Monster Hunter Frontier is a Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game Spin-Off of the Monster Hunter franchise, instead of being released for consoles it was released for computers, employing a monthly fee to play it. The game puts a higher emphasis on multiplayer, opting to go for a full online experience requiring online servers entirely to play. Using Monster Hunter 2 (dos) as its base, it nonetheless goes in a very different direction, starting from having no story or plot and taking place entirely within the Mezeporta Square, a Hub City where more than 30 hunters can gather and have fun, prepare for quests or do other social activities together. The original version (Season 1.0) was released in June 21, 2007 for Japan, August 2008 for South Korea and June 24, 2010 in China (though it was released there for the Xbox 360).
Unlike most other games in the franchise, Frontier did not receive a traditional Updated Re-release but instead received Expansion Pack patches (known as "Seasons") that expanded the game's content with new monsters, weapons, maps, mechanics and more. In April 17, 2013 the game received an Expansion Pack that changed its name to Monster Hunter Frontier G and introduced the G-Rank quests, monsters, weapons, armor, materials, etc. It was also given releases on the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Play Station Vita and Wii U the same year in the following months, the game allowed for crossplay between all the platforms except for the Wii U which had its own servers. Another expansion was released in April 23, 2014, renaming the game G Genuine and introducing a new weapon type: The Battle Tonfas, which had the special ability of switching between cutting and impact damage.
In November 9, 2016 Frontier G Genuine was updated into Frontier Z (later Z Zenith) which introduced the Zenith species as their main feature, which are stronger versions of existing monsters with whole slews of new powers and abilities, a year later the game celebrated it's tenth anniversary. In September 26, 2018 Frontier Z was renamed Frontier Z Zenith and given its last update, introducing the Magnet Spike, a weapon that works differently from all others and is based on switching between cutting and impact damage as well as employing magnetism to move around in the air and get close to monsters to fight. The game's servers were ultimately shut down in the year of 2019 due to the developers not having much ideas left anymore and simply finding the second generation's engine too difficult to use anymore, wanting to move on to the newer technologies of the more recent generations. As such, December 18, 2019 marked the last day of Frontier.
The game does not have a "true" flagship monster, though its many seasons have their own flagship each. The most recognizable out of the flagships and even the monsters is perhaps the Flying Wyvern Espinas, introduced in Season 3.0 and had multiple reappearances as the flagship of future seasons thanks to its subspecies, rare species, and Zenith species. The monster made its first mainline appearance in Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak.
The game employs examples of the following tropes:
- Canon Foreigner: Many of the monsters, areas, mechanics, weapons, hunting assistants and characters introduced in this game have yet to appear in the mainline series.
- Darker and Edgier: As the game progressed, it gradually turned darker for both monsters and hunters. First many monsters started to show far more aggressive and murderous intent than previous ones, hunters were now not only just fainted by attacks but could now die (though you'd still be sent back to camp as if nothing happened unless you were carted a third time) with certain attacks (such as Zenith Akura Vashimu dragging you under the sand to eat you offscreen, Baruragaru sucking up your body fluids, Laviente swallowing you whole and even G-Rank Conquest White Fatalis outright erasing you from existence with its lightning bolt). Also monsters like Supremacy Pariapuria count, as it is a blood-coated version of a usually goofy monster with its lair covered in dozens of Bullfango and Bulldrome corpses with blood splattered everywhere.
- Expansion Pack: This game's expansions were divided first in numbered seasons (Season 1.0/1.1/1.2, Season 2.0/2.1/2.2, etc.) then came a bigger expansion in the overhaul of the Forward expansions which were followed up by the G expansion, which itself received an expansion in G Genuine, followed by Z, and concluded by Z Zenith.
- Expy Coexistence: Among the mainline monsters that were eventually added to the game were Nargacuga, Barioth, Uragaan, Deviljho, Amatsu and Gore Magala who all had Suspiciously Similar Substitutes in the game beforehand.
- Purple Is Powerful: Subverted when it comes to weapon sharpness. Purple sharpness, the highest sharpness level in the console and handheld games, is superceded by cyan sharpness.
- Serial Escalation: After a while, the developer team began to make harder and Harder Than Hard versions of existing monsters in updates, seeing as most of the other ways to expand the game were running out in terms of ideas. Same can be said for the newer species, which put their original species' abilities up to eleven.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Various mainline monsters debuting after the game's release that weren't added to the game in later updates were instead given similar substitutes whose only difference usually was the setting where they were fought and designs. Examples are Lagiacrus who gets its substitute in the form of Kuarusepusu, Deviljho which gets Abiorugu and even two for one in Nargacuga, Barioth and their subspecies getting Dyuragaua and Hyujiki. Some of them were lessened after the aforementioned monsters were much later added to the game.
- Updated Re-release: An updated, expanded version of Monster Hunter 2 (dos), albeit with various music pieces replaced with original compositions.
