World of Monstrous Design: The Hub

I’ve tried out Monster Hunter: World at the end of 2020, and I finally found the fun. When the game opens up and lets me hunt monsters it’s great. In the last article in this series I made the case that this should have happened in the first act of the game, not 25 hours in. But if there’s something that Monster Hunter: World gets right, it’s Astera, or the Hub World for the game.

Hub Worlds; the Glue that Binds

Monster Hunter: World has a pretty decent hub world, and I have a lot of good things to say about it.

First: the Monster Hunter world, that is the universe the game is a part of, is fantastical, over-the-top, and impractical. It’s great. The hub captures all of this, and grounds it: the forge, where you build your equipment from the spoils of your adventures is absolutely gigantic: the world we’re in solidly in the gunpowder age, but the forge is a 30 meter tall sphere with dozens of exhausts and the baffle for the furnace is 10 feet tall. It’s ridiculous, but it all makes sense in a way. And the forge, which is a hugely important part of your adventure is easily distinguishable, remember able, and it’s quick to get to.

The canteen is also easily distinguishable and it stands out because it’s run by the coolest Palico (those cat dudes) you’ll ever see. Good job so far: how do you go on missions? Quests are posted on boards (which you’d expect), or talk to your handler, but if you want you can also just wander into the field and go do stuff: awesome!

Getting my Steps in!

Some minor gripes I have about this hub world: it’s too big, or you’re too slow. There’s a lot of stuff you want to get done in the hub; build stuff, equip stuff, buy stuff, harvest stuff you’re growing, eat, get a quest, try out a weapon.

All of these are about as spread out as possible: the Workshop is on the opposite side of a gorge to the canteen, and both of these locations are on two completely different levels from most of the other vendors. If you want to walk (or run) between these levels you’re wasting your time, and Capcom thought so too because they included an OSHA nightmare fantasy elevator system (whih I love). This system is almost necessary to use because everything is so far away from everything else.

Placing your vendors in different places isn’t a bad idea! In fact, I commend the design where you need to go to go to specific places to do specific places; it keeps you grounded in the world. If you could get a new sword while standing a mile away from the forge, then you might lose that bit of immersion. It’s just they’re so far away from each other that I end up hoofing it to do everything I need to get done.

Where do I go again?

Another issue is many vendors for things you need aren’t visibly distinct and look unimportant. I praised the workshop guy and the cat that runs the bar, but what about the guy who sells more generic stuff? He’s a dude standing on top of a bunch of boxes in the middle of a shaded area. He doesn’t particularly stand out… I guess he is visible, but he’s not this burly cat in front of a fire, or a sweaty eyepatch-wearing dude inside of a super furnace; he’s some dude writing on a clipboard. Even worse, is the botanist; this character “gathers” materials for you to use - really they generate items that you can use to make more useful stuff like better healing items, buffing items, ammo, etc. for your hunts. This guy is working on a table essentially trying to make sure I don’t bother him. I’ll give that the garden behind him is visually striking, but this guy is practically hiding compared to the other vendors.

You might say “Well the game tells you about all of these guys,” and sure it does — but a good game should be able to show you where these vendors are. Funnily enough Capcom knew that they messed up here because they spend about 4 minutes in cutscenes and “follow the dot on top of the guy” quests after taking you on not-quote-a-hunt after the getting-started cutscene. Here a buff dude shows you all the things in this fantastical world and telling you how cool it is. If they trusted their design, they would have skipped this part.

The Bizarre Bazaar

How about a good counter-example? Maybe it’s a bit heavy handed but in The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword there’s a similarly fantastical hub world in the sky of all places. All of the important vendors are inside a market, and each of the characters who you actually need to talk to are running a stall. What a simple heuristic to show me “these people can give you stuff you want” right? In Monster Hunter: World you better not forget that you need to talk to the guy on top of the boxes for supplies (not the guys next to the boxes, or the guy past the boxes, and definitely not the guys who are near the boxes next to a bunch of supplies, those guys are completely different), otherwise you’ll probably run out of traps. Oops.

Another thing The Legend of Zelda: Skyword Sword got right with its vendors is gave each one a distinct and remember able personality. The engineer guy is huge, and he’s got an off-putting helmet that hides his face: you know this guy is working on some heavy stuff. The Item shop guy is honestly a mess, and he is visibly distraught if you don’t buy anything form him. The oracle has huge eyes that basically glow next to a mysterious magic orb. Even the boring character running the Item Swap stands out because she’s the only person who’s not animated!

Leave it to Nintendo to make someone not acting up seem strange.

The Dingy Dwarven Derick

I love Deep Rock Galactic, or as I call it “Space Dwarf Mining Simulator.” It does a lot right, and I might do more writing about it in the future, but one thing it does impeccably is its hub; the “Space Rig.”

The frame of the game is you’re a space dwarf who can pick up jobs to mine, survey, and exterminate pests on an alien planet. The hub world has everything you need to select missions, gear up, and drink up in a believable and atmospheric workshop. Much like in Monster Hunter: World, in Deep Rock Galactic each of these tasks has its own workstation that you have to physically walk to and interact with. Unlike Monster Hunter: World these stations are much closer to each other, and it’s much quicker to select a mission, drink, gear up, and launch. Oh and matchmaking is a breeze (we’ll talk about that in another article). Plus, if you’ve got a group of friends or even if you’re pairing up with people online, you can actually see the dwarves you’re about to risk your life with.

Looking at how this Indie game and the colossal Capcom constructs their hub world you can how both do similar things to benefits the player experience. I’ve heard players complain about the hub world in Deep Rock, but while playing the game it helps decompress the sometimes hectic and fast-paced gameplay with a short but leisurely walk to the bar to drink up before diving back in. The Deep Rock Galactic hub keeps it tight, while keeping the overall aesthetic of the game couched. You never break out of the experience, and Capcom did something similar, but I think they could have done a bit better.

Astera is Where the Heart is

Astera, for its few flaws, is probably one of the most immersive parts of Monster Hunter: World. I’m sure the design has inspired other similar hub worlds. It’s got a lot of heart, but with a few modifications it could have been one of my favorite hub worlds.