As a direct response to feedback from players, Capcom has decided to increase the difficulty for the endgame content of the upcoming Monster Hunter: World Iceborne expansion. In a recent interview with Game Informer, executive director and art director for the game Kaname Fujioka spoke about the move.
Even well-geared players who have put the time into finding and upgrading their gear from what is available in the base game will still see an increase in difficulty. However, that is the point, Fujioka explains, who went on to say: “We've taken that feedback to heart from players who wanted more difficulty and more challenge and really delivered on that."
One of the biggest critiques of the base game is that the endgame content feels trivial to players who put the time into maxing out their characters. This is due to the decision to keep the endgame content somewhat easier than previous games to accommodate newer players who are unfamiliar the series.
Now, however, as Iceborne is set to be both the first and last expansion for the game, the decision has been made to increase its difficulty. The move should work to provide ample challenges for far longer than the base game and should also help to make the expansion a long-lasting and enjoyable purchase for players.
Newer players should now be at a place where they have adequate knowledge and understanding of the game’s mechanics. Because of this, they will be able to better adjust to the change, though perhaps it might take them a bit longer to complete.
There is also the addition of a new dynamic difficulty system, which shifts the health and stats of a monster depending on the number of players hunting it. Before, if a hunt had a full party and some players disconnected, the monster would still retain all the health of a full party. Now, however, each monster's stats and health will be scaled depending on how many players stick around.
The Iceborne expansion will be released on September 6, 2019, for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, and at an unspecified time for PC in the winter.