Nu Udra Revealed as Apex in Monster Hunter Wilds - IGN First

From the dry deserts and bustling forests to the blazing volcanoes and frozen tundra, the Monster Hunter series showcases a variety of environments, each with its own unique ecosystem shaped by a diverse array of monsters. The thrill of exploring these unknown worlds and traversing their landscapes while hunting is a core joy of playing Monster Hunter.

This sentiment rings true in Monster Hunter Wilds, the latest installment in the franchise. Following the Windward Plains and Scarlet Forest, hunters will venture into the harsh terrain of the Oilwell Basin, a region engulfed in flames and oilsilt. Here, they'll navigate through paths obstructed by dripping, viscous oil and blazing magma. Despite its seemingly sterile and lifeless appearance, the Oilwell Basin teems with life, as small creatures can be seen wriggling through the mire. Scattered throughout are remnants of what appears to be an ancient civilization.

Yuya Tokuda, the director of both Monster Hunter: World and Monster Hunter Wilds, provides insight into the Oilwell Basin:

"During the Fallow, the Oilwell Basin is a place filled with mud and oil. When the Inclemency known as the Firespring arrives, it burns away the oilsilt, and during the Plenty, the burned-away oil and soot vanish, revealing the minerals, microorganisms, and the original colors of the manmade artifacts hidden beneath," he explains.

Down in the Muck

What was the concept behind the Oilwell Basin's design? Kaname Fujioka, the director of the original Monster Hunter and the executive director and art director for Wilds, shares his thoughts:

"We had two horizontally broad locales in the Windward Plains and Scarlet Forest, so we decided to make the Oilwell Basin a vertically connected place," he says. "The environment changes slightly as you travel between the top, middle, and bottom strata. Sunlight reaches the top strata, where oil gathers like mud, and the lower you go, the hotter it becomes, with lava and other substances."

Tokuda adds, "From the middle to bottom strata, you'll find creatures reminiscent of aquatic life, evoking the deep seas or underwater volcanoes. In World, we created the ecosystem of the Coral Highlands using the concept of aquatic creatures living on the surface, and we've applied that knowledge to craft the Oilwell Basin's creatures and ecosystem.

The Oilwell Basin transforms from a blazing, barren wasteland to a vibrant region during the Plenty. Fujioka wants players to appreciate this contrast:

"During the Fallow and Inclemency, smoke emerges from everywhere in the Oilwell Basin, resembling a volcano or hot spring," he explains. "But during the Plenty, it takes on a clear, marine-like tone. If you look closely at the environmental biology, you'll find creatures you'd expect to see on the ocean floor."

The Oilwell Basin's environment is distinct from other locales. While it may appear lifeless when covered in oilsilt, it supports a variety of life forms, including shellfish like shrimp and crabs, as well as small monsters that provide raw meat. Large monsters feed on these smaller ones, which in turn filter out and consume microorganisms from the environment and oilsilt. These microorganisms derive energy from the earth's heat. If the Windward Plains and Scarlet Forest are ecosystems driven by sunlight and vegetation, the Oilwell Basin is a realm powered by geothermal energy.

The large monsters inhabiting the Oilwell Basin are unique. One such creature is Rompopolo, a globular, noxious monster with a mouth resembling thin needles. Fujioka explains the inspiration behind Rompopolo's design:

"We designed it as a tricky monster that thrives in swamps and creates chaos for players by using its stored toxic gas," he says. "The concept of a mad scientist often came up when depicting this trickiness. We were inspired by this idea when we gave it a slightly chemical purple color and glowing red eyes. The equipment you can craft from it is surprisingly cute, as is its Palico equipment."

Tokuda describes the Rompopolo Palico equipment as "amusing," and I can see why after trying it out myself. I encourage you to craft the equipment and experience it firsthand.

Flames of Ajarakan

Another new monster in the Oilwell Basin is Ajarakan, a massive gorilla-like creature enveloped in flames. Unlike the Scarlet Forest's Congalala, Ajarakan has a slimmer silhouette.

