Summary

• Monster Hunter Wilds won't be out until 2025 but has captivated fans with improved mounts and combat.
• Crossplay is a key feature in Wilds, inspired by player demand and experience from other Capcom titles.
• Dynamic weather and seamless environments in Wilds will impact gameplay and feature unique monster behaviors.

Monster Hunter Wilds won't be out until 2025, but it's already captivated the gaze of many veterans of Capcom's action-RPG series. Whether it's a trailer featuring characters that forums immediately began speculating on the identities of or gameplay that features more involved mounts and combat than even World, there's plenty to be interested in when it comes to the follow-up to the last mainline entry, Rise.

As part of Screen Rant's Rathalos would ever not be part of a Monster Hunter game.

Monster Hunter Wilds' Crossplay Systems

Why Now Is The Right Time To Implement Them

Screen Rant: What are the logistics behind implementing cross platform into Monster Hunter Wilds and why does that make sense for this particular game?

Ryozo Tsujimoto: The reason why we really wanted to do this - implement cross platform for Wilds - is that we just received so much demand for it and we really wanted to listen to that and to respond to that demand.

In addition to that, as a division at Capcom, we've been putting out games that have heavy multiplayer focus like Street Fighter 6 and Exoprimal, and so the kind of experience that we've gotten with titles like that - that also incorporate some elements of crosssplay - we're trying to utilize that know-how, that experience, to also incorporate it into Wilds.

The dynamic weather, how it affects hunts - this is a big implementation into the series. How much will it affect the hunt-to-hunt gameplay? What allowed you to pursue this mechanic for this game?

Kaname Fujioka: So first of all, going into the way we've implemented a seamless, expressive environment in the game. We really wanted to allow players to see the environment changing before their very eyes. The dynamically changing environments were something that really have only become possible with, not only the advances in technology and the specs available to us with the consoles and PCs nowadays, but also, technically speaking behind the scenes with our transition on the console, Monster Hunter to the RE engine, we really feel that we've been able to accomplish more of what we wanted to do with the advances in technology and the capabilities of the RE Engine.

And the way that is kind of expressed specifically in the game is in the dual nature of the environments that we've created. So there's an abundant season, an abundant phase, of each environment. That's contrasted greatly, contrasted very precisely with the more dangerous and aggressive nature of the environment, which we call the Fallow.

All the different details of that ecosystem are expressed with what we've been able to do with the engine. All the monster mechanisms are really planned around that contrast of the Fallow and the Plenty.

For example, monsters will move together during one season, and they'll move more independently in others. They'll affect each other - monsters will be going in and out with the environments constantly, and they'll herd more often in certain phases of the environments. But really, they're kind of all behaving uniquely, and also under a 24 hour system, that we hope that players are more able to observe now in real time and choose their gameplay moment to moment as the environment changes.

We talked about the seamless environment - just how much space is there in these transitions between these seasons and weather? How long can we track monsters as they're moving through these ecosystems or these different weather systems? How far does that expand through the map?

Kaname Fujioka: We're still kind of in an adjustment phase, we're really trying to achieve that perfect balance of what players will really find the most satisfying in gameplay, in of how long each of the different kinds of stages of the environment last. So things about the specifics, like time schedule, is something that's still kind of being finely tuned.

And to kind of touch on the presentation, what we've shown you so far, you have to understand that the presentation was built, it was customized, basically, around showing specific features of the game. It's something that's replicatable in the actual game as well, but it's specifically on a short cycle to show you some specific elements that were core to the presentation.

But in the game, in of - for players to understand how the environment is changing in real time and in the future, there's going to be previews, forecasts, that you can view in the game about how the environment will change, how monsters will be moving about in that environment at different times. We hope that with those previews and those forecast functions that players will be able to gauge for themselves what they want to be doing, what the best course of action for them might be, or what they want to do moment to moment.

Mounted Combat in Monster Hunter Wilds

How Much Will It Change Hunting In The Game?

One of the big factors in the presentation was this lengthy demonstration of mounted combat. I was wondering how much that's going to change the way players approach hunts specific to Wilds - is it an extra mechanic, or is it a fundamental change to the way we're approaching hunts in this game?

Kaname Fujioka: So let's give you a bit of a multi-part answer here. So first of all, touching on the design concept, the Seikret - what we're really trying to stress with the Seikret is that it's a role for hunting. So as a hunter, the Seikret is going to fulfill not only transportation and mobility, the speed of getting from place to place in the game, but also giving you things like the weapons sling, which allows you to switch between two weapons.

