“It is important not to overwhelm players”

At gamescom 2024, MeinMMO editor-in-chief Leya asked the lead developers of Monster Hunter: Wilds a few questions about the action RPG. A good game introduction plays an important role for the team.

At gamescom 2024, it will be possible for the first time to play the new main offshoot of Monster Hunter in a demo.

Monster Hunter World established the franchise in the West in 2018 with its release on PS4, Xbox and PC. Before that, Monster Hunter had a more niche existence on handheld consoles. Even then, the title came with some convenience features that were previously unknown. They all made it easier to get started with monster hunting.

I remember some veterans being dissatisfied with it back then, as they felt the challenge in all aspects of the game was simply part of the game.

When I played the demo, I immediately noticed that a few more convenience functions had been added. I asked the lead developers about this and spoke to:

MeinMMO: I played the demo today and it was really fun. It was also cool that we could play in multiplayer mode. One thing that immediately struck me is that it’s actually a bit more beginner-friendly than Monster Hunter World seems. Is that intentional?

Ryozo Tsujimoto: Yes, that’s intentional. We listened to feedback from Monster Hunter World and reworked things that we thought players would find difficult or have trouble with because the map is so much bigger now and it might be easier to get lost.

MyMMO: Are you talking about the autopilot of the new mount monster Seikret?

Ryozo Tsujimoto: You can navigate the big maps with the monster, but like you said, with the autopilot, if you want to go to certain places with the monsters, you can now be automatically ridden there. This is especially for new players who get lost.

New players should get help

MeinMMO: I remember when Monster Hunter World came out, there was a lot of discussion about the bugs that showed monster tracks, making them easier to find than in previous games. Are you worried that hardcore players will be critical of the autopilot?

Ryozo Tsujimoto: We strive to improve usability and convenience to help new players by providing options for opting out [von etwa dem Autopiloten] or offer options for players who are not familiar with the series.

MeinMMO: What would you say is perhaps more for advanced players? You already said that you have integrated the autopilot for beginners.

Yuya Tokuda: I don’t think there are any features that are explicitly for beginners or for advanced players. It’s simply usability improvements that benefit everyone, like the autopilot for example.

Even experienced players will benefit from it. For example, it gives them the opportunity to focus on other things while riding. So everyone benefits from it. It all depends on how you use it.

MeinMMO: I could imagine that it would be particularly relaxing in co-op. You can chat a bit while the mount runs automatically and swap weapons, for example.

Yuya Tokuda: Absolutely. Players can loot resources on the map while on the monster. If you get lost, you can easily find the group again. No one has to concentrate on finding the way and has time for other things.

Monster Hunter is not intended to be an online service game

MeinMMO: One thing I’ve always wondered about Monster Hunter World is why you didn’t make it a service game? You could have stuck with World and kept releasing new expansions and the players would have been happy. Have you ever thought about that?

Kaname Fujioka: We’ve made an online service game before, so it’s not like we don’t have experience in that area. But I think if you look at all the Monster Hunters, the fundamentals are similar.

Every game in the series you play has the same approach, but there are some differences in the fundamentals. A new game allows us to make some changes and go in different directions that we don’t know if we would do if we only had a base game.

With DLCs you get new content, of course, but you can’t play with the basics and do something new here.

MeinMMO: So what are the foundations of Monster Hunter Wilds?

Kaname Fujioka: We are taking full advantage of the latest generation of console hardware and PC. We are using this technology to create an immersive world for players to immerse themselves in. We are letting the player immerse themselves in the world and where they want to go next is up to them.

Monster Hunter is getting bigger, but is not yet open world

MyMMO: Are you moving more and more towards open world?

Yuya Tokuda: We didn’t set out to create an open world game, and of course the definition of an open world game isn’t fixed. Rather, we wanted to create an uninterrupted connection between the camp and the map to provide a more immersive experience.

But yeah, maybe it feels like we’re moving more in that direction.

MeinMMO: The maps are getting bigger, but how diverse will they be? I have to be honest, when I saw the first trailer I thought: “Oh no, desert again”. What other species and environments can we expect?

Kaname Fujioka: There are dunes in the desert, but it is not just made of sand.

There is also a lot of variety within the desert area, for example caves to explore, cliffs and savannas. There is definitely variation within the same environment.

The second map we showed is located in a forest, which of course offers a completely different atmosphere.

MeinMMO: What about underwater areas where you can fight?

Imagine laughter here, as underwater combat is a very specific topic in the Monster Hunter community.

Yuya Tokuda: No, there will be no underwater combat in Wilds.

MeinMMO: Now that everything is getting bigger, will it take longer to play the campaign?

Yuya Tokuda: We don’t want to compare hours, but we’re really excited to see how the story is received. As far as the story goes, we obviously don’t want to give too much away before release because we want players to experience it for themselves.

It is always important not to overwhelm players

MeinMMO: The story is also a tool for introducing new monsters and presenting them. One might get the feeling that the story is mainly there for this. This comment was also made frequently by the community in World. Would you like to get even more out of the story?

Kaname Fujioka: I think it is always important not to overwhelm the players.

I think it’s only natural that the progression structure is there to introduce new monsters, but also to give players information they can use.

But we took the feedback from Monster Hunter World to heart and even developed a kind of immersive style where the story unfolds for the player.

MeinMMO: I really enjoyed playing it. However, I do have one criticism that is close to my heart. I think it’s stupid when Palicos can talk and I really like the meowing!

Yuya Tokuda: Don’t worry! You can change the Meow Meow language in the game using the audio settings. You will then get subtitles that give you all the important information.

Palicos are the intelligent cats in Monster Hunter that walk on two legs and offer players practical help. They usually make the cutest meows you can imagine. In Monster Hunter Wilds, they have full voice acting for the first time.

I was very happy with this information. But the interview didn’t end there. The first – or rather the last – part has already been published. It’s such a cute story that I dedicated a whole article to it:

I accidentally broke the lead developers of Monster Hunter: Wilds with a question at gamescom