In a recent interview,Monster Hunterseries producer Ryozo Tsujimoto gave their thoughts on what madeMonster Hunter Wildssuch a huge success.
The scope of Wilds' accomplishments are hard to overstate. AsTheGamerpoints out, Wilds had over 1.3 million concurrent players at its peak… on Steam alone. And that platform was perhaps the worst option to play Monster Hunter on, givenperformance issues.
Success like that doesn’t come from nowhere. When asked, Tsujimoto had a few things in mind that drove everything we’re seeing. First among them, a sense of immersion fueled by the game’s increased focus on story.
Monster Hunter has always placed a lot of value on immersion, but traditionally used things like ecology as the main way to achieve it. Now, the game is fully voiced - one of many ways the game emphasizes its narrative as a way to draw people in.
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Second, Tsujimoto was particularly fond of the game’s cross-play features, letting hunters team up across console barriers.
Of these two, the former will certainly stand out a lot more in the eyes of Monster Hunter fans. Cross-play is a thing people like on a fairly generic basis - more player freedom is hard to hate. But a shift towards a plot-driven experience? That’s very new for Monster Hunter.
Monster Hunter Wilds Embraces A New Direction
The Monster Hunter games have always been driven by gameplay. It never valued its gameplay above its lore per se, but its world has been firmly a background feature.
It’s an especially well-done background - with attention to detail at a level that’d make most narrative games jealous - but it was still, at its core, a background. Now,even the cats talk to you.
It’s worth noting that, while the new focus on story is easy to see, the actual quality of that story seems not to have left a strong impression.Our own reviewof the game practically opens by mentioning the story, but in the end, calls it “pretty good, but nothing really groundbreaking.”
Monster Hunter Wilds Review
Monster Hunter Wilds is an evolution for the series and the best Monster Hunter game to date.
The game’s Steam review page brings a similar sentiment. Outright negativity around the story of Monster Hunter Wilds is few and far between - but praise is only slightly less scarce.
Tsujimoto’s comments, then, seem a bit strange in this light. One can’t deny the effectiveness of a story in supporting immersion. But whether the story contributed more to that than, say, the game’s voice acting, remains to be seen.
Regardless, the net-positive feelings people have for the story of Monster Hunter Wilds, plus the grand sentiments from those behind the project, mean that future Monster Hunter titles will likely have more of a story focus as well. And hey, even if the quality has room to grow, every story’s gotta start somewhere.
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