Monster Hunter Frontier

Notes:

• Monster Hunter Frontier Online changed their name to Monster Hunter Frontier Z

Monster Hunter Frontier began as a Japanese-only, online-only port of Monster Hunter 2 for PC, and then expanded from that, adding more content and features that took it further and further away from the main series. The developers did not want the MMO to rely on the mainline Monster Hunter games and embraced a different design philosophy, one that produced monsters with increasingly exaggerated features. Many early designs were scraped for being too unrealistic or breaking immersion in the world. The development team was also open to playing fast and loose with established norms in the franchise, using Frontier as a testing ground for new ideas and mechanics - some of which were incorporated into the mainline series. There was rumored animosity between the Frontier developers and Capcom Online, partially evidenced by the mainline monsters being labeled as "exotic". The feud likley started when Hypnocatrice and Lavasioth - the only unique monsters Frontier initially had upon release, were added to Freedom Unite - a cheaper game with lots of unique content. Although never intended to be exclusive, Lavasioth went on became a staple of the series while Hypnocatrice never again appeared in any future mainline Monster Hunter title.

• Among the 181 monsters in Frontier, only 10 are from the mainline games after MHFU, of which only three are from the 4th generation.
• Monster Hunter Frontier G10 released the Switch Axe, seven years after it was introduced in Monster Hunter Tri. They have never added the Charge Blade or Insect Glaive.

The Frontier team started to march to the beat of their own drum around Season 2.0, with the introduction of "Espinas", a fire/poison flying wyvern knock-off of the main series mascot Rathain. Many traditional Monster Hunter players started to drop off around this point, as the game became increasingly fantastical. Season 4.0 was another major turning point when Kasunori, who had previously worked on Pokemon spin-off titles, took over as director. 4.0 also added a shop with items that could be purchased with real money, something the devs had promised they would never do, leading to another exodus of players. However, the player count reportedly increased around this time as new players took an interest in the increased power scaling. During Season 10.0 the "Naked Hunter Knife" incident occurred. Players were forced to HR 999, equipped with a naked hunter knife, and lost all of their items for weeks. Emergency maintenance eventually fixed the problem. Frontier G is when the monster designs started to become very eccentric and the difficulty spiked. This is also when most western players started to gain access. Frontier G1 saw a surge in players and sales, but this ultimately dropped by 30%. Power creep was a constant problem for Frontier and by G9 the desire to go "bigger and tougher" with each iteration meant the games had become unforgiving and the skill level players could achieve as "Godlike". Frontier Z saw the player base plummet, made worse by server outages that lasted for days. The unconventional naming convention may have also played a role in player decline. Frontier is now largely regarded as the black sheep of the franchise. Many of Frontier's unique monsters would later make an appearance in Mezeporta Reclamation.