Why Monster Hunter 4 is Not Multi-Platform

Speaking with IGN at Tokyo Game Show, Monster Hunter series creator and producer Ryozo Tsujimoto has explained why Monster Hunter 4 is not a multi-platform title.

Following the news that Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate – an improved version of 2010’s Monster Hunter Tri – would be released on both 3DS and on Wii U on HD, some fans have been wondering whether Monster Hunter 4 would make its way to other platforms. But it doesn’t seem like it will.

“Other than what we’ve already announced, we don’t have anything that we’re planning,” said Tsujimoto, asked if Monster Hunter 4 might appear on any other console besides the 3DS.

“The way that we work with Monster Hunter games is that we see them as single entities, so we don’t develop for one platform and then think about porting it to another platform. The situation with the 3DS and the Wii U is that we wanted people to play this game a lot, so that’s why we have taken this [multi-platform] approach with Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate. But it doesn’t mean we’ll do that with new entries.”

Monster Hunter has historically appeared on Sony platforms – the first game appeared first on the PlayStation 2, before an improved and updated version was released on PSP. Monster Hunter 2 was released on PS2 as well, but it wasn’t until Monster Hunter 2nd G came out for PSP that the series achieved the enormous success that made it synonymous with portable gaming in Japan. Monster Hunter Tri for the Wii was the first game to appear on a Nintendo platform.

“The series did start out on Sony platforms, but it’s just realistic to think that it can’t continue on one platform forever,” says Tsujimoto. “With Monster Hunter 4, it actually just came down to timing  - we were developing a new Monster Hunter and the 3DS hardware had just come out, so we figured it was probably the best platform for us to develop it on. You have two screens, with action on top and menus on the bottom, and there’s the 3D view as well. It just made sense to put it onto 3DS.”

Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate will be released on both 3DS and Wii U in 2013 in North America and Europe; it’s already out on 3DS in Japan, and hits the Wii U there on launch date, December 8th. Monster Hunter 4 for 3DS has not been confirmed for the West yet, but it’s out in March 2013 in Japan, and after Tri’s breakthrough success worldwide, our hopes for seeing Monster Hunter 4 outside of its native country are high.

Keza MacDonald is in charge of IGN’s games coverage in the UK, and has spent hundreds of hours hunting monsters on the PS2, PSP and Wii over a good five years now. You can follow her on Twitter and IGN.

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Dishonored Dev: People are Tired of “the Same Thing Over and Over”

Dishonored’s executive producer Julien Roby disagrees with the sentiment recently expressed by EA Labels president Frank Gibeau that late in the console cycle is a poor time to launch new IPs.

We asked Roby for his thoughts on the matter during a hands-on with the game in Sydney late last week.

“Well, you probably have some insight on that but I think as long as the game is good, whether it’s a new IP or not, if the game is good, it gets a good review and it’s marketed properly people will want to look at it,” said Roby. “Specifically now, because it’s been a few years where we’ve only got sequels of sequels of sequels of sequels. I think people are getting tired of just playing the same thing over and over.”

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I think people are getting tired of just playing the same thing over and over.

“So I hope that they’re going to try Dishonored for the fact that it’s trying to do something a little different that those other games.”

Roby agreed that it’s perhaps telling that two of the most-talked about games of E3 and Gamescom this year were, like Dishonored, both brand new titles: Watch Dogs and Remember Me.

We asked Roby whether he felt gamers are craving something new.

“I think so,” he said. “You look at the line-up for Christmas this year and it’s like something number six, something number five, something number seven. I really think people are starving for something new. Something new in terms of universe. Something new in terms of gameplay. Something new in terms of visuals.”

The level available to playthrough, already detailed in part here, was packed with a glut of ways to complete it. The target building can be entered via several means; teleporting from a higher neighbouring building, possessing a fish and swimming underneath the cellar, or simply finding the right credentials to walk straight through the front door. The target herself, one of three similarly dressed women at a masquerade party, can be identified in a number of different ways and can be taken care of, either lethally or non-lethally, in even more. With the combinations of powers at players’ disposal, and the freedom to complete hits however one sees fit, Roby and the team hope gamers will exchange stories on how they’ve tackled the game’s missions and encourage one another to experiment and re-experiment.

“We really hope players are going to talk together and say, ‘Oh, you did it this way?’ and ‘Oh, you did it this way?’ and realise that they actually created their own little stories in terms of how they did their objectives,” said Roby. “And then they’re going to get back to it and try different things.”

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It’s a lot about experimenting... [G]o through different routes, use different powers, try different things that you didn’t try the first time.

“It’s a lot about experimenting... [G]o through different routes, use different powers, try different things that you didn’t try the first time. It’s not about running through a linear corridor.”

On the topic of multiplayer and forcing it into games that don’t require it, Roby and the Dishonored team are pleased the game is remaining a dedicated, single-player title.

“Bethesda has been very supportive of that since the beginning,” said Roby. “I mean, it doesn’t make any sense to make multiplayer if it’s just to add it on the box. As a checkbox, you know?”

“The idea was to make a great single-player experience, as we did with a lot of player choice, and if we had to lose some time making multiplayer it means we would lose focus on the single-player and spend more time on multiplayer and in the end you just get lower [quality] single-player and crappy multiplayer.”

One of the key pillars of Dishonored is emergent gameplay and the ability to combine powers with unexpected results, results that sometimes surprise even the designers. The tricky thing is balancing the ability to let players circumvent things in ways the designers may not have realised was possible and keeping the game functional.

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If the player thinks about something we want to make sure they can actually do it.

“Well, there is of course the possibility that people will be able to break the game if they really try to insist on wrecking it, but what we wanted to ensure was that the player always feels in power and that we always say yes to the player,” said Roby. “For instance, if the player thinks about something we want to make sure they can actually do it, that there are no stupid rules that prevent them from doing it. So we prefer to overpower the player a little but still let them have fun rather than trying to direct the game so much, and let the player do what they want to do.”

Luke is Games Editor at IGN AU. You can chat to him about Die Hard with a Vengeance, cars and single-player games here or find him and the rest of the Australian team by joining the IGN Australia Facebook community.

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