#5 Monster Hunter Frontier G
Safe to say that Monster Hunter is finding its footing in western markets, thanks in a large part to the international release of Monster Hunter IV Ultimate earlier this year, which sold more than 3 million copies in its first week on the shelves. Americans and Europeans, it seemed, were finally able to find the brilliant game hiding at the summit of the franchise’s legendarily steep learning curve.
But it hasn’t always been that way. It’s only been since Monster Hunter 3G that western gamers were able to play localized versions of a Monster Hunter game, and while it has been one of Japan’s most-loved games across many demographics for quite some time, its appeal is quite a bit more niche overseas.
Which is probably why there won’t ever be a western release of the newest MMO version of the game, Monster Hunter Frontier G, which came out in Japan in 2013 for PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 4, Wii U, and PS Vita. A PC beta has also been released for Taiwan, but that’s about as far as its gone despite persistent hopeful rumors of a western version.
Rumor has it that Capcom has its Korean studio working on a sequel that will naturally have Korean localization, but there’s been no word at all on expanding to western markets, where subscription-based MMOs have been in steady decline in recent years.