In this video, we see Rompopolo and Ajarakan battling for territory, with Ajarakan grabbing Rompopolo in a bear hug. Its martial arts-inspired movements, frequently using its fists, give it a unique charm compared to other fanged beasts.

"Typically, when designing fanged beasts, their hips are low to the ground, placing their heads at eye level with the hunter," says Tokuda. "This can make it harder to sense the threat they pose. That's why we gave this monster a more top-heavy and towering silhouette. We added flame elements that fit the Oilwell Basin, along with grabbing attacks reminiscent of a wrestler to highlight its physical strength. It's a monster that combines strength, physical attacks, and flames, like its attack where it melts something and tosses it at you."

Fujioka elaborates on Ajarakan's design: "With one unique monster after another making an appearance, we thought it was time to introduce a monster whose strengths are easy to understand. That's how we got Ajarakan. It simply punches or slams its fists on the ground to make flames shoot up, making it a monster that's strong through its straightforward attacks."

Ajarakan occupies a high position in the Oilwell Basin's ecosystem. Compared to Rompopolo, which utilizes poison gas and oilsilt, Ajarakan stands out with its flashy appearance, with flames and magma accompanying each of its attacks, emphasizing the area's pecking order.

"At first, it was just a physically powerful monster," says Fujioka. "That's why I discussed with our artists and designers about giving it more personality. It's in a fiery location, so I wanted to incorporate flames and heat. However, I didn't want it to simply breathe fire or create flames. That's how we ended up with a design where the monster seems to wear flames on its back, similar to the Buddhist deity Acala. From there, we got the idea of Ajarakan's rising internal temperature giving it enough heat and power to melt anything in front of it, which added so much more personality. Ajarakan will grab the hunter or hug Rompopolo, and we wanted players to think about how much they'd want to avoid getting hugged by an absurdly hot creature. We made it seem scary by making it so hot that it'll melt anything and everything around."

Unlike the tricky Rompopolo, Ajarakan's design focuses on straightforward power. As there's a risk of its concept of depicting simple strength leading to no-frills movements, Fujioka says the team kept adding flashier moves as they reached the end of development.

"We kept adding lots of different interesting techniques, like it jumping into the air, balling itself up, and falling to the ground," he says.

A Monster Generations in the Making

Ruling over the Oilwell Basin's ecosystem as its apex predator with octopus-like tentacles is the "Black Flame," which we can finally name: Nu Udra. With its slimy body covered in the flammable oil it secretes, it stretches and wriggles around the Oilwell Basin in every direction. Just as the Windward Plains' Rey Dau controls lightning and the Scarlet Forest's Uth Duna envelops itself in water, Nu Udra coats itself in flames. The two developers emphasize that apex predators in Wilds are designed with the element of their region strongly in mind. Finding an octopus in a scorching hot area is unusual. Was this the animal that inspired the monster?

"Yes, it was octopuses," says Fujioka. "We also wanted its silhouette to be striking when it rises up and gave it what look like demonic horns, but we also tried designing it in a way where you can't tell where its face is."

Tokuda explains that even the music that plays when fighting Nu Udra is based on demonic imagery:

"We had the composers include phrases and musical instruments reminiscent of black magic," he says. "I think it ended up being a unique and good piece of music."

The squirming movements of Nu Udra's tentacles follow in the footsteps of monsters like Lagiacrus from Monster Hunter Tri. A tentacled monster like this is a concept that both Tokuda and Fujioka have long wanted to realize.

"One of the concepts in Tri was underwater combat, so I did write a proposal for an octopus-shaped monster at the time, emphasizing its distinctive underwater movements," says Tokuda. "I had fun coming up with all kinds of ideas, like 'It has lots of legs, which means lots of parts you can sever!' There were challenges keeping us from making that a reality, though, including technical ones. But even so, I've been holding onto that proposal for all this time."

We've seen monsters in the past, such as Yama Tsukami and Nakarkos, that wriggle around using appendages like their tentacles. I ask Fujioka if they considered the movements of these past monsters when developing Nu Udra.

