MH: Generations - What we know so far (Spoilers)

Name: MH: Generations

Japan Release Date: November 28, 2015
Western Release Date: July 15, 2016

Similarities:
There is still local and online coop play. The main towns from the other 3 MH games are returning in this game, as well as many of the zones we are familiar with. All weapons that have been released so far as also making a comeback with no new weapons being added. Many monsters are also making a comeback with a few new additions. You will once again have Palicos with you on your hunts.

Differences:
This game is MUCH flashier than other portable MH Titles. (Personal opinion: they should limit this and not go overboard). Each weapon now has 4 modes: Guild, Aerial, Technical & Bushido (More on this further down). Addition of "Hunter Arts" - Flashy, very powerful skills/moves. You can play as your Palico!

New Monster Types:
There are 2 new monster types in this game:
Elephants & Owls. Don't get me wrong, there are many more monsters, but all of the others fit neatly into one of the already existing categories, but we haven't had paquiderms, or strigiformes before.

Weapon/Armor upgrades (More information needed)

This new iteration of monster hunter is doing away with a bit more of the grind (or adding more, depending on how you want to look at it). You still need a specific set of materials to Make the Base version of a weapon/armor. However, you will be able to upgrade its "level", by using monster parts, ore, bugs and fish in differing quantities. The rarer the monster part, ore, fish or bug, the more experience the weapon/armor gets, until it levels up. Once it is maxed, you again need specific monster parts to upgrade it to it's next Base weapon, ect ect. Armors will not change into other sets, but they will require higher tiered parts to upgrade to the higher tier defenses.

This means that all those "extra" parts that you are always getting from hunts will finally have a use instead of money fodder when you run low on funds. Note: The parts you use for upgrading do not impart any special skills/elements/attacks to the weapons/armor being upgraded. Instead, think of them as having an xp worth each, and once the weapon/armor reaches the threshold, it will upgrade in level. So far in the videos, the started weapons get to level 3 before requiring it to be upgraded to the next base weapon. It hasn't been mentioned if weapons can be upgraded to the next base without leveling the weapon to its current level maximum.

Weapon Modes:

Guild Mode -
This is the classic mode you are most used to. It plays just like in all the other monster hunter games, except you get one "Hunter Art" to use. More on "Hunter Arts" further down.

Aerial Mode -
You get the ability to do an impulse jump from the back of the monsters and do weapon specific damage/ability. While in the air, you are not invulnerable, but are mostly out of reach of monster attacks.

Technical Mode -
This mode allows the use of 3 "Hunter Arts" and is much more "in your face" attack focused. Adds several "super moves" to all weapons. More on this in the "Hunter Arts" Section.

Bushido Mode -
Once you know all the monster moves, this is your calling. Bushido mode grants heavy counters after evading an attack.

This could all be summed up in: Normal, Air, Techniques and evasion modes.

Hunter Arts:
I will be copy/pasting much of the information from the wikia here. Comments are mine though.

Hunter Arts are skills that you can perform after charging up the "Arts" gauge. This gauge can be charged up to 3 full charges in "Technical Mode". Every time you perform an Art, one charge is used up.

Currently Known Arts:

General Arts:

Perfect Evasion -
The hunter's body spins and evades attacks while retreating from the immediate area. Your weapon will always be sheathed after this technique.

Escape Runner -
No stamina loss for panic running or carrying eggs.

Hunter's Oasis -
Allows you to set up a healing station which will heal hunters within its vicinity.

Perfect Combination -
Increases combining quantity and success percentage for short period of time.

Phoenix Breath -
Cures all status ailments and heals you.

Heal Up -
Increases healing item effect and speeds up red gauge recovery.

Metal Body -
Lose your ability to run, but monster attacks will not flinch you.

Frenzy Body -
Infect yourself with the Frenzy virus

As you can see by the above lineup, these skills, when used properly, can make hunts much easier.

The following are Hunter Arts for specific weapons only:

GreatSword

Brimstone Slash
Unleashes stored energy in a frightfully powerful slash. You cannot be knocked over during this move.

Lion's Maw
A technique that stores energy in your hunter and their blade. Your next attack will deal more damage.

Thrusting Earth Slash
Most powerful attack in the game, but takes a long time to charge

Longsword

Spirit Release Full Moon Slash
When this Hunting Art is activated, along with the Spirit Gauge reaching maximum, the Spirit Release Full Moon Slash will keep your Spirit Gauge at MAX for a limited time.

Mirror Flower Stance
This Hunting Art involves taking a special guarding stance. If attacked while in this stance, you will parry it and strike with a counter!

Sakura Spirit Slash
???

Sword & Shield

Round Force
A spin attack that slashes at targets surrounding you. During execution, you'll be invulnerable to monster attacks, making it an effective evasion technique.

