Monster Hunter Future

A fan idea for a cyberpunk future take on the Monster Hunter series. Monsters are giant, mechanical creatures while hunters are now urban explorers. Themes of living with nature are shifted to living with technology. Much of the motif is inspired by cyberpunk and, by extension, ukiyo-e styles.

Hunters

As players' avatars, hunters remain much the same in gameplay, aside from improved mechanics or added features. The animations and lore for some funtions - such as consumables, wirebugs, and fast traveling - may be overhauled to match the new hi-tech visuals.

Weapons

Weapons are also functionally the same as other games in the series and updated with hi-tech designs.

Crafting Trees

Weapon trees branch from either scrap, plasma, or metal families. Each tree specializes in a mixture of raw vs elemental power.

  • Scrap: mixed raw and elemental/status damage.
  • Plasma: higher elemental damage but lower raw damage.
  • Metal: higher raw damage but lower elemental damage.

    • Elements / Statuses

    In terms of elemental damage, weapons have internal chips loaded with programs designed to damage certain types of monsters by attacking their programming in specific ways. Traditional elements - fire, water, thunder, ice, dragon - are programs that cause minor system overloads (overheating, short circuiting, internal spillage, etc.) that deal damage to the monsters' bodies. Status ailments - paralysis, sleep, poison, blast - are viruses that attack monsters' underlying code to cause temporary but severe malfunctions (motor desync, system reset, code degradation, etc.).

    Monsters

    The eponymous monsters have been changed from organic creatures to machine lifeforms. Many of the series poster-monsters return with tech twists. In place of claws are blades; scales are metal plating; flying units may be equipped with turbines or thrusters. Monsters carried over from prior titles will have a complete visual overhaul and may have some animations reworked for their new machine bodies while monsters new to the title have unique movesets that make full use of their inorganic nature. Hunters still dispatch these monsters and salvage them for parts to make stronger equipment. All seem manufactured, and most of the time their function(s) can be deduced by what kinds of parts comprise them, with a few extra quirks here and there.

    Amphibian * Zamtrios Brute * Deviljho * Glavenus * Corrosive Brachydios Fanged Beasts * Cyberclaw Arzuros * Rajang Fanged Wyverns * Magnamalo * Blackout Zinogre Flying * Diablos * Giga Gigginox * Tigrex * Barioth * Nargacuga * Malzeno * Rathian * Rathalos * Astalos * Nanoblade Seregios Leviathan * Lagiacrus * Nibelsnarf * Geisha Mizutsune * Ukyo Somnacanth Temnoceran * Razorwire Nerscylla * Rakna-kadaki Elder Dragon * Kirin * Valstrax * Opti-Camo Chameleos * Teostra * Morris Gore Magala * Mecha Fatalis

    City

    The traditional village area, including all the shop NPCs and guild haull, are now a heavily-developed cityscape. Activities still take place in a promenade or main street.

    Locales

    The game is set in a dystopian future city full of sprawling urban environments to replace the forests and mountains of the main series games. Different locales exist to fill the same roles as prior titles but with a modern or futuristic motif. The visual distinction between protected settlements and wilderness is blurred as monsters now walk the same type of city streets that humans and wyverians live and work on. Many hunts in the city take place at night - both to explain how the society can function with monsters roaming the streets and to fully realize the cyberpunk aesthetic with neon lights, animated billboards, and reflective glass building faces standing out against the dark sky.

    Village (rename)

