The Monster Hunter series has been on a bit of a tear over the last several years. First,Monster Hunter Worldtook the series’ classic formula and took it to an even greater scale. ThenMonster Hunter Rise, while scaling back a little, introduced new mechanics to make hunting giant monsters just that much more thrilling. Now, having had some hands-on time with Monster Hunter Wilds at TGS 2024, it’s become clear thatCapcom is aiming for yet another big step forwardwith this entry.
Review: Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak
With the inclusion of Sunbreak, Monster Hunter Rise is finally a complete package and it does not disappoint.
The demo consisted of two sections: the opening story mission and then an early game hunt in the new overworld. The story section served more or less as a tutorial for both old mechanics and new ones, ensuring that even complete newcomers would be able to get into the action without too much difficulty later on. Monster Hunter veterans will be able to get through it quickly, but there are a couple of new mechanics that might take getting used to.
The first is the Seikret, the hunter’s main means of transport when out in the world. If, for any reason, one needs to disengage from a fight, they can call their dinosaur friend and put some distance between themselves and the angry giant monster they’re fighting. This isn’t the Seikret’s only use, though. While riding, players can use items, use their grapple to get items or health pickups or even sharpen their weapon. No longer must hunters expose themselves to apply buffs or heal mid-battle.
The second new feature is the ability to inflict wounds. If players attack a certain body part enough, it’ll develop a wound that can be exploited for massive damage. These can be inflicted continuously, and the damage payoff seemed to increase if more wounds were inflicted before triggering them. This might be inconsequential to longtime players, but it’ll help newcomers to learn how to fight each monster. Whether or not these actually make monster battles faster or easier remains to be seen, though, as the developers almost would have compensated for it.
The hunt in the overworld was where most of the new mechanics were on full display. Not only were we able to get a good taste of how battles now flow with riding and the wound system, but we also got to see how missions work as well as how the new weather system affects them. Battles still took setting up in order to get them to go the right way, so no need to worry about things being dumbed down to the point of being able to just rush in and mash. That is very much still how one gets themselves quickly knocked out.
For this hunt, the hunter had to lure an alpha Doshaguma out of its den and away from the two lesser Doshaguma. This proved to be difficult, but luckily we were able to bait the alpha far enough away from the other two that it wasn’t able to return to its den together with them when a storm suddenly rolled in.
Having successfully separated it from its group, the battle could be fought uninterrupted. Once the monster was slain and the time to carve arrived, the familiar mission end timer popped up. The amount of time given was generous, however,andending the missiondidn’tkick the player back to camp.
Instead, icons for points of interest, hunting targets and other missions appeared on the map, and the player was free to ride around and select the one that looked the most interesting. No more frantically carving in hopes of beating the clock and no more being forced to return to camp before one is ready. This right here will probably be one of the most exciting developments for veteran fans and it’ll likely make it a more understandable one for new players too.
No more frantically carving in hopes of beating the clock!
In terms of overall feel,Monster Hunter Wildsseems to have gotten rid of any remaining clunkiness. Learning how to use weapons took little time and the basic controls were easy to understand. Whether or not one actually likes a weapon or can use it effectively is still going to depend on personal taste, though. Everyone is good at different playstyles, so one probably won’t likeallthe available weapons.
I rather liked the greatsword, but struggled with the gunlance.
This demo forMonster Hunter Wildswas something of a surprise. WhereMonster Hunter WorldandMonster Hunter Risewere still difficult to jump into (despite all the progress they made), such was not the case here. The controls felt intuitive and it was easy to gauge the progress of battles. The hunts were still exciting and took some thought and strategy to complete, though.
So little if anything has been lost there. Veteran hunters are sure to appreciate their new abilities and expanded exploration features as well. If this all carries through into the full release, it’s easy to imagine Monster Hunter becoming even more of a blockbuster series than it already is.
Monster Hunter Wildslaunches on February 28 for PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.
Monster Hunter Wilds
Review: Monster Hunter World: Iceborne
Anyone who wants even more fantastic combat against harder, more challenging foes need look no further than Monster Hunter World: Iceborne.
