My Monster Hunter journey, like many, began with Monster Hunter Freedom on the PSP – an entire game built around the concept of repeatedly slaying monsters to craft exponentially better gear in a gameplay loop that was as addictive as it was utterly time-consuming in the best possible way. Generations later, through the ups and downs of the excellent Nintendo 3DS games to the phenomenal World Iceborne, the series has evolved, almost to a divisive extent, from one entry to another. Monster Hunter Wilds is the franchise’s greatest evolutionary leap yet – Capcom’s attempt to steer the series into a more grounded, serious tone while streamlining its staple features. Unfortunately, this comes at a cost.

Monster Hunter Wilds is set in a new location called the Forbidden Lands. This desolate, harsh landscape has been battered by violent storms in the regions. Tribes scattered around the land have to contend with the appearance of a deadly new monster named Arkveld that poses a threat to the entire ecosystem. It’s up to you, a hunter from a distant land, to make things right. Basically, it's your textbook Monster Hunter story, only it's being taken a bit more seriously this time.



Right off the bat, Monster Hunter Wilds makes it known that this is going to be a darker story than anything you’ve seen before in the series. The narrative’s tone is palpable from the opening cutscene; this is Monster Hunter all grown up and trying to tell a serious tale of loss and hope. This also poses an interesting conundrum as it’s clear Capcom hasn’t entirely abandoned the more upbeat, adventurous tone of the previous games either. Somehow, they make these tones work very well with Wilds’ bolder storytelling. Not that Monster Hunter had great narratives to begin with, mind you, but as a framework to drive your monster-slaying bloodlust, it works.

Right off the bat, Monster Hunter Wilds makes it known that this is going to be a darker story than anything you’ve seen before in the series.

You custom-created hunter is also fully voice-acted, which is refreshing as past games had players be blank, voiceless protagonists. They don’t have much of a personality other than doing whatever the guild commands them to do, but at least it gives them a morsel of character during cutscenes. The Forbidden Lands presents less dense yet detailed locations than World in favour of making the regions feel wider, sprawling and massive in scale. For the most part, it succeeds, even if it’s solely to serve the purpose of using your speedy Seikret, your totally-not-a-Chocobo bird companion and method of transport. On the other hand, it also tends to make the regions feel a bit empty and less interesting, though there are exceptions like the beautiful, lush Scarlet Forest.



Drastically shifting weather patterns are common in the regions, from heavy torrential downpour in the forests to the truly spectacular sweeping sandstorms in the Windward Plains. When the weather suddenly shifts in the middle of a hunt, it ramps up the intensity and creates battles that feel incredibly cinematic and gorgeous.

Gameplay is what you’ve come to a new Monster Hunter for and thankfully, Wilds delivers some of the best gameplay in the series in spades. The moment-to-moment combat has been tweaked for every single weapon, making them feel faster and punchier. The pace of combat is now controlled by an awesome new feature called Focus Mode. On PS5, while holding L2, you can tap into this mode that lets you target specific parts of a monster’s body with more accuracy. While in Focus Mode, you can then initiate a Focus Strike, which tenderizes a weak spot to deal greater damage (as indicated by glowing red orbs on a monster). When you Focus Strike these glowing parts again, you can stun or even topple a monster, rewarding you with materials and parts. It’s a great way to quickly farm materials apart from earning them as quest rewards.



On that note, this means you can technically farm common materials at a much, much quicker rate than past games. Some rarer materials still require you to slay monsters and carve them (pray to the RNG gods), but if you’re looking to build a full armour set or weapon, you can now do so in a couple of hunts. In High Rank, the requirements get a little more demanding but you should be able to breeze through Low Rank with relative ease when it comes to gathering materials for progressively better sets and weapons. Regardless of your gender, you can now choose to craft either male or female armour sets too, adding a lot more customisation options for your hunter.

Gameplay is what you’ve come to a new Monster Hunter for and thankfully, Wilds delivers some of the best gameplay in the series in spades.

Capcom has given offline and solo players an option to have AI-controlled companions as support hunters on your quests. As far as I've explored, these are preset hunters and can't really be tinkered with, though I'm not sure deep customisation for your party like a JRPG was really the objective here. Instead, they kind of emulate the experience of hunting with real players online, which is great for those without pesky console subscriptions. However, I'd probably advise against using them as they do tend to make even the most challenging hunts a bit too easy. The option is there, though, and it's welcomed.



There's a lot that can be said about the overall difficulty of Monster Hunter Wilds, which I'm sure will be a big talking point after the game's launch. Unlike past games which featured monsters that acted as difficulty walls to humble players and force them to engage with all of the game's mechanics (like Anjanath in World), there's a more gradual difficulty curve in Wilds that never becomes truly challenging (unless you're hunting end-game variants). Sure, you start off smacking monsters with sticks and stones damage but once you upgrade your weapons to a moderate level and equip the right gear, you're going to be breezing through most fights. Hopefully Capcom rebalances some monsters and adds greater challenges down the road.

