Available on: PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S
Played on: PlayStation 5
As the highly anticipated successor to Monster Hunter World, Monster Hunter Wilds has a lot to live up to. Wilds is mostly more of the same satisfying formula: exhilarating battles with new and familiar monsters in dynamic environments. It’s a smaller step forward than the huge leap that was World, but as a Monster Hunter fan, I’m as hooked as ever.
Read on for our review of Monster Hunter Wilds!
Authorization Granted
The fifth main game in the increasingly popular monster-battling series is set in a new region called the Forgotten Lands. The story follows our customizable Hunter as they set off with an expedition team to explore this new world.
Refreshingly, the usually forgettable “Low Rank” campaign story received a lot of attention in Monster Hunter Wilds. Fun companions accompany the hunter throughout the story. Gemma the smith, Alma the guild liason, and Olivia the fellow hunter have great designs, cool scenes, and meaningful interactions with one another.
The story revolves around Nata, a young boy who was separated from his tribe after a particularly nasty monster attack. Our squad is painstakingly kind and helpful, and focuses on returning Nata to his tribe while investigating the impact and motivation of this new monster.
Oh, and slaying a whole bunch of other cool monsters along the way.
The new Seikret mount quickly becomes an integral new addition to the series. Replacing the dog-like Palamute of Monster Hunter Rise, the Seikret resembles a feathered dinosaur. Our trusty steed can auto-follow to our marked destination (usually a monster) at rapid speed, glide over cliffs, and even store a second weapon. The weapon-swap is a huge time-saver, encouraging me to try more weapon styles in the middle of a hunt.
The 15-20 hour campaign is easily Monster Hunter’s best, with awesome cutscenes that blend directly with the hunts, while showing off elaborate environments. But the cinematic storytelling comes at a cost — we don’t really do any actual hunting or exploring until the post-game. For nearly every one of the 0n-rails campaign missions, we’re thrown right in front of the monster.
Monster Mash
The large-scale monster battles are better than ever, thanks to an awesome variety of monster types that puts World’s mostly dragon and T-Rex-models to shame.
There’s Belahara, a sandworm-like creature with a drill-tail; Nu Udra, a greasy octopus that sets itself on fire; and Lala Barina, a creepily dancing spider that spews paralytic spores. I was astonished fighting Jin Dahaad for the first time, a gigantic lizard-like dragon that looks like it was designed by HR Giger. And the final boss of the campaign is suitably epic.
Jin Dahaad – Monster Hunter Wilds
The 14 different weapon styles return, with subtle (and not so subtle) improvements and updates. My beloved Charge Blade didn’t see many changes (but still felt great), but this time around I ended up falling in love with the Bow. The new Bow has a tracer flare, perfect dodging, and a leap attack that makes the mid-range weapon incredibly dynamic and rewarding. Plus, arrow coatings are now tied to a gauge rather than a finite number — excellent!
While I miss the Wirebug moves (and monster riding) of Monster Hunter Rise, the new Wound system is intuitive and fun. By dealing damage, players open up visible scars on a monster’s body. These wounds can be targeted with a new wound-breaking ability (bespoke to each weapon type), dealing massive damage and usually even downing a monster for more follow-up attacks. In multiplayer it becomes a race to create and target those wounds.
With wounds, and the new improvements to most weapons, Wilds will feel a little easier for series veterans, who are probably already eager for the inevitable Master Rank of a future expansion.
Once the campaign is completed, players unlock High Rank. All the monsters are tougher (and more unlocked), the rewards rarer, and the gear much more powerful. Each of the four main large map areas can shift between two primary seasons, altering the landscape, ecology, and behavior of the local monsters.
Although Wilds isn’t a true open world game, it feels as close to open world as ever before. Players can ride out from any of the main base camps in any zone to explore the plains, the forest, or the basin, finding half a dozen monsters at any one time. Riding from one zone to the next is completely seamless (in single player), though multiplayer sadly restricts exploration to a single zone.
While Wilds continues to iterate on a successful formula, many of its systems are still frustratingly obtuse. I shouldn’t have to look online (or remember from previous games) for what “Affinity” is and how it works, the difference between Element and Impact Phials, or what various status effects or skills actually do. Please, Capcom, give us actual, detailed stats, explanations, and in-game guides! It’s the last hurdle of an otherwise flawless experience.
Every Monster Hunter game is legally required to include Rathalos/Rathian
The Rating
Monster Hunter Wilds is rated T for Teen with Blood, Crude Humor, and Violence. The blood and violence are relatively mild for a game focused on combat, and players can only battle monsters, not other players. Players can sever monster tails and other pieces, but they come away as nearly bloodless chunks.
The Takeaway
Fantastic on-boarding, fun campaign, huge amount of content, and a dynamically interesting world to hunt within. Monster Hunter Wilds proves that World wasn’t a fluke; Capcom has absolutely nailed this formula, firmly planting the MonHun flag among all-time action RPG greats.
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