MONSTER FANTASY Blends Hunting Action With Village Life Sim at Bilibili First Look
The early demo shows a Chinese indie studio attempting a high-risk fusion of hardcore hunting and laid-back life simulation, with enough implemented systems to suggest the concept may hold together.
Reporting from 2 sources: 4Gamer.net, Automaton.
Chinese studio JOTOYO showed a playable demo of its upcoming game MONSTER FANTASY at the Bilibili First Look event in Shanghai. The game combines hardcore hunting action with life simulation elements, drawing inspiration from Monster Hunter and Animal Crossing. Players choose from four classes-Warrior, Ranger, Ronin, and Mage-each with distinct mechanics. The Mage, for example, combines four elemental orbs to cast spells, while the Ronin uses an iai stance and can enter a demon mode. The demo featured three monster types, with a final version planned to include around 50. The in-game time syncs with real time, and monsters' behavior changes with time of day and weather. Players can delegate hunting and gathering to NPC villagers, who have their own daily routines and favorability systems. The village can host up to 10 NPCs out of several dozen types. The game is single-player with multiplayer features. Development began in earnest about four months before the demo, though the team spent years on preparation. Music is by Claude Ruelle, who worked on Monster Hunter Rise. The producer, Fei Ling, stated that a fifth class and romantic relationships with NPCs are under consideration.
The story is a classic JRPG hero tale with unexpected twists, the development team said in a group interview at the event. The art style combines realistic backgrounds with anime-style characters. The team said they wanted realistic lighting to match the real-time day-night cycle and to avoid looking like a "serious, hardcore action game."
A full part-break system is implemented. Destroying a beetle boss's armor changes the flesh quality and damage dealt, and the armor regenerates when the boss burrows. Behavior patterns change when parts break. Equipment crafting is flexible: players can add materials arbitrarily, and the same equipment can have different recipes. In the demo, the Mage class had a pre-equipped level 10 weapon, making it overpowered compared to other classes that required crafting.
NPCs have daily routines. A material shop NPC might leave the shop to walk outside, but players can still buy from them elsewhere. Players start from scratch, build houses, and invite NPCs. The team said they want NPCs to feel like "living humans" and provide emotional satisfaction. The game includes activities like cooking, alchemy, woodcutting, fishing, mining, and farming.
The team spent years on pre-production to avoid rework, with a combat demo existing as early as 2023. They plan multiple tests and want to select a flagship monster together with players. Playtime exceeds 50 hours for all content. The interview was attended by producer Fei Ling, CEO Allan Nan, and marketing representative Andy Wang.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 2 cited sources below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.