Monster Hunter Wilds Review

Much like 2024’s game of the year Dragon’s Dogma II, the Monster Hunter series is one I’ve never really gotten into. It’s obviously a huge series, and is something I’ve tried here and there, but it’s never really grabbed me. Until now that is. Monster Hunter Wilds is a mammoth game, and yet, it’s by far the most approachable one yet for someone in my position. For the rest of the review, bear in mind my lack of experience with the series; there are lots of changes in Monster Hunter Wilds that veterans may notice, but consider this a beginners guide to Monster Hunter and just how much fun Wilds is in particular.

Things kick off fairly slowly, gradually introducing us to our small core cast; Gemma the forger, Alma as the group leader and Hunting Guild representative, our Felyne companion, and of course, our nameless Hunter. Character customisation is excellent here. Not too expansive, but not too shallow that we can’t put our stamp on them. From hair styles, colours, markings and default clothes, I found myself spending far more time crafting my Hunter than I’d ever have expected. The same is true of our Palico friend too, albeit slightly fewer options to choose from. We can change either at any time from our base camp, and once more I found myself dipping in and out to change some colours or styles to suit my newer armour and weapon sets.

It’s not all dress up, of course. Once we’re done with our look, there are monsters to hunt, and a fairly expansive world to explore. 

We follow our merry band of characters as they try to get to the bottom of the region’s issues with monsters and weather fluctuations. On the way, they find a stranded young boy named Nata who – in the opening – was seen escaping the White Wraith; a demonically powerful monster threatening his home and his people. After some lengthy cutscenes, we’re finally let loose to hunt, and this is where the meat of the fun in Monster Hunter Wilds is to be found. That’s not to say the story isn’t decent, but it’s all very familiar stuff; big problems that are solved by whacking big monsters over the head with some big weapons. 

Once the fighting begins though, man, what a spectacle. Again, my unfamiliarity with the series means this might have wowed me more than returning players, but the first fight against a Chatacabra (a giant, armoured frog-like creature) was a tough one, full of heavy blows and lots of slowly whittling down their health points. Looking back on that opener, it almost seems quaint compared to what comes later on (no spoilers here of course), but as a first fight it sets the scene nicely of just how much life even the lower level creatures have in them.

I found myself liking the fact that Monster Hunter Wilds is quite obtuse in battle, with there being no enemy health bars to speak of. We get damage numbers coming off of our attacks but as for knowing where we are in the fight, it’s a case of listening to the cues of any AI teammates, or more interestingly, looking at the state of the creature. Are they limping, slowing down, or falling over easily? There’s a good chance they’re on death’s door. Some of the bigger creatures can take a long time to beat, and while it can feel like we’re getting nowhere after a solid 20 minutes of attacks, when they do finally fall, it’s all the more gratifying.

During battle, we generally have only one foe to focus on, but it’s not just whack-whack and hope for the best. These monsters put up a hell of a fight, and depending on our loadout we’ll need to dodge or block just as often as we attack. 

We have about a dozen choices of weapons, from heavy longswords to snappy dual blades, gun/sword combos, blunt implements, and more. These are interchangeable at base camp before setting out and can be upgraded as we play through the game with various items found and monster pieces harvested. We can (eventually) take two out into the field at once, though we’ll need to mount our Sekriet to swap between them (more on them in a sec).

I favoured the Dual Blades throughout the campaign as I liked the speedy attacks combined with the Demon Mode we could utilise to power up briefly. These came at the cost of not being able to block or parry though, and so dodge rolling – or simply eating some damage – was my only line of defence. I experimented with the Gunblade (which can switch between shooting various bullets or being a fuck-off-huge sword), the Bow and Arrow, and the Great Sword too, though again my playstyle suited the faster paced Dual Blades for the most part. I was able to upgrade two pairs of these, each with different stats and buffs too, so I kept them in my inventory to swap out as needed. 

There are also various items to use in battle, from healing potions to barrel bombs, some which help only ourselves and some which help everyone on the squad. Using them could be a bit finicky (we have to put away our weapon to use an item) but it all added to the tense in the moment gameplay of deciding when to step back and heal, and when to go all out in the hope of one final attack being the end of the fight.

