Monster Hunter Online is currently in closed beta in China, with only 1,000 people allowed to participate in this strict beta phase. This is a particularly low number considering China’s massive potential playerbase, but this is likely only the first of several beta phases.
Those familiar with the series know there are several weapon types in the Monster Hunter universe, but so far only four have been confirmed for Monster Hunter Online:
Sword and shield Great sword Light bowgun (The official site just refers to this as bowgun, which may imply medium and heavy variations will be skipped over. ) Long Sword
Considering the small size of this weapon pool in comparison to the large amount found in other games in the series, it is likely more will be announced and implemented at a later date. It would be a shame to skip out on the lance, gunlance, hammer (my favorite), switch axe, and so on.
Digging around the official site
Below are the monsters having been confirmed thus far, as well as a few additional screenshots spattered about the official site. You can wander over and check them out yourself, but the site can be difficult to navigate without some knowledge of the language.
The area shots found below are smaller than the others because that is the maximum size on the website. Hopefully we will get higher resolution shots of the Monster Hunter Online’s areas in the near future.
