Monster Hunter fans are getting ready to dive into the next major installment of the franchise. With Monster Hunter Wilds just around the corner, you might be aware there is more focus on a storyline this time around. It’s something that the developers were looking at from the start, and we’re learning a little more about why that is.
If you were thinking Capcom was aiming to deliver an RPG experience this time around on purpose, that wasn’t the case. Speaking to GamesRadar, Monster Hunter Wilds director Yuya Tokuda spoke about how things came naturally. From the start, there was a concept of humanity being part of the ecosystem rather than being on the outside. As a result, the storyline came together and became more focused.
The game director noted that this storyline would be more upfront than past titles. Likewise, it’s a narrative that helped flesh out other game elements. This included the learning curve of the monsters you’ll battle against, some useful skills as you progress, and the order of the monsters you’ll face.
So, while the developers didn’t intend to turn Monster Hunter Wilds into a more RPG experience, Tokuda can see how fans could easily assume that this was Capcom’s approach. Of course, we’ll have to wait and see how fans react to the gameplay experience and storyline when it finally launches.
The concept that I had from the start of the game was humanity as part of the ecosystem, and realizing that humans weren’t something on the outside of it looking in, they were part of it, and they had an effect on it,” Tokuda answers. “And that naturally led to an increased focus on story. Because, you know, the storytellers, the humans, are actually right in there amongst it.
It just made sense to me to have the story more upfront than in past titles. So it was a natural evolution of that concept, and it spoke to all the other elements of the game, such as the learning curve of which monsters you face in which order as you get started in the game, and how they teach you the necessary skills to play the game, how that interacted with a chapter-based story structure of which one you were going to meet next. It all sort of flowed naturally from that original concept, rather than being the idea of, as you said, let’s just make it more like an RPG on that basis. – Yuya Tokuda
The result was, it looked like, as you said, ‘Oh, are you trying to go for RPG players by imitating that structure?’ But really it was just a natural outcome of our other decisions that hopefully makes sense to players. – Yuya Tokuda
Fortunately, if you were planning to play this game on the PC platform, it was recently revealed that Capcom managed to lower the PC system requirements to run this game. Likewise, you’ll find a benchmark tool on Steam that will help highlight how the game will run on your PC before it officially releases.
As for when Monster Hunter Wilds launches, the upcoming installment to the action RPG title will be available on February 28, 2025. You’ll find the game available for the PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S platforms when it is released.
