MONSTER HUNTER WILDS is raw dragonslaying delight – crashes notwithstanding

By Lincoln Carpenter

Monster Hunter Wilds is a return to meat-and-potatoes monster combat and a dramatic revision of the hunting format. It’s a more approachable lizard-slaying sandbox, and it’s a tangle of multiplayer quirks that still feels like something out of 2007. It’s the cleanest Monster Hunter has ever played, and it’s a temperamental piece of software that might crash if you tab back in at the wrong time.

If there’s a word for Wilds, it’s streamlined. A more straightforward, cinematic story, gives way to a seamless wilderness of rotating seasons and roaming beasts, where any hunting prep can be done in the moment and on the fly. It can feel like a wonder, but it’s not a wonder without cost. In providing as much monster hunting as possible, Wilds has carved away some of Monster Hunter’s charm.

But god, it feels good to fight those lizards. Throughout my almost 70 hours with Wilds, I could feel all 20 years of iteration behind its combat design. The latest round of tinkering with Monster Hunter’s 14 weapon types is a feast for every style of wyvern-slayer. Next to the flashy new attacks and Focus Strike finishers, there’s a subtler artistry in design here that’s easy to overlook. Small, considered tweaks make Wilds the smoothest Monster Hunter fighting has ever felt without sacrificing its meaty texture.

I could feel all 20 years of iteration behind its combat design

TRADE TOOLS

Each weapon feels like it’s been through its own shonen training arc. My beloved hammer has never been more of a mobile wrecking ball. It’s been blessed with Mighty Charge, a heavy charge attack that provides both a brutal finishing blow for capping off combos and a smooth pivot point for sliding into my next sequence of hits. However, just seeing another player’s weapon in action is enough to test my loyalties: one look at a Dual Blades user twirling around the field like a blood-crazed Beyblade had me making some abrupt changes to my gear crafting plans.