This interview has been edited for clarity.
There is comfort in routine, but few can achieve it like them Monster Hunter privilege. Where the rinse-and-repeat cycle is prone to monotony, Capcom's beloved series has turned its core gameplay loop into overdrive, offering players the familiar experience of hunting monsters for parts, crafting and upgrading equipment for stronger, more difficult hunts. creatures, and do it all again.
It's a deceptively simple formula that promises worthwhile rewards, a huge rush of satisfaction for those drawn to the methodical pace, and a multiplayer element that welcomes more companies to join in on the fun. Suffice it to say, ahead Monster Hunter Wilds It will continue in the same vein, revamping a tried and tested formula that encourages and increases player freedom.
For the uninitiated, Part 2 takes place in the Forbidden Lands, an uninhabited land mass filled with aggressive monsters, with each biome featuring an open world design. A new type of mount called Seikret serves as the main form of travel, allowing for seamless movement between the larger world and the fishermen's village, while a more realistic and dynamic environment sees monsters interacting with each other, such as predators hunting prey or certain species displaying herd behaviors.
The natural integration of elements is a stab at creating more vitality Monster Hunter Wilds A world that represents a shift – but not a complete pivot – from heavy focus to a more harmonious balance. Speaking to a select group of media at Gamescom Asia 2024 in Singapore, the producer Ryuzo Tsujimoto Highlight how the expanded landscape provides the opportunity to enhance the feeling of connection.
“One goal is to integrate monsters, people and the ecosystem together,” says the respected veteran. “Previous games have mostly focused on hunter versus monsters, but this time, you can catch a glimpse of that trend now as it involves a lot of civilizations, people, villagers, that kind of thing.”
But it's not just about establishing human camaraderie. As every experienced hunter knows, the trusted company of Palicoes is an essential part of the experience, providing moral support and various offensive, defensive and restorative support capabilities in the field. Building on this strong bond, the upcoming romp seeks to flesh out their characters by giving them a voice for the first time in the series' history.
In fact, the player character and Palico will be fully voiced Monster Hunter WildsTo provide an extra layer of immersion, which is another goal of the team. Having similar hunter behavior to its predecessors such as interacting with small grunts, according to Tsujimoto, brought “some limitations to expressing the kind of immersion (we wanted) to the player”, so it was necessary to make some adjustments to the formula without sacrificing too much familiarity.
“We're still working hard to achieve that balance, to make it keep the same tone as the previous games, but at the same time, give more of the character of the hunter, so people can bring more into that immersive world,” he shares.
Adding the speech element to Palico has been a long time coming, with the 50-year-old revealing that the team has floated the idea for several previous titles. Here, it is applied on a sensible and practical rationale – audio cues make it easier for players to understand advice given by NPCs, as their attention is no longer divided between tracking on-screen action and reading text simultaneously.
Explaining the goal of “not breaking the smooth flow of the game and the action,” Tsujimoto says, “It's much easier to absorb auditory cues than to process visual cues and have to break your line of vision with the action and then the text.” A non-speaking alternative is also available for traditionalists, where the palico's sound can be changed to the classic “meow” sound.
While player freedom is nothing new to the series, Monster Hunter Wilds It is considered a higher degree than that. This, along with gameplay loop maintenance, are described as “two of the most important experiences” the team wants to deliver, and extends to the weapon system seeing new features. The long-awaited entry offers the same 14 types as before, ranging from the Insect Glaive and Gunlance to the Switch Axe, but players can now carry two different weapons while hunting monsters – thanks to Seikret – and perform new move sets alongside existing ones. that.
“(Freedom of weapon choice) is definitely just expanding the scope of movement and choice for the player, to make things as fun as possible for your typical player Monster Hunter “Player while keeping it a little real at the same time,” Tsujimoto adds.
“Because you can't bring all 14 weapons with you. That's not realistic, right?”
The mention of realism is not surprising, given its importance to the series. Even with modifications over time, much of the composition remains committed to crafting a natural wilderness setting. This latest outing is no exception to the rule; Driven by the main concept of herds and their movement within the ecosystem. Most importantly, it offers a dynamic climate environment, where meteorological conditions and time of day affect monster behavior, causing some to only appear when the weather is right for them.
As in real life, no two experiences will be the same. Instead of remaining in one place on the map, monsters are free to roam, leading to random encounters from player to player. They can use the changing landscape to their advantage, but there's a catch – the effects of their actions cannot be undone, even after leaving the game or returning to the settlement. In the field, hunters also have the option to lure predators to other monsters, setting the stage for an epic showdown.
The highlight, of course, still lies in the variety of monsters that… Monster Hunter Wilds Must submit. As with every new release, there will be new and more powerful creatures to slay, but long-time fans of the game can expect many familiar faces (and tentacles), including Kut-Ku, who is set to make his first appearance in a main game in More than five years. It's not always easy to decide which creatures to bring back, especially with the rich variety cultivated from a long history, but Tsujimoto's game plan reveals a consistent philosophy – how good design brings a new world.
“It's all about whether the monsters themselves fit the basic concept of the game and the environments we want to express,” he stressed.
“We wouldn't bring back a monster just for the sake of it; It must fit the actual world.
Monster Hunter Wilds is available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series February 28, 2025.
Si Jia is a casual geek at heart — or as casual as someone who has a Sephiroth theme on her Spotify playlist. A fan of Japanese movies, games, and culture, Si Jia's greatest weakness is the Steam Summer Sale. Or any sale on Steam, really.