So just integral to the kind of design of the Seikret, it's at its core, a concept. So when it comes to the action, the mounted comment that you that you asked about - the idea really is that we want players to be able to utilize the Seikret during combat, as a means to take the hunt to where they want to take the hunt, right? Observing the monster, mounting on the Seikrit to get some distance and to lead the monster to different locations, to use mounted attacks to get monster's attention, for example, and to also get onto the Seikret and even jump off it to initiate jumping attacks and mounting attacks.

That's really the action concept behind the Seikret as well, so I guess to answer your question it's not really a core fundamental change. At its core it's a mechanic.

It's been a long time since we saw new weapons in Monster Hunter. You don't even have to say that it's happening. Is there a chance that it's happening in Wilds?

Kaname Fujioka: So we are deg Wilds right now with that structure of fourteen weapons in mind. But what we really want you to understand also is that we're really honing in on the individuality and the uniqueness of each weapon.

We really want you to feel the essence of each weapon as you play with it. And we hope that players still feel interested in, and they still appreciate, what each weapon has to offer.

I know that's a bit of a non-answer. Right now we don't have any plans for [a new weapon].

As a follow up though, is there a weapon that's gotten the biggest rework heading into Wilds that's going to be the most changed from what players recognized before?

Kaname Fujioka: So we can't really go into too many details. But what we can say is that the Bowgun types have seen quite a bit of change, as well as the Hunting Horn. The action team has been doing a great job of updating mechanics with those weapons.

And not just limited to those to those weapons. We've done a great job of making each weapon feel a lot better, feel much more playable and evolved the action mechanics of each weapon, so it's all across the board.

The Cinematic Sensation Of Monster Hunter Wilds' Presentation

What To Expect (And What Not To) From Its Focus Mode & Camera Work

I want to touch on the presentation of the world of Wilds. I feel like there's a heavier focus on the cinematic, people have been very positive in receiving the new character designs - I'm wondering what kind of story is Wilds trying to tell?

Kaname Fujioka: We can't really go into too many details, but what we can tell you is that the story has been... from its core, the directors have been on the same page about presenting the story. How the game works around that, around the concept of the the dual nature of the environment and the game world. The harsh environments contrasted with the kind of abundance that you see in the second phase of the environment.

That's kind of a central like schematic element to the story going throughout. And what we can also say is that we haven't been able to show much information about him yet, but this character, a boy named Nata, is going to be central to that kind of core narrative thread that goes throughout the game.

I also want to touch on the cinematic in the combat that we were looking at. It feels like a lot of the presentation was kind of a zoomed in look at how it is feels to hunt a monster, with the focus mode, the wounds - can we expect it to be a more intimate look at hunting? Is it going to be more close-up as we're fighting these monsters? Is the game moving towards a more cinematic presentation?

Kaname Fujioka: It kind of depends on what you mean by cinematic and what that entails. So if you mean that combat and hunts are getting more movie-like, that's not really our goal. Our goal is more to provide those dramatic moments for the players' immersion, and feeling that they're in the moment as a hunter, and feeling the dramatic tension, and the dramatic beats of combat when they're hunting. The feeling of immersion is really at the core of any of these cinematic elements that you see in the action.

As a result, if that kind of feels a bit more cinematic to players then we feel that it's accomplishing that sense of increasing the immersion and the raw feeling that they get from playing the game. But it's not something that we're approaching in of trying to make a movie-like.

But that said, when you go into specifics about the focus mode, in particular, what you have to understand about that is that it's not really met with cinematic effects in mind. This is really just a gameplay mechanic for allowing players to really control how they attack and how they guard things, because attacks will go in the direction that the camera is aimed at.

And you'll be able to also use special moves that are only available in focus mode, but it's really a vehicle for allowing players who may not be as used to action games to better be able to control themselves in combat. The goal there really isn't to accomplish anything too cinematic - it's more to allow better gameplay and more approachable gameplay.

Is there ever any chance we will see a monster number game that does not have Rathalos in it?

Ryozo Tsujimoto: Personally, I feel that Rathalos is kind of the main character of the series. I want to make sure that it appears in the games that I work on. Exactly how and when it's going to appear in Wilds, we can't say exactly, but we can tell you that it's going to be in Wilds.

Kaname Fujioka: [Rathalos] is really kind of a symbol. We really want it to be present in the series and we really value Rathalos as one of our series' monsters, so I hope that answers the question. We can't say about other titles but it's definitely something we value as a symbol.