In fact, as simple as the combat can be on the surface, there’s a lot more to it once we really get into the nitty gritty of it all; our weapons will blunt during a fight and need sharpening; environmental collectibles (and even the environment itself) can be used to attack enemies; buffs like talismans and decorations can give us the edge over certain foes; focusing attacks on specific points of an enemy will give them a wound which can be destroyed for massive damage; and this is still fairly surface-level stuff. I’ve played Monster Hunter Wilds for north of 30 hours at this point and have cleared the main campaign, and there are still parts of the combat and upgrades I’ve yet to see or experiment with. Hearing from a few other reviewers who’ve had more time with it, it seems that there’s a lot more to get to as well, though that will be best saved for you to find out when you get to play soon.

One more note on the combat, and I loved how dynamic it all felt. When engaging in a fight the world around us continues on, often leading to collateral damage as smaller enemies get caught in the cross-fire. Occasionally another big fucker will waltz into the fight too, and not only will they attack us but also the other creature too. One fight saw me on the cusp of death at the hands of one foe, only for another huge enemy (one of which I’d killed only minutes earlier) to come crashing in and start fighting, giving me a few seconds to heal up and regroup. Of course, slapping them a few times might mean we end up with two big guys hounding us, but it’s exhilarating all the same.

All of this is rendered in (mostly) stunning detail thanks to the RE Engine. This engine has never failed to impress, be it with sloppy, bloody zombies in Resident Evil 2, to the excellent open world of Dragon’s Dogma II, and now Wilds. The monsters are chunky, believable things, all fur and meat and bones and blood just waiting to smash through the screen. In amongst chasing them from area to area we’re often treated to stunning vistas; the lush forests of the early area a particular highlight, while later areas replace the foliage for other stunning environments. Character quality is top notch too, although not as highly detailed as other titles within the RE Engine catalogue. Where Wilds is let down a little is in the smaller details, with clothing and rocky areas in particular using low resolution assets. It’s not terrible by any means, but there is a stark contrast in most cutscenes for example between the high and low detail aspects.  

The aforementioned Sekriet is a new addition to the series, and makes traversal a breeze. We can explore the lands between missions at our will, and the Sekriet means getting from A to B much faster. But also, we can set them to auto-ride, where they’ll run to our next objective or waypoint by themselves, leaving us to appreciate the surroundings and look out for any good hunting or foraging opportunities. The areas are fairly large so having these encouraged more exploration than I’d otherwise have bothered with on foot, though again there is still a lot I’ve yet to see and do.

And that is one of the biggest things about Monster Hunter Wilds for me. I’m done with the main story, and yet I still have the desire to go back in and hunt more monsters, upgrade more kit, and explore the world more fully. As you may expect, there is a large end-game amount of content to test our skills on, and it’s this (that I won’t be detailing here) that has me wanting to come back for more.

Multiplayer returns of course too, and while I’ve only been able to test it with XT member Gray so far, that will also be a large hook in keeping me coming back. We can play the entire game solo, and offline, but heading online opens the game up so much more it almost feels a shame to not do it. We can create Squads for a more permanent connection to others, or Link Parties, where players in the same lobby will be invited to help on hunts as a priority before the invite gets thrown out more widely to other players. As a Monster Hunter newbie, I was initially confused why we couldn’t play the whole game together, but just know that co-op is only for general exploration or actual monster fights. Anything relating to a mission proper (from cutscenes to traversal in-between) is a solo experience. Players also can’t join others who are further in the story than they are, as otherwise they’d be far underleveled and it’d make for a pretty frustrating time for all involved. It makes sense now having spent more time with the game, and joining players seems easy enough once you understand the restrictions, though some early teething issues meant it wasn’t super clear why we could or couldn’t team up at first. I did manage to join up once or twice with some random players too which was a cool peek at what a full release might look like. 

But even solo for the majority of my time with the game, Monster Hunter Wilds has been a blast to play from start to, well, first finish. The combat possibilities are vast, and the scale of some of the encounters is truly staggering. It’s an easy game to get the hang of, but it hides so much more depth and customisation in its systems and menus that you could easily spend hundreds of hours getting to see and do it all. It can be a bit bewildering to a new player, and some of the menus aren’t exactly what I’d call easy to use, but there’s enough here that I wanted to persevere all the same. If, like me, you’ve not found a Monster Hunter to get into before now, I think Monster Hunter Wilds will be a great entry point, and certainly one of the best games I’ve played so far this year. 

Conclusion

Consider me a Monster Hunter convert. Wilds is a great entry point to the series for someone like me who’s never really gotten into it in the past, but there’s plenty of depth and nitty gritty here that fans will no doubt find enjoyable to get into. A lengthy and enjoyable campaign leads into a vast end-game that will keep me coming back for some time yet.