Buried under Capcom's Osaka, Japan headquarters is a small foley studio. Dozens--if not hundreds--of shoes are tucked into cubbies outside the door. Inside, the space looks more like an antique store than the high-end recording studio responsible for the sound effects from nearly every Capcom game. The walls are adorned with household appliances, fabrics, and tools of every kind. The foley artist that greets us is holding what appears to be a PVC pipe with a mouth piece haphazardly mounted onto the side of it. The team calls this strange gray tube Murmurs of a King; it's an instrument Capcom created specifically for the Rey Dau, a ferocious beast that players will hunt in Monster Hunter Wilds.
Unlike most instruments, Murmurs of a King does not sound pleasant. Its bass-y screeches don't even sound like an imposing monster, at least at first. After recording the instrument a few times, a sound editor goes to work and within minutes they've created a guttural monster's cry. This approach to monster sound design is new for the series, they tell us. While 2018's Monster Hunter World used natural sounds from real animals, the team wanted the monsters to feel imposing and unfamiliar in Wilds.
Unfortunately, I didn't get to square up with the Rey Dau during my five-hour play session, but under-the-hood changes like these were emblematic of my experience. Monster Hunter Wilds is still a Monster Hunter game; killing monsters net you monster parts that can be used to craft new armor and upgrade weapons, iconic weapons like the Switch-Axe and Insect Glaive return, and hunts can be undertaken with up to three friends. However, what makes Wilds so enticing is how Capcom has streamlined the experience without sacrificing its depth.
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