''WILD THANG''
Developed: Capcom
Published: Capcom
Genre: Action
Release Date: Feb 27th, 2025
Platforms: PS5/Xbox Series/STEAM
*GAME PROVIED TO ME BY CAPCOM
Monster Hunter Wilds is that latest entry into the Monster Hunter franchise and it is developed and published by Capcom. With the Monster Hunter franchise going from having a niche cult following to mainstream appeal, Capcom has decided to once again evolve their franchise into something much grander with Monster Hunter Wilds. But, was this the right direction to take for the series? or should they have stuck with what worked with Rise and World? Only one way to find out, so lets hunt!
''HE'S PROBABLY GOING TO DIE''
GAMEPLAY:
I have been fortunate enough to have been playing this title for a few weeks now thanks to an early access look at the game given to me by Capcom. Honestly, I'm thankful they did because this title is so large and scale and content that it feels like you LITERALLY need that long just to grasp everything this title has to offer. As stated in the opening, Monster Hunter as a series was once just a niche little guy that served as a mere pallet cleanser here and there for a very niche market. Obviously the games were still good, but wasn't a MASS appeal for the franchise, that is, until recently with titles like Monster Hunter Rise and Monster Hunter Worlds, which to me, even though other iterations of the game like Stories and 3DS entries were good, were the catalyst to catapult Monster Hunter Wilds to the reception its received now - I mean look at the numbers, nearly ONE MILLION people were playing this bad boy on STEAM for launch date, thats up there with how many times Ive referenced Plumbers Dont Wear Ties in my reviews, so thats saying something. With Monster Hunter Wilds arrival, Capcom aims to re-define what fans expect from the series and aims to set a new standard for the action RPG genre itself by offering an expansive open world, brimmed to the teeth with things to discover and monsters to fight, alongside some very engaging dynamic gameplay. Stepping foot into the Forbidden Lands for the first time is pretty awe inspiring, little dipping french fries in your vanilla shake type of good, and the reason for that feeling is because of the scale and ambition put into creating the world you see before you once properly booted up. Which immediately grips you due to your introduction of one of the early playable areas in the game, The Winward Plains. Not since the days of Bubsy 3D has their been something so captivating with the visuals. Well okay, maybe its not as grand as that, I mean who can really stand up to Bubsy 3D's level of ''artistic design''. Jokes aside, this is only the beginning to what will become a 40 plus hour journey for casual players and a potential 100 hour session for the more hardcore player - so buckle up kid, were going to take you for a ride. Not sure why I referenced MVC 2, but oh well, it works.
As you step foot in your new adventure, you'll notice that gameplay while mostly everything you love, sees an even further boost in evolution due to the introduction to your little friend (actually big fren), Seikret, your newest mount. Look, if you know me, you know I love anything animal related and everything and anything is a fren to me, so when I get a chance to have a rideable animal or monster, you know I get hyped and hyped I was because using your Seikret, who I call Bob, you're able to freely traverse the largely vast open world and it feels as seamless as it does engaging, especially with mixed with normal gameplay by having the aiblity to switch between two weapons during any hunt you adventure on. This makes things strategically have depth to it and making the title feel more dynamic in a sense combat wise than scenarios seen previously in past iterations, which in turn makes this entries combat feel refined and honestly, makes it feel like this is what the title was ALWAYS meant to be in a way with each weapon class you decide to partake in, boasting different moves than each other, making every technique, strategy or way to tack a hunter feel much more fresh and engaging and stops the game from every becoming repetitive, which is something in past games, both veterans of the series and newcomers tend to feel after awhile. At least its not Pikmin 3 style of repetitive where we saw that dang game being shown in EVERY Nintendo Direct for like 3 years straight, and a year AFTER it released, now THAT was a repetitive. Please, remind me to never bring that up again, too much PTSD. I'll just focus on Bob, HES TOO DAMN CUTE. But while the gameplay with Monster Hunter Wilds alongside Bob is extremely fun, the exploration is what gripped me the most out of everything D-D-D-D-DORA, but more like A-A-A-A-AMY THE EXPLOREEER. Sorry, its the first thing that came to my mind, brain is wired differently. Seamlessly transitioning from areas to villages without any real loading screens is amazing and feels extremely immersive and is on the same level of smooth transitions as seen in last years game of the year contender, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth which took seamless transition to a new levels, much like how Wilds does here now. Trekking through biomes and areas like Scarlet Forest and the freezing cold of Iceshard Cliffs is as breathtaking as it is thrilling thanks to the level of detail put into the environment, especially when time of day and weather changes take effect, which not only effects how monsters behave, but what strategy you'll need to implement to compensate. With a dynamic ecosystem that Capcom has put in place, it ensures that both exploration of the world and its biomes and your hunts are never the same, which further ads to its replayability. Trust me, you're going to be replaying this title on the same level of my 100 hours I put into Rebirth last year, its VERY hard to put down, unlike some recent games Ive picked up and played that were complete doo doo.. but I wont name names out of respect. I'm a stand up citizen guys... just one who constantly makes immature fart jokes in the year 2025. I'm an adult.
