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Monster Hunter Illustrations
Monster Hunter Illustrations
Beloved by fans the world over, the Monster Hunter series takes players on an epic quest to hunt or capture the most dangerous and fantastic monsters imaginable. Monster Hunter Illustrations collects
- GenresArtFantasyVideo Games
304 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2008
About the author
Capcom
496 books59 followersCapcom Co., Ltd. is a Japanese developer and publisher of video games, known for creating multi-million-selling franchises such as Devil May Cry, Ghosts'n Goblins, Street Fighter, Mega Man and Resident Evil.
Capcom also developed and published Ace Attorney, Bionic Commando, Lost Planet and Dark Void. Its head office is in Chūō-ku, Osaka.
Originally established in 1983, it has since become an international enterprise with branches and subsidiaries in North America, Europe, and East Asia.
· 株式会社カプコン.
Capcom also developed and published Ace Attorney, Bionic Commando, Lost Planet and Dark Void. Its head office is in Chūō-ku, Osaka.
Originally established in 1983, it has since become an international enterprise with branches and subsidiaries in North America, Europe, and East Asia.
· 株式会社カプコン.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
November 26, 2018
This volume covers concept illustrations of the Monster Hunter series up until Monster Hunter Freedom Unite (also known as Portable 2nd G). There are some fascinating concepts before they had decided on the identity of the game that appear more reminiscent of a fantasy MMORPG.
The staff comments are interesting albeit peppered with typos and occasionally repeat throughout the book. Some illustrations also appear more than once though this may be intentional to show context or idea progression.
A fun book for fans, as you can track the ideas that later gave way to new weapons, monsters, and plot lines for the games that followed Freedom Unite. And a fun book in general for anyone interested in monster, weapon, and armor design.
The staff comments are interesting albeit peppered with typos and occasionally repeat throughout the book. Some illustrations also appear more than once though this may be intentional to show context or idea progression.
A fun book for fans, as you can track the ideas that later gave way to new weapons, monsters, and plot lines for the games that followed Freedom Unite. And a fun book in general for anyone interested in monster, weapon, and armor design.
November 21, 2018
4.5/5 stars
[Video of this book @gamer.gally]
My husband and I have been hardcore MH fans since 2008 when we played MH1 together. We both loved the monster designs and even bought two copies of the official strategy guide just to have some art. As the series has become more and more popular outside of Japan, it was always a wish of mine for something like this to be published in English.
Now we have two high-quality, full-color art books!
Volume 1 "is a faithful translation of the book released in Japan on March 25th, 2008" and contains the following from MH1, MHG, MH2(dos), MHP, MHP2, MHP2G:
Worldview (the "fantasy" world of MH)
Monsters (monster gallery including unused concepts)
Defensive Equipment (armor gallery including unused concepts)
Living Things (NPCs and their backstories)
Hunting Arms (weapon gallery)
Illustrations ranging from materials to box art
Plus interviews and comments from the artists!
The most interesting thing to me is seeing concept art of monsters that weren't in the games. I wonder if the one on page 76 would later become Odogaran in MHW, or the one on page 79 become Vaal Hazak in MHW. It's also cool that the "goblins" became Felynes, Melynx, and Shakalakas! And there's even a comment on page 200 foreshadowing the creation of the Switchaxe when Fujioka says, "Perhaps they'll come up with a two-handed sword that's actually an ax."
My only complaint is that there are tons of spelling errors ("throroughbread" on page 37 was the weirdest to me, how can there be TWO spelling errors in one word: "thoroughbred").
I also wondered why there didn't seem to be much art from MH1; the book immediately starts with art and descriptions from MH2 onwards. But page 54 explains that MH1 was basically a concept game released without "anything really being set in stone," so ideas and images were only archived on paper after the first game was already out.
Overall, the intensity of the art, the insight into the games, and the high quality of the book and pages makes this a worthy item in my Monster Hunter collection!
[Video of this book @gamer.gally]
My husband and I have been hardcore MH fans since 2008 when we played MH1 together. We both loved the monster designs and even bought two copies of the official strategy guide just to have some art. As the series has become more and more popular outside of Japan, it was always a wish of mine for something like this to be published in English.
Now we have two high-quality, full-color art books!
Volume 1 "is a faithful translation of the book released in Japan on March 25th, 2008" and contains the following from MH1, MHG, MH2(dos), MHP, MHP2, MHP2G:
Worldview (the "fantasy" world of MH)
Monsters (monster gallery including unused concepts)
Defensive Equipment (armor gallery including unused concepts)
Living Things (NPCs and their backstories)
Hunting Arms (weapon gallery)
Illustrations ranging from materials to box art
Plus interviews and comments from the artists!
The most interesting thing to me is seeing concept art of monsters that weren't in the games. I wonder if the one on page 76 would later become Odogaran in MHW, or the one on page 79 become Vaal Hazak in MHW. It's also cool that the "goblins" became Felynes, Melynx, and Shakalakas! And there's even a comment on page 200 foreshadowing the creation of the Switchaxe when Fujioka says, "Perhaps they'll come up with a two-handed sword that's actually an ax."
My only complaint is that there are tons of spelling errors ("throroughbread" on page 37 was the weirdest to me, how can there be TWO spelling errors in one word: "thoroughbred").
I also wondered why there didn't seem to be much art from MH1; the book immediately starts with art and descriptions from MH2 onwards. But page 54 explains that MH1 was basically a concept game released without "anything really being set in stone," so ideas and images were only archived on paper after the first game was already out.
Overall, the intensity of the art, the insight into the games, and the high quality of the book and pages makes this a worthy item in my Monster Hunter collection!
June 23, 2021
Just a beautiful beautiful artbook. I'm never played any of the games but what made me pick up the book where just it gorgeous concept art. As a hobby artist I'm always looking for things to inspire me and help me try out new idea. This book was perfect to help me with better at the weapons and armor designs for my characters. I'm glad I took a change and picked it up. It has been so helpful in so many ways!!
May 31, 2017
Really cool stuff!! There are a lot of amazing, out-there ideas that never got used, and some that did years later, in a different form. Probably fun to look through even if you're not a Monster Hunter fan.
November 22, 2023
Lovely artwork. The team that made the monster hunter games clearly put alot of work into the game. 5 Stars.
November 16, 2012
(More pictures on my blog)
The English edition translated by Udon is just one book as compared to the Japanese edition which comes with two books and a slipcase. Udon has combined the two books into one and did away with the dust jacket. This is a 304-page paperback and the binding looks good enough for the thickness.
The main section features the concept art for the monsters, characters, armour and weapons. All the art are drawn in detail with captions. Some monsters even have their bone structure drawn. There are over 100 of drawings for the monsters.
For character designs, there are 300 variations, different and same characters in different armour. It's just so fun looking at the armour and weapon designs. They are clearly created with the emphasis of using materials found in that world. It's amazing the different kind of weapons that can be created with dragon bones, and still look good.
Finally, there are also cartoons drawings, promotional marketing art and game screenshots.
The second section contains black and white sketches. The paper used here is also different. It's just the usual white paper without the glossy finish. The sketches are mainly on monsters and characters but rougher in details. This section is 64 pages and the earlier one 240 pages.
The artbook is great except that there are some editing errors like spelling mistakes.
Other than the minor issue, this book is most highly recommended to fans of Monster Hunter, video game art and fantasy artists.
May 24, 2012
Beautiful book that could only benefit from a few more artist's notes. 300 pages!
March 12, 2014
Amazing! The book was inspiring in so many ways; concept design and ideas. Makes me want to get the game. ;)
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews