for themselves.

I definitely recommend checking out Monster Hunter Now if you’ve enjoyed the recent entries in the series or are a newcomer looking to see what Monster Hunter is all about with the lowest barrier of entry. In its current state, it isn’t as deep as proper console and PC Monster Hunter games, but it does its job at giving you bite-sized hunting action on the go when you’re out and about with a lot of love put in for Monster Hunter. I hope the combat gets more depth through updates, but I’m pleased with the launch state of Monster Hunter Now and will be playing it regularly and checking out updates whenever new content is added.

It may be lacking some of the features that you would expect from a game like this in 2023, but just like Pokémon GO took some time to get there, Monster Hunter Now has solid foundation required to grow into something really good.

By adapting Monster Hunter's playful formula to the Niantic model, which this time around has been revised to meet the needs of the most isolated players, the Californian studio has created its most frenetic and fun application this time. Presenting only thirteen large monsters and six categories of weapons, at present the content offering appears a little lacking, but knowing Niantic and its already confirmed intention to support the product with seasonal events that will introduce new stories, creatures, equipment and so on other, Monster Hunter Now seems to be traveling towards an overall rosy future.

It is clearly a simplification of the classic structure of the Capcom series, but Monster Hunter Now is not without depth and manages to be engaging even if the concept of the game is now somewhat derivative.

There’s a lot to do, with quests and hunts coming thick and fast, as it once again strongly incentivises you to get fresh air – since it doesn’t work either indoors or in a moving car. While early days, indicators are that this could have the longevity recent Niantic games have lacked.

Monster Hunter Now could grow into a true successor and companion to Pokémon Go, but only if Niantic listen to their audience make rapid improvements to the game. Smoothing out the difficulty curve and server issues could elevate the game, but the gameplay loop of buying Gems for Potions just to get through a day's play is quickly becoming obnoxious.

Any player that is either a longtime fan or looking to dip their toes in for the first time should consider giving this a chance, but a real thorough one, which means getting out there to experience all that it truly has to offer, especially for those who truly enjoyed the style of play of Pokémon GO.

The skeleton of a solid MonHun mobile game is here. Now looks great, has a slick battle system tuned for a smartphone, and even includes some very clever quality-of-life features, like paintballs that let you mark monsters in the field so you can battle them later from home. There’s a lot of room to grow — and considering the way Pokémon Go added key features years after launch, Monster Hunter Now could follow a similar trajectory if it’s successful.