Originally released in Japan as Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G (recapped in all its glory here), Monster Hunter Freedom Unite carries on Capcom’s tradition of mind-bogglingly different names for their games in North America. But hey, at least it’s coming here. Nothing short of a phenomenon in Japan — where 2nd G, a mild upgrade to Monster Hunter Portable/Freedom 2, sold even more copies than its predecessor — the Monster Hunter franchise has yet to make a meaningful impression in the States, a fact not helped by Capcom leaving the first PS2 sequel, Monster Hunter Dos, back in Japan. They did bring over Monster Hunter Freedom 2, however, so if you’re one of the proud few who slogged through enough hours alone, or in close proximity to like-minded friends who also had their own copies, then you’ll be glad to know your characters can continue to live on in Freedom Unite.
Freedom Unite should, in theory, be playable online, as it was announced as a title that would take advantage of the PSP/PS3′s ability to speak to each other via the yet-to-be-launched-in-America-whassup-Sony “PlayStation Link” service. This would solve that nasty little problem of not having enough friends with the game around to play multiplayer, which is really the key to extracting Monster Hunter’s most rewarding assets. However, since PlayStation Link is still dormant in America for whatever reason, players may be forced to grind away solo when the game hits the streets this June. However! If you’re savvy enough, you can create a Japanese PSN account and freely download “Ad-Hoc Party“, which is the same concept as PlayStation Link, and will work with your American (or European) systems. It’s really just tunneling software that allows any Ad-Hoc game to be played via Infrastructure mode, without all the hassle of a third-party setup like Xlink Kai.