Throughout January, Capcom has released a lot of material from Monster Hunter Wilds in anticipation of the next open beta at the start of February, and fans like a lot of what they are seeing. The game is easily the best looking in the series and, although this might cause some issues with PC spec requirements and optimization, the latest technology is reaping many benefits. Monsters from other older games look more realistic than ever with better fur and muscle physics and help make the ecosystem of Monster Hunter feel more alive.

The better technology and high budget of MH Wilds has allowed Capcom to experiment and improve a lot of technical aspects, whether that be the graphical fidelity or the game world’s verisimilitude with added details. Being an open-world title, the environments have never been bigger, and the weather systems make the ecological part of the games come into focus like never before, but the developers have brought up an interesting issue regarding the hitboxes that has been improved in Wilds. This improvement could make hunts a more technical experience.

Monster Hunter Wilds’ Hitboxes Are Better Than Ever

No More Bouncing Off A Monster’s Strength While Aiming For Its Weakness

Kaname Fujioka (executive and art director) and Yuya Tokuda (director) gave an insightful interview with IGN (via YouTube) regarding Monster Hunter Wilds and its returning monsters. While discussing the return of the Gravios, the pair talked about why they included the monster, speaking about how the new technology available allowed MH Wilds to make the monsters feel like they are really there, from the way they interact with their environment to the effects of their attacks. They also mentioned a flaw in the old games and how the Gravios highlights how Capcom has made strides in improving on this flaw.

Although the Gravios is returning in Wilds, it is confirmed that the Basarios won’t be making a comeback.

Both directors mentioned that when hunters used to attack a monster’s weak point in older games, they would sometimes find themselves being repelled by the monster’s strong points, despite it looking like they hit their mark. The directors mentioned how they could only approximate the toughness of different parts of a monster’s body, so attacking a soft spot with a weapon with a large hitbox often resulted in being repelled by a monster’s toughest area. This is made even easier with the Focus Mode, and it seems the mode was added to take advantage of Wilds‘ better hitboxes.

The directors used the Gravios as an example of the hitbox improvement and talked about how the monster’s strong wings will repel attacks, while hunters can aim for its backside to deal more damage. The original concept of the monster for Wilds was for it to be a heavy tank that is tough when players first come across it, but gets easier as they learn to break certain parts and aim for weak points. It feels like the Gravios will be a skill checkpoint, where players have to get used to the Focus Mode and precise targeting.

Monster Hunter Hasn’t Always Had Good Hitboxes

The Older Games Were Far From Precise

Although the graphics and visuals are a good example of how far the series has come, especially if the Gravios seen in MH Wilds is compared to any of its prior appearances, the hitboxes are a good marker for how far the franchise has come technically. The older games in the series were infamous for some pretty inaccurate hitboxes, and this was largely due to technology at the time. Monster Hunter started on the PS2 and had a stint on handheld consoles like the 3DS, meaning that these technological limitations plagued the series for some time.

The original Monster Hunter was released on March 11, 2004, with the series being over 20 years old.

Still, that doesn’t mean the series’ hitboxes were perfect when the franchise made the move to Capcom’s famed RE Engine. Although an improvement on the older games, MH World does have some pretty poor hitboxes here and there, and they become particularly evident with charging attacks, where most of the monster’s body becomes a hitbox. It is good to see the directors acknowledge the flaws of their hitbox approximation with the older games in the IGN interview, and it shows that the developer is making strides to continually improve the series in every aspect, not just in the visual department.

How much the hitboxes have improved will likely be tested heavily with the Focus Mode, although in the first MH Wilds open beta, it seemed to work reasonably well. With larger monsters with a focus on heavy armor, how precise the hitboxes are could be make or break for the Focus Mode, and although hunters can always just hit the tail until the cows come home, the greater emphasis on hitting soft spots will add more variety to different hunts. There is a threat that the Focus Mode will make the game too easy and upset longtime fans.

Focus Mode Will Make Each MH Wilds Hunt Feel Different

Monster Hunter Could Have A New Feature That Stays

Custom image by Katarina Cimbaljevic

Monster Hunter Wilds is introducing many new features and there is no guarantee that all of them will stick with the franchise going forward. The Focus Mode, along with the weather systems, feels like something the developers have wanted to add for some time but just didn’t have the technology for it until now. The Focus Mode will probably only work because of the hitbox improvements talked about by Kaname Fujioka and Yuya Tokuda and the hope is that this will extend to not being hit by thin air when a monster charges.

The Monster Hunter franchise is known for splitting up into a mainline series and more experimental spin-off titles. Not every mechanic from spin-off titles makes it into the mainline games, such as MH Rise‘s Wirebug mechanics, but the mainline games tend to inform the development of the next one, with Wilds having many shades of World. The mainline game after Wilds (which would internally be known as MH7) could see the return of the Focus Mode and make it a key mechanic of the series moving forward as hitboxes get even more precise.

The hope is that the hitbox improvements will aid a hunter in aiming at soft spots while stopping them from being struck by attacks that shouldn’t have hit them. At points, a hunt is hard enough without inaccurate hitboxes getting in the way, and it is a good sign for the future of the series that Capcom is willing to address such issues in the development of Wilds. With the accessibility of the game and all the new mechanics, Monster Hunter Wilds could be a watershed release for the series to help it become one of Capcom’s biggest.