The Monster Hunter Wilds team at Capcom has revealed its thought process when it decides on a roster of monsters for a new title. In an interview with IGN, director Yuya Tokuda spoke about how, when deciding a monster for a game, the team first tries to answer questions like where the monster would live in an area’s ecosystem and hierarchy.
Giving the example of Arkveld, Tokuda talks about considering its place in the ecological pyramid of an area. “We first consider what we want players to experience when facing major monsters like Arkveld, as well as the setting, ecosystem, and so on of the world, unique to each title,” Tokuda explained. “We then think about the kind of monsters needed to do that. In a way, we start by putting puzzle pieces together, like, ‘If this monster exists in this place, how does the ecological pyramid work here?’”
Tokuda also explained that the team doesn’t consider any ratios of brand-new monsters versus returning ones from previous titles when deciding a roster. According to Tokuda, the player experience and how it would feel to hunt these monsters is more important.
“We don’t focus too much on the proportion or number of new versus old monsters,” said Tokuda. “What’s important at the end of the day is the overall level design and order of monsters across the entire game, as well as the balance of ecological pyramids in each area. We take this multifaceted approach to decide which monsters to include.”
To that end, even the decision to further fill out a new game’s monster roster with returning monsters and fan-favourites largely comes down to whether it makes sense to bring the monster to the new game’s environments. Current technological advancements in game development also play into this.
“So even when we’re selecting old monsters to put in the game, part of that involves making sure to stay true to that monster’s concept while thinking about how much room each monster has to grow when they’re reborn using current-day technology and game design,” he said.
Capcom recently revealed that, alongside Congalala, Gravios will also be one of the returning monsters in Monster Hunter Wilds. The announcement was made with a new gameplay showcase, giving us our first look at Gravios with the game’s current engine. While Rise and Sunbreak players got to fight against Basarios – essentially a juvenile Gravios – the grown-up version of the monster uses fire, sleep and poison gases, as well as its fire beam.
Monster Hunter Wilds will be available on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S with it comes out on February 28. In the meantime, players will get the chance to experience the game’s second beta between February 6 and 9, and then again on February 13 and 16.
