How and why Sega land on some of the decisions that they do for their flagship Sonic franchise are a mystery to us, and quite likely many of their fans, but at least on this occasion, they’ve cooked up something pretty cool! It was today revealed that Sonic’s latest adventure, Sonic Frontiers, which is now just under a month away from release, is going to be the recipient of some collaboration fuelled DLC. Coming to the game will be a host of goodies from Capcom’s Monster Hunter series!
Now, this seems weirder at first than it actually is. In 2021, Monster Hunter Rise saw the inclusion of a host of Sonic the Hedgehog pieces of DLC, from events, quests, and amour sets, most of which was pretty positively received, and now it seems that it’s time for Sega to return the favour.
The official Sonic the Hedgehog Twitter account revealed that the DLC would be coming to the game on November 14 at 5 PM PST, and it won’t be costing players a cent to access it, while the Monster Hunter Twitter account, shed a little more light on the situation, stating “#MonsterHunter is dashing into #SonicFrontiers! Following launch on Nov. 8, download the free Collaboration Pack on Nov. 14 to get some stylish in-game Monster Hunter equipment and play a fun mini-game! Enjoy this artwork cooked up by the Monster Hunter series dev team!”
Thanks to the Japanese Sonic Account we even learned a bit about what the exact content was, “Introducing the contents of the collaboration DLC,” it said. “Rathalos Equipment (Hunter/Airou) that Sonic can wear will be available. In addition, you will be able to play the ‘grilled meat’ mini-game in the game.”
The Sonic The Hedgehog content that last year arrived in Monster Hunter Rise, at the time, exclusive to Nintendo Switch (and now on PC), included two new Special Event quests, where the Sonic unlockables could be earned; these included Sonic themed clothing for the Hunter, and a Tails outfit for their Palamute. Your Palico also lucked out, with a Sonic costume coming for the player’s Palico, which lets them perform Sonic’s iconic spin attack. The additions coming to Sonic Frontiers are like for like in this respect, but, given the nearly 12-month gap between the launches of the two games, might suggest that at one stage, Sega thought that Sonic Frontiers might be on track to launch in 2021 as well.
Sonic Frontiers is coming to PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, and PC, on November 8, 2022. The current reception of the game from playable preview builds available to both the press and the public have been quite split, so let’s see what bearing the Monster Hunter content will have upon its own launch, a mere week after the core game’s release.
