With Monster Hunter Wilds, many new and old familiar opponents will be introduced on February 28, 2025. The developers want to create a special experience on the occasion of Monster Hunter’s 20th anniversary and expand on previous successes. To do this, they also focus on further developing the monsters’ different behaviors and giving them new group dynamics.
What behavior is new? It’s nothing new that every now and then you fight against several big breakers at the same time in Monster Hunter games. But until now, each monster fought more for itself or against another large beast that got in its way.
In an interview with PC Gamer, art director Kaname Fujioka says that a high level of flexibility in the representation of the monsters was particularly important to them during development. That’s why they wanted to try something new with the idea of letting the monsters form specific groups and act together. They also thought about how groups could be controlled and what would happen if entire herds of monsters came together.
In the YouTube video of the interview, the corresponding section can be seen from around minute 1:13. In previous material such as the beta or videos of the preview version, you could already guess what the whole thing might look like in the finished game if the monsters do the same as you and turn against you in groups.
Here you can see an excerpt from our studio tour:
This is how Monster Hunter Wilds is made: We got a studio tour at Capcom
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One for all and all for one
How might this mechanic play out? In a thread on Reddit, the community is currently discussing what possible types of monster groups you could encounter in Monster Hunter Wilds. The following dynamics are observed:
In addition, some players have observed that monsters of the same species, which do not travel in groups per se but are in the same area, fight together when threatened. For example, Balaharas or Chatacabras tend to be solitary animals, but form groups when they have to fight.
The system also offers the potential to make duo battles, such as those with Rathalos and Rathian, more challenging and lively. Fans also hope that herds of smaller monsters will also gain more dynamism and act together, like real herds do. You could also easily imagine that monsters like Gammoth or Nerscylla could travel in very large groups if they make an appearance in Monster Hunter Wilds.
In the same interview, Fujioka also talked about what was additionally important to them when developing Monster Hunter Wilds. He also refers to the fact that it was important to them to make the game accessible to as many different people as possible: Monster Hunter Wilds wants to make the best features of its predecessor even better – but not all fans are happy about it