Monster Hunter Wilds introduces a host of changes, new features, and quality-of-life improvements to the Monster Hunter series. Interestingly, the seeds for these innovations were planted during Monster Hunter World’s crossover events. Specifically, suggestions from Final Fantasy 14’s director, Naoki Yoshida, during the FFXIV crossover, and the positive reception to The Witcher 3 crossover, directly influenced new gameplay elements in Monster Hunter Wilds.
Conversations with Naoki Yoshida, affectionately known as Yoshi-P, during the collaboration for the FFXIV crossover inspired a significant change to Monster Hunter Wilds’ heads-up display (HUD). This change involved introducing attack names that appear on screen as players perform them. The positive response to The Witcher 3 crossover in Monster Hunter: World also played a crucial role in deciding to include more dialogue options and a speaking protagonist in Monster Hunter Wilds.
How Final Fantasy XIV’s Director Influenced Monster Hunter Wilds
During the collaboration for the Monster Hunter: World and FFXIV crossover, Yoshi-P shared his insights with Monster Hunter Wilds Director Yuya Tokuda at a reveal event. He suggested that players appreciate seeing the names of their attacks as they execute them. This feedback led to the development of the new HUD feature, which you can see highlighted in the image above.
We first experienced a hint of this feature during the 2018 FFXIV crossover event in Monster Hunter: World. This collaboration was extensive, featuring catchable Cactuars, a giant Kulu-Ya-Ku with a crystal hunted to the Chocobo music, the stunning Drachen armor, and more. One of the highlights was the challenging fight against Behemoth, where players could see the boss's moves displayed on screen, similar to what you can see in the video below.
Upon completing the repel quest for Behemoth, players unlock the Jump emote, inspired by the Dragoon’s movements in Final Fantasy. When using this emote, the text "\[Hunter\] performs Jump" appears on the screen, marking the only other instance of an "attack" name being displayed in this manner in Monster Hunter before Wilds.
How The Witcher 3 Influenced Monster Hunter Wilds
Monster Hunter Wilds Director Yuya Tokuda expressed his admiration for the comparisons drawn between the new dialogue options and gameplay elements in Monster Hunter Wilds and The Witcher 3. The successful Monster Hunter: World Witcher 3 collaboration served as a testbed for gauging player reactions to more dialogue and options within the Monster Hunter universe.
In the Monster Hunter: World Witcher 3 crossover, players take on the role of Geralt of Rivia, engaging in conversations and choosing dialogue options, a stark contrast to the silent protagonist of previous Monster Hunter games. This approach has been adopted in Monster Hunter Wilds, where the player's character now speaks and interacts with NPCs.
Tokuda mentioned that while Monster Hunter Wilds was not in active development during the time of World’s collaborations, the ideas for future enhancements were already taking shape. He was particularly keen on including a The Witcher 3 collaboration in World and personally sought out this opportunity with the CD Projekt Red team, which proved to be a successful endeavor.
This fascinating insight was shared during our exclusive visit to Capcom’s Japan offices as part of this month’s IGN First. Be sure to check out the full hands-on, final preview of Monster Hunter Wilds, new in-depth interviews, and other exclusive gameplay from January’s Monster Hunter Wilds IGN First:
- Behind Monster Hunter Wilds' New Approach to Starting Weapons and Hope Series Gear
- Monster Hunter Wilds Interview and Gameplay: Meet Nu Udra, Apex of the Oilwell Basin
- Evolving Monster Hunter: How Capcom’s Belief in the Series Made it a Worldwide Hit
- Monster Hunter Wilds: Gravios Returns in This Exclusive Gameplay
