Sega Announces ‘Monster Gear,’ Bears Similarities To ‘Monster Hunter’

Sega Sonic — The Sonic the Hedgehog character is seen behind a video game screen showing a Sega Corp logo at a game arcade in Tokyo. Reuters/Kim Kyung-Hoon

With the continued success of “Monster Hunter” by developer Capcom, it only makes sense that other game developers would try their hand at the concept of the game while adding a few twists here and there like in “God Eater” or “Soul Sacrifice.” Now it appears that “Sonic the Hedgehog” developer Sega will be trying its hand in the genre, as the company has announced “Monster Gear.”

The game was revealed by Siliconera and will reportedly be a game for smartphones. The game will have up to four players teaming up with each other on missions as they take on various beasts and monsters, just like in “Monster Hunter.”

However, it does seem like Sega will be taking a slightly different approach to the game, as it has been stated that the missions will only take about five or so minutes and the game can reportedly be played with one hand. It seems like the developer is planning for “Monster Gear” to be a more streamlined game compared with “Monster Hunter,” with the target audience being mobile gamers who probably don’t want to spend too much time on playing games, hence the short mission length.

As noted by Pocket Gamer, one advantage “Monster Gear” may have could be the more streamlined experience of the game, as well as the fact that “Monster Hunter” is currently not available on Android devices. The game will still be an action-RPG that involves hunting down monsters for loot, but without the long tutorial process or the drawn-out missions that can take a good number of hours, depending on the monster.

The success of the “Monster Hunter” games is unprecedented and not so easily replicated, as the most recent instalment in the series, “Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate,” has shipped over 32 million units worldwide. The game came out for the 3DS and has been praised by many for its gameplay mechanics and interesting combat, among other things.

“Monster Gear” will be coming out next month in Japan for iOS and Android devices. The game will be a free-to-play title with microtransactions, which are staples in most mobile games. No word yet if the game will be heading West as well.

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