Monster Hunter Wilds Inspired by FFXIV, Witcher 3

Monster Hunter Wilds brings a wealth of changes, fresh features, and quality-of-life upgrades to the series. However, it may surprise you to learn that the groundwork for this massive new installment was laid during Monster Hunter World's crossover collaborations. Specifically, feedback from Final Fantasy XIV's director, Naoki Yoshida, during the FFXIV event, and the enthusiastic player response to The Witcher 3 crossover, have directly shaped new gameplay mechanics in Monster Hunter Wilds.

In essence, discussions with Yoshi-P while coordinating the FFXIV crossover inspired an adjustment to Monster Hunter Wilds' heads-up display: the addition of on-screen attack names as you execute them. Meanwhile, the positive reception to The Witcher 3 crossover solidified the inclusion of expanded dialogue choices and a voiced protagonist for the new game.

How Final Fantasy XIV’s Director Shaped Monster Hunter Wilds

During their collaboration on the Monster Hunter: World and FFXIV crossover, Yoshi-P shared an insight with Monster Hunter Wilds Director Yuya Tokuda at a reveal event: players enjoy seeing the name of their attack as it happens. This conversation directly led to the new HUD feature, highlighted in the image above.

We caught a small glimpse of this functionality during the 2018 FFXIV crossover in Monster Hunter: World. This extensive collaboration introduced catchable Cactuars, a colossal Kulu-Ya-Ku battled to Chocobo themes, the impressive Drachen armor set, and more. Most memorably, it featured the notoriously challenging Behemoth fight. True to its MMORPG roots, the collab displayed Behemoth's special moves as text on-screen during casting, as seen in the video below.

Upon repelling the Behemoth, players unlocked the Jump emote, inspired by the Dragoon's signature move in Final Fantasy. Using this emote triggered on-screen text: "[Hunter] performs Jump." To my knowledge, this was the only prior instance of an "attack" name appearing in this fashion within the Monster Hunter series.

How The Witcher 3 Influenced Monster Hunter Wilds

Director Yuya Tokuda mentioned his appreciation when players drew parallels between Monster Hunter Wilds' new dialogue options and certain gameplay elements to The Witcher 3, as this was precisely the inspiration. The team viewed the popular Monster Hunter: World Witcher 3 collaboration as a kind of "test" to gauge player reaction to more dialogue and narrative choices in a Monster Hunter game.

In The Witcher 3 crossover, players take control of Geralt of Rivia himself. Consequently, Geralt speaks to other characters, with players selecting dialogue responses. This contrasts sharply with the traditional, silent protagonist of previous Monster Hunter titles. Monster Hunter Wilds changes this; like Geralt, your character now has a voice and engages in conversations with NPCs.

Tokuda clarified that active development on Wilds hadn't begun when World's collaborations launched, but he was already contemplating ideas for the next series entry. He was particularly keen on securing a The Witcher 3 collaboration for World and personally pursued the opportunity with CD Projekt Red—a move that proved highly successful.

We uncovered these fascinating details during an exclusive visit to Capcom's Japan offices for this month's IGN First. Be sure to explore the full hands-on preview of Monster Hunter Wilds, new in-depth interviews, and other exclusive gameplay from January's Monster Hunter Wilds IGN First coverage:

Behind Monster Hunter Wilds' New Approach to Starting Weapons and Hope Series GearMonster Hunter Wilds Interview and Gameplay: Meet Nu Udra, Apex of the Oilwell BasinEvolving Monster Hunter: How Capcom’s Belief in the Series Made it a Worldwide Hit Monster Hunter Wilds: Gravios Returns in This Exclusive Gameplay