Monster Hunter Wilds Brings Players Back to Nature

Monster Hunter fans rejoiced at CAPCOM's newest trailer for Monster Hunter Wilds at Summer Game Fest 2024. While the cinematics amped up the adrenaline rush of the hunt for the new beasts, the preview at Summer Game Fest Play Days demonstrated how that'll play out in the game. Wilds will launch nearly seven years after its widely popular 2018 predecessor, Monster Hunter: World. The most exciting news from the SGF announcement was the ability to crossplay between different platforms: PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC. I haven't played Monster Hunter in a long time, but the new mechanics and monster interactions have reinvigorated my interest in the franchise.

Even though a hands-on demo won't be available until Gamescom 2024, the Play Days crowd got to see a behind the curtain, hands-off thirty-minute presentation of a full hunt in the Windward Plains. I understood this was a game presentation, but the preview was as if we were exploring the land and its animals on a safari. Despite being shown an in-development build, the game looks stunning. Before the developers jumped into the solo hunt after a Doshaguma, we were taken into a village area specializing in cheese. We tracked down the local cheese monger who offered only the finest cheese puns.

As the viewers were taken around the village, the speaker took the time to focus on the scenery and the dynamic day/night system. Alongside the changing habitat is the presence of endemic life only around during certain conditions. This broadens the open-world exploration and encourages the player to slowly appreciate the beauty in Wilds. Impressively, there were no loading screens or a quest accept screen going from the village to the plains, making for faster gameplay. Once the palicoes help set up camp, the character could fast-travel in the field, change equipment, or simply pass the time. Of course, what would a Monster Hunter game be if it didn't have cooking? I'm glad I ate before the demo because the onscreen meat and melted cheese looked realistic. Not only did it look tasty, but the food also gave the character extra bonuses.

The devs then decided to go for a sneak attack against the alpha Doshaguma of the pack and immediately started the hunting quest. A new feature in Wilds is that the player can directly hunt a monster in the open without needing to pick up a quest from an item board. As we watched the pack of Doshaguma running away, the music builds intensity as a sandstorm is underway. Some of the Doshaguma end up falling into a sand pit laid by a Balahara, one of the newly announced monsters. A helpful addition to the gameplay is a focus mode, which also works with melee weapons. During attacks, the character can aim attacks on previously opened red wounds to inflict extra damage.

The environmental changes create exceptional immersive gameplay as random dynamic weather change adds an extra layer of excitement. During the demonstration, sandstorm lightning drew in an apex dragon monster of the area. Coupled with lower visibility from the storm, monsters may hide, and other predatory and opportunistic endemic life will take advantage of a weakened larger beast. The hunter drew the attention of the Balahara and pitted it against the Doshaguma, which led to an interesting antagonistic interaction between the monsters. At the same time, smaller monsters who also wanted a piece of the action jumped in as well.

In addition to the dynamic environment changes, hunters can utilize the landscape to aid in their hunt. Since the Doshaguma still had some fight left, the devs led it into a cave, where the character was protected from the lightning. At the same time, falling boulders and debris could be used to deal further damage. The Monster Hunter Wilds team left no stone unturned as the presentation showed off all the mechanics and interactions they could. Unlike other games where monsters often get out of the way, Wilds showed the interconnectedness of the surroundings and the beasts that live in it.

In the final act of the demonstration, the end of the hunt leaned in on the multiplayer aspect of Monster Hunter to get help and finish off the hunt. Unfortunately, the character was randomly struck by lightning while shooting an SOS flare for reinforcements, which further solidified the impressiveness of these random events. Because this is an offline instance, the reinforcements were NPC hunters who would help to take down the Doshaguma for good.

Once the character carved out the rewards from the hunt, we could enjoy the "plenty phase" or "time of abundance" without getting moved elsewhere. In past games, the player would be moved away from their spot once the hunt was over, but Wilds motivates the player to stop and smell the roses. When the sandstorm ended, life in the area returned to how it was before. I'm fascinated by the ability to go from hunting to watching endemic birds feed their young. The embedded appreciation for nature—and its interconnectivity—in Wilds marks an exciting new addition to the franchise.