I've been playing Monster Hunter Wilds before release, for the last week, and it feels like the most accessible entry in the series to date - so why is that a bad thing?
You can read our Monster Hunter Wilds review for the full lowdown on Capcom's newest entry in this series, but the key takeaway is this is easy. Or rather, it's accessible… it's approachable. And I like it more because the design has been massaged into something everyone can enjoy.
Wilds has the largest world to date in a Monster Hunter game, and it's a vast seamlessly knitted space to wander and explore, with a solid story holding things together. But it's the ease with which the world opens up that I love, and likely a reason some die hard fans may find this entry less challenging.
Past Monster Hunter games were slow affairs, where you'd spend time tinkering with loadouts, crafting rare items and generally mulling over your choices before venturing into the world to hunt massive creatures. Now, that pensive nature is flattened, it's been hammered out like the best tachi blade. While then same gameplay remains, how you embrace it feels easier, quicker even.
With less time spent in the camps chatting to other players and working on tactics, everything in Wilds is done at a faster, more fluid pace. And yes, longtime fans may well feel Wilds is more shallow for it. As, while the world is larger, more detailed and better connected, it perhaps lacks the landmarks and memory tests past games demanded. Wilds may lack that cohesive community previews instalments, like Monster Hunter World, demanded.
Traversing Wilds' world is a simple matter of hopping on your Siekret and holding a button to follow a scent – it's an autopilot for hunters and many may feel it removes the impetus to memorise the world and truly immerse yourself in the Monster Hunter experience.
Riding a Siekret is kind of a cheat code too, as you can do almost anything – gather resources from the saddle and tackle monsters at pace. You can cook in the wilds and, in fact, rarely need to return to the main camp unless you need something crafted.
Yet, I love the ease with which I can jump in and play for an hour and feel like I've accomplished something. I've enjoyed the narrative and story beats far more than previous games. I've wallowed in the rain dappled forests and dust of the game's desert, and the impact of using the RE Engine is clear in every biome.
So yes, legacy hunters may find the soul of Monster Hunter spread thin across Wilds' new, open world. But the upshot is more players will likely engage than ever before. Put it this way, Monster Hunter Wilds is Nirvana's Nevermind to Monster Hunter World's Bleach; old timers will always prefer the less well known path – though we all know MTV Unplugged is the best album, and by my own logic, Monster Hunter World: Iceborne is king, but that's another debate.
Will you be playing Monster Hunter Wilds? Let us know your impressions in the comments below.
