Monster Hunter Wilds and Ultimate Fantasy 14’s collaboration content material formally arrives in each video games on September 29 and October 7, including themed actions and objects to every recreation.
It’s the second time Capcom and Sq. Enix have collaborated on this method, after an analogous themed occasion for Monster Hunter World and FF14.
In accordance with Monster Hunter Wilds producer Ryozo Tsujimoto, the 2 Japanese giants’ fashionable relationship started after an opportunity assembly in a bar with Ultimate Fantasy 14 producer Naoki Yoshida, who was enjoying Monster Hunter on a PSP on the time.
The 2 growth groups are stated to be stuffed with gamers of one another’s video games, and their newest collaboration, agreed at a dinner at Gamescom final 12 months, sees content material from Monster Hunter Wilds seem in Ultimate Fantasy 14, and vice versa.
Full particulars on the collaboration content material will be discovered on the Monster Hunter and Ultimate Fantasy 14 web sites.
Forward of the collab launch, VGC attended a Tokyo Sport Present press convention the place members of the media quizzed Monster Hunter Wilds producer Ryozo Tsujimoto and director Yuya Tokuda, and Ultimate Fantasy 14 producer and director Naoki Yoshida.
Yoshida-san, just lately you talked about that you just like Ultimate Fantasy 14’s content material to be able to satisfying each informal and hardcore gamers. How does this collaboration play into that?
Yoshida: As you already know, Ultimate Fantasy 14 does provide content material for informal players all the way in which as much as end-game content material for hardcore players as properly. So once more, we had this opportunity to do that large crossover with Monster Hunter, and we’ve a variety of stuff deliberate for this. I’ve a stage look on Sunday the place I’m gonna be speaking about this, so I can’t say every little thing right here, however we’ve a variety of nice rewards for all completely different sorts of gamers, whether or not they be informal gamers or high-end gamers.
We even have a variety of completely different difficulties as properly, in order that gamers can play on the stage that they need to play at, and they’re going to really feel most comfy at. However what’s going to be completely different with this collaboration for Wilds that’s completely different from our collaboration with Monster Hunter World is that this one will really feel extra 14-like, in a way. Sure, the battles are gonna nonetheless be loopy, but it surely’s gonna play and have that Ultimate Fantasy XIV really feel, so that you don’t have to enter it considering you’re gonna get one thing fully completely different from that 14 stuff.
Tsujimoto-san, did you could have any issue implementing the weather from Ultimate Fantasy XIV into Monster Hunter Wilds, since Monster Hunter is an motion recreation, and Ultimate Fantasy XIV is an RPG?
Tsujimoto: It was the identical case as once we made the Monster Hunter World and XIV collab, but it surely was really extra of a enjoyable problem for us fairly than a troublesome type of problem. The Monster Hunter growth staff has a variety of Warriors of Gentle amongst us who love Ultimate Fantasy XIV and play the sport, and so they had fun speaking to one another and arising with inventive concepts, particularly as a result of, as you stated, there are two completely different genres at play right here.
However that’s really type of a optimistic inventive factor as a result of we will do issues on this collab that aren’t doable in Monster Hunter usually with out the Ultimate Fantasy XIV parts included within the collaboration, so I believe you’ll agree once you take your palms on the collab that the outcomes are nice and the dev staff ourselves have been actually having fun with testing and enjoying it, and we’re trying ahead to seeing the response at any time when it releases.
How a lot work was this collaboration for either side to do? How a lot time did it take? Did you get to reuse belongings?
Tsujimoto: I’ve recognized Yoshida-san for a really very long time – I believe our relationship goes again 10 or 15 years – and I’ve all the time had an excessive amount of respect for his creativity and dedication to recreation growth. We had been lastly capable of work collectively, as you already know, for the Monster Hunter World and Ultimate Fantasy 14 collab. It was virtually an informal method, seeing if there was something we may do collectively in our respective video games, and that was how we ended up doing the unique World collaboration.
