Monster Hunter Wilds: Just Another Hunt

I am not a “long-time fan” of Monster Hunter. A few years ago, my friends and I got a little too into Monster Hunter Rise when it came out on the Switch. Buying the game later on PC, spending maybe a combined 100 hrs across the 2 systems, we easily became fans of the franchise. Naturally, the interest in playing a new mainline Monster Hunter game was very high. Wilds had become my most anticipated game of this year.

So now it's out, after playing for numerous hours in only a couple weeks, I think it's safe to say I kinda like this game. And after seeing it become Capcom’s fastest selling game ever (and one of the fastest selling, most played games at launch in general), I think the general gaming consensus has honed in pretty nicely to this game.

It makes sense, Capcom has done a lot to onboard newcomers to trying the series out. They already set out with World in 2018 and capitalized off that newfound popularity in Wilds. Monster Hunter, from what I understand, has been a very daunting series to get into. Capcom worked to streamline the gameplay loop to be less intimidating in the beginning, and unravel more intricacies to the players who latch on. It worked on me with Rise. My friends and I thoroughly enjoyed our time with that game. So now it's a matter of, whether or not the newest title lives up to our expectations as new fans of the franchise.

The gameplay loop and progression in Wilds has remained virtually unchanged from Rise/World. As far as I'm aware, it's been the same since the very beginning. It's simple: you hunt monsters. Head out into the world in search of monsters to carve up for parts, using them to forge stronger weapons and armor. That is the general idea of it. The stronger monsters you fight, the stronger weapons and armor you can create, and the more points you get to increase your Hunter rank.

The combat in this game is by far and away my favorite of the three MH games I’ve played. Monster Hunter has this weighty and visceral combat that has only gotten more satisfying in each installment. I can safely say that Wilds has taken it to its best. While I enjoyed Rise’s speed and high-flying acrobatics, I can appreciate this game for remaining grounded. As a result, the combat has this satisfying, heavy feel. A bunch of new mechanics have been added to the moves catalog for this iteration.

The biggest addition is focus mode. Focus mode gives you the ability to aim weapon strikes, allowing you to be more precise. It can also allow you to readjust yourself mid-combo if you’re a little off. It helps for applying damage to specific parts when you’re trying to apply wounds. Performing a decent amount of damage to monster parts applies a wound that glows in focus mode, dealing enough damage to this wound, or using a focus strike, destroys the wound and breaks a part off. Power clashes and offset moves provide more defensive options that can be turned around into offensive options.

Monster Hunter has a roster of 14 weapons that play very differently. Previously, I had rolled with slower weapons like the Greatsword and the Hammer in Rise, and tried out some faster weapons before Wilds. In this game, a testament to the combat is that I genuinely want to rotate around and try the different weapons. I started the game playing with the Hammer, switched to Greatsword, then as I reached the end of the game I was interested in trying out the Switch Axe, and now I'm currently trying out the Hunting Horn. Hopefully by the time more monsters roll around, I'll be accustomed to a comfortable group of weapons.

The monster variety here is very nice. A few monsters return, but the majority of monsters are new additions. Apart from your standard dragon-type and dinosaur-like monsters that frequent the series, I noticed some more unique designs for the base roster. I am a big fan of the spider-like monsters: the Lala Barina and Nerscylla, and the new squid-like monsters: the Xu Wu and the Nu Udra.

Latter of which is a keystone monster to the story. The apex monsters like the Jin Dahaad and the Uth Duna have unique boss mechanics like the Elder Dragons from previous games, setting them apart from your general schmucks you hunt for in the world. The final boss as well, has unique mechanics to set itself apart, but unlike the other monsters, I can’t re-challenge it. It also doesn’t come with its own unique armor set or weapon, making the addition of the fight really strange. I know that later we will get the chance to fight him in updates, but locking me out from any incentive to try again right now, seems a little strange.

Capcom has also decided to put focus on an open-world design for Wilds. When it was first being rumored to be open-world, I was already not a fan. I don’t really like open-world games when not utilized properly and I have RARELY ever seen a properly designed open-world that made me enjoy it. Historically, in previous games, you would select a quest (most of the time, this is just picking one or two monsters you will hunt) and load into a level to complete it. Then you load back to the village camp when you’re done. In Wilds, the levels are instead meant to be seamless open worlds. Anytime you can open up your map and see what monsters are out in the field wandering around. They all live in their own environment and navigate in natural ways. You can wander out on to the field and hunt whatever you want freely, which is neat if you just want a night of aimless hunting with some friends.

The game looks really nice, too. At least, when it wants to be. Each environment is a distinct biome that feels as good as it looks. I love good atmosphere in games, and this game can radiate it when it feels like it. The desert plains are lit beautifully during daytime, you can practically feel the warmth of the sun hitting the monsters. The mountainous snowy areas feel cold and dark. The forest has a misty feel to the waterlogged areas.

   

Unfortunately, due to the insistence of a day/night cycle, the game will get dark and muddy during night-time. In some situations it makes the environment look spooky and atmospheric, but can sometimes make the game look dull and washed out.

