The World’s Fair, ever since the 1800s, has existed for two purposes: to bring countries together, and to showcase the technology of the future.
It’s where Walt Disney showcased his animatronic revolution that would later become the star attraction of his Disney theme parks ever since, and even where the mobile phone was first showcased to the public in 1970. These are multinational soft power political events, but the private sector has always had a hand in pushing new technology at every event. So it should come as no surprise that Capcom has a presence at Expo 2025 in Osaka with Monster Hunter Bridge, a special XR technological showcase utilizing the mega-hit franchise.
Although technically a part of the private sector multi-corporation joint venture Osaka Healthcare Pavilion, Monster Hunter Bridge is a multisensory experience almost entirely removed from the health-focused showcases of the core exhibit space. Housed in a separate XD Hall, this utilizes displays on the walls, ceilings and floor, exclusively developed AR glasses are provided for each participant. Immersive sound is projected through the theater and in-ear headphones, as well as haptic flooring, to immerse audiences in the world of the series. This separate experience requires a reservation made either via online lottery in advance or by claiming limited on-the-day slots accessible once inside the convention to participate.
To simplify Bridge’s purpose, this is a technological showcase that uses the Monster Hunter franchise, a trial of future possibilities and immersive consumer technology. Since the global success of Monster Hunter World transformed the series from a domestic hit to a worldwide sales juggernaut, Capcom has been more than willing to expand the series beyond challenging quest-driven hunting towards experiences anyone can enjoy. This fueled development on the Pokémon GO-esque Monster Hunter Now that took the hunter experience into the real world via AR, or their limited-time free roam VR experiences at Universal Studios Japan.
Monster Hunter Bridge is designed in the vein of these experiences, with the intent to create something only possible within a dedicated immersive space such as this. The result is a proof-of-concept, albeit one where the ambitions of the experiment are limited by the technology as it exists today.
For those lucky enough to secure a reservation – at around lunchtime on the day I was lucky enough to secure an 8pm slot – attendees must first secure all luggage inside provided lockers. You must then watch a brief animated safety video provided by your Felyne guides. Once everything has been prepared, you enter the XD Hall and line up in groups of four, where each person will be provided with their own pair of AR glasses and fitted with headphones.
These glasses hold some structural similarity to the Meta Quest in their wrap-around screw-to-secure band design, without the large weight of the screens in the front of the device. Instead, thick transparent lenses house a wide-angle 105-degree screen that projects images on top of the world in front of you. These can be worn over the top of prescription glasses if needed, though it certainly leaves a noticeable gap between your eyes and the projection if required.
During sign-in, it’s possible to request English voiceover or subtitles, with accessibility options and dedicated reserved slots for those in wheelchairs also available. Once confirmed, attendees receive commemorative lanyards they can take home, with anyone requesting anything besides the default Japanese experience receiving a unique card featuring an AR code that staff will scan to change the settings for the experience during set-up.
From here you enter the XR Hall itself, and the space is impressive. Great attention to detail has been taken to mask the transitions between floor, wall, and ceiling to create a seamless world that feels genuinely vast and filled with monsters. Aptonoth graze in the grass or wander through the fields as other monsters fly above, with sounds coming from all around to make you feel like a Hunter stepping into the wilds for the first time. For many fans, this experience here of watching the creatures exist around you is ideal: it’s a Jurassic Park-esque peek into this world, without the threat of a more violent creature crushing you at any moment. No matter where you look, there’s something to see everywhere.
The AR glasses are your window to interacting with this scene. Through this headset, the Felyne will talk you through the scene in front of you through your headphones. A recovery beetle will fly around you, close enough to reach out to it with your hands. By holding out your hands, the beetle will rest in your hands and you can receive the healing effects.
The interactivity is far from perfect. The glasses will sometimes flicker, and the 105-degree screen, while still impressive, is narrow enough to physically notice where the AR aspects begin and end. It makes it possible for a beetle or your Felyne guide to be in front of you within 3D space, but either be partially cut off or invisible as a result of existing beyond the edges of your in-eye screens. For as immersive as it is to see the world of Monster Hunter expand for miles into the distance, these limitations do at-times break the immersion or look noticeably jarring against the rest of your surroundings.
Similarly, due to the number of people participating at one time and to simplify events, it’s not possible to move from your chosen spot once the experience has started. To make it simple enough for all participants and to avoid unfortunate incidents of people running into the distance only to faceplant themselves and this expensive equipment against the nearest wall (and to ensure effective haptic vibrations underfoot), this makes sense. It still feels teasing, showcasing a grand vision that can never be explored, and reminding you of your existence beyond this world.
The experience is not all peacefully watching herbivores graze for 10 minutes. After a few minutes to adjust to this new space, a Rathalos appears, their roar thundering and causing the entire room to shake from its foundations as a pulsating volcano appears behind it. For as intimidating as encountering these towering creatures from the safety of your sofa can be, at no point have I felt as scared meeting this creature as I was at this moment. Rather than stumbling upon this monster from the third-person perspective of an avatar, you are the hunter, or in this case, the hunted. My heart raced as I saw this creature in front of me, sending a shiver down my spine.
Much of the remainder of the experience is scripted, though far from passive. Rather than directly fighting the Rathalos, we throw rocks at it using our hands under the instruction of our Felynes, until a Rajang enters the fray and starts to attack it. The scene transitions to a boat in a storm as we encounter a Lagiacrus that shakes the foundations of our ship until we nearly lose balance as it jumps aboard our rickety vessel. We throw more rocks before a Caedeus jumps across the boat, causing a splash that transitions the entire screen to black.
The final sequence is somewhat existential and removed from the grounded violence of the mainline series, albeit no less impressive. Sent into darkness, it’s as though the world has died and us along with it. Only then, creatures from across the series swim around from all sides as a large tree of life blooms in the darkness. A disembodied voice sings a beautiful melody, until a creature never-before-seen in the franchise makes its appearance.
For those yet to attend Expo 2025, Myaku Myaku is almost certainly unfamiliar. This Lovecraftian blue blob with a Saturn-esque red ring consuming its face and six eyes across its face, this is the fair’s grotesquely yet cute mascot. They appear and tower above us just as everything is darkest to rebuild the world and create life, restoring the world to equilibrium before the experience ends. Whether we take the godlike existence of Myaku Myaku as a world-altering shift in the lore of the franchise or merely an opportunity for Capcom to have fun with the context of the Expo is up to you. Still, it’s a wonder to behold as I craned my neck to see a grinning six-eyed face staring back.
Monster Hunter Bridge has its limitations. The AR glasses hardware makes the interactive elements disjointedly distinct from the beautifully rendered scenery, often breaking the immersion, while the interactivity itself is limited to pretending to throw rocks and hold bugs while stationary. But as a proof-of-concept, it’s a wonder to behold, especially in the moments where its blend of a purpose-built haptic hall, large screens and AR merge to truly feel like magic.
Is it worth going to the world’s fair and traveling to Expo 2025 specifically to see Monster Hunter Bridge? No, in part because there’s no guarantee you’ll get in, but also because limiting your trip to a 10-minute tech demo ignores just how much else there is to see. That being said, alongside educating yourself on countries from around the world and trying new things, anyone planning to visit should attempt to cross this bridge, and witness this world of monsters for yourself.
