Monster Hunter Wilds is getting bigger. After months of trailers, teasers, and let go and look at itthe upcoming game has been a huge success, including a playable Gamescom demo and a round of previews that I was invited to attend. After about 90 minutes of hunting the game’s opening, I’m pretty confident Monster Hunter Wilds Will set the world on fire.
wildfollowing in the footsteps of 2018 monster hunter worlda return to its predecessor as an active and reactive ecosystem. then, world——Later it became Capcom’s best-selling games— praised for creating dense, layered environments with unique life. As hunters travel through maze-like jungles or dry deserts, they encounter creatures that fit into these biomes that make up the monster hierarchy for a specific area. Everything from the lowest creatures at the bottom of the food chain to the apex predators at the top is taken into account, and it was (and still is) exciting to see these monsters interact and even fight each other.
Monster Hunter Wilds double down many of these featuresa particular focus on living ecosystems, and expands or refines everything else about the experience, making it the sharpest installment in the series yet. It refreshes the slingshot (the hunter’s slingshot) into a more dynamic tool in their repertoire, and even provides a mount (the feature is available in Monster Hunter Rise) to ensure the game is dynamic from the start.
Monster Hunter Wilds hands-on practice
After a few cutscenes are set up wild ‘Main character, I was jumped straight into the action-packed opening almost immediately, as I hopped on a Secret mount and chased a child through the desert being hunted by a swarm of sandworms. The extensive track sections do a great job of introducing and emphasizing many of the basic actions players will get used to, such as grabbing slinging ammo from smaller enemies, using the new grapple feature to shred environmental pieces, and using mounts for traversing rough terrain. It manages to convey these mechanics while keeping things exciting, which is key Monster Hunter Wilds. this monster hunter The series is known for its complexity, and the sooner it demystifies the concept and plunges you straight into its best-in-class combat, the better.
Speaking of which, after you successfully rescue the child, you’ll be sent on the game’s first official hunt for the Chatakabala, a large amphibious monster that’s covered in rock armor Weaknesses. At this point, I grabbed my insect combat knife (my weapon of choice for the past few years) monster hunter game) and immediately got back to my old rhythm. For fans of the series who have played a few games, don’t expect wild Very different from usual business. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, you know? Capcom has redesigned a few weapons – it makes me sad that you can no longer bounce off at the end of an air sword attack – but for a while, the switch ax and light bowgun proved that the developer wasn’t giving up on that A solid foundation built upon throughout the series’ history.
instead, wild Efforts are being made to simplify the tedious process of hunting monsters to ensure everyone who plays the game feels they are getting the best experience possible. You’ll still need to track monsters via scout flies that emit glowing trails, and combat functions as usual, with parties of up to four players able to use the series’ 14 primary weapons to take down giant creatures and engage in plenty of combat. Tools and Traps. There’s something new in it wild But this should make players feel more influential, just like the new focus feature.
Focus allows players to hold down the left trigger and summon a reticle to target attacks yes This is a big change for those who use melee weapons. With Concentration, you can now attack with more precision than ever before, which is great for targeting weak points and opening wounds on monsters, which will glow red when in Concentrate mode. While focus doesn’t do much to change your moveset, it does provide focused hits tied to the right bumper, each weapon having its own. These high-intensity moves are crucial for targeting wounds to maximize damage, which can speed up hunts, snap off monsters into pieces that can be turned into gear, or even stagger them.
monster hunter Players have gotten to this point without a tool like this, but I think it’s a game changer. For beginners, it can be handy to be able to attack with more precision than usual. I spent the first few hours monster hunter world My attacks were clumsy until I learned to read enemy patterns and choose my moments. For players of all levels, Focus can now tell you exactly where to aim by highlighting wounds, and it does it smartly. Any feature that can convey an important message without hitting the player hard with a billion tooltips (or worse, fancy new UI or overlays) is a win in my book, and I see no reason why everyone shouldn’t Focus should be used by default wild.
Thrill of hunting
The hunt itself went well. Chatakabra is a great first monster because it’s threatening enough that it can sneak up on you if you don’t take it seriously, but it’s also very slow. This means it reports its movements significantly in advance, giving even the most nervous hunter enough time to take cover. Seikret mounts will pick you up and instantly drag ass when summoned, which is very handy for getting out of tight spots like this, and their ability to hold a second weapon (which needs to be unlocked along the way) will greatly simplify advanced hunting.
Shortly after completing the first hunt, we progressed to a later stage that did unlock more features, such as a mount with a second weapon and allowed for the hunt of Doshaguma, which is featured in much of the game’s pre-release material outstanding performance. In an interesting twist, Doshaguma is actually a gregarious monster, surrounded by a swarm of smaller, scrappy versions of itself like Alphas. My favorite part of the preview was that we got to fire large dung pods (yeah, shit) from our slingshots, which exploded on impact and scattered the smaller doshagumas , isolates the leader. It’s a small but incredible touch that makes it feel like wild The ecosystem is indeed as dense as advertised, and every bit of it, including animal waste, actually feeds back into these intertwined environments.
When Doshaguma got into trouble, a tooltip suggested I fire SOS flares, a mechanic that summons players to join a multiplayer hunt and gang up on the poor thing. Since my session was offline, I was immediately greeted by a group of fellow AIs who held their own admirably and deftly utilized their weapons and traps to aid me. Halfway through this truly one-sided battle, the sky darkens, lightning begins to fall, and the Sand Bear dives into the darkness in a weakened state, probably hoping to escape more misery. Instead, it fled into the desert, where it was greeted by Rey Dau, a lightning-breathing wyvern who weakened Doshaguma for me with aplomb. After barely surviving a run-in with the area’s apex predator, the Dosha Bear finally suffered a few more blows as I followed it back to a small cave.
All along, wild It’s also the most seamless time I’ve ever spent in one of these games. A new dynamic healing option in the radial menu saves me from having to dig through my item bag for the right potion while Doshaguma treats me like a chew toy. After completing my second hunt, which more or less ended the planning portion of the walkthrough, all the materials I picked up were sent to my warehouse and I was released to the Windward Plains instead of being sent back to the village. I found a second chatakabra, switched from my mount to a light archer, and picked it up just to see how quickly I could adapt to a weapon I don’t normally use. The transition went very smoothly and I overcame the monster in no time. I did pretty well, in fact I even had time to track down the sandworm monster that plagues the kids at the beginning of the game, called Barajara, and while I didn’t complete the battle, it was interesting to see it encounter other Rey Daou. That thing just keeps pushing into the beef!
I can’t wait to get back to those windswept dunes to see what further monster interactions I can find and exploit. I can’t wait to get more time with Focus Mode on all weapons and learn the best gear based on the monster I’m hunting. situation), capable AI companions) in Monster Hunter Wildsespecially since revisiting world I was recently reminded of how painful this can be. I rarely leave such a glowing preview, but Monster Hunter Wilds I’m impressed almost every time. Sure, it has some technical issues, but considering its ambition, I don’t think the ongoing build of the game won’t have some hiccups. But on almost every other level, wild More than just sturdy, it’s massive. It can’t get here anytime soon.