Monster Hunter Wilds - A Chat with Ryozo Tsujimoto
Ryozo Tsujimoto is undoubtedly a legend in game development. Having worked on and overseen a fair share of Capcom’s best franchises over the years, including Resident Evil and Street Fighter, he has now taken on the role of Executive Producer for Monster Hunter Wilds. With Wilds almost on our consoles, Mr Tsujimoto was recently in Australia to talk all about it and during that time I was lucky enough to sit down for a one-on-one chat (well two-on-one with Mr Tsujimoto’s translator) and pick his brain about the upcoming monster-slaying epic.
Matt Hewson: Let’s kick things off with a big one. Monster Hunter World gave the franchise a massive hit in the West for the first time, taking it from a dedicated niche market to a genuine AAA blockbuster. What do you think was the reason for that and how do you think it will carry on with Monster Hunter Wilds?
Ryozo Tsujimoto: When World was released we thought a lot of things and not just the game itself, for example with previous Monster Hunter games, even though we released them globally, we always put Japan first. With World, we changed that, releasing it across the world on the same day, with the same effort put into all versions of the game. I know it will be a long chat if I talk about everything we implemented to ensure it was a hit around the world but the main thing we focused on is ensuring we got rid of barriers to entry while still maintaining the core Monster Hunter experience.
MH: Further along those lines, Monster Hunter has traditionally been fairly challenging to get into. With Wilds, you seem to be addressing that with the new AI companion system but are there other steps you are taking to bring new players into the fold?
RT: When we started Wilds we looked at all the problems faced by new players in previous titles and we discovered a lot of new players were quitting before what we considered the main part of the game, fighting the big monsters. At least that is what our data was suggesting.
MH: So obviously then it became the problem of finding a balance between serving long-time fans while still welcoming those new players?
RT: One thing we always take into account is our long-time players. We must always make sure that they are happy. We cannot have older players feeling like a new entry is not a Monster Hunter game anymore. But at the same time, we want the new players to be guided into the main part of the Monster Hunter game so we took the time to make sure new players were able to enjoy the game from the start. For example one of the features we have implemented is that in Monster Hunter we have 14 different weapons but instead of saying “Here’s 14 different weapons, pick one” and causing new player indecision. What we have done is set the game to ask the player a series of questions and once answered, it will suggest a weapon for the player. The player can then take that advice or ignore it as they please.
MH: With the success of Monster Hunter World there have been quite a few other games that have launched in the genre, games like Wild Hearts and Dauntless. Do you see this as flattery? Do you watch how they innovate? Or are you just happy staying within your own team and focusing internally?
RT: We really just think about ourselves. We are focused on making sure that Monster Hunter is always Monster Hunter. Whenever a new Monster Hunter comes along we want to make sure that players are surprised and excited by what we are bringing. I have been asked this question before and my answer always is we just want to keep Monster Hunter as Monster Hunter and not worry about anything else.
MH: The RE Engine seems to be a really impressive engine to use. Capcom has obviously used it for a lot of games at this point. How hard or easy is it to use it for such a grand open world like Monster Hunter Wilds as opposed to more linear or tightly focused games like Resident Evil or Street Fighter?
RT: The RE Engine is always evolving and it will keep evolving, but the biggest advantage of using the RE Engine is that it is developed in-house. We can talk to the engine team and make sure it does what we need it to do. Having the engineers working internally at Capcom means that it makes it so much easier to communicate what we as developers need from the engine. Whereas before with older titles developed in an outsourced engine, communication was difficult and added a lot of time to the development process. Making the decision to put Capcom first and have the engine in-house has made it a lot easier for all of our development teams.
MH: Thank you so much for your time Mr Tsujimoto, it has been a real pleasure.
RT: Thank you.
So there you have it, an all-too-brief chat with one of the great development minds. A quick shout out to Capcom for allowing me the chance to interview Mr Tsujimoto, it really was an honour.
Monster Hunter Wilds is coming to PC, PS5 and Xbox Series on the 28th of Feb and you can pre-order now.
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