In addition to our test of Wild Hearts which was released yesterday, we bring you some details about the hunting game from EA and Koei Tecmo from the mouths of the developers. Thanks to an interview that we were able to carry out with the two directors of the game, Takuto Edagawa and Kotaro Hirata, we come back to its creation, its overall vision but also its future.
Make a believable hunting game with Koei Tecmo style
- With your experience on the Toukiden series and a “hunting game” genre popularized worldwide by Monster Hunter, what were the biggest challenges for Wild Hearts?
Kotaro Iwata: To start, we thought about what we were going to hunt. So we decided to choose themes that are familiar but also that frighten us. These combinations of animals and elements of nature have given life to the Kemonos that are hunted here. First of all, that was our base.
Then we had this challenge of how players can overcome the challenge imposed by these huge creatures. This is an area that gave us a hard time, as did the Karakuri system. The idea of the Karakuris came from this basic premise and it fits quite well with the hunting game genre. For us, that’s where all the new ideas came from and then we were able to incorporate them into Wild Hearts. It’s mainly this set of things that gave the game what it is today.
- With this idea of nature in danger and the use of technology, why not choose a more futuristic setting for Wild Hearts instead of a feudal Japan?
Takuto Edagawa : One of our greatest strengths at Koei Tecmo is to depict this period of Japan. I think it’s something we do very well. Also, we thought about the essence of the hunting game genre, we wanted players to really feel like a hunter. We wanted authenticity in the fights. Taking this into account, we thought that this period was more suitable.
Kotaro Iwata: Also, I would like to go back to what you mentioned about this fear of nature and the use of available technology: we thought that this medieval period offered a good balance between the two.
- Can you tell us a bit more about the design choices for the main Kemonos? Why, for example, are there no insects or amphibians?
Takuto Edagawa: Regarding the big Kemono that we face, we wanted the players to be very involved in the fights. Instead of insects, for example, we felt that large animals were a better choice for the feel of weapon impacts, to better feel the flesh you’re slicing. There’s obviously more diversity with the smaller Kemonos so it wasn’t completely overlooked, but it was intentional for the larger Kemonos.
A few details about weapons
- Can all Kemono attacks be deflected with the Bladed Wasaga?
Kotaro Iwata: Almost, but not all attacks. You have certain types of attacks like when the Kemono tries to bite you or grab you. The Wasaga allows you to deflect, in other words to direct the attack in another direction, so these actions do not come into play. These are things that hunters have to learn on their own, so we hope they will enjoy discovering these intricacies.
- Can you tell us about the Karakuri staff? Is this the hardest weapon to wield?
Kotaro Iwata: Using the Karakuri stick is not very complicated, but choosing the right Karakuri at the right time, and for the right Kemono, is something that will require a little more experience. As you hunt the different Kemono, your choices will improve.
- Will there be some sort of social HUB where hunters can gather and chill with other hunters and maybe form groups before heading out to an area?
Takuto Edagawa: In Wild Hearts, it is possible to create groups of three players to hunt but there is no place for large groups to gather and then select players to compose a hunting group. On the other hand, we have incorporated tags into the characters in order to make compatibility easier between players with the same tags. Your requests will also go to these players in priority. This gives a certain idea of clans for the characters.
And then ?
- As you said on Reddit, Wild Hearts will have free content after its release as in the next few months. How many years do you plan to power the game at the moment?
Takuto Edagawa: I would like to say as many years as possible, but of course this is not something that has been decided yet. I think we have to wait for feedback from the community, but as developers we hope the game support will last a very long time.
- Among future updates, plan to add a new weapon?
Kotaro Iwata: By adding new Kemono, there will also be new weapon variations in order to face these new challenges. We make sure that even the most powerful of current weapons is not enough to defeat them. Vis-à-vis these weapon variations, the eight types of weapons introduced at launch offer something quite complete. In the current state of Wild Heartswe will stay with these eight categories of weapons.
- Do you hope to do some collaborations with other licenses for Wild Hearts?
Takuto Edagawa: We’d love to and we’re thinking about it right now, but we don’t have anything that isn’t set in stone yet.
We thank Takuto Edagawa and Kotaro Hirata for answering our questions. Wild Hearts releases this February 17 on PS5, Xbox Series and PC via Steam, EA App and Epic Games Store.