"Slow life," but hunting's nonstop! Hunt your heart out with "Monster Hunter"-style action in "Monster Fantasy" [Beta Play Report]

Hey everyone, do you go hunting? In the real world, it’s not exactly easy to hunt animals or keep them as pets. But in a game, you can do both.This time, I had the opportunity to experience a playtest for *Monster Fantasy*, an action RPG developed by Jotoyo that blends hunting action with life simulation. Scheduled for release in 2027, I’d like to share my first impressions of the game.

As a hero who has lost their memory, you’ll adventure through the Kingdom of Eldras, slaying giant monsters while also enjoying fishing, cooking, and interacting with villagers back in town—a game where “legend and everyday life intersect.” This time, I focused mainly on the hunting segments. At first glance, it might look slow-paced, but this game is anything but slow!

There are four types of weapons: “Sword + Shield,” “Dual Wield,” “Bow,” and “Staff.”

First, let me introduce the equipment I was able to try out this time. There are four types of weapons in this game. Let’s take a look at them one by one.

Sword + Shield—Looks Like a One-Handed Sword, Feels Like a Lance

Given the “sword and shield” setup, I’d imagined the one-handed sword from the *Monster Hunter* series, but when I actually swung it, the feel was closer to that of a lance.

It’s the only weapon in the game that allows you to guard. However, a standard guard only reduces damage to about half of what a direct hit would deal. Even when you think you’re defending, your health gets whittled away rapidly.

The key is the “Just Guard.” By guarding right before an enemy’s attack, you can reduce damage to zero and gain a gauge at the same time.

Using this gauge allows you to unleash an aura-enveloped sweeping attack or deal additional damage with a charge attack. In other words, it’s designed not as a “weapon for solid defense,” but as a “weapon that turns defense into counterattack.”

Dual Blades—From the Legacy of the Tachi to Dual Swords

In terms of feel, the “Dual Blades” are weapons similar to the Great Sword from the *Monster Hunter* series.

When you land an attack and chain it into a finishing move, one lamp lights up. After accumulating these to reach three lamps (the white gauge), landing a draw-and-strike attack on the enemy after sheathing your sword will change the gauge to red.

And only while in this red gauge state do you wield a sword in your other hand as well. The attacks from this point on are truly excellent, allowing for an offensive style that seems to combine the best aspects of the Tachi and Dual Blades.

Based on my experience, the DPS during the red gauge phase is likely the highest among the four weapon types. You build up the gauge, go through the extra step of sheathing and unsheathing your sword, and only then does it truly show its true potential. This sense of “progressing through stages” is addictive.

Bow—Charge, Close In, and Launch

The “Bow” functions largely the same way as the bows you’d expect from the *Monster Hunter* series. It follows the standard formula where damage increases based on how long you charge.

Its most powerful attack is the spread shot at close range, which deals follow-up damage after the arrow embeds itself in the enemy. Since the number of follow-up hits seems to be proportional to the charge time, you’ll want to charge fully to land all shots. The design—where getting closer to the enemy yields greater rewards—means experienced players should pick it up right away.

And one more thing: for some reason, you can float in the air while drawing your bow. You can even fire rapidly from that position. I’m not entirely sure how it works, but it’s convenient.

Staff—Load mana, float, and cast a magic circle

And the most unique element in this game is the “staff.”

First, as a general rule, swinging it without any mana equipped deals weak damage and leaves you extremely vulnerable. It’s not a weapon meant to be swung around like that.

So, what do you do? First, you load “mana.”

There are four types of Mana—Fire, Earth, Water, and Wind—and you can hold up to four at a time. It operates on a “first-in, first-out” system: if you set a fifth one, the oldest one is discarded. Note that there’s virtually no opening when setting Mana.

Once you’ve charged your Mana, you float into the air and use the equipped Mana to cast a magic circle. The attack methods and elements change depending on which Mana you’ve used and how much of it you’ve channeled into the magic circle—this is the core of the Staff.

