Monster Hunter Wilds is the next mainline game from the Monster Hunter team following on from the successful Monster Hunter World and Monster Hunter Rise. Wilds looks to have improved the game in a lot of ways, and today I want to run through some of the reasons as to why I am excited for this game, plus why I think you should mark Monster Hunter Wilds on your gaming calendar.
Monster Hunter Wilds is scheduled for 2025, and recently the Capcom team have been demoing their lastest build at Gamecom 2024 over in Germany, with a playable demo available at PAX in the coming days. My money’s on an early 2025 release, so we don’t have long to wait for this one.
Let’s dive into some of the reasons why I am excited for this game.
Seamless World
First of all we have the seamless world. Now getting into combat and going on hunts is much more seamless here in Wilds, all we need to do is find a monster and start attacking it to initiate a quest. It’s not only more seamless going into battle, but after battle too we don’t have the big end screen, and then back to camp, we can simply ride off onto another hunt. The post hunt screen still has the stats, materials etc, but the UI has been minimised, to help increase the sense of the seamless world experience.
Secondary Weapons
In previous Monster Hunter games, you’ve had one main weapon. Now in Wilds you can have a secondary weapon, plus you can switch on the fly. This is going to open up gameplay in a whole lot of ways, plus I do like the opportunity to have a short range weapon and a longer range weapon. I’m a switch axe main myself, but I’m looking to get into more weapons and this secondary weapon feature is going to help me do that.
Monster Wounds
During hunts Monster parts have been knocked off in the past, plus they limp along showing they are injured or tired. There’s a new feature in Wilds where Monsters visibile display wounds and weak spots, meaning you can focus efforts on that to inflict more damage onto the Monster. This is indicated by a shining area to let you and your team of Hunters know where the weak spot is.
AI Hunters
Some players like to play solo, even though Monster Hunter is very enjoyable when you have a party of Hunters. That’s not always possible though, maybe you don’t know anyone else who likes Monster Hunter, or you play at a time of day when your friends aren’t available. Now you can summon a team of AI hunters, who can act as your teammates. You can get that team experience, even though you are playing solo. SOS flares can now be customized to only summon NPCs or players depending on what you want, but by default they will populate the game with NPCs if you can’t find a party to play with.
Environment
One of the coolest new features is the environment. The areas are huge, plus we’ve seen large lightning storms in the demo’d area of Monster Hunter Wilds. The storms roll in across the desert, the lightning strikes down and crystalises the sand below the lightning strike. Lightning has an impact in battle, injuring the monsters, but you have to be careful because these storms can strike you too. We can also use the environment as a trap. For example, we can pull down rocks on the head of Monsters, using the environment as a weapon.
Mounts
We have new mounts in Wilds, which are lizard or raptor-like creatures. Mounts were hugely popular from Monster Hunter Rise, and they’re going to be super useful in Wilds, especially given the size of the environment we can explore and hunt. Mounts allow us to auto-find targets, we can select the target from the map, and then our mount will simplym take us there without the need to drive. We can attack from mounts at a distance with our weapons, plus use our mounts to launch off and attack from the air. Mounts also have more storage space, which act as a mobile camp. You can also set waypoints to locations as well as monsters, for example, if you ride past a cave you can mark in and then your mount will automatically take you there later if you choose.
Cooking
Cooking has been reworked in Wilds. We now have more animations for different types of food, it’s not just one meat animation now, there are different animations for different food groups. We also have the option to add herbs and toppings to our meals which influence the effects the meal has on us.
3D map
Capcom have implemented a new 3D map. During Gamescom the developers said people would get lost on the original map in worlds, so they wanted to implement something new. This new 3D map looks much more inituitative and easier to use.
Quality of life
If you’re playing in single player mode you can pause, plus you can skip the quest-end timer if everyone agrees, assuming everyone agrees. We can also dodge out of moves or sheathe your weapon mid animation, which is going to save a lot of time and potentially frustration too.
Perfect timing effects
Monster Hunter weapons are some of the best in gaming, each weapon has layers of complexity, plus we have mutiple weapons available. Capcom have added perfect-timing mechanics to Monster Hunter Wilds. Weapons are still easy to pick up, but you can dive deeper into the features becoming an expert with weapons.
Pop Up Camps
We can now create pop up camps in recommended areas no the main map. This is all part of the single seamless world theme. Here you can change equipment, change armor, play games with your palico plus you can cook too.
Monster herds
One of the most impressive things about Monster Hunter Wilds is the sheer amount of monsters that appear in the hunt. Smaller monsters group together and attack bigger ones, plus we have herds of bigger animals. We can use various pods and slign ammo to help separate the monsters, given if they are too big we don’t want to be fighting the herd at the same time.
During a single hunt at Gamescom we often saw 4-5 types of monsters in a single hunt, compared to previous games where we might only see one or two, Capcom are ramping up the number of monsters we can find, which means more complexity to the hunts, plus more materials for us as hunters. It’s all very impressive and looks like a step up compared to current versions of Monster Hunter, which is what we all want to see.
Carving
After a hunt there’s nothing better than carving up our monster for parts, for our armor and weapons. Previously we would walk into the monster, and there would be a certain amount of clipping. Now we can stand on top of the monster when we’re triumphant and carve while standing on top.
Let me know what you think in the comments. Let me know what you think of Monster Hunter Wilds, and if you’re excited to play the game.