Update [Sat 2nd Jul, 2022 07:00 BST]: Following on from the Japanese Nintendo Direct Mini announcement earlier this week, Bandai Namco has now confirmed a western release at this year's Anime Expo. It will be a Switch eShop digital release here in the west. Above is the trailer.
Original [Wed 29th Jun, 2022 06:45 BST]: Yesterday's Nintendo Direct Mini in Japan included some extra Switch announcements, and in case you missed it, one of them was Ultra Kaiju Monster Rancher. It's published by Bandai Namco and developed by Koei Tecmo and will launch at some point this year in Japan and Asia. There's no word on a western release (yet), but it does include English subtitles.
As you may have already worked out from the title, this is a collaboration between the Ultraman franchise and also the monster-raising simulation series, Monster Rancher - which is currently celebrating 25 years. This new game is described as a Kaiju raising simulation - adopting the base systems of Monster Rancher and Monster Rancher 2 - allowing you to raise all sorts of Ultra Kaiju.
Players will have the ability to raise Kaiju by feeding, training, studying and adventuring. You'll then battle them and even fuse them together. This game will also support NFC-tech and IC cards, which can be scanned with the Switch controls. Once again, there's no word on a local release, but if we hear anything we'll be sure to let you know. Like the look of this one? Leave a comment below.
[source gematsu.com]
Comments 27
Japan always gets cool stuff
Regardless of what they do with Monster Rancher games...just NOTHING can compare to the magic of putting your music CDs (and hundreds of 90 day free AOL trial discs, in my case) in your Playstation to see what monster it gave you. Genuinely was magic to me as a kid.
I had every album in the house tagged (and my mom had a big collection) with a sticker to show what monster it gave. Also saved up to buy the "Monster" REM album for the unique dragon it gave.
you know i'm gonna raise me a sevenger
Someone better translate this if it doesn't come over here.
@pennylessz "There's no word on a western release (yet), but it does include English subtitles."
This looks hilarious! I love the little dance at the end of every success! Never played a Monster Rancher game before (never liked the characters) but I do enjoy me some Kaiju!
this has to come west looks awsome
Looks freaking awesome 😍
Well if it's got English subtitles good enough for me!
@SteamEngenius They did a pretty good job updating this feature for the post-CD world by implementing a song search that does the same thing, and this one also lets you scan transport IC cards - which of course does nothing for people outside of Japan, but I imagine it's pretty cool for Japanese people.
I miss CDs too (I'm actually still buying them, fossil that I am) but that weird magic is still in Monster Rancher in a slightly different form.
Looks hilarious, compelling and one of those great ideas if it works. Ha.
omg WHAT. Ultraman and Monster Rancher? Yeah this will never make it to the USA But it has subtitles so i might import it, but... we never get the really cool stuff.
This actually is a cool idea! It'll be fun to collect all those kaiju from the Ultra series.
I have an old laminated card (shitajiki) that lists every episode of Ultraman and Ultra Seven with photos of each kaiju that appear in them. I used to pull it out and ask the kiddos which episode we should watch tonight. They were only interested in the monsters, who often had a lot of character!
First new console Monster Rancher game in eons, and it's... this.
What an unbelievably weird crossover.
This is whack. Not much makes me say “this is whack” these days, but this is ultra whack. Long live whack. Long live Ultra Kaiju Monster Rancher.
Didn’t think you could ever make kaiju look boring, but here we are…
As an Ultraman fan I have to own this.
@Zulzar Good news! https://twitter.com/BandaiNamcoUS/status/1543097132122419200
@somebread
Thanks for the confirmation! I guess I’ll have to import a cartridge from our friends in the East.
I do wish the game was a little “edgier” - like training the kaiju to help you defeat the Ultra heroes, conquer earth, etc, instead of building Ultra snow sculptures - but I suppose whimsical family-friendly kaiju are better than no kaiju.
Please tell me I can get a pet Greeza.
Omgomgomgomg. Between this and the SAO port coming this actually makes me less sad I had to sell my ps5. Keep em coming!!!!!!
...Hm. Well, it's cool, and it's nice to see the series actually doing things - especially things that get translated.
Still, I'd really prefer a 'proper' Monster Rancher over nothing but collabs or that reskin of a super-predatory gacha game (ugh) that Japan is getting.
Again, nice that they're doing things, and collabs make sense given some of the series past monsters! Good for Ultraman fans too, I suppose. Just...I'd rather have, y'know, stuff like Naga and Suezo and fusion into their crossbreeds and other Monster Rancher stuff over this.
literally made an account to say YES YES YES YES YES YES YES I GET TO HAVE A GOMORA
i wonder if the fusions'll be pregenerated or if they'll have special dedicated models to canon fusions like the belial fusion monsters
So glad this coming to the west! Can’t wait!
Looks super weird and yet....
This looks AWESOME!!!
I like the concept but there doesn't seem to be much going on gameplay wise
Tap here to load 27 comments
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...