    Areas of interest include: * The player's house: a high-rise apartment with a great view of the city. * Main street: the area below the player's home, hosting many of the game's amenities. ** Retired veteran: the main story-progressing NPC. Has a metal prosthetic arm because of course he does. ** Guild receptionists: the quest maidens that serve the single-player, regular guild hall, and G-rank guild hall areas. They are all clones of each other with slightly different outfit colors, details, and personality cues. ** Scrap mechanic: the equipment forge. Accompanied by a starry-eyed prodigy who makes buddy equipment. ** Food stall: the local chef for stat-boosting meals. Carries ramen, udon, tempura, and curry options among others. ** Vending machine: the replacement for the general merchant. Still has sales and can send items directly to storage. ** Courier truck: the mailman for events and DLC. A FedEx/UPS-themed felyne with a large truck. ** Shaman: replacement for talisman alchemist. A goth-punk chick with a hole-in-the-wall occult store. ** Digital native: the argosy. A caffeine-fueled techie that bids online for goods for the player, for a fee. * Buddy scout (felynes and palamutes, which continue to work alongside hunters) * Scavengers: the meowcenaries. The travel to the barren edge of the city's zones, fighting monsters and retrieving scraps. * Virtual reality: the training area. A VR danger room for combat training and testing equipment. * Dance club: the main guild hall. The quest gate is a door to an underground parking structure, to imply the hunters are driving (or being chauffeured) to each hunt. ** VIP lounge: the G-rank guild hall. Cigarette smoke permeates the air. The quest gate is a helipad.

    Downtown

    The ubiquitous starting area that is themed after the village (city) that it resides alongside. In this case, a futuristic city with glas skyscrapers and neon signs. ==== Areas of Interest ==== ===== Public park ===== A large open area decorated with grass and a lake. One of the only places nature is present. ===== Promenade ===== A long, straight arena lined with vendor stalls on the sides. ===== Town Square ===== A square-shaped arena with tall glass buildings on all sides. Ideal for vertical combat.

    Entertainment District

    Equivalent to mountain areas such as Misty Peaks and Heaven's Mount. The highest levels of the skyscrapers - the "peaks" - of the area are separated by a layer of dense fog created by tobacco smoke and air vented from the city below. ==== Areas of Interest ==== ===== Food Block ===== The lowest level of the zone is a foundation of restaurants, bars, and clubs. Trash litters the streets and overpasses hide some of the seedier establishments. ===== Freeways ===== Highways reaching over the roofs of the buildings below, creating cliffs to fight on. Missing railing makes for precarious ledges, easy to be knocked off of during a fight. ===== Rooftop Gardens ===== Atop the skyscrapers of the entertainment district. A Japanese-style garden with bamboo, fountains, and a rock garden. The other rare place in this city wher enature can be found.

    Industrial Park

    The volcano area. The figurative machine that keeps the city moving. It's hard to separate the clang of heavy machinery in the assembly lines from those created by mechanical monsters stalking the cavernous sweatshops. ==== Areas of Interest ==== ===== Refinery ===== A metalworking facility with streams of molten ore flowing throughout. ===== Chemical Processing Plant ===== Pools of corrosive chemicals eat away at monster and hunter alike. ===== Assembly Line ===== Moving platforms make for a disorienting fight.

    Port

    The tundra's equivalent. An unforgiving chill permeates the shoreline. ==== Areas of Interest ==== ===== Port ===== A cargo yard with shipping containers and cranes. ===== Warehouses ===== Large concrete flats surrounded by low sheet metal buildings. ===== Docks ===== A waterside arena allowing for mixed water and land combat. (Only monsters can enter deep water.)

    Slums

    The desert zone - including both day and night versions. Economic destitution and neglected infrastructure creates a barren landscape. A depleted ozone lets the sun bear down during the day in this suburb, making it a veritable desert. Abandoned construction projects and gang-ravaged public spaces are more noteworthy landmarks among the expansive flats littered with substandard stucco housing. ==== Areas of Interest ==== ===== Abandoned Construction ===== Incomplete structures and abandoned equipment fill in for the dead trees and boulders of deserts past. ===== Gang-ravaged Neighborhoods ===== Neighborhoods within the slums that are easily identified with heavy graffiti and boarded-up properties. ===== Suburbs ===== Multiple small oases spotting the zone. Small homes with actual lights on (during the evening).

    Stadium

    The arena area, much the same as other games. Only accessible via quests (no free hunts). ==== Areas of Interest ==== ===== Locker Room ===== The prep area including a bed, equipment box, and hallway with a food window. Has two exits - one for the lower area that spits the player out in the dugouts and one for the higher area that puts the player on a diving spot at the top of the stadium. ===== Stadium ===== The main area. As with modern sports arenas, fights take place at night with intense spotlights imitating daylight and giant screens showcasing the fight to the audience.