Shoryugeki
Smashes shield upwards after a slash attack. Fierce enough to Stun if it hits a monster's head.

Blade Dance
???

Dual Blades

Bloody Wind Top
A forward advancing combo that carves up your targets! You are able to change the direction of your advances during the move.

Soaring Heaven Splitter
With this Hunter Art, utilize ledges to attack. Following the upward spinning slice, you will deal a severe blow.

Beast Mode: Ravenous Wolf
???

Hammer

Provoke
Provokes a monster and for a limited time it will be more likely that it focuses its offensive on you!

Spinning Meteor
Spin the Hammer around with tremendous force before striking down your target with a super-charged attack.

Typhoon Trigger
???

Hunting Horn

Sound Attack Tremor
This Hunter Art involves playing the Hunting Horn with a pressurized shockwave! A very powerful attack!

Full Orchestra
For a limited duration, you will have the ability to play double notes without hitting a monster!

Orchestra Soul
???

Lance

Shield Assault
Raise your shield and charge monsters while blocking. Capable of follow-up thrusts.

Enraged Guard
Raise your shield to absorb an attack's power. Block stronger attacks to absorb more power. Try it just before an attack hits you.

Screw Thrust
???

Gunlance


Supreme Mountain Wyvern's Fire
Utilizing explosive energies, unleashing a swirling dose of hellfire in this terrifying Wyvern's Fire attack!

Wyvern's Breath
This Hunter Art brings the internal heat energy of the Gunlance to its highest point, allowing the heat gauge to stay at maximum for a limited time!

Blast Dash
???

Switch Axe

Translash
A combo of Axe Mode and Sword Mode strikes followed by an Elemental Discharge.

Demon Sword Mode
Enhances the power inside your Sword Mode, granting it even more attack power.

Energy Charge
???

Charge Blade

Energy Blade
Use the power charged in your phials to create a blade of energy. More phials means more power!

Over Limit
Temporarily increase the maximum number of phials you can charge up.

Healing Bottle
???

Insect Glaive

Insect Clad
Attract insects that stay around you and protect you by attacking anything that draws near you.

Extract Hunter
Send out your Kinsect with incredible velocity, allowing it to draw all 3 Extracts in one shot.

Soaring Insect Slash

Light Bowgun

Bullet Geyser
Propel backward while leaving an explosive shot on the ground for the approaching monster to get blasted with.

Rapid Heaven
Allows you to rapid fire your rapid shots in fast succession until you run out.

Full Load
???

Heavy Bowgun

Supernova
A special shot that results in a massive mid-air explosion that affects a wide area.

Load Gunpowder
Loads a special coating that increases the power of your shots.

Acceleration Shower
???

Bow

Acceleration Rain
A special shower that gives your hunter increased movement speed and charging speed.

Blade Wire
Tie two arrows together with a wire and shoot them as a single shot that cuts like a blade.

Trinity Raven
???

Don't all these possibilities make your mouths water? All the weapons still have a move that has not been revealed yet, nor have they been leaked. They look very promising.

And finally:
Controllable Palicos!

For the first time in MH history, you will be able to control your Palicos. There will be full quests exclusively for Palicos, but all quests are doable with them, as well as being able to play with them online.

Some advantages of using the Palicos are: Much Faster Gathering, 3 of their KO = 1 normal KO... so playing solo, you will have 9 lives (very appropo...). Able to do group buffs. Diminished statures means many monster attacks will miss. No Stamina bar.

Disadvantages - You do not hit as hard, and consequently, quests will be longer. No hunter arts, or other "new" techniques. Having more than 1 or 2 in a group of hunters can be disadvantageous, specially at the higher ranks.  

Overall, this game promises to be much flashier than before, and it grants the hunters much more power than in other incarnations. This could be good and at the same time bad. The game is still very far away from a western release, but starting in a few weeks, when it gets released in Japan, we should have tons more information flowing about.

Edited: Added formatting and Weapon/Armor upgrade section.
Edit 5/12: Added Release date & some Arts information.

What we also know : It's not coming to the western side of the global map. Yet.

Well I have to say it still gets me hyped to read about this game. Golden Zinogre looks amazing.

While Monster Hunter Cross might never make it to a Western Release, it is almost a certainty that the updated installment (Monster Hunter Cross Ultimate), will most likely see a Western release. MH4U was the most successful monster hunter launch to date in western markets, and not having a western release for the next in the series would be a serious mishap that I doubt Capcom would do.

I would be completely for a WiiU port of this game, however, and I would be one of the first in line to get it.

Skill List

List of skills, including unique skills for the following...

Named Variants

Variants of monsters similar to Raging Brachydios and the like. These monsters have their own armor that grants a unique skill when upgraded, which is just a combination skill but a powerful combination of them. Needless to say they're all also pretty badass.