"We're always interested in using monsters who move like that in moments where they'd stand out, as their silhouette and the impression they give are nothing like standard monsters with limbs and wings," he says. "While including too many unique monsters will cause players to get tired of seeing them, dropping one in at just the right moment leaves such a strong impression. That's why we had Yama Tsukami appear in the game the way it did," he says, referring to the scene in Monster Hunter 2 (Dos) where you encounter Yama Tsukami floating over the mountains in a deep forest. "You glance up, see it flying above you, and think, 'What the heck is that?' I think there's a kind of adventurous feeling you get from seeing something a bit odd, similar to cryptids."

Hearing this, Tokuda adds with a nostalgic tone, "You know, I'm the one who put that (Yama Tsukami) there." While they weren't able to create the same kind of actions for Yama Tsukami as they have for Nu Udra due to the technology at the time, they say they wanted to find some way for it to leave an impression.

Throughout this interview, I sense the Monster Hunter team's sincere dedication to creating monsters, utilizing various techniques in the process. Even if current technology can't support it, these creators have countless ideas about how they want to use a monster. When developing a new title, they draw on this stockpile to create new monsters. In that sense, realizing a monster that fully utilizes its tentacles like Nu Udra is a major accomplishment for both Tokuda and Fujioka.

"While Yama Tsukami and Nakarkos were monsters that attacked you with their tentacles while fixed in a stage, Nu Udra uses its physical traits as a cephalopod to freely move around the area. In that way, the gameplay it enables could be seen as something we're trying for the very first time here."

Fujioka continues: "Monsters with tentacles like that pose a lot of technical challenges, like controlling it with respect to the terrain and its target. When we began development on Wilds, the technical department's tests went incredibly well, and so we felt like we could really make it happen this time."

"When we saw the tests, we also thought to make it the apex predator of the Oilwell Basin," adds Tokuda. "That's just how much of an impact this monster has."

"While there are countless proposals that I've had rejected due to technical reasons, it feels like I'm finally getting to attempt one of those this time around."

Even outside of hunting, I sense that fine attention was placed on Nu Udra's animations. After you deal it enough damage, it wraps itself around what looks like an ancient ruined pipe to wriggle its way around the area. It even enters into small holes in the terrain without any trouble at all. Every one of Nu Udra's movements posed a challenge to the art team led by Fujioka.

"We did quite a lot of work on depicting flexible bodies this time with Nu Udra," he says. "At the start of development, we try coming up with pretty unreasonable ideas, whether or not we can actually achieve them. It's a challenge to ourselves in a way, and while it does cause a lot of challenges for our artists, the final product looks so amazing if we're able to actually make it take shape."

The team uses new technologies to make possible the ideal expressions they've accumulated as the series progresses. They give it a try even if they aren't sure they can make it happen. I even get a sense of what it feels like to be on the Monster Hunter development floor when I hear these two talk.

"When we first implemented the movement of it going inside a hole, an animator told me, 'When you weaken it and it starts heading back to its nest, please wait here for a moment!'," says Tokuda. "Apparently they wanted me to see it going into its little hole, and I still remember replying, 'Oh, that really is amazing!' The animator looked so satisfied as well."

"It might not be easy to get the chance to see it, but the way it squirms around while wrapped around a pipe is so well made too," says Fujioka. "I do hope you check it out. Only games are able to depict things like that in real-time instead of as some premade scene. I'm incredibly proud of it as a crystallization of the staff's efforts."

Fujioka's tone of voice gives me a strong sense of just how satisfied he is with the level of detail of Wilds' monsters and how proud he is of the team who created this game.

Once I actually try taking on Nu Udra, I have significant trouble finding an opening on its flexible and ever-changing body. If I let my guard down and stick too close to it, it uses its head to launch a powerful counterattack. While I struggle, I somehow manage to focus enough of my attacks to successfully break a tentacle part, only for its severed tip to thrash around on the ground. Is it possible to destroy all of its many legs?