Honestly, it’s difficult to handle and requires a lot of thought. However, it has clear strengths: you can attack from a much greater range than with a bow, and it’s easier to target an enemy’s elemental weaknesses. It’s a weapon that sacrifices attack speed to deal damage through strategic setup and elemental combinations. Of the four types, this was the weapon that gave me the strongest sense of “designing it myself.”

Preparing in the Village—Accepting Quests and Buying Recipes

Before heading out onto the battlefield, you must first accept a mission in the village.

These include collecting items or crafting specific pieces of equipment. Completing these tasks earns you in-game currency, which you can use to purchase recipes that allow you to craft weapons, armor, tools, items, and meals.

The game is designed to keep this cycle going: gear up, gather better materials, hunt stronger monsters, and obtain even better materials. Note that since this was a test version, all recipes, weapons, armor, and tools were available for purchase as long as you had enough money.

The Field—Timeless Appeal and Convenience

When you venture out into the field, you’ll find grassy areas, ore spots, and spots where you can collect mushrooms scattered throughout the landscape; examining these locations yields raw materials. This is a familiar sight in hunting games.

What’s interesting is that even in the early stages, while you start with basic gathering tools equipped, crafting and equipping better tools allows you to collect higher-quality materials. In other words, gathering itself is a key part of upgrading your gear.

In terms of movement, warp portals are set up throughout the area, and once you’ve interacted with a portal, it remains available for use at any time. This minimizes the hassle of traveling across the vast field.

I also appreciated how equipment is handled. As long as you’re not in combat, you can swap out the gear in your inventory at any time. Plus, since the inventory has a fairly large capacity, you have plenty of room even if you carry one of each of the four weapon types at all times. Being able to switch weapons on the fly to test different strategies against various opponents was incredibly helpful, especially during test play.

Large Monsters with Their Own Unique Quirks

Let me also introduce the large monsters I was able to fight during this test.

Risuguma

This is likely the first opponent you’ll face. It feels like the kind of large, beast-type monster commonly found in hunting games, and its tackles are a real pain.

Crucially, with your starting gear, the damage it deals is quite painful, and you simply can’t defeat it. I quickly realized that upgrading your equipment is absolutely essential. The cycle of “Missions → Currency → Recipes → Equipment” mentioned earlier really serves as a strong motivator here.

Incidentally, as things stand, it doesn’t seem to be a problem if you get defeated repeatedly in solo mode.

Horned Turtle

Next up is the “Kabutogame,” a crustacean-type monster.

It breathes water, but the biggest problem is its high-speed tackle, which uses the water’s thrust. A direct hit is guaranteed to deal massive damage, and it charges at you with a speed you’d never expect from such a massive body.

Griffin—The Final Boss in This Test

And the final boss in this test was the “Griffin.” This one was truly a tough opponent.

It has a wide variety of attacks, such as flying into the air, flapping its wings, and then charging at you, or unleashing a sweeping claw attack with almost no wind-up. On top of that, its firepower is extremely high—if your defense isn’t in the four-digit range, even a minor attack could instantly kill you.

Furthermore, toward the end of the battle, it even unleashes a massive move that engulfs the entire surrounding area. A direct hit will, of course, kill you.

It flies, scatters its feathers, harasses you with high damage, and to top it all off, unleashes a massive move. It was a fitting opponent to cap off the test.

While adhering to the conventions of hunting games, it also introduces completely unique weapons. My impression from this playtest was that, while it resembles something you’ve seen before, it’s fundamentally something entirely different.

I can’t wait to see how much more fun the game will become once elements like village life, monster taming, and riding are added. I’m already looking forward to it.

• Title: Monster Fantasy

• Developer/Publisher: Jotoyo

• Supported Platforms: PC (Steam)

• Release Date: 2027 (planned)

• Japanese Support (Interface & Subtitles)