At Capcom's Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate panel at this year's NYCC, series Director Kaname Fujioka talked about one of the two new weapon classes, the Charge Blade. He also revealed plenty of new details about the title's big bad, Gore Magala.

Fujioka stated that the idea of transformations was the driving force behind the Charge Blade and that it took inspiration from the gunblade and axe classes. In this case, the Charge Blade has a Sword Mode and an Axe Mode that it transforms between freely. The sword and shield in the former is swift and ideal for combos, while the heavy axe in the latter is made for strong and slower strike. Energy can be stored in the Sword Mode and released in the Axe Mode.

Furthermore, there is a special ability Charge Blades have called Elemental Discharge. This buffs the weapon depending on what mode its in: sword and shield gets an increase to defense and axe nets an increase to attack power. During gameplay, the weapon seamlessly transforms between modes and players must strategically consider when to transform and when to use the Elemental Discharge ability.

Fujioka then went into the story mode's main character and antagonist. The story mode itself is more dramatic than previous series' titles. Each game has always revolved around a major monster and this one is no different. Gore Magala, an enigmatic monster, fills that role in 4 Ultimate.

Gore can take advantage of the dynamic environment, due to the fact that its body parts are made for different types of terrain. Its wings were designed to look like a long, tattered cloak to add to its dark and mysterious feel. The in-game reason for this is because its metabolism is so high and it constantly regenerates its scales, causing them to flake off. Those falling scales serve a deadly purpose -- the monster has no eyes so those scales stick onto hunters and other monsters alike as a way to mark and track them. Once that occurs, Gore will enter an aggressive and frenzied state and use its wings as arms to attack. Essentially, it has two modes: scouting and aggression.

Not only that, but the scales create and spread a "frenzy virus" of sorts that infect other monsters and cause them to enter a frenzied state as well. Many monsters are susceptible to this virus and contract it through the inhalation of the scales. Infected monsters become far more powerful and aggressive, as well as change in physical appearance. However, hunters are not powerless to this new threat. They can use an item called a Wynstone, which temporarily cancels out the effect while allowing the hunter to deal more damage to afflicted enemy.

After players complete the first episode featuring Gore Magala, a new episode starring a new monster foe called Seregios will open up. Overall, there is far more single player content in Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate than in any other game in the franchise.