In the monster hunting game Wild Hearts<\/em><\/a>, the creatures you face off against are a mash-up of animals and nature. There are towering wild hogs made out of wood and giant rats covered in glowing mushrooms. And the game\u2019s first big post-launch update will add a new monster perfect for the season: Murakumo, a beautiful fox covered in cherry blossoms.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Though it\u2019s coming after the game has launched, Wild Hearts <\/em>director Takuto Edagawa says that the new creature has been in the works since early on in development. \u201cWe wanted to include a fox or a vulpine creature from the very beginning,\u201d he explains. \u201cAnd we wanted to make it a special creature because they have a very special meaning in Japan in terms of faith and religion.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n For the development team at Omega Force, part of making the Murakumo special was making it something players had to wait to see; you won\u2019t be able to fight it until taking on a quest that takes place after the main campaign is complete. The creature is also the first one to focus on ranged attacks. It has the ability to glide around on cherry blossom platforms and can control thunder for attacks, which should introduce some new strategies into the game.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n As with all of the creatures in Wild Hearts<\/em> \u2014 called kemono in the game \u2014 the Murakumo was designed by combining natural elements from the real world. \u201cTo create them, we focused on a fusion of two elements everyone knows and fears: the power of nature and wild beasts,\u201d explains Kotaro Hirata, who also served as director on the game. \u201cKemono are the axis on which all the game\u2019s features, world view, stage design, and gameplay are based.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n After the kemono were created from the fusion of nature and wild beasts, we began to work on designing the world and the hunting areas. In particular, we discussed the question of \u2018how do we approach nature\u2019 when thinking about the world setting. Throughout human history, nature has always been something both feared and worshiped. However, we do not believe that nature intentionally punishes or rewards humans. It just exists, while human beings like to assign it intentions on their own. We would love for players to experience this beauty and cruelty of nature and consider these human feelings towards it through this game.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n That design process involved plenty of research \u2014 the team looked at lots of nature documentaries and encyclopedias and even had a few field trips to the zoo \u2014 as well as the typical trial and error inherent in game development. Instead of recreating specific animals, they tried to merge elements of existing wildlife to create something new. As an example, when it came to sound effects, each kemono utilized noises from multiple animals.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cIn the end, we decided to combine different animal sounds to create original sounds for some of the kemono,\u201d says Hirata. \u201cSpineglider is a cute and relatively small kemono, so we wanted to give it a high-pitched voice, which we created by combining squeaks of some rodents, like mice and squirrels, as well as some dolphin sounds. In contrast, Dreadclaw\u2019s sounds not only combine a rooster but also pig, lion, and elephant sounds to enhance its ferocity. And for Kingtusk, which is one of the largest kemono in the game, we actually had staff members perform the sounds during the trial-and-error period in the early stages of development.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cIt had to be beautiful but scary as well.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n For the new Murakumo, one of the biggest challenges was balancing the intrinsic beauty that comes from the fox and cherry blossom motif with being a deadly animal players have to ultimately fight and kill. The creature was designed by artist Morita Yuuki<\/a>, who worked with the team at Omega Force to bring it to life. \u201cIt had to be beautiful but scary as well,\u201d says art director Marina Ayano. \u201cThat balance was very important. The kemono is very beautiful to look at when you\u2019re not fighting, but once you engage in the battle and it becomes enraged, you\u2019ll see its nine tails and thunderous powers, and that is the scary part. It was a very fine balance.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Since all of the gear you craft in the game comes from the beasts you hunt, the introduction of the Murakumo also means new weapons and armor to collect. There are pink, blossom-infused axes and umbrellas and a pretty new outfit. Additionally, the game is adding a new karakuri \u2014 a kind of ancient technology that players can build to aid them in battle \u2014 that\u2019s like a deadly spinning top.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n According to Edagawa, the goal with this batch of post-launch content, and those that will come after, isn\u2019t just to make the game harder (though the Murakumo does<\/em> seem like a pain to fight). Instead, it\u2019s to give players more reasons to continue exploring the world after the campaign is over.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cJust adding more difficult quests, I don\u2019t think that\u2019s sufficient,\u201d he explains. \u201cI think that players will get bored of that. We want to focus on the growth of the game and the growth of the player and making that process fun. We want to tweak the system so that it\u2019s fun to battle the same kemono over and over again. To give it a different feel, so that with these updates, we can make the gaming experience more diverse.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The new (and free) Wild Hearts<\/em> update is available starting today.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n