Monster Hunter Wilds Review

INTRODUCTION:

Monster Hunter Wilds is the newest entry in the Monster Hunter series and delivers all the fun of Monster Hunter plus some much-needed improvements. The battles are still long and intense but the bigger focus on story leads it to have more purpose. For me, this was an almost perfect Monster Hunter game!

THE GOOD:

The biggest changes in this Monster Hunter are the open world and larger focus on story. The world actually feels alive and not just a map for battles. Transitions from camp to the selected biomes are almost seamless. Battles are still epic and weighty like fans are used to, but some stuff has been streamlined, allowing for smoother, less clunky combat compared to earlier entries. The wound system allows for greater focus during battles as well. You can now choose to mix and match different versions of each armor to give your hunter the best stats and best look possible. Some of the biggest armor buffs and hunts come after the credits so don’t just stop after the main story. Characters are likeable and have depth, though fans are divided on the young boy, Nata. I, personally, was a big fan of him and his journey. The voice acting was top notch and the palico AI was very well done. Exploring is not necessarily forced to do, but is rewarding when done. As always, you can play this game solo or with friends.

THE NEEDS IMPROVEMENT:

The biggest issue comes in with performance. I did not encounter crashes, but I did have issues with framerate slow down and inconsistencies in graphics quality. Also, the default settings are not the optimized settings. At least there are videos online as to what settings will give you the best experience but beware of spoilers. Nothing game breaking was wrong, but these little caveats did hinder the playthrough slightly. I am looking forward to new content and patches, however. I hope they will add even more customization like the house in Monster Hunter World.

CONCLUSION:

I absolutely loved my time with this game and feel it is great for long time fans and newcomers alike. It hit the marks with the older nerdy things I wanted from earlier monster hunters and added more stuff I’d like to see. I think they should continue this path and push it even further in future entries.

PROS:

+ Fun battles

+ Good story

+ Excellent Design

CONS:

– Performance issues

– Non-optimized defaults

– Inconsistent graphics

OVERALL SCORE:

9/10