Narrative wise for Monster Hunter Wilds, it revolves around the mysterious White Wraith after the disappearance of an exposition team on their journey to find a local Taco Bell. I mean why is it so hard to find them after that? just the smell alone would give them away, has no one in this world ever eaten Taco Bell? cause if you have then you'd know, but I digress. By meeting and engaging with characters such as Gemma, Nata and Alma, gives you more insight to the story, combat and mystery of the expedition party, further pushing you forward on your adventure that keeps things personal on top of engaging because no more are you a silent protagonist and now you've learned the ancient art of actually speaking. Yay vocabulary!. Here in Wilds, for the first time in many games, I actually cared about the story that unfolded as much as I did about the hunts and exploration I took part in. That's not to say previous games were just terrible, thats not true, its just that hunting yielded far more incentive over story based questlines, but here in Wilds, its pretty balanced overall. Multiplayer itself as usual remains a huge part of the franchises enjoyability, with strangers or with friends, either way its a good time. Since I've been playing the game before the general public has gotten the chance to, my multiplayer sessions involved playing with other creators who got the game like I did in a dedicated Monster Hunter Wilds Discord server. By utilizing more intuitive co-op mechanics such as calling for help when you are sutpid and Leeroy Jenkins the wrong monster in your FAFO moment and having to use an SOS Flare as you scream wildly and try running, also have a much more smooth process via private lobbies also helps makes teaming up much less of a chore than it normally would be. But if you don't have friends to play with online, solo mode is still perfectly reasonable to do as well thanks to AI companions not being complete idiots all the time like you see in most games nowadays and here in Wilds, your companions are actually competent and not loses like my character I created in the original Dragons Dogma named CHEESEBURGER - man, she didnt listen to crap!
''WERE GOING TO NEED A BIGGER SWORD''
OVERALL:
At the end of the day, Monster Hunter Wilds is a gigantic leap for the franchise in general due to the way it retains the core elements that we as Monster Hunter fans appreciate and enjoy, but also not afraid to push the boundaries a bit more by giving us a true world structure, a way better narrative story this go around that doesn't feel one dimensional, new gameplay innovations with dual wields, personal Seikret mount aka Bob, gorgeous landscape that have both regular monster hunts that you can farm or Notorious Monster level stuff that can take you 20 to 30 minutes to take down that yield the biggest rewards if beaten but the most challenge you will face all day. But it is not without its flaws because PC does have a few performance issues, even for people on higher end rigs that can cause graphical errors and even framerate drops, on top of that, there's a pretty steep learning curve to be had this go around due to the amount of strategy and system mechanics that used that might make a bit tough for first timers to get into the game if they aren't familiar with the typical formula and that could cause early adapters who don't have drive to get better, to abandon the game outright. Which would suck. However, with captivating and inviting gorgeous world, engaging mechanics and a story that finally balances the scales that lives up to its own hype, makes Monster Hunter Wilds go from a title I was looking forward to a lot, to one that far exceeded my expectations, which sets a new benchmark for the franchise and proving that the only direction this franchise can go from here is straight up to the moon, just like doggo meme. So with all that having been said, my verdict is clear, GameNChick says BUY NOW
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