Monster Hunter: World players will be getting an icy content drop on September 6 with the launch of the sizeable Iceborne expansion, and now executive director and art director Kaname Fujioka has spoken with Game Informer about the challenge this will offer, and it won't be easy.
"We've taken that feedback to heart from players who wanted more difficulty and more challenge and really delivered on that," he said.
"It's not like players new to Iceborne will get into the game and feel a sudden challenge or difficulty spike that they haven't been expecting at all. One of the things about difficulty that was a point of feedback from players was about the number of options that they had, and that's something we really adjusted this time around. There is a higher volume of difficult challenges they can take on in the game while at the same time observing a natural difficulty curve that will make it easier for players to enjoy that difficulty naturally."
"I think for players who are going straight from the end of the story from World it's going to feel a little more difficult when they're transitioning into the new master rank for Iceborne," he continues. "If it's players who have been going in-depth into the content for Monster Hunter World and the updates, then they'll feel a much smoother transition for difficulty than other players will."
In the same interview we also get the news that there are new features coming in to improve certain areas, like streamlining how animals are tracked so you don't have to stare at the ground all the time, as well as a new two-player difficulty option that automatically starts when you're playing with a friend too, which will adjust back to normal if they leave.
Are these welcome changes?