Few games have changed the trajectory of their respective series quite like Monster Hunter World, one of the biggest smash hits Capcom has ever created. World was a vibrant, expansive, and ambitious leap that paid off in spades. It makes sense, then, that eight years later the series would still be chasing that high. Even with the time that's passed, I find myself amazed that Monster Hunter Outlanders, essentially, manages to cram the experience of World into a mobile game. This mobile spinoff certainly isn't attempting to reinvent the wheel, but after six hours with the game, it's proving to be a surprisingly competent package, although I have some bubbling hesitations about the grind and encroaching gacha systems.

Anytime there's a mobile spinoff of a major series, the first question that comes to mind is how that game will be compromised, or truncated, from that full console or PC experience. And so often, those mobile games are simplifications of a larger idea, like Fire Emblem Heroes or Diablo Immortal. What I've found fascinating about Monster Hunter Outlanders so far is that it doesn't really simplify the overall gameplay loop and structure. Rather, it's sort of a reconfigured Monster Hunter that strings out progression to support the typical framework of a mobile game, one filled with nearly a half-dozen different currencies to keep track of at any given time. But it also very much feels like Outlanders wants players to engage with it like a full-fledged Monster Hunter, and even includes all the story exposition you'd expect to go along with it.

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