Hello Ladies, Gentlemen and those of a non-binary nature, my name is Daibhi and this is the Gamerhub community. Monster Hunter Wilds is already taking the gaming sales charts by storm, but if you’re still undecided about it, the office paid for me a copy to have a look and tell you exactly what I think. So far, I’m not fully through the game, and a full review will be coming up in the next few days, but I thought I’d give you what is effectively a sneak preview. Full disclosure here is warranted: The game came out on the last day of February, and this is a paid copy. Also, I haven’t played anything from the Monster Hunter franchise for quite a long time. However, I reckon that it gives me the advantage here, as it means I have a fresh pair of eyes for this game. I have no preconceived notions on whether this game would be brilliant, or otherwise. So let’s dive in!
Graphics
I’ve been using a gaming PC for this one, and comparing it to gameplay on my Xbox Series S. This means I’ve been able to compare and contrast. So here’s my first bit of consumer advice for you all: Play this on PC. Yes, the demands and pressure it puts on a standard gaming PC makes the PC sound like a rocket taking off, but the graphical differences in detail quality speak for themselves. It looks seriously impressive on the Xbox Series family of consoles, so I won’t begrudge you doing that, but it might be worth getting it on Steam if you’re a PC Gamer anyway. I guess this falls down to the archaic “PC vs Console” argument. My PC Specs are nothing special, but this game seriously tested the hardware. I guess it makes a change from all the indie games I review on it, but the noise was real. I’ll cover the soundtrack in a separate section, as I’m going to be waxing lyrical about that in a bit.
Plot
This game follows on from the events of Monster Hunter and Monster Hunter: Worlds. I won’t spoil too much here, but this game completely breaks the cycle that defined the previous instalments in the game. No longer is it about hunting one monster to take on an even bigger monster. That cycle has thankfully gone since Worlds. Wilds has a whole new take on this, but due to our policy of not spoiling the game at launch here at Gamerhub, all I’ll say is that to truly enjoy this game, expect the unexpected.
Gameplay
Oh man, this game’s gameplay is leaps and bounds above the previous title in this series of games. Again, I’m a bit… hamstrung by not spoiling anything, but I’ll endeavour to explain. There are 6 chapters in the story to play through, each with a different amount of missions. To be brief, this game is an action based RPG from a third person perspective. Remember feeling a bit directionless in Worlds and wondering how to get through certain biomes? Well, we have an aid this time in form of a mount called The Seikret (welp, goodbye spellcheck), which helps direct you in certain situations, and you can ride it through combat. Don’t try running away, though. I did that for about two hours and found that fleeing is basically futile. It’s a bit of a diversion from the last games, but I actually like this change. Either I’m bad at playing this game (which Is possible), or this games forces you to face combat, and thankfully, The Seikret really helps out here. You can duel-wield weapons. Yes, you read that right. Thanks to The Seikret, you can dual-wield this time, which I found was a big help, particularly since you get access to all the weapons you had last time.
Speaking of returning elements, The Slinger is back, and this has become something I’m trying not to be too reliant on. It’s a big help for foraging and activating environmental traps, but it’s really easy to become over-reliant on it. Speaking of gameplay mechanics that become really attractive to use, there’s Focus Mode. Focus Mode is basically what happens when you take the VATS system from the Fallout franchise and cross it with the Detective Mode from the Batman Arkham franchise. If you’ve wounded a monster before using this, then when you focus mode attack a monster, the blows deal extra damage, which makes breaching through some of the earlier monsters a bit of a breeze.
Speaking of the monsters themselves, I had a bit of a Jurassic Park moment playing this game. The monsters move in herds! They do move in herds! However, if you’re going hunting and expecting monsters of the same variety in every herd, I’m afraid you’ll be disappointed: the time of day, the weather and how you approach it will change what monsters appear, so taking care when doing this is advisable.
Last thing about gameplay: Arachnophobia is something a lot of us suffer from, and that’s okay. Everyone fears something and the dark. Thankfully for all who have this, the game comes with an Arachnophobia mode allowing the wee sleekit tim’rous beasties to turn into blobs. Honestly, it was life-saver for me.
Soundtrack
Dear lord, I won’t be surprised if the soundtrack to this game wins Grammys. It’s that good. This game’s soundtrack makes full use of an orchestra, and it shows. If you’re using a console and use console-connected headphones, use them. Capcom really outdid themselves this time, and honestly, I’m grateful. I’ve got the main theme on my current spotify playlist, and I’m not joking when I say that the soundtrack for Monster Hunter: Wilds is as good as Marvel’s Spider-Man on PS4. If not better. It moves the musical motifs on from the ones featured in Worlds, but with interesting twists that keep you hooked for hours. I’ll say only one bad bit about this. Maybe it’s me, but I could have done without the synths being used. It feels a little bit saccharine when you consider you’ve got this level of soundtrack using a full orchestra. The synth parts feel as if they really should be in Horizon: Forbidden West, and it’s a little discordant with everything else. But that’s my own personal issue.
Final thoughts
I’m halfway through this game at the moment, and whilst the gameplay is a bit leading at times, this is quickly shaping up to be my Game Of The Year and it’s only March. Everything about this game works, but it will tax your PC hardware somewhat if you only have a basic PC set up. On the Xbox Series S, it looks phenomenal, even if it can’t catch up with my PC. The gameplay is much improved from the previous too games, and I broadly speaking agree with my contemporaries when I say that this game is definitely worth paying attention to and your money on. The soundtrack is definitely my highlight of the game so far, but I’ll be doing a full review when I’ve got the game and post-game story played through.
For the Gamerhub, I’ve been Daibhi and you are all legends.
Now, where can I get the soundtrack on CD? Are CD’s still a thing?
