Best Monster Hunter Spin-Off Games

Since the franchise began in 2004, the Monster Hunter series has released 17 games, with Monster Hunter Wilds just around the corner marking the 18th. That number easily makes Monster Hunter one of the Capcom franchises with the most games. Impressively, Capcom has managed to keep the quality of the franchise pretty consistent, at least with the mainline titles.

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Compared to some publishers, Capcom has been fairly restrained when it comes to releasing Monster Hunter spin-offs. These days, only a small handful of Monster Hunter spin-offs are still available to actually play, and many of them were only released in Japan. That makes ranking them difficult, so the following Monster Hunter spin-off games have been ranked based on a mixture of Metacritic scores, what was said about them at the time of their release, and overall commercial success.

8 Monster Hunter Explore

A Heavily-Monetized Mobile Social Game

Upon its release, Capcom claimed Monster Hunter Explore was their first attempt at a mobile Monster Hunter game, which wasn't technically true. It was, however, their first attempt at a modern (aka. Heavily monetized) Monster Hunter mobile game.

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Monster Hunter Explore was a four-player social game that launched in Japan in 2015 and stayed online until 2020. It was relatively popular there, but attempts to release it in other countries were ditched after a disastrous Canadian launch. Gameplay was inspired by traditional Monster Hunter games, but employed a free-to-play model that utilized gems as a paid currency. That alone probably makes it deserving of the bottom ranking for most gamers, and it's safe to say this wasn't one of the best mobile games of all time.

7 Monster Hunter Riders

A Japan-Only Mobile Game That Had Monsters And Humans Working Together

Capcom's next big attempt at a mobile Monster Hunter game was Monster Hunter Riders. Once again region-locked to Japan, it was released in 2020 and was shut down just two years later. Surprising pretty much no one, it relied on gacha mechanics where players were encouraged to spend real money to buy in-game currency, which would allow them to summon new monsters and riders.

While not exactly ground-breaking, the game did at least try to do something new with the franchise. While it didn't have the best story in a mobile game, it did have a story - one that focused on the Monster Hunter universe's Riders Guild on the continent of Felgia, and fighting the "Dark Malice". It also focused on humans and monsters working together rather than humans chopping monsters up, which was a nice change of pace for the series. Just for attempting to tell a story in a traditionally story-light franchise, Riders ranks slightly higher than Explore.

6 Monster Hunter Dynamic Hunting

Metacritic Score: 69

Capcom's true first attempt at a mobile Monster Hunter game, Dynamic Hunting, was released way back in 2011. A very different beast to the main games, players fight 1-on-1 against boss monsters rather than hunting them in an open world. It also used simplified combat mechanics that focused on swipe and tap gestures to attack, dodge, and block.

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The game certainly isn't the best RPG released by Capcom, but it was fun enough in small bursts, even if its simple gameplay got boring pretty quickly. The main reason it ranks higher than its other mobile siblings is that it utilizes a pay-once model, meaning fans bought the game once and that was it.. With a little tinkering, Dynamic Hunting is still playable today, something that can't be said for our first two entries.

5 Monster Hunter Now

Metacritic Score: 73

Capcom's most recent stab at a mobile Monster Hunter game has also been its most successful. Released in 2023, it quickly reached 10 million downloads, made $14 million in its first week, and gave Capcom's stock price a nice little bump. It's also pretty fun to play.

Developed by Niantic, the game shares a lot of DNA with the developer's hit success, Pokemon Go. In Monster Hunter Now, augmented reality is used so that players can hunt lifelike monsters that appear around them. Inspired by the main games, players are expected to hunt monsters, collect materials, and then craft ever-stronger weapons and armor. Much like Pokemon Go, the gameplay loop is pretty addictive. Monster Hunter Now may not be as successful as Pokemon Go, but fans of the series seem to be enjoying it.

4 Monster Hunter Diary: Poka Poka Airou Village

A Japan-Only, Kid-Friendly Monster Hunter Farming Game

Thankfully, not all the Monster Hunter spin-offs are cash-in mobile games. Monster Hunter Diary is a super cute spin-off that ditches the monster hunting of the traditional series almost entirely, in favor of completing quests and managing a village full of the felyne mascot characters.

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Only released in Japan, the game received generally positive reviews. Full of mini-games and activities like fishing and farming, the game was a far more child-friendly experience where fans played by giving commands to felynes. The game sold well enough that it got an expansion back in 2011 and a Nintendo DS version in 2015.

3 Monster Hunter Frontier Z/G/Online

A WoW-Era MMORPG, And One Of The Hardest Games In The Series

While many fans outside of Japan have never heard of it, Monster Hunter Frontier Z was one of the franchise's most successful games. An online-only MMORPG, it was released in 2007 and stayed up and running for an impressive twelve years. During that time, the game earned a reputation for being the hardest Monster Hunter game around.

Over the years, Capcom kept the game fresh by continuously releasing "Seasons" and "Forwards", which introduced new monsters, gear, and locations to the game. Frontiers blended Monster Hunter gameplay with more traditional MMORPG mechanics, and was a lot of fun to play with friends. While some fans disliked its excessive grind and difficulty, others lapped it up. Its ultimate shutdown likely had less to do with the game's quality and more to do with the fact that it relied on a monthly subscription model and could only be played in Japanese (despite the fact many Western players would have loved to give the game a try).

2 Monster Hunter Stories

Metacritic Score: 79

The Monster Hunter Stories games take a very different approach compared to the mainline games. Instead of hunting and dissecting monsters, players befriend them and battle alongside them in turn-based combat. If that formula sounds a little familiar, that's because Monster Hunter Stories is one of the best games to play for fans of Pokemon.

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That being said, the game is far from a cheap Pokemon knock-off. Monster Hunter Stories has its own style, and considering its original hardware, it was pretty nice to look at. The game did well enough to be nominated for both "Best Handheld Game" at The Game Awards 2017, and "Best 3DS Game" and "Best RPG" at IGN's Best of 2017 Awards, which is pretty impressive. Monster Hunter Stories isn't just an excellent Monster Hunter spin-off, it's an excellent RPG in its own right.

1 Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin

Metacritic Score: 81

A lot of games have tried to replicate Monster Hunter's combat, so it's kind of ironic that the best franchise spin-off pretty much ditched it completely. A direct sequel to the original Monster Hunter Stories, Wings of Ruin simply took what made its older sibling so special and improved upon it.

Wings of Ruin features improved graphics, expanded gameplay mechanics, and arguably a better story. On top of this, environments were more dynamic, character models were improved, and animations were much smoother; basically, everything one would expect from a generational leap in hardware. On top of all this, this sequel introduced multiplayer, with co-op quests and a versus mode, which was pretty cool. Ignoring some technical hitches on the Switch, Monster Hunter Stories 2 was well-received by both critics and fans alike, and is easily the best Monster Hunter spin-off so far.

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