Monster Fantasy is an indie game that blends co-op hunting with simulation and management gameplay. It attempts to merge multiplayer co-op battles akin to "Monster Hunter," villager social interactions similar to "Animal Crossing," and a high-degree-of-freedom equipment crafting system into one cohesive experience.
Players can hunt giant beasts in the wild and gather materials, while also interacting with NPCs of various professions and personalities in the village to build a unique base. This bold attempt to fuse multiple gameplay styles gives it a rather distinctive quality among indie games.
At the Bilibili "You Xian Kan" event, we were fortunate enough to try out an early demo of the game and had in-depth discussions with the development team of Monster Fantasy about the game's design philosophy, system planning, and our experience with the current demo.
Below is the specific content of the interview.
Q: In the game introduction just now, you mentioned that the fusion gameplay of Monster Fantasy was inspired by works like "Monster Hunter" and "Animal Crossing"—how did you come up with the idea of combining elements from these games to create Monster Fantasy?
A:As I am also a core player of these games, I saw potential connections between them. I think the most important and appealing aspect of these games is the strong sense of immersion they provide, making players feel that the world is real. Although their world settings differ, this sense of realism is the experience these games offer. Therefore, I wanted to create a similarly real world—one where players can engage in casual simulation and management as well as combat. The reason for combining these two types of gameplay is that I truly enjoy playing with friends. However, when playing with friends, there's often a problem: close friends may have different preferences and skill levels, making it difficult to play the same game together. Thus, Monster Fantasy will feature different focused gameplay styles. I hope players who enjoy combat can play this game with friends who are less skilled at fighting.
Q: How does Monster Fantasy balance the proportion of different gameplay elements?
A:This question was touched upon earlier. Players choose their own consumption content; they can try all gameplay aspects or focus only on what interests them. To achieve this, NPC professions in the village will become more diverse in the future, acting as friends you'd play with in real life. Each player's village is shaped by their own choices. You can recruit NPCs with different professions, personalities, and backgrounds to create your own unique village.
Q: Currently, the demo has limited representation of production and management aspects. Could you give us a detailed introduction? Does it include farming gameplay or a home base system?
A:Our home base gameplay differs from traditional simulation and management games; it's more akin to social interaction with villagers.
This aspect draws primary inspiration from "Animal Crossing," so Monster Fantasy does not feature traditional farming gameplay. Based on this characteristic, the home base gameplay is integrated with co-op battle elements—villagers have different professions. In addition to the production professions available in the current demo, there will be combat and gathering professions in the future. Villagers' profession levels will also increase as the game progresses. For instance, a combat NPC recruited early in the game might grow into a powerful character later on.
This villager social system also caters to different player preferences. For example, I could primarily play as a blacksmith, recruiting many combat-focused NPCs. I would craft high-level equipment for them, while they venture out to explore and fight, gathering large amounts of materials for me. Alternatively, players who enjoy battling can focus solely on combat, selling dropped materials for money and purchasing advanced equipment from NPCs.
Q: Does the crafting system use fixed recipes, or does it determine results based solely on material tiers, like in some other games?
A:The crafting system is one of our core gameplay mechanics. Players can DIY various pieces of equipment using materials, and we have complete formulas for producing different gear. This inherently encourages players to collect materials and craft items. However, to accommodate players with different preferences, we also provide some convenient ways to obtain equipment. In future demo updates, players will experience a more complete content flow.
Q: In "Monster Hunter," progression involves constantly upgrading equipment to tackle harder monsters, advancing the story and gameplay flow. But if a player prefers "Animal Crossing"-style simulation and management, how would they progress in Monster Fantasy? Would it rely on the building system, or would defeating monsters still be necessary?
A:As mentioned earlier, regardless of player type, everyone can progress through the main story using their preferred gameplay style, leaving parts they don't enjoy to NPCs. This means even action-oriented players can experience the joy of simulation and management within a Western fantasy world in our game.
Q: We noticed that many weapons feature combined moves. For example, the Samurai class can switch to Demon Form midway through a katana combo, pulling out dual blades to continue fighting. How did you come up with such interesting move combinations?
A:Everyone has their own understanding of different weapons and classes. Our initial intention in designing each class and weapon wasn't specifically to consider which elements to fuse, but rather to think about how to make it more fun. We start by designing based on classic concepts, such as the common "Warrior-Mage-Archer" trio in Western fantasy. During production, we may gradually incorporate new ideas. Therefore, when designing weapons, we don't pre-plan which elements to fuse and then create a weapon accordingly.
Q: In the current demo, the Samurai class's Iaido action can directly trigger a draw slash after Iaido without filling the energy gauge. Is this a bug or intentional design?
A:To trigger a draw slash after Iaido, you need to fill the energy gauge. However, performing the Iaido action automatically accumulates energy. In the current demo version, the energy accumulation speed during Iaido is quite fast, allowing you to almost instantly fill the gauge and execute the follow-up move. In future versions, we will reduce the energy accumulation speed of the Iaido action, requiring a longer preparation time to trigger subsequent moves. Alternatively, you can use normal attacks to fill half the energy gauge first, then use Iaido to fill the remaining half, allowing for various combinations of gameplay strategies.
Q: What was the reasoning behind adding a jumping system to the game?
A:Since Monster Fantasy includes not only combat but also other gameplay elements, jumping serves as a core function for map exploration. During combat, we also design moves that allow players to interact with boss attacks using jumps, deriving additional gameplay mechanics from jumping. As seen in the demo, some classes have rich aerial maneuvers.
Q: Will you consider adding systems related to equipment skills?
A:We will definitely consider this, but it has not been implemented in the current demo yet.
Q: During combat, bosses occasionally get stuck in terrain or move to inconvenient locations. Will this be adjusted and optimized in the future?
A:This aspect involves map and boss interactions, which we will continue to optimize in subsequent updates.
Q: Four classes have been revealed so far. Will there be more classes based on these four in the future, or perhaps a class change system?
A:Our current plan is to have four to five classes. We want to polish the system for each class thoroughly. In some games, players can use all classes and weapons simultaneously; but in games like "Monster Hunter," mastering a single weapon might constitute the entire gameplay experience over the game's lifecycle. That is our goal. We will carefully craft and refine every weapon in Monster Fantasy—therefore, the number of classes will be kept to four or five. We are currently designing and planning the fifth class, but it is not yet certain whether it will be released.
Q: We mentioned earlier that Monster Fantasy's art style is derived from Western fantasy themes. Besides co-op boss battles, have you considered adding small-unit enemies fitting the Western fantasy theme, such as goblins?
A:The full release will include small enemies and environmental creatures that can assist players in combat, gathering, and other activities.
Q: The game introduction mentions pet capturing gameplay. Do pets have combat abilities?
A:Although the pet capturing gameplay has not been implemented in this demo, our plan is for players to raise the cubs they capture and allow them to evolve. Once evolved, pets will gain combat abilities.
Q: You mentioned earlier that your team started forming last June and was fully established this March, dedicating efforts to develop this demo. Why participate in "You Xian Kan" at such an early stage? What kind of feedback do you hope to receive from this event?
A:Our game development team is relatively small, and we wish to focus all our energy on R&D. Therefore, every exposure opportunity is precious to us. Participating in events like "You Xian Kan" provides excellent visibility for small teams like ours.