{"id":134649,"date":"2023-09-07T16:28:11","date_gmt":"2023-09-07T16:28:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pockettactics.com\/?post_type=feature&p=66245"},"modified":"2023-09-07T16:28:11","modified_gmt":"2023-09-07T16:28:11","slug":"monster-hunter-now-makes-you-fight-a-diablos-in-just-75-seconds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/2023\/09\/07\/monster-hunter-now-makes-you-fight-a-diablos-in-just-75-seconds\/","title":{"rendered":"Monster Hunter Now makes you fight a Diablos in just 75 seconds"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Monster Hunter franchise has never been hotter, and it\u2019s easy to see why. After a steady string of releases over the last two decades, developer Capcom slowly refined and expanded upon the winning formula, giving fans bigger and better games as the years progressed. Recent outings like Monster Hunter World and Monster Hunter Rise have been huge critical and sales successes, and now it\u2019s time for something new. <\/p>\n

Now, MH creator Capcom is teaming up with mobile developer Niantic (Pok\u00e9mon Go, Pikmin Bloom, Ingress) in the hopes of expanding the appeal and audience of Monster Hunter, and who better than the creators of Pok\u00e9mon Go to realize that goal? Monster Hunter might not quite have the prolific library of monsters that Pok\u00e9mon does, but it has a sizable and dedicated audience already. <\/p>\n

To learn more about the game, we spoke to Kei Kawai, who works as executive producer of Monster Hunter Now and as Niantic chief product officer. Bringing the world of Monster Hunter to mobile is a difficult task, so we wanted to hear more about the challenges of adapting a game with so many elements and so much nuance to a mobile device. <\/p>\n

One interesting element is learning that Niantic is the one that approached Capcom in the first place. Speaking on the collaboration, Kawai says that \u201cI pitched the idea for the game to the team at Capcom, and they agreed to the idea in that first meeting.\u201d Given Niantic\u2019s previous success with Pok\u00e9mon Go, it\u2019s little surprise Capcom saw potential in the idea, and according to Kawai, Capcom had \u201calready been considering a location-based game\u201d anyway. <\/p>\n

If you\u2019re an existing Pok\u00e9mon Go fan, you might wonder why you should check out Monster Hunter Now. While Kawai does explain that \u201cdifferent IPs appeal to different audiences\u201d they also maintain that Niantic and Capcom have \u201cworked hard to give players a very different kind of experience.\u201d What does that entail exactly? Well, according to Kawai, Monster Hunter Now is \u201ca new game built from the ground up\u201d while the main shift is with \u201creal time battles and a lot of action.\u201d <\/p>\n

<\/span>\"Monster<\/a> <\/p>\n

As a Monster Hunter fan for some years, I\u2019m interested in how the notoriously complex battle system translates to mobile, and Niantic and Capcom have clearly made this a top priority. When asked about transferring the gameplay, Kawai explains that Monster Hunter Now has been in development for \u201cover four years,\u201d a lot of which was \u201ctrial and error.\u201d According to Kawai, early prototypes had matches lasting anywhere between \u201cfive and ten minutes,\u201d though playtesting eventually led to the current game\u2019s maximum of 75 seconds. I\u2019ve spent multiple hours tackling beasts on consoles, but I certainly don\u2019t think I want to stand in the street for forty minutes in the hopes of slaying a Rathian. <\/p>\n

Instead, the focus is on making \u201ca game that remains true to Monster Hunter\u201d but is still accessible to the mobile audience and experience, with controls that are \u201ceasy to start and hard to master.\u201d One essential element of this is the one-finger gameplay that replaces the regular weapon attacks. However, Niantic and Capcom are adding nuance to this mode with \u201cinnovations from the team like the gyro for the projectile weapons.\u201d <\/p>\n

<\/span>\"Monster<\/a> <\/p>\n

The community is one element of Monster Hunter that fans adore, and this seems to be another priority for the Monster Hunter Now team. As Kawai explains, the existing focus on multiplayer and the existing community are \u201cwhat makes Monster Hunter such a great fit for a Niantic game.\u201d In Now, up to four players can \u201cmatch up quickly with people around you,\u201d and you can also work alongside strangers. This collaborative gameplay is apparently \u201ckey to defeating the higher-level monsters.\u201d <\/p>\n

One recurring element of Monster Hunter that I personally adore is the pattern of flagship monsters representing a game and its cover art. Recently Monster Hunter Rise featured the fearsome Magnamalo, and I couldn\u2019t help but ask if Monster Hunter Now might get its own monster down the line. Kawai gives a suitably careful answer, saying \u201cThis is really a question for our friends at Capcom,\u201d though apparently the launch of Monster Hunter Now is just the start, and the developer would \u201clove to include new unique monsters in the game in the future.\u201d <\/p>\n