Final 12 months at Gamescom, in Cologne, in Germany, I had dinner with Mr. Yoshida and my staff, and once more, we simply type of obtained casually on the subject of, ‘it was actually nice enjoyable final time collaborating with you’. Monster Hunter Wilds wasn’t out at the moment, however we had been exhibiting it off at Gamescom. We didn’t determine it on the spot, however we agreed to have extra productive discussions about working collectively once more.
Finally, on the Tokyo Sport Present, he’s fairly a group-trotting man, so I lastly managed to meet up with him the next month in Tokyo, and we set in stone that we might work on one thing collectively. I do know that doesn’t reply your query, however I needed so as to add context first.
Yoshida: Like Tsujimoto-san stated, we’ve recognized one another for a very long time. Again after I first took over Ultimate Fantasy XIV, and the remake of this, and the re-assessment of the sport, the rebuilding of the sport, I keep in mind he got here to me and stated, ‘Why are you taking over such a loopy plan? This looks as if a lot to tackle, but when there’s something that we will do to assist from our staff, we might love that can assist you’.Having this chance to work with them is as a result of they’ve been with us for the reason that starting, and that’s the explanation Ultimate Fantasy XIV is right here, due to that help from their staff.
As for the query concerning the belongings, and whether or not the belongings are being reused or not, there may be one scene the place we’ve a potion that we reused, however every little thing else we’ve fully created new, and so this may really feel fully completely different from the Monster Hunter World collab.
As for the size of growth, issues actually kicked off at TGS final 12 months, and we began off with contract talks. We didn’t get into growth till later, the principle cause being that Monster Hunter Wilds was nonetheless being developed, and we didn’t need to get in the way in which of that. Additionally, we needed to play the sport ourselves, so after it got here out is once we actually began growth. So it hasn’t even been a 12 months, however that stated, we’ve had lots of people engaged on it on either side, so that you’re going to see a big quantity of content material.
Really, they did allow us to go all the way down to Osaka and play a pre-release construct, so we may begin engaged on it earlier, however that simply type of exhibits how a lot each groups had been enthusiastic about getting began on the work.
That is the second time that you just’ve collaborated for Monster Hunter and Ultimate Fantasy. You’ve each obtained very completely different video games, but additionally very completely different growth kinds. Over the course of each of those collaborations’ growth, what has every staff collectively discovered from the opposite when it comes to growth processes, when it comes to simply method to recreation design that you could be be introduced into your individual growth transferring ahead?
Tokuda: As you’ll know for those who’ve performed the unique Monster Hunter World collaboration, a few of Ultimate Fantasy 14’s core parts had been included for the primary time, like the flexibility for one participant to drag agro and be handled like a tank, and produce other roles like DPS. That’s very Ultimate Fantasy-like, and we by no means actually applied something like that in Monster Hunter earlier than.
“I’ve recognized Yoshida-san for a really very long time – I believe our relationship goes again 10 or 15 years – and I’ve all the time had an excessive amount of respect for his creativity and dedication to recreation growth”
Even issues just like the boss mechanic of stacking vary assaults, which circulate out over a specific amount of timing, and you’ll want to determine how one can keep away from injury… that was a extremely distinctive method that we hadn’t applied in Monster Hunter earlier than then.
In a way, it offers us an opportunity to check out these mechanics in a bit of little bit of a protected house, and if it didn’t appear to go down properly with the playerbase, we would not have applied it in Monster Hunter going ahead. However really, gamers thought it was a extremely refreshing tackle the Monster Hunter battle system, so we ended up together with issues like that with different monsters since then.
Yoshida: On the 14 facet, starting with our first collaboration with Monster Hunter World, we approached it by attempting to determine how we may recreate the Monster Hunter really feel throughout the Ultimate Fantasy 14 world, however as you already know, the video games are fully completely different. You’ve gotten Monster Hunter, which is an motion recreation, whereas Ultimate Fantasy 14 is totally completely different with fully completely different mechanics.
Throughout that first collaboration, we tried to get one thing that was shut, however we felt that we didn’t get one thing that felt nearly as good. Plenty of gamers appeared to love it, however for us, it was a problem of, what can we do subsequent time to get it even nearer? So when the talks got here as much as have a second collaboration, the very first thing that we did was talk about with our personal builders how we may do it in another way this time.
