Monster Hunter Wilds Review — Brave New World

I was excited when I was given the opportunity to review Monster Hunter Wilds. While I was initially hesitant about picking up the game outside of work, the chance to get an early look at the title hyped me up, reminding me of my time with Monster Hunter: World, my first entry into the series. While I had my problems with Monster Hunter: World, I still had a great time with the game, and I expected Monster Hunter Wilds to essentially be more of the same. Imagine my surprise to discover that every criticism I had of Worlds is gone with Monster Hunter Wilds, a title that just might be a straight improvement on the original and a downright perfect game.

Perhaps the biggest improvement Monster Hunter Wilds makes over other games in the series is the pacing.

It’s been a few years since I’ve played it, but I can distinctly recall Monster Hunter: World being something of a slog to get through. The big monster-hunting fights are the highlight of any Monster Hunter game, as you might expect, considering they are the namesake of the franchise. It is therefore far less exciting when the game floods you with tutorials, side missions, or fetch quests that can feel as if they serve no purpose but to pad the game’s runtime.

Imagine my shock when I glanced at my playtime in Monster Hunter Wilds and realized that, seven hours into the game, I had still yet to run into any side quests or padded content, beyond the optional extra hunting quests I chose to take. Monster Hunter Wilds is paced in such a way that you will be faced with back-to-back monster fights, with each mission essentially throwing you into an encounter with a new monster. There is no slowing down to fetch honey, no lengthy introduction to camp mechanics, or drawn-out dialogue segments. The areas in the game that are dedicated to character exploration are often to the point, done through cutscenes or brief segments that prelude more action.

It is an incredibly refreshing way to play the game, keeping a steady pace that can make hours of gameplay simply fly by before you realize what’s going on. Of course, side quests still exist, and so do the incredibly important preparation segments needed to optimize your hunter; they are simply made optional, with the game never forcing you away from the narrative and action elements if you don’t want to.

Said narrative was also pretty impressive. You don’t really play a Monster Hunter title for the story; Monster Hunter Wilds, however, managed to impress me with its plot. While there were still cutscenes and dialogue I was skipping through, the story of the White Wraith and Nata was fairly engrossing and kept me invested throughout.

Monster Hunter Wilds improves upon not only the narrative and pacing but the famous franchise gameplay as well.

The most notable of these changes has to be focus mode. In past Monster Hunter games, if you wanted to change the direction of your attack, you had to stop moving, turn, and attack in the direction your character was facing. I’m not the only person who found this feature a little obnoxious. Focus mode, however, allows you to precisely aim your attacks, with your hunter turning to face the direction of your camera while enabled, making landing your hits on monsters far easier.

The real purpose of focus mode is to exploit the new wounds system; when fighting monsters, wounds will appear after sufficient damage is taken, and striking these wounds in focus mode deals extra damage. Breaking these wounds staggers and rewards you with monster parts; it adds a new, more Monster Hunter-like feeling to taking down these big, imposing foes, and it’s a quality-of-life update I can’t imagine playing Monster Hunter without now that I’ve tried it.

Mounts have made a return in Wilds but have been improved upon. They serve not only as fast movement across the map but as a portable inventory that can be accessed during fights. Not only does this mean swapping in more potions or equipment or hopping on your mount to sharpen your weapon while mobile, but it also allows you to carry a second weapon and switch between them at will during a fight. This is an incredibly strong feature and one that adds, again, a superb quality-of-life update to the overall Monster Hunter franchise. Monster Hunter Wilds changes things for the better, and it’s going to be hard to go back to previous games after this one.

Finally, those who may have been worried about performance during the open beta will be thrilled to know that Monster Hunter Wilds performs incredibly in its day-one patch. Playing on ultra, I experienced a steady 120+ FPS, fast load times, and no visual bugs or stuttering. Everything runs great and looks incredible, overall making Monster Hunter Wilds a game that was incredibly hard to put down and actually write up a review for.

Monster Hunter Wilds, in my opinion, is the best game in the series. It maintains all of the familiar elements veterans of the franchise appreciate while also cutting off a lot of the gristle and making everything far more approachable for new players. It captured my attention and kept me hooked, unlike any other game I’ve played so far this year or last, and has easily become one of my new favorites.

Try Hard Guides was provided a PC review copy for this Monster Hunter Wilds. Find more detailed looks at popular and upcoming titles on our Game Reviews page! Monster Hunter Wilds is available on Steam, Xbox, and PlayStation.