Monster Hunter Wilds

Written by Eric Hauter on 2/24/2025 for PS5  

Monster Hunter games will never stop being delightfully weird. But over the years I’ve realized that they will also never stop being borderline inaccessible. The Monster Hunter franchise has a long history, and the best way to start playing the games is to have someone familiar with that long history, including all its quirks and mechanics, introduce you to the game.

This being maybe the fifth or sixth Monster Hunter title I’ve reviewed, I figure that I can be that person for you. I’m just going to go ahead and anticipate the questions you would ask. And I’m going to turn down my snark level by about 50%, because Monster Hunter Wilds is a really great game despite its many issues. 

Q: To start with, how is Monster Hunter Wilds overall?

A: It’s awesome. These games are always awesome. You should totally play it.

Q: Oh, great! Monster Hunter Wilds is my first Monster Hunter game. I’ve heard that the “on-ramp” is much more accessible in this one. That means that the game will teach me how to play, right?

A: That’s what they all say! You can’t believe a Monster Hunter game that brags of a smoothed-out learning curve. Absolutely not. This is Monster Hunter. This series has zero interest in teaching you how to play. It’s probably best if you go into and Monster Hunter game with the understanding that it will flash instructions for complicated mechanics in front of you for three seconds, and if you miss them, accidentally initiate a button-press that removes those instructions from the screen, or, God forbid, you forget what they say, these instructions will immediately be relegated to the most arcane and confusing menu system known to man. Have fun digging through a labyrinth to figure out what that “buzz-nut” is for.

Really though, while some obvious steps have been taken to smooth the steep learning curve for new players, it simply isn't enough. I can't imagine any other franchise of this depth and complexity relegating quite so much information to the "figure it out" column. Also, I'm pretty sure that this game should probably be hiding menu options that don't open up until the endgame from the player until they actually do something. 

Q: I have hundreds of items in my pouch, and even more in my chest back in my tent. I’ve been trying to search the menu to see what this stuff does.

A: Forget it. Seriously. Forget it. You don’t need 90% of that garbage. Here’s what you need to know to play most of the game:

• Herbs make potions
• Add honey to potions to make Mega Potions
• You can kinda use the UI to automatically make these things for you, but you have to remember to grab them from your chest before each quest
• You can figure the rest out later or learn about it once the internet gets its hands on this game. There will be tutorials, and honestly, most of the old tutorials from previous games probably still apply.

Q: I’ve heard that I can capture monsters instead of killing them. The game hasn’t taught me how to do that yet.

A: And it never, ever will. Don’t you have any friends? One of them will teach you how to capture monsters. It’s super hard to do until you figure it out, and then it’s the easiest thing in the world. Way easier than killing all of the monsters; it saves you maybe 25% of the time used in each battle. Also – there are certain materials that you can only get from capturing monsters instead of killing them.

Eventually, the game will give you a mission to capture monsters (after the credits roll!), and then it becomes a make-or-break sort of deal. But the game does deliver the materials you need at the very last second, so don’t panic. Most of the anxiety you are experiencing is the fear that you are doing it wrong. Once you get it done the first time, you’ll see that its not so bad.

Q: Can’t you just tell me?

A: No. Are you kidding? This is Monster Hunter.

Q: I’ve read that Monster Hunter Wilds is the first “open world” game in the Monster Hunter series. How does that work?

A: Monster Hunter Wilds is not an open world game. At least, not in the way you are thinking. The new hotness this time around is the way the game allows players to move around the map with less loading. Prior to Monster Hunter World (two games ago), Monster Hunter games made the player load into various “zones” while hunting monsters. Monster Hunter Worlds took a huge leap forward and allowed players to move from zone to zone without loading, only forcing the player to load when they moved to different regions (a region can hold up to maybe 12 zones).

Now, with Monster Hunter Wilds, you can move between regions without loading – so…progress! But it’s still the same numbered-zones-attached-by-tunnels-and-vines that you know and love. If you picture yourself riding across the open plains and discovering new settlements which then dispatch you to find certain monsters, you should picture yourself playing a different game. This is not that. This is very much a standard (albeit beautiful) Monster Hunter world, with less loading.

Q: I saw cool footage from Monster Hunter Rise (the last game) that showed players jumping on the backs of monsters to fight other monsters. Can you still do that?

A: No. At least, I don’t think so. You also used to be able to jump off stuff onto monsters and I don’t think you can do that anymore either. But then again, I’m 35 hours in and I still haven’t figured out how to use my little green bug trail to lead me to the next mission objective, so what do I know? But it does seem like some of the coolest features from recent games have been pulled from this one.

Q: Wait, this sounds like a step backwards in the series. What is new in this game that sets it apart from the rest of the series?

A: Well, you have a new Tauntaun-like mount, called a “Seikret”, who kinda automatically takes you cruising through the zones to your objective, which is nice. Until he occasionally turns into a big dummy and just runs face first into walls because the game randomly wants you to find stuff yourself.

You can also use a little grappling hook thing (called the “Hook Slinger”) to snag materials as your mount runs past them, unless the game suddenly seizes control of the camera from you, which it does constantly.

