Monster Hunter: World's motion capture sessions look intense

I absolutely love the practical, physical space parts of game development. Foley recording sessions are fascinating, as is watching motion capture actors. It's cooler yet when actors aren't playing humans, which is why this video of Monster Hunter: World's motion capture is wonderful and hilarious. An actor is suited up star in a fight scene as the giant, horned gorilla monster Rajang.

In the video tweeted by Monster Hunter's Japanese account, Rajang's motion capture actor uses a bunch of practical props to help his performance and gets, honestly, super into it. He puts on what look like forearm braces to help give him the hunched over gait of a giant gorilla for some parts.

In others, he's grappling with an huge foam representation of another monster hanging from the ceiling. He grips the water bottle meant to be its unicorn-like horn and rips it off. Oh yeah, and he screams a lot. If you're going to play the part of a huge gorilla monster you've got to really vibe with the role, right?

Oh, and he's totally suspended from the ceiling at one point and—fighting a ladder? Or is he climbing it?

In all, it's a funny video, not one that goes in-depth on the process of motion capture. It's edited with wild effects as if the actor is going through a super saiyan transformation when he screams. Still, it's a neat look at how Monster Hunter: World's giant creatures are brought to life.

If you've just started the new Iceborne expansion for Monster Hunter: World, be sure to check out our monster list guide for tips on beating every beast in the expansion and the best Monster Hunter: World weapons to do it with. You won't have to act it all out, I promise.