Monster Hunter Now Season 2 Is a Good Time to Jump (Back) In

If you’re reading this, Monster Hunter Now has just entered its second season, Dancing in the Tempest. Niantic’s adding a lot of exciting stuff to the game, perhaps the biggest thing being an Elder Dragon. 

The mobile game has reached 15 million downloads at the time of writing, which is a pretty good measure of success in my book. To capitalize on the player base, many of season 2’s updates are focused on making it a more social game. 

To start, Kushala Daora from Monster Hunter 2 is coming to the game, along with a new mechanic called Elder Dragon Interceptions. These function a lot like Hunt-a-thons, but instead of a gauntlet of five monsters, it’s one big encounter.

I played an Interception at Summer Game Fest with a decently kitted out squad (that's where I also saw the latest from Monster Hunter Wilds). We still ran the clock all the way to the literal last second, and that’s including the extra 75 seconds you get after taking out half of its health. 

Luckily, even if we failed at that point, taking out half of Kushala Daora’s health will give you some bonuses, as you’ve repelled the creature (instead of slaying it). 

A Niantic spokesperson declined to comment on whether we can expect more Elder Dragon Interceptions, but as Monster Hunter fans know, there are many more Elder Dragons to work with from the main games. 

Speaking of more things to work with, Season 2 also comes with a new weapon: the Gunlance. This brings Monster Hunter Now up to 10 weapon types, out of the 14 typically found in a mainline game.

The Gunlance was a lot of fun to use; much like the other weapons I’ve used, the interface was intuitive and simple, with a lot of options for somewhat more robust gameplay. After four taps, you can do some pretty big damage, but you have manually reload it to get that big damage on the fourth tap.

You can manually reload by holding, and then swiping down. It’s not quite as intuitive as you’d think, and that’s somewhat true for the other weapons’ controls, too. That’s why Season 2 is also coming with guides for every weapon for more accessibility. 

To round out the social aspects here, Niantic is also adding a button to quickly send a friend request after a hunt. If you see a familiar username on your morning commute, now’s the time to shoot your shot. 

Additionally, Friend Quests are being added, where you and three others can opt in to complete a bigger quest within a time limit (think something like “slay 250 monsters”). 

Last time I checked out Monster Hunter Now, I was having a pretty good time with the early game. However, I was hitting a wall thanks to the grind that was setting in, and the microtransactions at the time had me feeling wary. 

Now, I’ve just reinstalled it with a sense of freshness in my eyes. I want to try reincorporating it into my routine, because after all, I have 14.99 million or so new friends to find. 

I played an early build of Monster Hunter Now Season 2 at Summer Game Fest Play Days courtesy of Niantic.