I'm playing Monster Hunter now very often. In fact, I'd say it's probably the game I regularly spend more time with than any other, phone or otherwise. I may not have a huge hour count to prove it – it's a mobile game designed for short sessions, after all – but I can tell you that it's extremely rare that a day passing without me. At least launching it once.
I do my dailies, keep up with seasonal challenges, stay on top of gear updates, and sometimes I even spend money in the store. All of which is to say that I really don't need more reasons to get involved. But a recently added feature has made me open the app every morning, even when I don't want to play.
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Towards the end of last year, just as the third season of Monster Hunter Now was coming to an end, the Season 4 update introduced the new Friend Cheering function. All friends on your list now have a heart on their card. When you press it, you give them happiness, which increases their maximum health for that day.
Every time you log in, you'll immediately see if someone has sent you joy while you were away. Everyone gets a free shoutout that updates daily, and you can tell which of your friends you've given some love to by looking at your Friends list. The boost is small, and there's a limit to how much HP you can get from it (which can limit exploit), so it's not something that's likely to make a difference in a fight ever .
Joy is also completely free, and that doesn't include your daily grind – you can ignore it completely, and your experience with Monster Hunter Now would be barely affected.
Now, I understand that this is done to encourage communication. If Niantic can show investors that players have been spending more time on the app (I don't really think they care if you're actively playing or not), that's going to look great. I'm also aware that these types of community features usually start out as free extras, and are later rolled into battle pass bonuses, or completely turned into items you can buy in the store.
But the influence he had on me is undeniable. Just like with dating apps, I feel excited when I get a match, despite knowing that there is about a 20% chance of it turning into a real date, and an even greater chance lower move beyond that.
I don't think it has much to do with the people I have on my friends list, either. There is only one person on my list that I know from outside the game; the rest I got from Reddit. People are always leaving their friend codes on the Monster Hunter Now subreddit to get help with Friend Quests and the like. All of which is to say that I don't have much of an emotional connection to these people, but damn if I don't want to encourage them every chance I get.
Daily Quests used to be the first page I would check when I launched the game. Now, that has turned into a Friends List! I never managed to get hold of it Gacha anime bug, but I can tell that Monster Hunter Now is becoming that game for me. He has the gameplay not as it is involvedor such a big worldand indeed it is nowhere near as a supplement – but it makes me happy more often than it frustrates – which counts for a lot these days.
