Like other titles in the Monster Hunter series, players undertake quests that involve hunting large dangerous creatures, either solo or in multiplayer.
Major additions in this installment include special attacks, new combat styles, and the ability to play as Felynes who have traditionally only appeared as a companion to the player.
An expanded version of the game, titled Monster Hunter XX, was announced in October 2016, and was released exclusively in Japan in March 2017.
All fourteen weapon types from Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate, ranging from swords, hammers, bows, guns, and lances, are included in Monster Hunter Generations, in addition to the new Prowler mode which allows the player to take the role of a Felyne, a sentient cat-like species.
Armors grant defensive bonuses to physical and elemental damage and can boost specific skills and attack types through base attributes and the addition of special decoration gems and talismans.
Defeating more powerful creatures enables even more potent equipment to be crafted, thus creating a gameplay progress through the game's loot system.
The Striker Style is less technical but emphasises the use of Hunting Arts letting the player set up three special attacks.
The Adept Style gives players an opportunity to perform powerful counterattacks after successfully evading a monster's attack.
[6] The game includes an improved resource gathering system; resource points on the various areas will have more items that can be acquired before they are exhausted and the player only has to hold down a controller button to continue to collect items instead of pressing the button each time, and once per mission, the player can call a Felyne messenger to take one inventory's worth of goods back to a village to store.
[13] Series executive producer Ryozo Tsujimoto saw that since it had been more than ten years since the beginning of the franchise, they wanted to celebrate the occasion, putting the idea of the game as "a festival feeling, a special event".
[14] Game producer, Shintaro Kojima, noted that "the letter X looks like it divides the given space into four… so four hunting styles, four large main monsters, four villages.
[14] With the Prowler mode, it helps to emphasise the need to watch the monsters and read their tell before making a move and gaining the opportunity for a counterattack.
Newly represented games include The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and the Ace Attorney series, as well as more content based on Ōkami and Strider.
[37] Following the 2015 Tokyo Game Show, the Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association named Monster Hunter Generations as one of ten winners for the "Future Division" Award.
[45] Prior to the game's launch, Capcom expected to sell 2.5 million copies of Monster Hunter Generations by March 2016.
[48] Japanese sales tracker, Media Create reported that Monster Hunter Generations sold through over 91% of its retail stock in its first week.
[50] Capcom reported that Monster Hunter Generations had exceeded 4.1 million units sold worldwide by September 2016, with sales in Western countries described as "solid".
[52] The Switch version sold 84,377 copies in its first week in Japan, debuting at number 1 in the charts, selling 48.9% of its initial shipment.