The message that Lucas and Nebula Games put out on their official blog was very simple.
It was just a character concept art image.
However, the character in this concept art wasn't a typical human; it was a dragon.
It had four legs and two wings, with huge white horns extending from its head. Its body was incredibly large and covered in threatening and deadly thorns, sending shivers down your spine. The huge wings on its back covered its shoulders, and the dark black and dark purple scales made the evil dragon look utterly brutal.
The overall design was very powerful and full of pressure.
Below the image, Lucas also posted some text describing the creature.
'Nergigante: A large Elder Dragon class monster characterized by the countless sharp black spikes growing all over its body and its extremely thick and sturdy horns. It possesses an overwhelming power with its intensely aggressive and violent nature, making it a formidable Elder Dragon.'
'In addition, Nergigante has super healing abilities. In order to maintain these, it needs a lot of energy. Therefore, Nergigante seeks out and eats monsters containing high purity energy. In fact, all creatures are its prey. Based on this information, the rumor of the "Elder Dragon that Destroys Everything" came to be, and that's why it's called "Nergigante."'
Below the official blog post, many players were stunned.
Because usually, the subject of a game's promotion should be the game's protagonist, right?
How is it a dragon?
Could it be that in the new game, players will be playing as this Nergigante?
If we go by what the Nergigante description says, does that mean this game is about controlling this monster called Nergigante and hunting various creatures everywhere?
Big fish eat little fish?
What's going on?
Looking at the official blog post released by Lucas, many players were a little confused.
"What's going on? What exactly is Lucas's new game? He just put out a concept art image, and it's impossible to guess!"
"See, I told you! Lucas is getting better and better at fooling people! He used to have a decent promotional trailer at the gameplay exhibit, but now he's just getting rid of us with a concept art image!"
"It's time to bring out that meme again!"
"The poster above, Lucas has too many memes. Are you talking about this one (Heartwarming, Warrior of Love.jpg), or this one (Want some Fire?.jpg), or maybe this one? (In progress, almost ready to release.jpg)."
"Lucas has so many jokes!"
"I strongly suspect that Lucas is fooling us again like before, and he hasn't even created a folder yet!"
"Speaking of which, I have a bold, but not necessarily correct, guess. Could the new game be a Souls-like game? Telling the story before the fire was linked. Gwyn, the Witch, and others defeated the Ancient Dragons, but no one knows how they did it. This Nergigante could be one of those dragons, and in the new game, we'll be controlling the Ancient Dragon to fight against Gwyn, Nito, and the Witch in their prime."
"Dude, that assumption is too bold and definitely wrong! Didn't you notice? This dragon's art style is completely different from the Dark Souls series! The Dark Soul's art style leans towards European and American fantasy realism, but this Nergigante obviously has an Eastern-style fantasy realism style, so it's definitely not a Dark Souls series!"
With the release of Lucas's official blog post, many players began to make various guesses.
But soon Lucas released a second concept art image.
The content was very simple. It was still the previous Nergigante, but now in the same scene, there was a human.
It was a hunter holding a katana that was longer than a person, wearing armor, and confronting the Nergigante.
At the same time, on this concept art image, players finally understood the name of his new game, "Monster Hunter: World."
With the release of this second concept art image, it obviously brought more content to the table, and more players participated in the discussion.
"Monster Hunter? Holy crap, it's a hunting game!?"
"Wait a minute! A hunting game? Does that mean this thing called Nergigante, will be what we'll hunt in the game!?"
"Isn't it really a Souls-like game?"
"My feelings are mixed right now!"
"Does it mean from linking the fire? Is it changing to hunting?"
"The first concept art image was a dragon, and the second one introduced the hunter. Do you think this is a hint? Hinting that the dragon is the protagonist, and we, the hunters, are the prey?"
"I think there's a chance. Look, at the game title, could we interpret it like this? 'Monster (noun) Hunt (verb) er (noun)'"
"Holy crap, that's one way to understand Monster Hunter, but I have to say it's very descriptive!"
When many players saw this second concept art image, the image of suffering immediately came to mind.
Especially since in the previous games there was Seath the Scaleless, the Nameless King riding a dragon, and Black Dragon Kalameet.
Many players thought, is this a Souls-like game?
After all, Nebula Games has only two major games before, and that's Dark Souls!
Many players online were a little excited and a little scared about this.
After all, Dark Souls left a deep impression on them.
Even "Want some fire, bro?" has become a meme.
Of course, many more masochistic players, were cheering with joy at this time, although it was no longer the story of linking the fire.
But isn't hunting the same?
"Here it comes, here it comes, the Souls-like game is coming!"
"It's finally here. Do you know how I spent this year? I'm not comfortable unless I'm getting beat!"
"I'm already a little impatient. I heard that it also uses Nebula Games's latest AI technology!"
"Is it like the previous 'Death Mode' feel? It feels like there is some improvement, but not much difference?"
Many players were very excited.
But at this time, to the surprise of many people, Lucas posted another message on his official blog.
'I understand the enthusiasm of the players online, but I want to say here that "Monster Hunter: World" is not a Souls-like game. It is purely a hunting co-op game.'
'The game's main gameplay is to use a variety of weapons, travel through the jungle with your hunter partners to hunt dragon-like creatures, and collect materials from them to create better weapons and armor, and uncover the truth about the Ancient Dragons.'
'So once again, I emphasize that "Monster Hunter: World" is not a so-called Souls-like game. So, players who are expecting to experience the feeling of a Souls-like game, you may be disappointed.'
Inside Nebula Games, Lucas looked at the various comments online and posted an official blog post to explain.
It was still very necessary to clarify the discussions among online players.
After all, as a designer full of passion and caring for his players, he must clear up the players' misunderstandings!
If they thought "Monster Hunter: World" was a Souls-like game, and then found that it was completely different from what they thought after entering it, how disappointed would the players be!
(End of The Chapter)
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