Though the core gameplay concept of the Monster Hunter games will remain, Monster Hunter World is looking to evolve things to another level.
In a recent interview with IGN, executive director Kaname Fujioka discussed the evolution of the series, where the aim is to make the Monster Hunter World feel fresh while retaining its core difficultly of hunting down the world’s most ferocious monsters.
It’s great to hear that Capcom won’t be watering down the game for a Western audience, but it will remain as challenging as ever with players really having to understand the behaviour of monsters and prepare in advance to be able to beat them.
“We’re not taking things that people in the west hate and fixing them to make western players buy it. People sometimes make that assumption, or they’ve got that fear, but that’s not the case at all,” said Fujioka.
Aside from a new tracking system – which should make it easier to find the monsters you’re looking for – the challenge will remain with a more open-world than previous games with no loading times between zones, 14 different weapon types and dozens of potions that aid you in battle.
One of the big differences from previous Monster Hunter games will undoubtedly be the visuals, animations, and size of the game world, and Fujioka briefly touch on these elements in the IGN interview.
“We really wanted to go further than ever before to portray a living, breathing ecosystem, a world that looks like even if you didn’t turn up, it would still be getting on with its business without you – the interactions between monsters and creatures, predator-prey, survival of the fittest stuff,” he commented.
Monster Hunter World is an action role-playing game and the fifth title in the Monster Hunter franchise. Players take the role of a hunter attempting to capture and kill monsters in order to gain materials for crafting better weapons and armor. The game will support single player and four-player online co-op.
The Monster Hunter World release date is expected to be in Q1 2018.