Your Seikret can now carry two weapons at a time, acting as your Primary and Secondary options. While most players will appreciate this feature, there was never a time when I felt it necessary to suddenly switch out my weapons on the fly, especially if my build at that point was already tailored for that specific weapon. You can also set your Seikret to auto-mode so that it takes you to your destination while you sharpen your weapon, stack up on potions and do inventory management. It’s a great feature that makes each hunt move at a brisk pace.



As for the monsters, Capcom has delivered an extraordinary batch of wonderful and scary creatures for Monster Hunter’s sixth generation. Some monsters feel ripped straight out of Bloodborne with grotesque, almost Lovecraftian designs (as a big H.P. Lovecraft fan, this was music to my eyes). The game’s flagship monster, Arkveld, feels a bit lacking compared to older flagships like Nergigante or Gore Magala, but it still carries a menacing aura whenever it shows up. I can’t specifically mention my favourite monsters here due to spoilers, but rest assured, Capcom have cooked up some of the most imaginative monsters in the series yet.

Some monsters feel ripped straight out of Bloodborne with grotesque, almost Lovecraftian designs.

That brings me to one of my biggest issues with Monster Hunter Wilds. This marks the first game in the series without any Elder Dragons, whereas they were heavily featured in past base games. Part of me thinks there was a missed opportunity here to showcase their destructive, ecosystem-altering capabilities with the new dynamic weather system in Wilds, though I'm also of the mindset that they're better saved for an expansion to truly make them the threats that the lore portrays them to be. Sadly, Capcom doesn't really substitute them in Wilds for other equally brute monsters, which kind of hurts the end game a bit.



Wilds sees the return of Tempered monsters and familiar infected variants that I’m sure will excite older fans, but even then, the end game here rings a bit hollow and on the easier side. The gameplay is absolutely going to carry the player base – and I’ll gladly put hundreds of hours into it too – but those hoping for a bit more variety after the credits roll might be disappointed in the way Capcom handles some aspects of the post-grind.

In fact, I was puzzled by how much Monster Hunter Wilds actually pulls back, dials down or outright removes smaller elements that gave the previous games their signature personality, heart and spirited tone. Things like the canteen and chef palicos making meals for you in wonderfully weird cutscenes are gone, now replaced by one palico who sells ingredients while you heat up your BBQ grill. There isn’t a single, lively and bustling hub or village area like Val Habar or Astera. Instead, you have small nomadic camps and isolated gatherings that don’t change much between each region. These are just a couple of examples. For the sake of streamlining these small yet significant changes, Capcom has lost some of the franchise’s charm – arguably the lifeline of Monster Hunter’s appeal – in the process.



This isn’t helped by a world that feels, well, a bit dreary to exist in. Maybe it’s the odd washed out filter that coats the screen (there’s no way to fix this, I’ve tried) or the fact that the Forbidden Lands is intentionally designed to feel this way, but the RE Engine doesn’t do Wilds any favours, especially since the engine used for World already created a game that felt a lot more vibrant, immersive and wondrous. Visually speaking, it’s a well-designed and intricate world, but it falls a bit short of being as compelling as it should’ve been.

For the sake of streamlining these small yet significant changes, Capcom has lost some of the franchise’s charm – arguably the lifeline of Monster Hunter’s appeal – in the process.

In a sense, this was also the world design philosophy behind older Monster Hunter games dating as far back as the original on PlayStation 2, with environments that were as vast as they were desolate, making you feel completely isolated in a strange land and relying entirely on your survival and gathering skills to make it by. Monster Hunter Wilds perhaps attempts to pay homage to its roots, though results are more mixed than successful.



Now for the elephant in the room: the performance. I primarily reviewed Monster Hunter Wilds on PS5, which is probably the superior platform compared to what I experienced in the betas on Xbox and PC. You’ll occasionally run into odd graphical hiccups, texture pop-ins or minor framerate dips on PS5 but for the most part, it’s decently optimised for PlayStation. However, I’ve heard from other reviewers that the game suffers from a lot more than that on Xbox Series S and especially on PC, so take that as a warning. If you are planning on picking it up on PS5, I honestly didn’t have too many technical issues on the console, though mileage will vary, of course.

Monster Hunter Wilds feels like the equivalent of a Hollywood blockbuster for the franchise. With an emphasis on faster paced action and a mature, bolder story at its core, it’s less of an evolution and more of a streamline to make it accessible to newer players – a commendable move but it’s one that I think will ultimately be very divisive to veteran players. Strong gameplay, an addictive loop and terrific new monsters still keep the franchise notches above its action-RPG competitors, and there's honestly a lot to love and appreciate here, but I can’t help but feel like Wilds is a step back from World and to an extent, much of what makes Monster Hunter as great as it is.

*PS5 Review code provided by Capcom