"You can cut off so many tentacles," Tokuda explains. "While I suppose it depends on how you count them, all of the parts that resemble legs that touch the ground can be severed. While the tentacles do move right after they've been cut off, they begin to rot after some time passes. If you try to carve a part that's rotten and no longer moving, you won't get good materials from it. The same also applies for breakable parts of other monsters, like tails."

"Nu Udra uses its tentacles to launch attack after attack on its target. We were conscious to give its attacks a unique tempo through a combination of focused attacks and area-of-effect attacks using its head and flames. We wanted to make it a massive monster that still seemed to launch a barrage of attacks. With all of its tentacles, though, it's possible that it becomes difficult to tell who it's targeting in situations like multiplayer hunts. That's why we've made it so that it has sensory organs at the tips of its tentacles that use light to indicate when and who it's going to attack."

At times, Nu Udra will hold its tentacles in the air and slam them into the ground as an attack. Like Tokuda says, its area that would correspond to the palm of a human hand gives off light when it does this. This light-emitting section of its body is Nu Udra's sensory organ. But as it doesn't use vision to understand the world around it, Flash Bombs don't affect it.

Nu Udra poses a significant challenge. I ask Tokuda what players can do to start working toward defeating it.

"Its body itself is fairly soft, and it has lots of breakable parts," he replies. "I think hunters should think about how to determine where to attack. Cutting off a tentacle will also shorten its area of effect attacks, making it much easier to move around. You could also call it a monster made for multiplayer, as that means its targets will be split up. You may be able to enjoy it even more by using SOS flares, Support Hunters included."

Fujioka expands further. "As we designed this monster, I thought it's one that can be tackled in a way that's very much like an action game in the sense that destroying its parts can help you get closer to defeating it. Gravios is another monster where you discover a way to defeat it as you destroy its tough armor, right? The ability to carefully watch a monster's movements and use that to make a decision fits perfectly with Monster Hunter's overall approach."

A Welcome Reunion

In his answer, Fujioka brings up the name Gravios. That's right, players can reunite with Gravios, who hasn't been seen since Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate, in the Oilwell Basin. As a monster covered in what looks like a rocky carapace and which emits hot gas, Gravios really is a perfect monster for the area.

I ask Tokuda what led them to decide to have Gravios make another appearance (for more details, check out this Gravios interview as well).

"When we were thinking of monsters that match the Oilwell Basin's environment, make sense in the game's overall progression, and don't play too similarly to any other monsters, we thought that we could make Gravios seem like a fresh challenge and decided that it would reappear," he says.

As Tokuda says, the reappearing Gravios had become a monster with an even harder body than I remembered. Its massive presence is overwhelming when compared to the other monsters in the Oilwell Basin. When I somehow figure out a way to attack its rocky carapace, I'm able to form red wounds on its body like any other monster and unleash a Focus Strike.

"When bringing Gravios over to this game from previous titles, above all else, we wanted to make sure it still had its distinguishing features like its hardness," says Tokuda. "From a game design perspective, we also wanted it to be a monster that appeared after you've progressed a good bit and had gone through everything the game's design has to offer. That's why I came up with the idea of it being a monster where it's difficult to figure out a way to defeat its hard body at first, only for hunters to find more and more clues as they make good use of the wound system and part breaking."

All Monsters in Monster Hunter Wilds

17 ImagesIf Gravios is making an appearance, does that mean we'll also be seeing its juvenile form, Basarios? I ask the question, only for Fujioka to simply reply, "Sorry, but Basarios will be taking this one off." It seems like the time isn't quite right yet, and we'll have to wait longer before we see Basarios again.

As the two explained during our interview about monster selection, the Monster Hunter team is careful to not make offhanded decisions about having monsters reappear, only doing so if they can be used to their fullest in a game. That means that the team must have decided to not include Basarios in this game after multiple discussions. Though a bit unfortunate, many other monsters not touched on in this article will also make an appearance in the Oilwell Basin. I can't wait for the day when I get to go hunting there, Cool Drink in hand.