Monster Hunter XX Announced for Japan

But will we see a Switch version?

By Joe Skrebels

Capcom has announced the Japanese release of Monster Hunter XX (pronounced "Double-Cross"), an updated version of the game released as Monster Hunter Generations in the west.

Announced during the Monster Hunter Nintendo Direct broadcast earlier today, XX continues the Monster Hunter series' tradition of releasing a "G" or "Ultimate" version of the last game before a full sequel is released.

The first piece of Monster Hunter XX art.

As translated by GaijinHunter, the game is due for Japanese release on March 18, and will include a G-rank difficulty level, a new Airship-based hub village, several returning monsters (including Barroth and Barioth), new Deviant versions of monsters (including a Deviant Diablos) and at least one unnamed new monster.

XX also adds two new Hunter Styles - one that rewards players for playing aggressively, and another that wasn't shown, but appears to favour using barrel bombs - and adds some version of Hunter Styles to Generations' Prowler hunters.

Players of X will be able to import their save data to the new version, and those who played Monster Hunter Stories will also see some benefit.

It's unclear whether XX will see release in the west - most recent Monster Hunter games that have made it overseas were Japan's G versions, with Generations being a notable exception.

We're rather hoping it does make the trip - we gave Monster Hunter Generations an 8/10 review, saying that it "has the appeal of a greatest hits album. This is a worthy collection, one that folds 12 years of top-notch boss fights into one big action RPG."

While Capcom made good on its word that it would not mention Nintendo Switch in the presentation, XX's March release date already has fans discussing whether an HD version might be released for Nintendo's new console. For more on that - and any other Monster Hunter XX information that emerges - keep your eyes on IGN.

Joe Skrebels is IGN's UK News Editor, and he has still never killed a Glavenus. It haunts him daily - because he has a model of one on his desk. Follow him on Twitter.

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