Hunter Protagonist Sparing Monsters, Despite Player Urges

The Monster Hunter series, renowned for its thrilling monster hunts, is shifting its focus. Capcom emphasizes a core theme: the intricate relationship between hunters and the natural world. Discover what awaits in Monster Hunter Wilds!

Monster Hunter Wilds: A Deeper Dive into Humanity and Nature

Monster Hunter games typically portray hunters as skilled individuals existing within a symbiotic relationship with both monsters and humans. Capcom is amplifying this theme in Monster Hunter Wilds (MH Wilds), giving the player character more depth and personality.

The overarching narrative of MH Wilds centers on the interconnectedness of the world's nature and its inhabitants. Game director Yuya Tokuda explained to PC Gamer, "The relationship between people, nature, and monsters, and what exactly is a hunter's role in a world like that…We wanted to illustrate that not just through the gameplay, but a very deep story. There are many other things we have planned down the line that are aligned to the concept of Monster Hunter Wilds, and we're confident this game was able to achieve what we wanted to express with it."

This enhanced focus on narrative is achieved through increased dialogue, allowing for more expressive hunter characters. Tokuda highlighted the diverse perspectives within the game's world, using the characters Nata and Olivia as examples of individuals with differing backgrounds and approaches to monster situations. He stated, "There are many people with different perspectives living all together. And we also wanted to illustrate how the hunter would feel in a world like that. What would they feel? How would they think? Everybody is different, so we decided to add those kinds of elements to Monster Hunter Wilds."

This departure from the series' traditionally silent protagonists and limited dialogue options is a significant change. However, players who prefer a more action-oriented experience need not worry.

Tokuda reassured fans, "There may be players who prefer to skip all that and just go keep on hunting the next monster—that's possible too. The volume of the text that's available in the game will not affect the number of monsters available, so we can satisfy everybody." This narrative expansion is just the beginning; the director hinted at future plans further exploring the core theme of the bond between humanity and nature.

For a deeper understanding of Monster Hunter's underlying themes and narrative, explore Game8's featured article on "What Monster Hunter Is Really About."