With the impending release of Monster Hunter: World just days away, a new behind-the-scenes video has been released on YouTube, giving fans of the upcoming title a glimpse at how the development team approached the task of making a next-generation installment in the Monster Hunter series.
Entitled "The Making of Monster Hunter: World Episode I - Concept," the newly released video appears to be the first episode of a behind-the-scenes series timed to coincide with the release of the game. This first episode offers fans a look at the development process of Monster Hunter: World, interspersed with a selection of interviews with the game's developers and directors as they discuss how they approached making a Monster Hunter game for the current generation of consoles.
While perhaps not as exciting as other recent promotional releases for Monster Hunter: World, the video highlights how much the development team drew upon the original Monster Hunter, released in 2004, in how they set about designing Monster Hunter: World. It emphasizes the original title's ecosystem and the sense that the monsters were more than mere enemies as being key factors that the development team sought to incorporate into the new game.
Longstanding fans of the series may well be reassured to see how the developers have sought to channel the spirit of the game's predecessors in their approach. Certainly, the developers seem to be in tune with what gamers want to see from the upcoming title. Just a few weeks ago, it was confirmed in an interview with the series' producer, Ryozo Tsujimoto, that Monster Hunter: World will include neither loot boxes nor micro-transactions of any kind; welcome news to most of the gaming community after the disastrous mishandling of micro-transactions in other recent releases.
As the first Monster Hunter game to ever be released for the Xbox One and PlayStation 4, the game has certainly attracted plenty of attention. The title's director, Yuya Tokuda, recently made comments suggesting that fans of Destiny will find the game easy to get into. With complaints about Destiny being frequent and numerous from the game's fans, the developers of Monster Hunter: World may well be looking to attract those dissatisfied with Destiny 2 to their first foray onto the current console market.
While it remains to be seen whether the game will be a success or not, this video detailing the developers' approach, together with other recent news such as the promise of free DLC, makes it seem likely that the upcoming title could do very well on release.
Monster Hunter World releases January 26, 2018 for PS4 and Xbox One.