Monster Hunter has difficult battles, even though many veterans of the series find that modern titles are too easy. However, the arguably most challenging games in the series were not in any of the main titles but in a forgotten MMORPG that we will take a closer look at in our MMORPG theme week.
What game is it? Monster Hunter Frontier was an MMORPG that released in 2007 as a PC game in Japan. Three years later, the Xbox 360 version was released, and during its lifespan, other console versions and servers for South Korea and Taiwan emerged.
At its core, the game is an MMORPG version of the classic Monster Hunter gameplay. There was no open world, but the familiar quests that could be completed with up to four people. The MMORPG ran for 12 years until it was shut down in 2019.
Although this spin-off is a fairly forgotten entry in the Monster Hunter series, it has two exceptional weapon types and new mechanics, as well as the most absurd and difficult monsters in the entire Monster Hunter history.
It gets harder
What is special about the monsters? The game featured 152 large monsters. Initially, they are quite well-known, and in countless quests, you can face new and old monsters. In doing so, you level up your hunting rank. However, on level 2, you will encounter the powerful Elder Dragons, which usually appear in the endgame of the regular games.
At Hunting Rank 2, you can already battle Chameleos, Teostra, or even Fatalis in Frontier. Besides these well-known creatures, there are also new monsters. The Espinas was introduced only here, in the second season, before returning in Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak.
Already with the regular monsters, you encounter interesting mechanics, like with the Gasurabazura. The monster employs poison bubbles, quicksand, and combines both. Already in the early quest segments, monsters deal tremendous damage that can finish you off quickly. The monster named Unknown has even 5 rage levels and various abilities, combining aspects of several monsters.
Here, there are also the known ranks: Low-Rank, High-Rank, and G-Rank (referred to as Master-Rank in World). Depending on the rank of the quest, the monsters become increasingly difficult. However, in Monster Hunter Frontier, additional layers are added.
You can adjust the difficulty of the quests
In Monster Hunter Frontier, you can make certain quests even harder by setting the mode to Hardcore. As Gorguinni explains in his YouTube video, these are not just familiar monsters but harder – this mode changes the monsters.
They become stronger, gain new moves, and also look different. With the Hardcore mode, even simple monsters become a major threat that can easily one-shot you. However, the Hardcore monsters are just the beginning. With the update Monster Hunter Frontier Forward.5
, the Supremacy variants were introduced.
This week, you can expect exciting articles every day around the topic of MMORPGs. Included: a journey through the history of online role-playing games, as well as nostalgic retrospectives, streaming nights, interviews, columns, and analyses.
Here is the program for the great MMORPG theme week 2025 from MeinMMO
They are somewhat reminiscent of the hardened variants. These are special versions of the monsters that are even stronger than the Hardcore variants. Although there are only 6 Supremacy variants, they pack a punch.
The Supremacy Teostra is a slightly golden variant that deals even more damage, and its fire attacks are even larger. Additionally, it can summon a tornado of fire around itself, and when it gets angry, it burns through its own health bar quite quickly as it surrounds itself with fire (via Monster Hunter Wiki).
In 2016, a new update, Monster Hunter Frontier Z, brought an even tougher monster variant into the game: The Zenith Monsters.
The top of the food chain
What are Zenith Monsters? The Zenith Monsters are not just monsters with more damage, health, or larger attacks; they rethink the monsters and the elements. A good example is the Zenith Rathalos.
The Zenith Rathalos can perform combos and fights more in the air than on the ground. Additionally, the Zenith Rathalos can cover its wings and tail with fire. When the Zenith Rathalos stomps on the ground, small fire pillars emerge (via Monster Hunter Wiki).
The hardest part is when you start to burn. You don’t just lose health, but parts of your health bar. Another new effect of Zenith Monsters would be the enhanced Iceblight, which continuously drains your stamina and freezes you when you run out of stamina.
Additionally, there are various Zenith Ranks that increase damage and elemental effects with the increased rank. One-shots are also guaranteed at these ranks since there are attacks that can 100 % kill you if you are hit – no matter how good your armor is.
Anyone who wants to continue torturing themselves after the Zenith Monsters can face the Extreme Individuals. These are 10 new versions of known monsters that pack a punch. Here, you must know exactly what you are doing because every attack is potentially deadly.
The Blinking Nargacuga is a good example: It has more range and can rain poisonous thorns from the sky. Additionally, in this variant, it can create blade whirlwinds that suck in hunters and then kill them (via Monster Hunter Wiki).
Why are these variants so exciting? What is interesting about the monsters in this game is that they haven’t just received better stats. Thought has been put into how to change the movesets and introduce exciting new effects.
This led to powerful monsters that can unfortunately no longer be officially battled. At least the Espinos made it into the main series, so nothing is impossible. Another fan favorite is back: After 16 years, the legendary Lagiacrus finally returns to Monster Hunter – Now I’m afraid it won’t meet expectations
