Monster Hunter: World

Monster Hunter: World
File:Monster hunter world logo.png
Developer(s)	Capcom
Publisher(s)	Capcom
Director(s)	Kaname Fujioka Yuya Tokuda
Producer(s)	Ryozo Tsujimoto
Series	Monster Hunter
Engine	MT Framework
Platform(s)	PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows
Release	PlayStation 4 Xbox One WW: Q1 2018 Microsoft Windows WW: TBA
Genre(s)	Action role-playing
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer

Monster Hunter: World (モンスターハンター：ワールド, Monsutā Hantā: Wārudo) is an upcoming action role-playing video game being developed and published by Capcom, and is part of their Monster Hunter franchise. The game was announced at Sony's Electronic Entertainment Expo 2017 conference. It is currently set for a release in early 2018 for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, with a Microsoft Windows release sometime afterwards. The game will feature much larger maps, no loading screens between zones in the map and four-player online co-op; it will allow players from Japan and from Western regions to play together, a first for the game in the series.

Gameplay

Main article: Gameplay in the Monster Hunter series

Monster Hunter: World is an action role-playing game set in an open world environment played from a third-person perspective. As with previous games in the series, the player takes the role of a Hunter that is tasked by a local village to hunt down and either kill or capture large monsters that roam outside the village. The player's character does not have any intrinsic attributes, but instead these are determined by what equipment the character is equipped with. This includes a weapon which comes from several archetypes (such as long sword, bow, or guns), which then further defines the types of combat moves and abilities the player can use, and pieces of armor, which can led to beneficial or detrimental combat skills if matched properly. While some basic equipment can be purchased using in-game money, most equipment is built from loot obtained by slaying or trapping monsters, rewards from completing quests, or items gathered while in the field. This created a core loop of gameplay that has the player fight monsters they can beat to obtain the right loot to craft improved weapons and armor to allow them to face more powerful monsters and the potential for even better equipment.

Monster Hunter: World will include all fourteen weapon types from Monster Hunter Generations. All hunters gain access to a tool called the Slinger, which can be used as a grappling hook to reach higher elevations or pull down rock formations, and also can be used as a slingshot to launch bullets that can damage or have debuffing effects on monsters or can be used to distract monsters to allow one to escape. Other equipment similar to ghillie suits can be used to either stay hidden from sight of a monster, or to lure a monster into chasing the hunter into a trap or into an area occupied by another monster and having them fight each other. Scout flies can be used and trained to track down monsters or other resources, with high experience levels making them more effective.

Monster Hunter: World has several different areas to hunt, however, unlike previous games where each area was broken into separate discrete zones, World offers seamless travel throughout the area. This alters the nature of some gameplay elements: for example, with zones, a player could temporarily escape a monster by leaving a zone entering the next, giving them time to drink healing potions or prepare other equipment. With the connected world approach, the player does not have this immediate escape option, so some gameplay elements are tied to the fact that the player cannot easily escape danger. One such change is allowing the character to drink a healing potion while walking rather than having to stand still and remain vulnerable. The game will include a dynamic day-night cycle, which can affect the behavior of some monsters mid-quest. The areas have what Capcom considered to be living ecosystems, with monsters reacting to the presence of other monsters; this can be used to lure monsters to fight and weaken each other, for example. Players will have a way to quick-travel to the region's base camps - safe areas from the monsters - where they can change out equipment and restock on items before setting out again; new in World is the ability to change weapon class while out in the field.

The game supports both single-player and up to four player co-operative mode, though all will be played through online servers. The game's quest system will be the same in both modes. In single-player mode, hunters can have a Palico (an anthropomorphic sentient cat species) assist them in combat, and players can call for help from other players anywhere in the field by having their character launch a red flare, allowing other hunters to help. The game will allow players in different release regions to work together; the game will use a pre-determined set of common greetings and commands that are translated to the various languages so that players can effectively communicate with each other. Monster Hunter: World also provides more information to players, such as a companion that will warn the player when they are running low on health, and more details on the advantages and disadvantages of weapons and armors against specific monsters.

Development

Monster Hunter: World is considered a main game in the Monster Hunter series, according to the game's producer Ryozo Tsujimoto and co-director Yuya Tokuda. Tokuda and co-director Kaname Fujioka were also directors for Monster Hunter 4 and Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate. While their main Monster Hunter development team from Osaka has developed the core, Capcom brought in other programmers familiar with the newer consoles to help with bringing the game to those systems.

Tjusimoto and Tokuda recognized that World will be the first Monster Hunter title that many in the Western regions will likely play, so wanted to make sure the game was accessible to those players without having played any of the previous titles. They also were aware of past criticisms that the games were very hard to learn though provided a rewarding experience once learned, so aimed to include means to help ease the learning curve and provide more information to the starting player. The subtitle World alludes to many facets of the game's design: it reflects that the game will have a worldwide simultaneous release, that it will be playing on worldwide servers rather than segmented by region, that the maps are no longer connected zones but wide-open worlds, and that they have been able to implement living worlds, with complex interactions between monsters and the environment afforded to them by the more powerful computing/console hardware. The latter element is something that Capcom has wanted to do with the series before but were limited by the capabilities of the gaming hardware. Tsujimoto noted that the Windows version of the game is set to release later as they "want to make sure that we take time to optimize the PC experience".