With the arrival of Insect Glaive in Season 9 in March 2026, Monster Hunter Now has since featured all 14 mainline weapon types. But translating the rather complex movesets of the original games came with headaches as well — some more so than others. Even once the team figured out how to make them work with swipe-and-tap gameplay, there was another problem. It also had to make sure the weapons didn’t end up completely overpowered. According to game director Chihiro Kanno, one such headache was the Hunting Horn.
Speaking in Famitsu Issue 1965 for Monster Hunter Now‘s third anniversary, Kanno was asked about the Hunting Horn and Insect Glaive taking longer to implement. He explained that replicating their mechanics with the game’s ‘one-tap’ controls proved particularly difficult. This doesn’t come as a huge surprise, considering Monster Hunter Now also had to drop mounting, one of Insect Glaive’s staple mechanics.
While Kanno and the team didn’t say anything more about the aerial Hunter’s favorite, he went into a bit more detail about balancing the dooting hammer. “For Hunting Horn, ‘If certain Melody effects were active, it became overpowered, right?'” Kanno explained. “But on the other hand, if we adjusted it too much,’Then that made the Hunting Horn not particularly appealing…’ So balancing it was difficult.”
It’s a pretty understandable issue, as Melodies, buffs, and its distinctive moves are a huge part of the weapon’s identity. Strip too much away, and Hunters end up with something that barely feels like the weapon they’re used to. Capcom’s mainline team itself faced such backlash over the changes made to Hunting Horn in Monster Hunter Rise.
Nevertheless, the team at Scopely Explore, which lead planner Shin San-sok said remains unchanged from its days under Niantic, eventually got there. The game has also been expanding its weapons through Styles, which changed how weapons play with moves from Rise and Sunbreak so far.
San-sok said both the addition of Styles and Rental Sets have encouraged Hunters to experiment with skills and weapons they previously wouldn’t have considered. “When a Style is added, the usage rate of that weapon type goes up,” he pointed out.
The experimentation isn’t stopping there, either. Kanno confirmed that Sword and Shield will receive adjustments in Season 11, including attack changes, new actions, and smoother combos. Other weapons are expected to get their turns afterward. Meanwhile, San-sok added that Monster Hunter Now still has a ‘long way to go’ when it comes to reproducing the appeal of the series.
“Other games have elements like the Slinger and Traps, or Palicoes that hunt together with you, so I think there is still room to add those features,” said San-sok.
