This monster hunting series is well-known for its endless fight-monsters-and-farm-materials gameplay loop that inspired countless games across genres. But not everyone was thrilled with how much the farming and grinding caught on in the industry. Super Smash Bros. creator Masahiro Sakurai once voiced his concerns about Monster Hunter influence on this trend.
“Everything became about [gathering] materials and materials,” Sakurai said bluntly in an interview with Nintendo DREAM magazine. The topic came up when the interviewer said that many copycats have appeared since Monster Hunter launched to the market.
“Personally, I think that’s not a good thing.” While acknowledging that collecting materials can be fun in moderation, Sakurai argued that many games became too reliant on these time-consuming systems. From his perspective as a developer, item farming is an easy shortcut to keep players busy for hours without much creative effort.
“Speaking from a creator’s perspective, you can easily make this kind of system that keeps players engaged for hours on end. Since it’s not a matter of gameplay, it’s just a matter of moving numbers around,” he explained. Sakurai worried that this system’s overuse could eventually backfire — even to the whole industry.
For him, the healthiest approach is variety. Both slow, grindy games and fast, focused experiences should coexist to keep the medium balanced and fresh. Sakurai was afraid that copying Monster Hunter staple mechanics haphazardly could easily turn a game experience into a chore.
“I don’t want to foster the idea that games should always be tedious or feel like hard work,” he concluded. Although this is an old interview, Sakurai’s comments feel increasingly relevant today, as crafting systems continue to dominate many genres. From RPGs to survival and online or live-service games. Sometimes, less really is more.
Nevertheless, Sakurai himself seems to have no issue with Monster Hunter as he sometimes posted his experience playing the games on X. He even thanked series producer Ryozo Tsujimoto when he was able to play a demo of Monster Hunter 4U at Tokyo Game Show. Recently, Sakurai said he completed Wilds as an Insect Glaive user on March 1st, just days after its debut, according to Excite.co.jp.
You can read Monster Hunter HQ’s translation of the Nintendo DREAM Masahiro Sakurai interview excerpt below.
Interviewer: After Monster Hunter was released, a lot of similar games came out, didn’t they?
Sakurai: Everything became about [gathering] materials and materials. It’s still going on even now, but personally, I think that’s not a good thing.
I: The act of collecting materials itself can be fun, but on the other hand, it can feel tiring. Like, “I can’t keep doing this forever…”
S: Right? Speaking from a creator’s perspective, you can easily make this kind of system that keeps players engaged for hours on end. Since it’s not a matter of gameplay, it’s just a matter of moving numbers around.
I: Is that so!?
S: However, gathering materials is not the essence of a game. It’s just one of many methods to make a game interesting. But it’s quite scary that many developers continue to rely on this approach.
I: Because more and more similar games keep getting made, huh.
S: When that happens, eventually people will stop playing these games altogether. That’s why there should be games that can be finished quickly, not just games that can be played meticulously over and over again.
I: So when making a game, you have to consider the overall balance of the industry as well.
S: Yes. I don’t want to foster the idea that games should always be tedious or feel like hard work.
