Monster Hunter World is the most successful game by Capcom of all time, with over 25 million sales. It’s no wonder that Monster Hunter Wilds draws inspiration from it. In an interview, Art Director Kaname Fujioka discusses what was important to the team during the development of the latest installment. He mentions some things that veterans of the franchise don’t seem to fully appreciate.
What was important in the development? Fujioka talks in an interview with PC Gamer about how Monster Hunter Wilds focused on adopting the best features from Monster Hunter World and making them even better. Since Monster Hunter World was well-received by many players and made the franchise more accessible to a wider variety of player types, the goal was to build on that success with Wilds.
For the team at Capcom, it has been a great joy to see that so many different people, even if they aren’t good at action games, enjoy Monster Hunter:
I always enjoy that people seem to have fun with the game, and that makes me the happiest. Even people who aren’t very good at action games seem to have fun, or even if they are defeated by monsters, they seem to enjoy just wandering around.
When I see all these different aspects and each person enjoying it in their own way, I appreciate the details that we incorporate into Monster Hunter that reflect that.
They wanted to create an accessible Monster Hunter that ensures players who enjoyed Monster Hunter World become absolute fans of the franchise with Wilds. On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of Monster Hunter, they wanted to create an experience that is something truly special and brings out the best of what Monster Hunter has to offer, so that as many people as possible can have fun with it.
Here you can see how the monsters are animated:
Was Monster Hunter World too easy?
Veterans express criticism: However, during the time of Monster Hunter World, some veterans of the franchise criticized that Monster Hunter World was too easy compared to previous entries, leading to many discussions (via Reddit). It was considered too “casual” and did not provide a challenge. Some disagree, stating that it was simply their experience with the gameplay mechanics that was improving, making the battles easier for them.
Others emphasize that the game was simply made more accessible and beginner-friendly, opening up the community to more varied player types.
Now this discussion is flaring up again, as, as Fujioka additionally confirmed, there is a strong focus on adopting and developing features from the predecessor in Monster Hunter Wilds.
In a thread on Steam, there is a heated debate about whether Monster Hunter Wilds will still become easier from a player’s perspective and offer fewer challenges. Many veterans feel that this approach is further distancing the franchise from the beloved earlier titles, and there is concern that they will no longer enjoy Monster Hunter.
Overall, however, this approach seems to be well-received, as many defend the design decisions and look forward to going monster hunting again with as many like-minded individuals as possible in February. Just because a game is beginner-friendly does not mean that all newcomers are bad or that the game lacks depth and challenges for veterans.
MyMMO editor Leya was able to play the full version of Monster Hunter Wilds for a whole 7 hours at an event in Japan and is convinced that it could be a strong contender for Game of the Year 2025: I was able to play the full version of Monster Hunter Wilds in Japan for 7 hours, and one thing particularly struck me
