User blog comment:Kogath/Monster Hunter X Discussion/@comment-5167887-20151123101504/@comment-2194133-20151123174656

What frustrates me about this is that so many people are acting as if having variants and the rage mode monsters is the equivalent of subspecies. They are not. Rather, variants appear to be a replacement for Apex and Rage Mode monsters are seemingly a replacement for Frenzied monsters. Both Apex and Frenzy were hunt-modes that were introduced in 4G and then removed for understandable reasons. Variants and Rage Mode are logically their replacement so as avoid the game feeling empty without Apex and Frenzy.

So......

That leaves a big gaping hole where subspecies belong. It doesn't make much sense, really, for them to do that. I mean, even go as far as to remove 4th gen subspecies that had ONE game as their spotlight? Variants, or no, this is a bunch of baloney. This doesn't make the game bad, that is impossible to do, but the choices made in themselves are very odd and paint it in a bad light so-to-speak.