Monster Hunter Wilds
Review
Into the Wild
by JackCarter
reviewed on PC
A change of heart
Years ago, in a now defunct gaming websites forum, I wrote a post about why I didn't care for the Monster Hunter series. It mainly boiled down to how I'd rather not kill cool looking monsters but collect them. I know, it's a bad take, and one I don't agree with now as a mature, monster slaying adult. I had to change my Pokemon indoctrinated mindset and learn to love the art of the hunt. It started, slowly, with the release of Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate and graduated to full-fledged fan by the release of 2018's Monster Hunter World.
The biggest change in Wilds is it's more focused approach to story. Previous entries have had a story to frame its core loop of hunting bigger and badder monsters, but this time around it's more pronounced. While exploring a previously thought uninhabited land, you come across Nata, a boy from a village that was attacked by a monster known as the White Wraith. The story revolves around Nata and the White Wraith, with your character essentially serving as the muscle when the inevitable monster attack happens. A narrative is a welcome addition for sure, and if it's not your cup of tea, it's easy to skip it and just enjoy the slaying.
The Hunt is on
Speaking of slaying, the hunt is as good as it's ever been, taking what worked before and cutting out what didn't. The grappling hook is back, originally appearing in the Iceborne expansion, and is still a handy addition to your hunting escapades. You can use it to swipe far off items, or to grab onto monsters for combat or terrain for easy traversal. It's certainly handy, but don't expect to be the veritable Spider-man of the Wilds, swinging from tree to cliffside, as the grappling hook is limited to certain objects the game deems grapple-able. It's meant to be a tool to better help your fight and not the main gimmick the game is built around.
Another new addition, that may or may not be your cup of tea are the Seikret, a large dinosaur like creature that serve as your mount. They're obviously a quality of life improvement, allowing for quick and easy traversal while hunting. It's a welcome improvement if you're like me and play in short bursts while the kids are asleep, but I'm sure the diehard traditionalist Monster Hunter fans will lament how it makes the mid-hunt maintenance null and void. There's really no need to stop and eat, sharpen your weapon, or craft, as now you can do all of this on the back of your trusty steed as it autopilots to your next destination. It gets you back into the meat of the game faster, at the expense of the immersion.
Monsters
Tracking a rampaging monster and fighting it all the way back to it's lair has never felt better. As I progressed, slaying bigger and more deadly prey, I never felt out of my depth, and if I utterly got my butt kicked, it often fell on me to just "git gud" so to speak. If I lost you at all with that, well it essentially means I have to better myself by either upgrading my armor and weapon at the blacksmith, changing out the weapons I use, or if all else fails, call in friends to jump the unsuspecting beast like the printer in that one scene from Office Space. Running under a ferocious behemoth as I slice through its belly as a random internet stranger jumps on it's back, stabbing wildly, never gets old.
Still, after so many steps forward, one thing that refuses to move forward and iterate is online play. It's still a struggle to play with friends, relying on the flare signal to invite players to your hunt. Why, in the year 2025, can we not have an easy drop in drop out party system? There are too many metaphorical hoops to jump through just to play with friends. Obviously, it's not a game killer, but with all the Monster Hunter franchise has done to progress, it's multiplayer still feels stuck in the past. Lastly, in the most egregious of downsides, I experienced a few screen tears, slowdowns, and at one point a crash. The crash even caused me to lose some progress, which is frustrating, but at least it wasn't during a fight. Performance can be rough at times, with massive slowdowns to the point where it felt like it was going frame by frame. I was playing on a pretty decent gaming laptop that can play some pretty taxing games on max setting without much struggle, so this was a pretty surprising incident. It's a fix that will come at some time, probably by the next update, but it's an unfortunate thing to see from such a big franchise from such a big company.
Energetic
Despite the nitpicks, Monster Hunter Wilds is a fantastic game and a fun iteration in the franchise. It's definitely showing it's growing pains, but what it does right, it really does right. It's energetic and exciting and worth the hunt when it's running well. It's quality of life improvements might rattle some, and we'll see how long the stay, but for me they really worked perfectly. Now if only the fix the dang multiplayer!
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9.5
fun score
Pros
Fun and exciting battles, fun traversal, quality of life improvements
Cons
Performance issues, Outdated multiplayer experience
