“Have you seen the Monster Hunter Wilds demo?”
That was the refrain at Summer Game Fest as word spread of Capcom’s behind-closed-doors showcase of the next big Monster Hunter title.
The demo, which at the time of writing Capcom has no official plans to release its footage, was such a hit that people were sneaking in to watch it again.
It opened at Hunter’s base camp on the Windward Plains. Like previous Monster Hunter titles, so much of the game’s personality is packed into areas outside of monster fighting.
The Palicoes are preparing meals, counting peanuts and generally meandering around the camp. Even as the Monster Hunter franchise gets bigger, that level of gentleness remains. We asked series producer Ryozo Tsujimoto and director Yuya Tokuda if this was the key to Monster Hunter itself.
“That’s very important, Tokuda replied. “No matter what we did with the game design or how epic in scale we made the game, the one thing we never want to hear is that it didn’t feel like Monster Hunter anymore.
“These lighter touches and signature elements keep the series unique and give it a flavor that is unlike any other action game in the industry.”
This becomes clear when we are collecting goods from the local merchant – who is famous for selling a brand of cheese – and she responds with “cheese and thank you”.
Once we were on our way to hunt down a beast, there were no loading or stopping screens of any kind. We were straight on the hunt, following our target.
The game map now allows players to see where certain items or monsters will be depending on the time of day. The game has a full cycle of day and night, as well as a dynamic weather system which has a large effect on which monsters will spawn.
When we finally found the monster, we took a few shots before taking a step back. Combat is similar to Worlds, but expanded in almost every way. New weapons, new traps and new environmental hazards to use against your prey.
After taking some serious shots at our target and causing some of the thick hide to tear, the weather suddenly changed. The bright and sunny day was replaced by a violent storm.
“After taking some serious shots at our target and causing some of the thick skin to tear, the weather suddenly changed. The bright, sunny day was replaced by a violent storm.”
“One of the main new concepts is the extremes of the world’s weather. Suddenly in a moment, everything can change. Monsters form herds or herds. Some monsters only appear under certain conditions,” said Tokuda.
At this point, the rather fearsome beast we had been chasing appeared significantly from a flying monster that crashed to the ground. With a crack of thunder, he unleashed a devastating attack, shredding the health of our initial target. We were told that if we got hit with an attack from the flying thunder beast, we would be finished.
These turf wars are one of the keys to Monster Hunter Wilds. While 1v1 turf wars existed in previous Monster Hunter worlds, they have been greatly expanded in this game and form the basis of many game strategies. While the other monsters are dangerous, they are also an incredible tool to take down your primary target.
We’re not even mentioning the monsters lurking beneath the surface of the sand, which caused a great chasm to open beneath our feet, sending our target and his packmates into a pit. While our target was too strong to wear down, his friends were, as we would have been if we hadn’t kept our wits about us.
In some previous Monster Hunter titles, the world has felt like a random arena for you to have a specific fight in. There was very little emergent gameplay and combat that actually looked cool was kind of hard. Monster Hunter Wilds wants to make you the coolest man on earth.
The world feels alive. You are not choosing your path to fight, you are simply running towards what you want to shoot and the mission begins.
“We approach each title on its own terms,” Tsujimoto said. “We’ve moved on from the days of split maps – now both the base area and the field itself are seamlessly traversable.”
As the demo ended, we couldn’t help but laugh at the realization that Capcom had done it again. It’s foolish to bet against it now, but even the best developers have a downside. Monster Hunter Wilds certainly isn’t. We asked about the feeling inside Capcom as the company enjoys this unprecedented success.
“We have an unwavering desire to make great titles that make players happy,” Tsujimoto replied. “We never want to compromise that for what happens in the business. We never lost that spark.
“I think the Capcom culture is something that users appreciate. Players play our games and think only Capcom could have done this.”
It’s hard to argue. There is probably no developer today that has so many of its franchises at their absolute peak. Resident Evil is firing on all cylinders, Dragon’s Dogma 2 is a contender for game of the year, and from what we’ve seen, Monster Hunter Wilds will be no exception.
We left the demo lamenting that it won’t be out for another year, though given that Capcom is holding hands-on events alongside Gamescom later this year, it made us check flight prices to Germany.
Just before we left, we asked about the series returning to Nintendo, perhaps on more advanced hardware. Hearty laughter filled the room.
Maybe a question for another day.
