Capcom surprised everyone this week with snippets of Monster Hunter Outlanders gameplay alongside the announcement of the upcoming mobile Monster Hunter game.
While Capcom and TiMi are promising the same beast-hunting experience you know and love, the snippets we’ve seen of Monster Hunter Outlanders gameplay so far show that they’re willing to add quite a bit of new blood to the series.
Monster Hunter Outlanders Gameplay Breakdown
Characters



Most importantly, it looks like Outlanders will be the first Monster Hunter game where you won’t be playing as a create-a-Hunter. In the Producer interview they describe you playing as “Choosing…from a new line-up of characters”.
“The characters come from distinct origins, and their appearances and personality also vary”, says TiMi Studio Group Producer Dong Huang.
They’re described as having specialized weapons and skills, meaning it looks less like building your own ideal build and more about pulling for a hunter with features you like. Note that gacha mechanics themselves haven’t been explicitly confirmed: But given its free-to-play structure it’s a safe guess that characters would be pulled for.
TiMi and Capcom also confirmed that similar to Monster Hunter Rise, Outlanders would feature more than just the Palicos as companions: the trailer shows an owl-like and monkeye-like companion as well, each with their own skills like support attacks or even healing.
Combat

From the Monster Hunter Outlanders gameplay they’ve shown off so far, it looks like Outlanders will at least be visually on par with the mainline Monster Hunter titles. Many weapon attacks look similar to their mainline counterparts, such as the Dual Blade and Sword and Shield combos.
That being said, given that the games are releasing on mobile, it’s easy to assume that you shouldn’t be holding your breath for a 1:1 control scheme.

The dev diary does show some interesting elements, though, such as the bow hunter having some form of perfect dodge.
They’ve also confirmed that co-op hunting would still be in the game, so the spirit of getting mad at the Longsword player continues for yet another title.
Monsters

Interestingly enough, the Monster Hunter Outlanders gameplay shows just how much of the mobile game seems to be lifting from Monster Hunter World. Almost all the monsters shown so far are from the game, even looking like it will feature its debut Turf War mechanic.
Here’s the list of Monster Hunter Outlanders monsters shown so far:
- Anjanath
- Great Jagras
- Pukei-Pukei
- Kulu Ya-Ku
- Jyuratodus
- Tobi-Kadachi
- Diablos
- Rathian
- Barroth
In addition the game will also feature a new mutation affecting monsters, causing them to become more ferocious and difficult, like the Rathian with purple flames shown.
Crafting And Traversal

Arguably the most radical reveal in the Monster Hunter Outlanders Gameplay videos is the new crafting system, which seems to borrow from games like ARK: Survival Evolved as well as Monster Hunter competitor Wild Hearts.
Players will be able to build their own homes, putting down walls and fences while also gathering resources like wood to build them.
In the field, they’ll also be able to make a variety of traversal tools, like a zipline to traverse ravines, as well as a launcher to blow yourself into the air before activating your glider, not unlike in Genshin Impact.
Given that the upcoming Monster Hunter Wilds is also going to start advocating for more time spent in the virtual outdoors, it looks like the days of the hunting grounds only existing as places to ruin a Rathian’s day are well at an end.