As Capcom’s Monster Hunter collection has grown in scope and recognition over the previous 20 years, so too have the sport’s worlds. They’ve gone from discrete zones to huge open-world environments populated with smarter, extra plausible creatures. Monster Hunter Wilds continues that evolution, with an emphasis on its ecosystem, an ever-changing local weather, and wildlife that feels extra lifelike than ever earlier than.
I received to pattern a small slice of what Monster Hunter Wilds has to supply throughout a hands-on occasion in August, and some new parts stood out as probably having a huge effect on how gamers expertise this world.
That begins with the brand new mount, a dinosaur-like creature known as a Seikret. I received my fingers on a Seikret from the earliest moments of the sport, which act as a kind of tutorial for learn how to journey and command one. Because of this speedy new mount, it’s simpler than ever to maintain tempo along with your prey in Monster Hunter Wilds. The Seikret opens up new fight ways, too: You possibly can retailer a back-up weapon in your Seikret which you can swap to whereas using it — very helpful in the event you want a ranged choice on the go.
Picture: Capcom
Nevertheless it was throughout my battle to search out a Doshaguma — a brand new bear-like monster — the place the ecosystem of Monster Hunter Wilds began to point out its potential. In an early mission, I used to be tasked with slaying the alpha Doshaguma in a pack of the beasts, and was instructed that launching a big dung pod at a gaggle of Doshaguma would assist break up them up. So it did; I launched that shit proper at a charging pack and watched them panic. The chase was on.
Shortly after the pursuit started, the Doshaguma alpha bumped into an space with inclement climate that shortly became a raging thunderstorm. The Doshaguma had foolishly run into the territory of a Rey Dau, a brand new kind of flying wyvern that’s the apex predator of the desert space often known as Windward Plains. A turf battle was on. The 2 beasts clashed, and for a second I assumed the Rey Dau may simply end the job for me. It zapped the Doshaguma with lightning bolts, draining a whole lot of hit factors from the beast.
The Doshaguma fled, and located a protected haven in a valley. It was badly wounded, and utilizing my nice sword (and a few assist from summoned AI-controlled allies), shortly dispatched the beast. Utilizing Monster Hunter Wilds’ new Focus Mode assaults, which provided an easier-to-follow digicam angle of the Doshaguma throughout fight, I bested the alpha and carved off my spoils.
Picture: Capcom
After I used to be finished with the Doshaguma quest, I discovered from a Capcom worker that I had another choice. As an alternative of utilizing the dung pod to sow chaos among the many Doshaguma pack, I might have lured the trio right into a sand pit and drowned them in quicksand. Apparently, solely the alpha Doshaguma of the group would have been sturdy sufficient to battle its means out of that sand entice. Clearly I wouldn’t have had the help from the Rey Dau, however the sand entice scheme appears like one other intelligent means to make use of Monster Hunter Wilds’ dynamic ecosystem to method battles.
I actually solely received to mess around with Monster Hunter Wilds’ desert setting, however clearly there’s extra to the sport’s ecosystem than simply sand, lightning, and wind. The wetlands and jungle flora of the sport’s Scarlet Forest absolutely have some qualities of their very own that may result in completely different gameplay methods. I’m probably not wanting ahead to dealing with the brand new menace there, the arachnoid often known as Lala Barina, after I get my fingers on Wilds subsequent time.
We’ll discover out way more about Monster Hunter Wilds’ various ecosystem and the creatures that inhabit it when the sport launches on PlayStation 5, Home windows PC, and Xbox Sequence X someday in 2025.