Around three weeks ago, Chinese indie developer Jotoyo unveiled Monster Fantasy, an interesting game that blends elements from Monster Hunter, Animal Crossing, and Stardew Valley, among others.
The game is targeting a simultaneous PC and console release (though it remains to be seen whether it can pull it off) and will soon seek funding on Kickstarter, though the crowdfunding campaign has been delayed from July 15 to after the first public playtest, scheduled for September via Steam.
Meanwhile, we reached out to Jotoyo to learn more about this promising mix of the action and life simulation genres. You can read our entire conversation with Producer Fei Fei below.
Since the game's reveal, people have guessed at its influences. However, from your own standpoint, what were the main inspirations?
Fei Fei: One of the main inspirations was the 2002 MMO Cross Gate. Its core structure gave equal weight to combat and life-sim gameplay, with a rich class system and the idea of different types of players living together in the same virtual world. Another important reference was Animal Crossing: Wild World, released for the Nintendo DS in 2005. In that game, each animal resident felt less like something driven by code or systems, and more like a living character.
Monster Hunter Portable, released for the PSP in 2005, was also a major influence. What impressed me most was the sense of accomplishment that came from using every possible method to overcome large monsters within a world that felt like a complete natural ecosystem.
Finally, the 2009 animated film Summer Wars also inspired us. I loved the idea of people of all ages, each with their own strengths, connecting to the same virtual world, even through different devices.
Usually, the combat and life simulation loops in similar games feel disjointed. How do you plan to make them feel like a coherent whole?
Fei Fei: One of the inspirations I mentioned in the previous question, Cross Gate, handled this very well, and that idea has become one of the core frameworks of Monster Fantasy. If you look at Monster Hunter purely as an action game and Animal Crossing purely as a life-simulation game, then the two can seem difficult to combine. But both games are highly immersive and give players a strong sense of presence, almost as if their worlds truly exist.
From that perspective, if every NPC in Monster Hunter had more vivid behavior, it would only make that world feel more believable. The same applies to Animal Crossing: if players could do more than collect branches and build houses, and could also go out on adventures and fight, then their later interactions with NPCs would have much richer context. That is how we think about the design side.
From a more practical perspective, I also hope different types of players can enjoy the same game together. When players of the same type socialize, the interaction can easily become limited to comparison and competition. But when different types of players interact, they can help one another and meet different needs. Everyone can feel useful and gain a sense of social achievement.
Speaking about classes, is the Mage also able to assume a support role, or is that just not necessary in Monster Fantasy?
Fei Fei: Yes. I designed many support abilities for the Mage, such as controlling monsters, applying buffs to teammates, and healing allies. However, I want the game to feel free. Whether players choose two damage-focused classes or one damage dealer and one support role, both approaches should be able to produce twice the effect when working together. Also, if you look closely, you may notice that the Mage can transform the staff into a scythe and fight in melee.
This is because we do not want the Mage to be defined only as a support character. Even when there are no teammates around, the Mage can become a melee spellcaster and deal damage directly.
Are players able to issue commands to their tamed monsters while in battle, or do they only act of their own volition?
Fei Fei: Our design is that giving commands to tamed monsters is a core part of the gameplay. When they do not receive commands, they will often slack off and do their own thing.
What is the level of challenge that players can expect to find in Monster Fantasy's combat?
Fei Fei: The combat is designed to be easy to pick up, while still offering a certain level of depth. Because the game also includes many gathering and crafting systems that can support combat, even players who are not very skilled at action games can use those systems to greatly reduce the difficulty of battles.
Can you share a bit more about the online mode (how many players, is progression fully shared, etc.)?
Fei Fei: The game supports online co-op for up to four players. Progression is based on the host's world, while other clients can share equipment, items, and other resources from their own different progression states with teammates.
How far is the game in development, and would you launch in early access?
Fei Fei: The game is still in an early stage of development, and we are currently focusing all our efforts on developing the first playable version for players.
Are there plans for other platforms, like console and mobile?
Fei Fei: Our goal is to launch on console platforms and PC at the same time, but we cannot confirm that yet. At the moment, we do not have plans for a mobile version.
Did you use AI to help with the game's development (placeholder assets, code help, etc.)?
Fei Fei: During early development, we may use AI-generated temporary placeholder assets, but they will be gradually replaced as development progresses. No AI-generated assets or materials will be included in the public-facing versions of the game. We guarantee that all assets in the released versions will be created by human artists.
Regarding the LLM and TTS integration in Monster Fantasy, can you provide a few examples of how it would expand emergent gameplay, and can you clarify whether it would run locally on-device or in the cloud?
Fei Fei: First, I want to clarify that this is entirely an additional feature and is still in an experimental stage. Players can choose not to enable free-form conversation with the large language model and still experience the full game.
If a player becomes friends with a certain NPC and wants the kind of emotional value that comes from interacting with a friend, they can use this feature to have more open conversations with that character. We have also designed many functions that can be triggered through dialogue. Once players become familiar with communicating with NPCs through conversation, we hope they will be able to set aside the traditional UI and play the game through dialogue instead. That could create a very different kind of experience.
For the current testing stage, this feature runs in the cloud. Thanks for all your questions!
Thank you for your time.
About the author: With over two decades of experience in gaming journalism, Alessio Palumbo has led the gaming vertical at Wccftech since August 2015. He started working at a young age for Italian websites like Everyeye.it, Gamestar.it, Nextgame.it, and Multiplayer.it before kickstarting the indie English-language publication Worlds Factory as its founder and Editor in Chief. In the last decade, he has coordinated the overall output of Wccftech's gaming section, managed PR relations, assigned reviews, produced daily news coverage, edited gaming content as needed, and delivered game reviews. Arguably, his trademark content is the long series of exclusive developer interviews that have been cited by Wikipedia and by the biggest news media and gaming publications. His passion for technology also makes him knowledgeable when it comes to gaming hardware and tech. His favorite genres include RPGs, MMORPGs, and action/adventure games.
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