Monster Hunter Wilds launched with some pretty significant expectations but also with a rough performance record, with high-end PCs and consoles alike struggling to hit smooth frame rates. Things have improved considerably since then, but the question now is how Capcom plans to get a game that taxed premium hardware onto the Nintendo Switch 2.
In an interview with Kotaku, Capcom producer Genki Sunano offered some insight into how the team approached the challenge. And spoiler alert, it was a "painstakingly endless" process. "We didn't want it to feel like a simple port, where the graphics or performance had merely been scaled down to make the game run on Nintendo Switch 2," Sunano said. "Instead, our goal was to bring the Wilds experience to Nintendo Switch 2 without compromising the experience of Monster Hunter Wilds."
Popular Now: G.Skill replaces a $150 RAM kit now selling for $1,199, earning a customer for life in the process
Delivering on that goal required rebuilding the game from the ground up in many different ways. Certain assets and shaders were rebuilt from scratch for the Switch 2 version, with the team designing more efficient implementations while preserving the original look as closely as possible. When visual-effect assets were modified, the team ensured the new versions still aligned with existing hitboxes and collision detection, keeping the gameplay feel intact.
"Wilds is packed with a tremendous number of elements, so we had to carefully evaluate the assets and underlying processing behind each one, determining what needed to be preserved and what could be adjusted without changing the overall experience," Sunano said. "It was this painstaking, and at times seemingly endless, process of making decisions and optimizations one by one that proved to be one of our biggest challenges."
The result is a game targeting a stable 30 FPS in handheld mode, even during four-player multiplayer hunts. Capcom's other Switch 2 ports, including Resident Evil Requiem and Pragmata, have been well received, largely because of the technical seriousness the studio brings to the work.
Monster Hunter Wilds appears to be getting the same treatment, and the lessons learned here will not stay exclusive to this port. Sunano confirmed that the knowledge gained from this process will be applied to performance improvements across existing platforms ahead of Monster Hunter Wilds: Ascendance.
Story Q&A
Powered by TweakBot
From TweakTown's coverage of this story.
What resolution and graphics settings does Monster Hunter Wilds use on Switch 2 in handheld mode?
What frame-rate and resolution targets does Monster Hunter Wilds offer on Switch 2 in docked mode?
How does Monster Hunter Wilds perform during four-player hunts on Switch 2 in actual gameplay?
Does Monster Hunter Wilds on Switch 2 support cross-platform multiplayer with other versions?
Want something else? Ask TweakBot.
That said, the Switch 2 version launches December 5, arriving with all free DLC updates, including new monsters and local co-op support.
