Monster Hunter Freedom Unite is the latest game in the Monster Hunter franchise for PlayStation Portable. It is an expansion to the original Monster Hunter Freedom 2 (Monster Hunter Portable 2nd in Japan) and was released on March 27, 2008 in Japan as Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G. In the 2008 Tokyo Game Show, it was announced that the game would be released in North America as Monster Hunter Freedom Unite in Spring 2009.

As for the release in Japan, a special edition PSP bundle includes the game, two pouches of different sizes, a strap, and a decorated bronze/brown PSP. In addition to this bundle, people who pre-ordered the game in Japan received a black, hairy strap. The hair on the strap is meant to be that of a monster exclusive to the game, the Narugakuruga.

New features

New for this expansion is new monsters, new weapons, a whole new area called Ocean of Trees, G-Rank missions, and the option of hiring a Felyne Warrior to help the player on missions. The maximum HR that can be achieved is 9, weapons and armour now go up to rarity 10, weapons now have a new sharpness level "purple". Players who have the previous game Monster Hunter Freedom 2 can transfer their character and all their weapons and armour to the new game.

Monster Hunter Freedom Unite also allows for players to install all media files to the memory stick - further improving loading times.

Recently homebrew developers created a translation patch for the game translating the entire game to Chinese, English and any other Latin-language allowing people outside Japan to play the game online.

Reception

The game sold 670,000 copies on its release day, and in its first week sold 1.5 million copies. Capcom's US blog states that it lowered Japan's productivity during the day. As of July 9, 2008, the game has sold 2,300,505 copies in Japan, according to Famitsu.

References