Monster Hunter Wilds is one of the biggest games featured in Tokyo Game Show 2024 as they finally allow attendees to try out the game for themselves. We were able to get official Monster Hunter Wilds hands-on time in the form of 2 hunts. With only about an hour of gameplay, I can already tell how big this game is going to be. If you thought World was already amazing, you’re about to have the wildest time with this one.
The Monster Hunter franchise has always been huge in Asia but it became a worldwide juggernaut when Monster Hunter World was released on PlayStation, Xbox, and PC back in 2018. It streamlined its systems to be more approachable for newcomers while still retaining the core of what makes Monster Hunter so great in the first place. It’s addicting, charming, and timeless. It was inevitable that Capcom would be making a follow-up. Six years later, we finally get Monster Hunter Wilds. And it’s absolutely incredible.
Wild times
Our hands-on session was broken down into two parts where we got to play 1 main story quest each. The first was to slay a Chatacabra. Imagine what it would look like if a gorilla, dinosaur, and a frog got fused. It sounds horrific but also somewhat cool, right? Exactly. It also seemed like this quest takes place at the beginning of the game as it also included introductory cutscenes to the cast of characters you would be with for the rest of the game. The second was to hunt down an alpha Doshaguma. A much bigger, scarier, harrier, and angrier lion.
Both monsters look incredible as if there was ever any doubt that Capcom wouldn’t deliver in the looks department. This extends to the graphical strength of the game itself. I played on the base PS5, and it still looked drop-dead gorgeous. Imagine how it’ll be on PC. Wild combines a more stylized photorealistic look that will help make the game a strong looker even when far past its release.
While the strength of the story is hard to judge from the demo, it seems Wilds is trying a bit more to present a more concrete narrative. Monster Hunter games have always done just the bare minimum so it can give you an excuse to to keep going on hunts. But this time, there’s a plot involving siblings, a personal trauma involving monsters, and being chosen to lead an expedition.
Probably the biggest change here is how the playable hunter and the palicoes are now fully voiced, giving them more of a tangible personality. I’ll admit, I still need a bit more time to get used to it. For so long, hunters being a silent protagonist with only the occasional grunts worked because Capcom was never trying to tell an actual story. Just go out there and have fun with the hunt. Your hunter’s personality is what you make of it. Now that there’s more of a script involved, I’m just a bit worried that maybe the hunter will now feel more detached to the player. And yes, the palicoes can also speak now. It’s jarring but definitely not game-breaking. I’m hesitantly excited to see how it’ll all play out in the full release.
Hunt showdown
The biggest gameplay changes in Wilds start with the Seikret mount, which significantly changes combat and exploration. You can now traverse the large open seamless areas much faster. If you have something marked on the map, your Seikret will automatically make its way towards it. You can call it anywhere at any time and it’ll instantly come at you.
When it comes to the hunt themselves, you can use your Seikrit to quickly move around the monsters, attack while mounted, or even perform a launch attack. You can also use items such as whetstones and potions while mounted so you no longer feel as vulnerable as before. The main design philosophy of Wilds is to continuously maintain gameplay momentum as you hit, dodge, and run around the areas, using every bit of weapon knowledge, geography hazards, and item mastery to your advantage for a successful hunt.
Somehow, Capcom was able to take what was already a highly fluid gameplay experience with World and take it to the next level here with Wilds. It’s impressive to say the least and a welcome improvement of pace to keep things fresh.
I do also have to give major props to the sound design. Every roar, hit, or move the hunter or the monsters make is accompanied by a very chunky audio feedback. And of course, the soundtrack ties it all together.
Playing on the PS5, I did notice some frame drops to about 30-40 fps especially when the action ramps up. I couldn’t confirm whether the game was running on performance or quality mode but the drops in frames aren’t as bad. Noticeable for sure, but not game-breaking.
After defeating the Doshaguma, I still had about 15 minutes left in my session so I was allowed to explore around the area. At first, I was just trying to enjoy the sights, set up a mini-camp, and see just how expansive the map is. And true enough, I got to see how truly seamless it all is. No loading screens in sight as I sprint through from one part of the map to another.
After a couple of minutes, I saw a cave path. After following it, I suddenly found myself in the resting grounds of a Rey Dau, a massive wyvern with the power of electricity. The sensible thing to do would be to turn around and try to get better gear and so of course, I didn’t do that and tried my luck, activating another hunting quest then and there. This was a purely unscripted moment that I just found by randomly exploring the map. Suddenly, there was another major hunt in the area. I almost beat it as well if it wasn’t for the demo timer running out just when I got the monster to enter its limping phase already.
What was the point? Within just 30 minutes into my second demo session, I was already losing track of time, discovering secrets and getting impressed by the sheer scale of it all. Monster Hunter Wilds is an absolute blast to play and it completely made me understand why we had to wait this long for a proper follow up to World. This is next gen Monster Hunter.