   

There is a story mode that you need to follow, but i couldn't be bothered to pay attention to any of that. Not that it makes it easy to get through. The game’s main story follows through the easiest monsters through slow walking sections. Going lengths of time without fighting anything while listening tothe NPCs drone on about the beauty of nature or something. I really, really can’t recall anything about the story. Something like: “the villages are being attacked by this monster, you gotta stop it, Hunter!” or like “this monster is too dangerous to the endemic life of this area, we have to put it away!” and “We can't kill this monster… that's really sad because this monster is so beautiful and precious to nature..” Like I don't care, dude. Let me just hunt some fucking monsters.

At this point I think everyone who is playing Monster Hunter is pretty accustomed to the progression and loop the series provides. And because of the fantastic combat, I've been stuck to the game for the past week or so. Despite going through all the game has to offer already, I still aim to play further, checking out events and title updates that will release every so often, and the inevitable expansion that may come out in a year or so. I am totally content with what I have here, but that doesn't mean I have a few issues with the game I can point out.

One issue concerns the game's difficulty. This has been a polarizing point of this game that reviewers and players alike have been hitting hard. Since I’m familiar with the series, I can understand the complaint. The low rank monsters understandably are a little easier, to ease the players into the harder fights, but the game doesn't do much to set the bar higher. Even when doing the higher ranked quests (after first earning the opportunity to take them on), my friends and I are just ripping through these monsters. When I first started with Rise, quests and fights could possibly take up to 20 minutes(max), but here, they're sometimes taking less than 10. And even in solo, I'm running through monsters like it's nothing. It’s a combination of systems that allows the fights to be easier than I think they should.

Apart from monsters not having a whole lot of health, they’re very susceptible to staggers, stuns, and status effects. The aforementioned wound system lets you stack bonus damage onto a part, but using a focus attack on a wound falters the monster slightly, and destroying it can knock the monster over. Wounds destroyed on the legs can knock the monster down. Tempered monsters have blue wounds that will always knock the monster down. And since applying wounds is pretty easy, you can kinda chain these staggers together. If you have a paralysis weapon, then you can build up to a stun lock that just gives you a really prolonged DPS phase. Because of Focus mode, the games’ signature focus on positioning and timing is slightly diminished. Since you can just re-align yourself by holding the focus button, you don’t have to really put yourself in a place to hit your major combo strings uninterrupted. This leads to you spending most of your time planted directly under a monster’s chin.

The animal companions that accompany you during hunts are also an extreme powerhouse that can make the hunts super easy. The Seikret, your mount, carries extra supplies during quests to keep you stocked up on potions and special tools that can be specific to a monster you’re hunting. It can also pick you up instantly from a knockdown with basically no penalty, preventing you from getting stun locked into a death combo. Your Palico is also insane. Whenever you take a good amount of damage, or take a status effect, It will sometimes try to bring an instant full-healing item over to you under any circumstances. It’ll place traps, throw bombs, give you free flash pods (also a stun), and they even just attack at all times, meaning if you give it a paralysis weapon, it’ll help build up to that prolonged stun.

So even in higher ranked quests and raid boss-style apex monsters, a combination of all these easy-to-use mechanics, stun/stagger frequency, Palico aggressiveness and an overall low health pool leads to some limp fights. While there is a fantastic power fantasy coupled with satisfying combat, I can’t help but wish the fights lasted a little longer. Or, at least give me a little friction when fighting. Inevitably an expansion will come out that will provide some extra challenge, and I’ll most likely get completely railed by it, but I hope there is more to the challenge than larger health pools and higher damage.

I am also not a fan of the open world in this game. Knowing how the Monster Hunter series has historically handled its levels, I wasn’t sure an open world would do much to Wilds. Surprise: it doesn’t do much to Wilds. I personally think it adds unnecessary bloat to the game. There is an interesting idea here, But every monster can still be picked off a list of quests and instantly hunted. Pick a quest and the game will load you into an instance where the monster is guaranteed to be. I think having to track some monsters rather than just giving you a big waypoint on the map would be an interesting addition to spice up the open world idea. But that’s okay, I’m so used to the quick drop-in quests that I’m totally fine with how it works now. It’s just that if we’re gonna go this route, we might as well just go back to the instanced worlds.

Okay, I think I’ve rambled too much about the negatives I have with the game. Some say the more you enjoy a game the more you can criticize it. What else positive can I say besides “I really think this game is simply fun.” Fun enough to just pick up and play and see past some flaws that I think can even be improved. I’ve logged so many hours just sitting in a Discord call chatting with my friends occasionally dropping in and out of hunts for each other, and simply farming materials. I have been stuck on this game for the past couple of weeks, but the qualms I have DO stack up and I hope they get remedied over time as we get title updates. I love the game enough to want the best for it. I’m committed to this game and want to keep playing it. Despite all that I don’t like about it, I’ve pushed on and continued to play just for pure enjoyment. That is a serious testament to a game like this in today’s time for me. Monster Hunter Wilds is my favorite game this year, and if it keeps pace with consistent updates and content, it may end up being my game of the year. All they need to do is add back in the chef Palicos and the gathering hub, and we might be set.