News
Capcom Devs Talk Upcoming ‘Iceborne’ Expansion For ‘Monster Hunter: World’
Those needing a little prodding (as if) to get back into Monster Hunter: World in preparation for the upcoming Iceborne expansion (featuring Geralt and company from The Witcher 3) can check out the May 30th 2019 issue of Weekly Famitsu. The issue has an interview with executive director/art director Fujioka Kaname, producer Tsujimoto Ryouzou, and director Ichihara Daisuke.
Or, if you can’t read Japanese, Frontline has you covered with a translated transcription of the interview.
Among the topics discussed, Tsujimoto says that with the Iceborne expansion, a new rank is unlocked once you finish the main story for Monster Hunter: World, and even though the majority of Iceborne’s story takes place on the new Hoarfrost Reach field, there will still be quests on the pre-existing fields as well.
When asked about his work as director of Iceborne, Ichihara says that development on Iceborne was going on at the same time as Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate for the Switch. Though since Generations was a port, he was allotted more time for Iceborne.
Speaking of which, the topic of the expansion’s story came around, to which the group refrained from elaborating on, but they said that the story of takes place after MH:W’s main story, where new discoveries are made about the new world, which leads the fifth fleet to a new area.
Elsewhere, new monsters in the expansion are discussed. The Banbaro is found in the early to mid parts of the expansion, and relies on charging attacks. The Beotodus is the first monster that the player encounters in the Hoarfrost Reach, and relies on the snow for its attacks, which means the player will have to figure out how to get it out of the snow. The group briefly discussed the ice elemental elder dragon, the Velkhana. Fujioka says that they cannot reveal a lot of the details yet, but seeing as MH:W focused on chasing after elder dragons, they felt that Iceborne needed one, as well.
You can read up on the rest of the interview from the Frontline link above.
New info on Iceborne will be available at E3 2019, while the expansion is slated for a September 9th release for consoles, with a Winter 2019 release for PC.
In the grim darkness of the far future there is only war, but it was a cheerful illustrator from England who helped to define the terrifying war-torn imagery that inspired what we now know as Grimdark (a hybrid genre combining horror with sci-fi/fantasy).
Unfortunately for fans of Warhammer 40,000, Trench Crusade and countless other sources of Grimdark thrills, veteran artist John Blanche passed away this week after struggling with health issues for the past few years.
While the artist retired back in 2023, he leaves us with an enormous legacy of iconic artwork that continues to inspire gamers and storytellers around the world to this very day.
The news is especially gloomy as it was only last year that Daniel Lowman and Napoleon Dynamite himself Jon Heder released The Grim & the Dark: The Search for John Blanche, a documentary following Heder’s exploration of the Grimdark genre culminating in a heartwarming encounter with Blanche in his own home.
Below is one of my favorite pieces by Blanche, his highly influential depiction of Warhammer 40k’s God-Emperor of Mankind on his Golden Throne.
We send our deepest condolences to John Blanche’s family, friends, and fans.
You must be logged in to post a comment.