Your Seikret can also carry a second weapon for you, and you can summon him any time in battle to swap out to your secondary weapon, which is nice. He also gets reloaded with supplies mid-battle, and you can ride him around in circles while you sharpen your weapons, which is a bonus.

Best of all, there is a cool new combat mechanic that allows players to “wound” monsters at certain points on their bodies. Then, if you hold down the left trigger, aim your weapon at the injury, and tap the right bumper button, you will unleash absolute hell on that monster, doing massive damage and breaking off goodies. It’s not as precision-based as I make it sound, and it is an absolute blast to pull off. I play Dual Blades, and it turns my guy into a whirling dervish of pain.

Q: Well, some of that stuff sounds good. How is the story in Monster Hunter Wilds?

A: Oh my God, absolute nonsense. A group of characters enter a new area of their world on an “expedition” to return the world’s most annoying child to his people (really, I just want to dropkick this kid off a cliff). As they explore, the figure out how the world is interconnected, and recent weather and climate disruptions are all tied together. And they get attacked by monsters every three minutes. 

There are maybe six or seven recognizable characters, but they all suck and there is no reason to pay attention to any of them, other than to recognize “this chick makes my gear and that chick with glasses gives me missions.” The skippable cut scenes are punctuated by unskippable travel segments, where the game takes away camera control form the player, and forces you to listen to people chatter while you make your way to the next battle. The story is extremely linear and guided, and the only way you can distract yourself is to go repeat hunts that you’ve already completed. I mostly just wanted the story to be over so I could get to the good stuff.

Q: Wait, the “good stuff” doesn’t start until the story is over? How long is the story?

A: It took me about 20 hours, I think. It was totally endless. Every cut scene is either a bunch of people talking obtusely about some crap you don’t care about, or the same three people getting attacked by monsters. It’s just the worst. I mean, there was some good stuff tucked away in the campaign. The fights were fun. But there is so much padding in between battles that it becomes interminable. 

But, after the credits roll, the whole thing opens up. New monsters appear! New mechanics are introduced! There is actually a reason to engage in multiplayer! There are many new, different, and better armor sets to build!

Q: It really sounds like you don’t like this game.

A: Oh, no. Monster Hunter Wilds is AWESOME. I was just bored by the campaign. Think of it like Diablo, or Destiny. You have to get through the guided tour to get to the good stuff. 

Monster Hunter Wilds really is a great game, despite all my sarcastic complaining. Most of my beef with the game (and the franchise as a whole, really) revolves around its interminable UI, and the fact that it seems to rely on either institutional knowledge or “figure it out” as its main method to teach players about its intricacies. I can’t for the life of me understand why Capcom won’t just make a Monster Hunter for beginners, and actually show everyone step-by-step how all this stuff works. 

Yes, the game shows how the basics of battle work, and for the most part, that's enough. But there is so much fiddly detail hiding in the menu system that I still find it bewildering, and I've played the last six games in the series. It’s almost funny how defiantly obtuse the game designers are, but I must admit that the act is getting a little old. If the folks behind Monster Hunter don't believe that the majority of gamers - even the ones that really want to try these games - bounce off the franchise due to unexplained complexity, they are sorely mistaken. I absolutely love this series, and I've never once convinced a single friend to try it. It is maddening.

But absolutely none of that matters when you are engaged in a battle with one of the game’s new monsters, and you have gotten good enough to actually hold your own. I’m not sure what combination of muscle memory and Wilds’ lightened difficulty allowed for it, but I’ve only fainted once during my time with Monster Hunter Wilds so far, and I’m having an absolute blast.

The new monsters in Monster Hunter Wilds are insanely cool and creative, and over the course of the campaign I only recognized a few returning beasts; there is a whole new lineup here to explore and conquer. I particularly enjoyed the more tentacle-based creatures, as they added a level of complexity to the battles that kept me dancing around. Sure, I can avoid the bites and front legs of a quadruped, but when we are talking about something with eight limbs, your mind kinda twists to keep track of it all.

It does feel as though the battles the player encounters in the primary storyline are tuned to be a little easier than usual, and I think that most patient players shouldn’t have much of a problem getting through the campaign. And by then, of course, you’ll be hooked on the timeless Monster Hunter loop of “kill a thing, make some pants”. When the game really opens up and you start being able to hunt down specific ingredients for gear, the risk/reward loop of pulling off a hunt and getting the parts you needed is ridiculously rewarding.

So have no fear, Monster Hunter faithful. This game delivers exactly what you are looking for, with just enough changes to keep things fresh – though I’m not certain all of these changes are for the better. The talking cats, for example, don’t really make an impact. And the overall goofiness meter seems to be turned down a couple of notches, which makes me sad. But the monsters look fantastic, and all of that story nonsense I was complaining about is really just the precursor to the real game, which starts after you roll the credits.

So, my advice to new and old players alike is to put your head down, skip as many of those beautiful cut scenes as you feel comfortable with, and do your best to pay attention to those instructions when they pop up. Before you know it, you’ll have plowed through the world’s longest tutorial and can get down to business doing what we all came for – killing awesome monsters and making pants. And as usual, we can always hope that next time, Capcom will take the time and care to teach the new kids how to play the damn thing.