So what we determined was that, you could have this nice recreation in Monster Hunter Wilds, you could have this nice monster in Arkveld, however fairly than create a battle nearer to Monster Hunter, we determined we might go a distinct path and make it really feel as 14 as doable. One factor that gained’t change is that, fairly than watching the casting bar, you get to look at the monster as an alternative.
What we’re creating right here is one thing that can introduce gamers from 14 to the great lore that Monster Hunter has, however attempt to make that really feel pure in Ultimate Fantasy 14, whether or not that be housing objects, or gear that gamers are capable of equip, and the battles as properly. So we’ve created one thing that has that Ultimate Fantasy 14 really feel, however that covers Monster Hunter.
There are after all many variations between Ultimate Fantasy and Monster Hunter, however over the course of this collaboration with Capcom and Sq. Enix did you establish any parts from each franchises that that they had most in widespread with that actually made this collaboration price pursuing?
Yoshida: I believe that the one apparent factor is that it’s simply the eagerness of every dev staff. The Monster Hunter growth staff and the Ultimate Fantasy IV staff have this ardour for creating video games and so they have a ardour for video games, and never only for one another’s video games however for video games usually. As a producer, this makes it a lot simpler for me that they’re going to be placing their all into the creation of this, and that goes not just for the period of time but additionally for the quantity of dev value that we’re placing into each of our sides’ collaboration.
“Throughout that first collaboration, we tried to get one thing that was shut, however we felt that we didn’t get one thing that felt nearly as good. Plenty of gamers appeared to love it, however for us, it was a problem of, what can we do subsequent time to get it even nearer?”
Tsujimoto: I believe as properly, one thing that I felt an incredible commonality between our two groups approaches was that we revered eachothers’ content material sufficient to not use it as simply set dressing for a similar previous factor, however we needed to respect it sufficient to have the play really feel be actually attention-grabbing and distinctive, and make the content material nearly as good as doable, as a result of we’re, in any case, borrowin one thing which is a really treasured inventive ingredient of their recreation, and so they’re getting that from us.
Ensuring that every of them goes to be a superb match for every title, and make enjoyable content material for our personal gamers, and have the opposite facet’s gamers additionally get on board and really feel like we did a superb job implementing the content material that we did, is one thing that we felt like we did in our personal method, and I do know that the opposite facet did as properly. So we had been every respectful of one another’s creations, and I believe it made for a really fruitful collaboration.
The Monster Hunter and Ultimate Fantasy XIV groups have a protracted historical past of collaboration so I puzzled for those who may communicate a bit of bit about what qualities you admire about one another’s groups and the way you’re employed.
Tokuda: For me, what I like most about Mr. Yoshida and the Ultimate Fantasy 14 staff is simply how they deal with their followers… it’s one thing that’s all the time of their thoughts once they’re creating their content material. So even one thing like Omega, it’s basically this beloved character on the XIV facet and that’s not one thing we took evenly, this sort of content material that their followers love being applied into our video games.
However since we had been capable of develop a deeper stage of belief through the years since we labored on the unique collaboration, we had been capable of gratefully borrow that beloved content material and do one thing that we hope that the Ultimate Fantasy XIV followers will agree that we did a superb job of sustaining the respect for them that the event staff clearly has on the XIV facet.
Yoshida: Like Tokuda-san stated, it’s about how they deal with their followers and the respect that they’ve for followers for the content material. We are able to really feel that as a result of just about my total staff, we’re all Hunters as properly. Seeing their staff take this Ultimate Fantasy XIV content material and taking that and attempting to do one thing that has by no means been achieved earlier than, arising with all these loopy concepts and determining how one can notice these concepts and how one can relay that to the followers in the very best method. All of the work and energy that their staff put into that’s one thing that we actually, actually anticipate.
Tsujimoto: The compatibility we’ve as groups is basically the explanation that we had been capable of make this collab occur, particularly given the quantity of labor we needed to do in a comparatively quick period of time. The extent of communications and method of growth labored rather well with the Capcom staff. We had been such an ideal match for one another that there’s actually no different method that we may’ve made this occur.
