Summary
You always know what you’re going to get with Monster Hunter because it does exactly what it says on the tin: you hunt monsters. For most fans of the series, I think it’s safe to say that as long asWildsdelivers the same monster hunting, appendage carving, weapon slashing, palico pandemonium experience that we’ve grown accustomed to, we’d be happy. Yet Wilds doesn’t just rest on the series’ laurels, it goes above and beyond to deliver a sleek new entry that makes the world of Monster Hunter feel more alive than ever before.
I think we can all agree that the gameplay has always been the shining star of the Monster Hunter series. I don’t really remember the narrative and why we’re doing what we’re doing in each title. We’re all just here for the cool armour, giant weapons, monsters, and the moreish rinse and repeat cycle of hunting monsters and getting better gear. Over the years, the series has gone from strength to strength in refining how it delivers that core gameplay, hiding the seams of the world a little better, tweaking the combat, and introducing a plethora of new beasties to hunt. Yet Wilds seems to have raised the bar once again to offer a new peak for the series.
The most impressive thing about Wilds is its world. It’s not just that it looks flipping fantastic (which it really does), but Capcom has also imbued the world you find yourself in with a real sense of it being a living, breathing place. The series has always strived to present this idea of an ecosystem that the monsters live in, but everything about Wilds feels more natural.
Environments now have dynamically changing weather and climates that affect not only your visibility as clouds darken the terrain and sand is whipped up in the wind, obscuring your vision, but it also affects monster activity.
My first experience of this was being hit by a storm while attempting to split an alpha Doshaguma away from its pack so I could hack it to pieces, and that in itself is another thing that makes the world feel more alive. Herds of monsters can be seen traipsing through the wilderness together or curled up asleep in caves.
It’s easy to imagine a David Attenborough voiceover as you watch them amble along. Camps are different, feeling less like secluded teleportation points, quests and hunts can be undertaken while in the world rather than pre-selecting, you’ll come across living settlements of people, and overall fewer loading screens between areas all make the world feel more seamless.
There seems to be more of a focus on making things feel real and immersive, and combat and general exploration have been overhauled with new features to include this. You now use your trusty Seikret mount to not only travel across the land at greater speed, but also during combat to move around more quickly while still dealing damage from your saddle.
The Slinger is something you’ll have to learn to multitask with quite quickly, being used to not only grab items from the environment but deliver them too. One example is how we had to yank a Screamer Pod from a flying monster overhead using the Slinger, to then throw it at an attacking monster on the ground to stun it.
One of the biggest changes is that players can now have two weapons equipped at a time, freely changing between them on the fly in battle and being able to mix up their playstyles. There’s also a new Focus Mode so you’re able to pinpoint monster weaknesses and target your attacks, as well as spot glowing red wounds on monsters.
Attacking wounds deals more damage and will also allow you to pull off a special Focus Strike attack. Monster Hunter combat has always felt fast-paced and rather wild, as it rightfully should when you’re dealing with giant beasts, but all these new features make it feel even more tactile and chaotically overwhelming, but in a deliciously enjoyable way.
It’s undeniable that Wilds is delivering the best world the Monster Hunter series has ever offered to fans. In the short burst of time I had with it, I adored how much more realistic it felt and it made me all the more keen to dive into it fully. However, after chatting with fellow Monster Hunter fan Eric Switzer, we realised that this focus on making things more real, generally involving more time and different elements and features, might detract from the core gameplay loop. Do you really want to spend time separating alphas from their herds in various ways when you just want to grind a monster to get its parts so you may unlock new shiny weapons and gear?
I think it’s hard to say for sure until we’re properly hands on doing that grind. Perhaps there will be things that can streamline the world when we want it to, and ultimately I think there will be pros and cons to the new features in Wilds. Only time will tell for certain but regardless, I can’t wait to get stuck in with Wilds and learn more about the world and see which new and returning monsters await me in the wilderness.
