I have a confession. For over a decade I’ve tried, and failed, to get into Monster Hunter. I have countless friends that love the series and as it’s only gotten more popular, I kept feeling like I was missing out. But in every game I’d try, from Monster Hunter Tri to World, I just couldn’t get it — I was missing something. But with Monster Hunter Wilds, it’s like a switch has suddenly flipped.
A big part of that, to me, seems to be how streamlined Wilds makes the Monster Hunter formula, chopping out a lot of the busy work to focus squarely on those big cinematic moments. This is the Monster Hunter for anyone who’s been looking for a way into the cool kids club.
Note: These are impressions of the game based on roughly 25 hours of playtime. You can keep an eye out for a full review in the near future.
The Seikret is a game-changer that gives you a ton of mobility, and a mobile item storage.
It’s genuinely a bit difficult to put into words why Monster Hunter Wilds has worked for me where every other game hasn’t, but I think it really comes down to a sense of immediacy. Monster Hunter has always been squarely focused on its systems and sense of progression. That’s not to say the games don’t have a story or other features, but the main draw has been that core gameplay loop of slaying monsters, upgrading equipment, and taking on even bigger creatures. At the same time, the combat of Monster Hunter has always been excruciatingly deliberate, with weapons that revolve around specific combos and using the right timing. It’s almost a Souls game, but with a bit more of an action-y slant.
It’s complex, and up until now, that’s largely what’s turned me off. In past Monster Hunter games I just didn’t enjoy the grind, not to mention trying to pars the game’s dozens of different systems — from traps and ammo types, to various status effects and crushing weak points on Monsters. But Monster Hunter Wilds feels markedly different like Capcom has deliberately tried to streamline the entire experience and make it as easily understandable as possible. And yet that doesn’t mean it’s lost any depth.
New dynamic weather systems can make your hunts even harder, but also impedes the monsters themselves.
The big difference here is pacing and presentation, along with a slew of little changes to make the game more digestible. First and foremost, Wilds comes out of the gate with a much bigger focus on story. Gameplay is still front and center, but Wilds instantly sets up some interesting stakes and characters — weaving consistent cutscenes and storytelling in between the monster hunts. That pacing of story and gameplay feels so much more dynamic than any other Monster Hunter game, and makes it drastically easier to get invested and immersed in the world the game presents.
But that idea of pacing then extends to the actual gameplay. From the very first moment of the game you’re introduced to your Seikret, a giant lizard-like mount. The Seikret lets you navigate the environment with ease, running across rock formations, clambering up ivy, and more. There’s a fantastic sense of verticality to the world, and you can instantly call your Seikret at any time by pressing up on the D-pad.
For most story moments, the Seikret automatically follows a trail to the next objective, letting you do some gathering from atop its back with your grappling-hook-like Slinger. That’s a big difference in Wilds as you don’t manually need to gather items, you can simply target them from a distance with the Slinger and instantly pull them to you. This makes gathering a drastically easier experience, and something you can literally just do while traveling. This means you realistically can gather everything you need without going out of your way, again cutting down on the time you need to spend between hunts. To complement this, Wilds has a much easier-to-read 3D map that clearly labels the location of materials, monsters, upgrade materials, and more. It’s genuinely amazing how much more intuitive the exploration and gathering feel than World.
Wilds has a number of gorgeous biomes to explore, each filled with living ecosystems and monsters that thematically make sense.
But Wilds also makes some critical changes on the gameplay front, namely with how weak points on monsters work. A new “focus” mode lets you clearly see the wounds on monsters you’ve inflicted and gives you a special attack button that can open said wounds for massive damage. This means it’s much easier to strategize in battle and focus on weak points.
At the same time, any pieces you cut off monsters (like tails) are now instantly looted, so you don’t have to tiresomely track them down after the battle ends. These changes make battles feel more intuitive and snappy, and less like you're randomly hacking away at a monster. You have obvious points to aim for. Your Seikret also has a pouch to carry an additional weapon, which is an absolute godsend. Being able to take two weapons into battle opens up a wealth of much-needed strategic options.
On paper, these all sound like small changes, but they all add up into something that feels quite different from anything else before, and, in my opinion, more enjoyable. What’s happened with Wilds is that it feels like the essence of Monster Hunter has really been distilled into key moments — the story, the hunt, and the reward. This is a leaner Monster Hunter that doesn’t want players to feel like they’re wasting time, but instead finds ways to make everything you’re doing feel meaningful.
Wounds and focus mode are a drastic improvement that makes combat much more readable.
But past all those changes, Wilds flourishes as an open world game with a reactive environment. Monsters have patterns and interact with the environment and wildlife, and part of the joy of the game can lie in simply observing their habits. You also never know what’s going to happen in the middle of a hunt — another monster could barge in and start attacking your prey, or a sandstorm can sweep through reducing visibility and your movement. Each environment in the game has a wealth of interaction points that you can use during your hunts, from pillars you can send crashing down to oil geysers you can set on fire.
My biggest barrier to Monster Hunter was that missing sense of accomplishment — I’d simply lose interest after spinning my wheels for too long. I get that it’s part of the process, but that sense of pacing in Wilds has really changed my mind. There’s a constant sense of momentum to this game, either through the narrative, hunts, or equipment crafting. With Wilds, I simply don’t have time to feel bored, and that’s really helped the whole formula start to click in my brain. Monster Hunter Wilds is a clear example of learning and iterating on what’s come before, and even after just two dozen hours, it’s safe to say Capcom has done it again.
