When I demonstrate thefirst five hours ofMonster Hunter Wilds , I was good affect by how elaborate Capcom ’s latest AAA game is .   2018’sMonster Hunter Worldwas already a pretty game , butMonster Hunter Wildstakes it a step further with exquisitely plan invigoration and immaculate sound excogitation . To top it all off , this secret plan features one of the best independent themes of a Capcom game ever . Capcom has been atthe top of its game for the past several years , but I did n’t full understand why until recently .

Last calendar month , Capcom fly me to Osaka , Japan , where I toured its main office . I already appreciated the visual power of the RE locomotive engine , the proprietary game engine that Capcom has used for most of its late Resident Evil games , Exoprimal , Dragon ’s Dogma 2 , and more . During this hitch , I pick up how it has immensely improved the motion seizure experience forMonster Hunter Wilds . On top of that , I gained more perceptiveness from the sound designers and instrumentalist behind the game as to howMonster Hunter Wilds ‘ memorable sound effects and main theme were created .

The tech that powersMonster Hunter Wildsis impressive , but AAA games like it ca n’t be made without several interconnected teams of developers lick together to make something great . This duty tour of Capcom ’s Osaka studio showed me how committed the Nipponese developer and publisher is to that ideal .

Motion capture

Capcom ’s headquarters is spread across three buildings in downtown Osaka . To reach the apparent motion capture studio , I had to take the air down several flights of stairs to strain the bottom level of the skyscraper where I demoedMonster Hunter Wilds . After recruit this room with many other journalists , I find out 36 infrared cameras mounted high on the wall around this large cellar . In the centerfield of the room , I saw two movement capture performing artist ready to go and got a live demo of how move capture action could be captured and displayed within RE locomotive engine in tangible time .

One actor , Daichi Miura , was playing a hunter with a Greatsword , while the other , Masatoshi Fukidome , craft the movements of the Doshaguma monster .

With infrared television camera jump on around the room , Capcom can digitise their actors ’ motions and use that information to createMonster Hunter Wildsanimations . Animator Naohiro Taniguchi explained that betterment to RE Engine mean they can see that process work in real time and continue to polish and fine-tune the animations . Capcom can even append well-grounded effects and ground music into the scene , giving developers an musical theme of what player will see much earlier in the unconscious process .

Monster Animation Lead Kenji Yamaguchi seemed specially enthused about these improvements , explaining how all monster animation was done through keyframe animations beforeMonster Hunter World . Capcom pivot to movement capture in 2018 , but the improvements made to motion seizure forMonster Hunter Wildsdevelopment now allow the team to repeat path quicker than before .

It was an impressive presentation , although Capcom pester that this is just one of three gesture capture studios they have . One in the Kyobashi area of Osaka has 150 cameras . The animations in what I ’ve represent ofMonster Hunter Wildshave been top - notch , and this demonstration clarified why that ’s the case .

Foley

After watching the motion capture demonstration , I went across the street to another building Capcom owns . Once again , I found myself heading into a basement room , although this one was much smaller and full of different objects . It see somewhere between a baby ’s game room and a game developing space . This was the Foley studio apartment , where Capcom created sounds forMonster Hunter Wilds . Foley artistsare biz developers or film producer who utilize everyday sounds to create unequaled effects for whatever they are make .

For a game likeMonster Hunter Wilds , Capcom ’s Foley developers had their work cut out for them to produce sounds for fantastical beasts . Developers Hideki Hosoi , Wakana Kuroiwa , Takeshi Kitamura , and Daichi Sugimure broke it all down during the tour . They explained that forMonster Hunter Wilds , they wanted to make sound for monsters that felt more unnatural than they had in past games . At the same metre , they need these sounds to find replicable , like a cat ’s meow .

To make the vociferation of Rey Dau , a fresh fauna inMonster Hunter Wilds , Capcom cook up a raw musical instrument called Murmurs of the King . Best described as a mixture between a champagne flute and sliding pennywhistle , this instrument create a foresightful , self-respecting , murmur - alike disturbance that served as the baseline for Rey Dau ’s yell . From there , Capcom add together animal voices and elaborate the sound further through editing , and we end up with the Rey Dau screech that youheard while playing theMonster Hunter Wilds ’ genus Beta .

reasoned design tends to be one of those elements of plot developing that I take for grant while playing , but it ’s critically crucial to the experience . It is inspiring to see Capcom go through the crusade to create wacky instrumental role to get monster dissonance just properly . I recognise I ’ll think about how Capcom create each monster ’s cry whenever I run into a new one inMonster Hunter Wilds .

Music

To end the tour , I took an lift up to a higher floor in the same building as the Foley studio . After take the air through a booth - fulfill office with a table full of awards Capcom has take in , I go far after the final stop : Capcom ’s Music Studio . harmonize to medicine conductor Akiyuki Morimoto , “ pretty much any of the euphony you have listen when you play a Capcom game has come through this room , ” which was filled with 7.1.4 fully immersive loudspeaker all around the room .

Morimoto then playedThe Beauty of Nature , the main melodic theme ofMonster Hunter Wilds , for us in this elbow room . He said the goal of the theme is “ to let you experience the ravisher and the severity of nature , how monolithic it is , and how it embrace not just the great unwashed but monsters as well . ” Tying back to what I see in the Foley studio , Capcom wanted to merge more natural orchestral and ethnic instruments with more synthesized , unnatural sounds .

Morimoto compared this melodious motive to how seasons incessantly alter in the Forbidden Lands , with the synthesized sounds lay out that variety . In a way , that ’s not unlike plot development . The end product can feel so seamless and raw , but it ’s really a heavy synthesized process that interpret so many teams work together . In their own ways , all of those teams also need to find ways to innovate and improve from game to biz , so players ride out enticed .

I already abide by Capcom ’s craft before this studio apartment term of enlistment , but now , after see its operation in action , I ’ll have a deep appreciation for what I ’m go steady and hearing as I play through the full game next year .

Monster Hunter Wildslaunches for PC , PS5 , and Xbox Series X / S on February 28 , 2025 .