I went all the way to Japan to ask the Monster Hunter Wilds devs what the heck they've done to my favorite weapon, and what do you know, they were prepared

When I first learned that I'd be headed to Osaka, Japan to visit Capcom for a Monster Hunter Wilds hands-on preview, a few things came to mind. First, of course, was okonomiyaki. It's a savory Japanese cabbage pancake griddled in front of you and murdered with high-calorie sauces to cancel out all the vegetables. At the recommendation of Monster Hunter series producer Ryozo Tsujimoto, I did eventually visit a local okonomiyaki chain to discover a new obsession. I have a griddle in my outdoor kitchen and I've already ordered the sauces online. When I'm inevitably found dead of a heart attack, bloated and with kewpie mayo leaking out of my ears, have "Thanks, Tsujimoto" carved on my tombstone.

Second on my agenda was lance. My favorite weapon in Monster Hunter; my beloved pokey boy. The Monster Hunter Wilds beta made a good first impression, but its rendition of lance felt like running in shoes that are two sizes too small. Speaking of running: my plan to stay quiet and out of the way in Japan went right out the window when I left my capture card at the hotel and ended up sprinting through the streets to go collect it. The utterly innocuous 6'3" blue-eyed, red-bearded white dude running through Osaka in khakis and inexplicably hurting his thoroughly Bulgarian-split-squatted knees in the process? Of course I know him; he's me. I hope y'all appreciated that footage, that's all I'm saying.

Sorry, back to lance and the Wilds beta. The pokes, they were a-poking. But the counters felt counterintuitive. The damage just wasn't there, either. We lance mains are used to being on the bottom third of the speedrunning ladder, but lance was getting absolutely lapped in the beta. The strongest hit available to Wilds' lance is its charged counterattack, but it's locked behind a three-piece combo and a lengthy build-up animation, and the timing to get the double-hit is pretty punishing. I just couldn't string two wins together. You can instantly block after almost any move now and on hit the shield even does stun damage. Great! But the perfect-guard punishing strike barely does more damage than the weakest poke. Not great!

Then there are the control issues. Capcom has found the tech to animate and support octopus monsters like the Black Flame in Wilds, but I still only have two arms and two hands over here and they are struggling to press all these buttons and analog sticks. I played the 3DS Monster Hunters with a claw grip when needed, and for me just using that handheld normally already feels like massaging a live crab, and I still found this stuff fiddly in Wilds. It's curtains for the uninitiated. Press the attack button, two buttons for the swipe attack, guard, perfect guard, heavy guard without accidentally charging. Use focus mode to aim so all this stuff actually connects, and just will the analog stick into moving because I sure as hell don't have a free thumb. Counter, but not that counter you dingus, you buffoon, you absolute fool.

Jonesing for some answers, I had a lot on my mind as I stepped into Capcom's Osaka headquarters. One of those things was abject panic after the studio's security rightly flagged me for being suspicious as I strolled back into the studio, capture card retrieved, with only a temporary namecard to prove my identity. Luckily one of our PR shepherds kept me out of the dungeon that I assume they have under the studio to hold all the monsters when they aren't performing motion capture. I was really hoping to meet Rathalos, but must've missed him. More importantly, a question was burning a hole in my plane-addled brain: what happened to lance, man?

Getting some answers

I must have been visibly exuding dissatisfaction, because I was thrown a bone before I even got my hands on the game. It was a rough start, though. To my horror, I was advised not to hunt with a lance during the five-hour preview. The nerve! This has to be targeted harassment. Is this about the security thing? But wait: only because lance and switch axe are getting big upgrades in the full game, so it's pointless to get a feel for them now. In particular, Capcom said that weapon actions will be updated. Sword and shield and insect glaive are getting tweaks, too, albeit seemingly more minor ones compared to the version in the build we had access to. But forget about them, tell me more about this lance overhaul – or so I pleaded.

Having worked as a game journalist for 12 years, I know how to prioritize topics during limited interview time, so obviously the first thing I asked about was my personal favorite weapon that nobody plays. (Pearls before swine!) In a group interview with the game's lead developers, noted lance main (and executive and art director) Kaname Fujioka was quiet, but game director Yuya Tokuda had good news for me. "The things we thought might be difficult really became evident when users got their hands on it during the [beta]," he said. "For example, guarding at different angles and reacting accordingly. Those edits will be implemented in the [final] version."

It is me, I am users. Later in the visit, another Capcom staffer told me that the team was still acting on feedback from the Monster Hunter Wilds Gamescom demo when the open beta test rolled around, so a lot of fixes and improvements that were already planned couldn't be added in time. It's a fascinating inevitability of game development: devs may need to get a beta build out there to get feedback to improve the game, and with enough time before launch to act on that feedback, even if that means knowingly showing players an outdated version of their game and then cradling their head in their hands afterward. There was a degree of 'I thought they'd say that, yep, put that on the list or push it up the list' as beta players were piping up – few louder than me, at least in the lance club. We meet every third Thursday of the month, mostly to rant about how broken the longsword is.

The build I did end up playing during my Japan visit was much better in many ways already, so I have my hopes. Between Capcom's existing plans, the beta-informed changes, and – I can only assume – Fujioka putting pressure on Tokuda to buff his favorite weapon, it sounds like they know what wasn't working. Capcom has put out banger versions of lance for the past few games so I reckon it can do so again. World is my favorite but Rise is close, and Generations Ultimate gave lance some real flair. To my 11 fellow lance mains, un-batten the hatches and lower the alarm. I was fully prepared to barricade myself in a corner of the Capcom office and demand motion value buffs – that's why I packed so many granola bars in my bag – but the studio's already working on it, and the outlook is promising.

Capcom wanted to do more with Monster Hunter: World and "didn't give up" on those ideas – now "Monster Hunter Wilds made it possible" to try again.