First Impressions: A Monster Hunter Game That Actually Welcomes You
Let me be honest with you. I bounced off Monster Hunter World twice before it finally clicked. The systems are deep, the tutorials are buried, and nobody tells you that you've been using the wrong weapon for 15 hours. So when Capcom announced Monster Hunter Wilds, I was cautiously optimistic — and after sinking over 200 hours into the game, I can confidently say this is the entry point the series has always needed.
Monster Hunter Wilds doesn't dumb anything down. The monster AI is smarter, the ecosystems are more dynamic, and the endgame grind is just as deep as anything World or Rise offered. But for the first time, the game actually teaches you how to play — and that changes everything.
The World Feels Alive in Ways We Haven't Seen Before
The Forbidden Lands — the game's massive open-world hunting ground — are genuinely impressive. Weather systems shift in real time, affecting how monsters behave. A thunderstorm doesn't just change the visual — the Stormwing Drake that was napping in a canyon suddenly becomes the apex predator of the entire zone, driving smaller monsters into a panic. You can use this. You can exploit it. And figuring out how is half the joy.
Each of the five major biomes feels distinct and serves a mechanical purpose. The Salt Flats force you to manage heat and water supply. The Fungal Canopy has vertical layers that completely change how you track monsters. The developers clearly designed these environments to reward exploration, not just combat.
Combat: The Best It Has Ever Been
Fourteen weapon types return, and every single one has been refined. The Great Sword feels weightier than ever — that satisfying THWACK when a True Charged Slash connects is genuinely one of the best-feeling moments in modern action games. The Insect Glaive's aerial mobility has been reworked so it's less spammy and more intentional, which honestly made it more fun for me even though I was a little resistant at first.
The new Seikret mount — a rideable companion that lets you reposition mid-hunt — sounds gimmicky but ends up being genuinely strategic. You're not using it to dodge; you're using it to read the monster's next move and get into the perfect counter position. It adds a layer of tactical thinking that fits naturally into the flow of a fight rather than feeling tacked on.
Boss fights are the highlight. The flagship monster, the Arkveld, has a three-phase fight that took my hunting group three separate sessions to fully decode. When we finally beat it cleanly — no carts, fully optimized — it felt like we'd genuinely accomplished something. That's the Monster Hunter magic, and Wilds has it in abundance.
The Story Is... Actually Good This Time?
Monster Hunter has never been known for its narrative. World's story was functional at best. Rise barely had one. Wilds changes that with a proper cinematic campaign that runs about 25-30 hours and actually has character development. The protagonist isn't a blank slate — they have relationships, fears, and a history with the Forbidden Lands that unfolds over the course of the main quest.
Is it Mass Effect? No. But it's engaging enough that I never skipped a cutscene, which is a first for this series. The supporting cast — especially your Palico companion Mochi and the eccentric Guild Historian who joins your team midway through — are charming in a way that makes the downtime between hunts genuinely enjoyable.
Where Monster Hunter Wilds Falls Short
No review is complete without honesty about the rough edges. The performance on PC at launch was inconsistent — the Forbidden Lands area in particular had frame rate issues at max settings even on high-end hardware. Capcom has patched several of these problems, but if you're planning to play on PC, check the current patch notes before you commit to Ultra settings.
The early game also has a pacing problem. The first five hours are essentially a very long tutorial, and while the tutorial is better than anything in the series' history, players who've hunted before will feel like they're waiting for the game to actually start. Push through to the second biome — that's when Wilds opens up and becomes the game it's advertising itself to be.
Finally, if you're a dedicated solo player, some of the late endgame content is tuned in a way that clearly assumes multiplayer. You can absolutely beat it alone — I did — but some fights felt like they had double the HP and aggression compared to what seems reasonable for a single hunter. The multiplayer scaling isn't perfectly balanced in both directions yet.
Is Monster Hunter Wilds Worth Buying?
Yes. Absolutely, unequivocally yes — with one condition. If you've never played Monster Hunter before, this is the best possible entry point in the series' entire history. The onboarding is finally good, the world is immediately inviting, and you'll never feel like the game is punishing you for not knowing things nobody told you.
If you're a veteran, you already know. You've pre-ordered. You're already calculating your optimal endgame build. You won't be disappointed.
Monster Hunter Wilds is Capcom operating at the absolute top of their game. In a year full of strong releases, this is one that'll be in the conversation at the end of it.
Score: 9.2/10
Platform: PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S
Developer: Capcom
Played: 200+ hours across solo and co-op
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