Capcom has arguably been the best game publisher of the last decade. Resident Evil updates and remakes have put survival horror back on the map, Street Fighter remains a driving force in the fighting game space, and Dragon’s Dogma 2 was a contender for Best RPG of the Year at The game Awards.
However, it’s Monster Hunter that has become one of the company’s true driving forces, even though it took a while to get around these parts. Huge in Japan since the days of the PSP, it was only with 2018’s Monster Hunter: World that the West finally embraced the series known for being brutally punishing.
Likely fueled by the growing popularity of big melee games like Dark Souls, Monster Hunter World has become the company’s best-selling title, with its pseudo-sequel Monster Hunter Rise right behind it.
Now, all eyes are on the next adventure in the series, Monster Hunter Wilds, and how it can take advantage of the past while keeping things fresh. Set to launch in March 2025, it has already surpassed its predecessor’s all-time high player count on Steam during a three-day beta. Could it be Capcom’s next almost annual success story?
It wasn’t until Monster Hunter World that Capcom got rid of harsh animation locks that meant using items or shooting a monster carried a high risk of “carting,” immediately ending a half-hour battle. These small changes to long-standing complaints, along with the growing appetite for punishing action games and a shift towards multiplayer games, likely played a major role in the franchise finally finding its place in the West.
Opposing teams have developed subsequent Monster Hunter titles since the days of the PSP. Ideas from console and handheld titles are generally repeated in the next. World was a major change from the slower pace of previous entries, and Monster Hunter Wilds is expected to take it down another new path.
“By being online and open, Wilds is creating a greater emphasis on group hunting, where you’re likely to take on ‘just one more mission’ before logging off.”
The teams have taken a liberal approach to making Monster Hunter more accessible without losing the heart that attracted players to it in the first place. Learning and adapting is essential: not only in how you play Monster Hunter, but also in how it develops. Monster Hunter World ditched its segmented maps and loading screens, creating vast hunting grounds where its countless monsters finally felt alive and important.
Monster Hunter Rise, a Nintendo Switch title released years later, simplified the maps, eliminating the complex paths, tunnels, and clutter that slowed down combat. It even built on the World’s Slinger tool, becoming the Wirebug system that echoed Spider-Man to make hunts quicker to find and finish, while adding powerful one-button attacks reminiscent of Monster Hunter. Generations.
It eased up the grueling traversal with wall climbing and fast mounts, the latter of which return as Wilds, and added stat-boosting collectibles around its maps, giving veterans reason to perfect the path to their prey, or for the newcomers use them as a crutch while walking. learn the hard way.
While combat was sped up in Rise to allow for quick hunting on the fly, the Wilds team has doubled down on the spectacle of slow and steady combat. Patience is now a priority. Strong attacks can be countered with precise timing, turning a hunter into David taking on Goliath rather than a mosquito nipping at nature’s heels.
A lock-on system that rewards refining a wound echoes Monster Hunter World’s controversial and complicated Clutch Claw, and on-the-fly weapon switching could blow strategies wide open.
By being online and open, Wilds is creating a greater emphasis on group hunting, where you’ll likely do “just one more quest” before logging out. With staging centers spread across each map, rewarding hunts can be unleashed by charging straight into battle and pummeling the beast you’ve decided would look best in a pair of power-imbued pants.
Fortunately, you’re freer than ever to take on Wilds alone. And with the return of Rise’s NPC partner system to give its new cast of characters a greater stake in your shenanigans, it might be the best way to experience whatever new story Capcom thinks will help justify the removal of your 20th Chatacabra.
.png?width=1200&height=630&fit=crop&enable=upscale&auto=webp&w=218&resize=218,150&ssl=1 "Monster Hunter Wilds director confirms that PS5 Pro patch will arrive on day one")
