Monster Hero is massive in Japan. 10 million of the beast-battling games have shifted in the country since it launched on PlayStation 2 in 2004 and fans even attend Monster Hunter summer training camps and festivals! So can we expect to see a Monster Hunter festival in the UK after the series makes its Wii debut next year? It's unlikely to happen but that's the dream of the game's producer Ryozo Tsujimoto who, in an interview with ONM, claimed that his team have created the best-looking game on the Wii. Read on for more...
How will Monster Hunter Tri differ from previous games?
Ryozo Tsujimoto: This is a brand new Monster Hunter game and it's very easy to pick up and play. On PSP it was very much about putting a hunter against a monster. With this we have concentrated on creating an ecology - so if larger monsters come into smaller monster's territory, they will gang together to take on the larger monster.
Can you tell us more about the controls?
RT: We've got a couple of options. Obviously you can use the Nunchuk and Remote but you can also use the Classic Controller. As you know, the Monster Hunter franchise is huge in Japan and there are lots of people playing on PSP - over 3.5 million, actually. They wanted the same controls on the Wii version.
However, since we have created this game from scratch for Wii, you can use the Nunchuk and Remote as well. It's very intuitive and very easy to play. It is more of an action game and we are very proud of the controls. We feel that we have utilised the Nunchuk and Remote to the full.
How about the online mode?
RT: It may be suited to the Japanese psyche but overall it's easy to pick up and play, especially using the ad-hoc function. We are in the process of collecting feedback from the western markets.
Will it utilise Wii Speak?
RT: We do like voice chat but if you're going to incorporate one thing, you may have to cut another. We are working that out, but nothing is confirmed yet. The game is acting as a community tool to connect people together. I think that is a good thing. We're not going to tell the community how to play the game - we have created this game and it's up to the community to utilise that and if they have fun while they're doing that then that's great.
As far as the UK is concerned, we have seen lots of people posting in the forums and that's how it started in Japan. The community is growing and it's going to be up to us to take this to the next level. Hopefully we can reach the same level as in Japan.
Do you think you'll be able to appeal to the Wii community online?
RT: With Tri, it will be a different type of community as it won't be your friends getting together in one place. However, you can play with strangers. Having said that, we don't want to dictate how to play the game to the community. If there are people that have played other Monster Hunter games and decide to meet up on Tri, that's great, but we don't want to lead them anywhere. We want the community to decide and then support them.
My ultimate dream is that, just as they have done in Japan, we could have Monster Hunter festivals that could go around different locations in the UK, Europe, America and all around the world.
The graphics are very impressive...
RT: To create this level of graphics, R&D spent hours and hours working on it. At the moment we are quite confident that this is going to be the game with the best graphics on Wii.
Why did you decide to bring Monster Hunter exclusively to Wii?
RT: The reason why we developed this game for Wii is because the Remote controls are so unique. In the west we believe it will unite fans. It would be easier for them to start up with Wii and its intuitive controls. That was the main reason.
Are there any other new features you want to tell us about?
RT: First of all, as far as Tri is concerned, the team wanted to put in something completely new. Lots of the Monsters are new, they look new and they move in different ways too. Also, in the field, we have designed it in a different way to the previous games so that there will be plenty of surprises. Another thing is that this is a pure action game. It was quite difficult to design a game where a new user can start from the beginning and achieve the skills to take on the last monster.
We have introduced a torch so you can light up darker areas. Also, some of the smaller monsters are scared of the flame so you can deter them from attacking you.
There is also a smaller monster that can mimic larger beast's cries, so he can call them in to his aid. We have been able to add several different dimensions to the game.
How about WiiWare or DSiWare downloads? Is that something you'd be interested in?
RT: We would have to work out how to benefit the user before we put something on WiiWare or DSiWare. With Monster Hunter Tri you can save your data on the Wii Remote so you can take it to a friends' house. You can play with your friends with your saved data, complete quests, then save the data and take it back to your friends house.
