Monster Hunter Wilds Hands-on Preview: I Finally Get It

Our coverage of Gamescom 2024 included an extensive look at Monster Hunter Wilds, the latest in Capcom's long-running series. I've been a fan of the games from afar for quite some time, having enjoyed my stay with Rise when it came out and sinking in a decent amount of hours into Monster Hunter World. Neither game hooked me the way I know they do for so many veterans, however; not the same way that Elden Ring did when I met with an unfortunate demise a dozen times in a row but kept playing.

I think Monster Hunter Wilds is going to change that stance for people like me, who bounced off previous games in spite of generally enjoying them. I certainly couldn't put it down during my preview, in spite of my middling attempts at corraling monsters and less than savvy movement across the open world map. Something about Wilds clicks in a way the other games didn't, and while I can't speak to the experience someone with countless more time spent in the franchise's ecosystem might feel, I certainly didn't find it any less challenging or skill-intensive.

Monster Hunter Wilds Feels More Accessible Than Ever

But It Doesn't Sacrifice The Minutiae Fans Have Come To Love

There are two mechanics that stood out to me in my preview that really sold me on the future of Monster Hunter Wilds as the series' most welcoming title: wounds and focus mode. These two systems go hand-in-hand and have already been detailed before, but for a brief summary, wounds are an accumulation of damage on a monster that appears as a bright red marking somewhere on its body while in focus mode, while focus mode itself is the ability to zoom in a reticle during combat to help better aim attacks.

Focus mode activation is the best way to target wounds, which requires conscious evaluation of a monster's appearance, since the wounds only glow during focus mode but do show up a little bit, albeit much duller, when out of it. The game's cast of co-op hunters or Palicoes also do a great job of calling out when a monster may be wounded.

It's not that either of these additions makes Monster Hunter Wilds any easier or less fun. It took me an embarrassingly long time to really get to grips with the new systems, which weren't clunky but also felt like using aim-down-sight in the middle of a melee. Once you get the hang of it, it's satisfying to execute, with wound targeting resulting in flashy moves from your hunter and the destruction of said wound for a heap of damage. It encourages basic tactical thinking, and the kind that is important in Monster Hunter - so as a way of improving naturally, it's extremely welcome.

There's also been a significant polish to presentation that made it harder to get lost in the juggling of different traps, equipment, and potions. This felt like the smoothest the series has ever been when it comes to its focus on micromanagement and items, and Monster Hunter Wilds still has the capacity to reward quick-thinking and more deliberate item usage. When it comes to people who aren't as adept at that element of the game, it feels more like I'm not going to get immediately pushed away from difficult content, even though it's still challenging in the end.

Monster Hunter Wilds Definitely Still Contains The Thrill Of The Hunt

Even When It Drags Out, It Feels Cinematic And Exciting

After completing a basic opening cinematic and tutorial, I was thrown into a proper hunt for an Alpha Doshaguma, a shaggy, fanged beast that moved in a pack with lesser versions of its breed. The first challenge came in separating it from its pack, which resulted in minutes of complete chaos as I attempted to distract its allies with bombs and flashes while drawing the Alpha's ire. The Seikret was especially valuable in this hunt, helping me draw the monster away with saddled attacks and not sacrificing my own movement.

Once I'd finally lured the Alpha away, I vaulted off my Seikret and went to work with my Insect Glaive, a weapon that helped me dial in on one of the qualities I love in action games - fluid and fun movement. Vaulting myself into the air to land strikes or, when I was lucky, land directly on the Alpha's back to then deal loads of damage from a safe place, always felt like a thrilling, tense battle.

Then the Doshaguma ran, and I had to chase it through a desert ecosystem that then led into a cave, where I could pull down rocks onto it with my grappling hook. Said grappling hook could also trigger lightning bugs to stun the enemy, and pick up materials to use while on the fly, too. All of this was done while mounted on my Seikret, another instance of the mount becoming a fantastic feature of gameplay.

Finally, the Doshaguma ran one more time, back out into the desert but unfortunately into enemy territory, getting dropped into quicksand and attacked. Fending off the enemy and my co-op group of computer-controlled hunters was too much for it. After almost the entire half hour session time I'd been given, the monster went down and I felt like I'd achieved something in a way that other Monster Hunter games only scratched the surface of.

The entire experience was so involved and intense. I immediately wanted to play more, the same way that downing a boss in a difficult Soulslike makes you feel like you can take on the rest of the game. If Monster Hunter Wilds can capture that feeling in its ever-shifting environment, which will feature dynamic weather and what appears to be its most busy map yet, it will no doubt be one of the top contenders for 2025's game of the year. I know I'll be playing Wilds day one chasing those same thrills, hopefully with a better grasp of its more nuanced features, too.