Important things of note:

Evasion +3 is dead. Only +1 and +2 exist now.
Critical Eye has been reverted back to the old scaling. 10 points = 10%, 15 = 20%, 20 = 30%, so this is a very useful skill now.
Sharpness +1 now has a +2, oh god.
Heavy Up is a new gunner skill, increasing power of Heavy Shots and Heavy Arrows, meaning we have new ammo to work with.
Swift Bird (skill points called Leaping) skill that increases damage of aerial attacks as well as making it easier to topple monsters.
Combo Rush, temporarily increases affinity the more you attack in succession.
Critical Boost, increases the damage multiplier on critical attacks.
Hero's Shield, negates small damage.
Polisher, a skill that once you use a whetstone, for the next minute your sharpness doesn't decrease.
Mutual Hostility (skill points called Rebellious), a skill that increases your damage when your health bar has a red section.
Tight Spot (skill points called In The Brink), a skill that increases your damage when you have a status ailment.

There are other new skills which you can check out in the link, but they're less interesting than the ones I listed above.

Named Variant Combo Skills (Variant Monster's Base Species)

Black Flame King (Rathalos)
Attack Up (L), Windproof (Hi)

Crimson Helmet (Arzuros)
Focus, Mutual Hostility

Golden Thunder Prince (Zinogre)
Latent Power +2, Constitution +2

Heavy Snow Lord (Lagombi)
Evade Extender, Stamina Recovery Up

Incinerating Blade (Dinovaldo)
Sharpness +2, Trajectory, Speed Sharpening

One-Eyed (Yian Garuga)
Challenger +2, Negate Stun

Rock Piercing (Tetsucabra)
Adrenaline +2, Scavenger (also known as 15 skill points in Gluttony, 10 is Gourmand)

Ruinous Hook Claw (Tigrex)
HG Earplugs, Speed Eating +2

Spearbreaker (Daimyo Hermitaur)
Razor Sharp, Recoil Down +2, Divine Blessing

Treasure Clad (Urugaan)
Charm Chaser, Negate Hunger

Violet Poison Princess (Rathian)
Status Atk +2, Wide-Range +2

White Gale (Nargacuga)
Evasion +2, Critical Eye +3

O my... o my my my.... Sharp+2, Critical Draw, Focus and critical boost is my new goal for Greatsword. Seriously... well... depending on how useful Sharp+2 really is. If there is no color change, I don't need no stinking Sharp+2 *angry*

Something that I am already drooling for, is that hero's shield. I HATE when I am just next to the monster, and all it is doing is throwing a little tantrum in place (Kut-kut's, I am glaring at you), yet, each little hit adds up to a big chunk.

I think I am going to have to stop looking at MHX stuff for a little bit, ... at least until my Japan trip is closer :-D *Is really happy people are working on a translate patch for the game and that there is already a working version out there.*

Oh, another thing to note is that while the Variant Armor have their own unique skills, they also have regular skills as well. However, they have little slots, and their skill points are basically all 22222, 33333, etc, they're terrible for mixing, but as a whole set, they're ridiculous.

Black Flame King Rathalos gives its combo skill of Attack Up (L) and Windproof (Hi), but it also gives HG Earplugs and Weakness Exploit. I'm looking forward to when the full list comes out because I'm hoping White Gale Nargacuga has something awesome as well.

Crystalis wrote:

Oh, another thing to note is that while the Variant Armor have their own unique skills, they also have regular skills as well. However, they have little slots, and their skill points are basically all 22222, 33333, etc, they're terrible for mixing, but as a whole set, they're ridiculous.

Black Flame King Rathalos gives its combo skill of Attack Up (L) and Windproof (Hi), but it also gives HG Earplugs and Weakness Exploit. I'm looking forward to when the full list comes out because I'm hoping White Gale Nargacuga has something awesome as well.

Full White Gale Narga set gives
白疾風之魂（回避性能+2＆見切り+3）(Combo skill : Evasion+2 + Crit Eye+3)
超会心（会心発動時の会心ダメージアップ）(Critical Boost, aka Crit dmg Up)
回避距離UP (Evade Dist Up)

Well, if that black rathalos is anything like I have seen online for MHF... then we have our work cut out for us to just take that bad boy down!

Its like a combination Gravios, Rathalos, with a little rock chucking thrown in for good measure.

No, the Unknown Black Rathian is just pure devilspawn, even despite Frontier already being 12x more difficult than the rest of the series and 60x more difficult than Dark Souls. Rest assured nothing will be on that level of DragonballZ-esque bullcrap.

Shame about no Sharpness on the White Gale armor, but if the old games are consistent with MHX, then the White Gale weapons will probably have natural purple anyway.

Added the release date: July 15, 2016 ... in case anyone didn't already know this.