<\/span>\"Monster<\/a> <\/p>\n

Monster Hunter Now has been in beta testing for a couple of months now, and while we have also been playing a pre-release build, we are waiting to give a full review near launch. According to Kawai, this testing has been crucial, and the Monster Hunter Now team is still making \u201cfinal touches\u201d to the game, including \u201cfine-tuning the speed of progress and the strengths of the different monsters and weapons.\u201d Much like other Monster Hunter games, we anticipate the community is going to be crucial in creating a fair and satisfying game. <\/p>\n

While Pok\u00e9mon Go is over seven years old, it\u2019s certainly interesting that Monster Hunter is seeing now as the perfect time to launch this mobile title. However, after the success of Rise, World, and even the release of a Monster Hunter movie, Niantic would like to use this opportunity to help Monster Hunter \u201creach a broader and truly global audience of smartphone users and mobile game players.\u201d <\/p>\n

Now is sure to be many players\u2019 first introduction to the series, and as Kawai mentions, Niantic hopes that the title will \u201chelp expand the franchise and bring new players into the world.\u201d After all, Go is partly responsible for a huge resurgence in Pok\u00e9mon\u2019s popularity. If you\u2019re at all worried about the team behind this, Kawai assures fans that both series producer Ryozo Tsujimoto and \u201call the top Monster Hunter producers at Capcom\u201d are giving Niantic \u201cvaluable feedback throughout the process.\u201d <\/p>\n

<\/span>\"Monster<\/a> <\/p>\n

The Monster Hunter series is one with a clear vision, and it\u2019s reassuring to know that so many of its most talented creators are overseeing this new venture. It\u2019s evident that Capcom and the Monster Hunter team want to build on their existing audience and spread the gospel of Monster Hunter, and Kawai confirms it, saying the team hopes to build on the existing audience \u201cby attracting a diverse audience to the game, including families. There is so much potential on mobile.\u201d <\/p>\n

One element of the game that is unclear so far is how Niantic and Capcom hope to keep players engaged over time. The Monster Hunter gameplay loop of creating armor and weapons is fantastic, but a mobile game needs certain elements to keep things fresh. When asked how Now is set to keep fans playing, Kawai explains that Niantic is \u201cintroducing a season system and will be adding new monsters, storylines, and weapons types to the game over time.\u201d <\/p>\n

<\/span>\"Monster<\/a> <\/p>\n

Kawai further explains as they mention that \u201cNiantic has a great track record of running live operations and in-game events for mobile games,\u201d and it\u2019s certainly true. After a somewhat slow start, Pok\u00e9mon Go is now constantly supported with regular interesting events, with creative new features or tasks to keep players happy. According to Kawai, the Now team is \u201cexcited about running the game as a service\u201d and seeing what the team can achieve with such a \u201cpassionate community.\u201d <\/p>\n

Finally, we couldn\u2019t finish the interview without asking Kawai what the series means to them, and thankfully it\u2019s clear this title is being developed with a lot of love and passion. Kawai told us that the Monster Hunter series \u201cmeans a lot to me personally,\u201d and there\u2019s a fun (and novel) reason for that. <\/p>\n

Kawai says \u201cmy cousin actually met and then married their partner by playing Monster Hunter together at college,\u201d and according to Kawai that\u2019s where they \u201cgot the idea for the game.\u201d Two people meeting and bonding over the series is touching, and as Kawai further explains the \u201cMonster Hunter world clearly had the power to bring people together in the real world.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"YouTube <\/div>\n

We also couldn\u2019t help but ask Kawai what their favorite monster is, and they happily explained that \u201cIt has to be Pukei-Pukei. I just love its offbeat quirkiness!\u201d We\u2019ll have to wait just a bit longer to learn more about Monster Hunter Now, but it\u2019s clear that the developer is passionate about the series, and driven to help spread it even further. Perhaps just like Kawai\u2019s cousin, it\u2019ll help bring you closer to people in the real world, very soon. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Monster Hunter franchise has never been hotter, and it\u2019s easy to see why. After a steady string of releases over the last two decades, developer Capcom slowly refined and expanded upon the winning formula, giving fans bigger and better games as the years progressed. Recent outings like Monster Hunter World and Monster Hunter Rise […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[70],"tags":[853,966,203,1508,990],"class_list":["post-134649","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mobile-game-releases","tag-android","tag-free-to-play","tag-ios","tag-monster-hunter-now","tag-rpg"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134649","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=134649"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134649\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=134649"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=134649"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=134649"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}