Monster Hunter Wilds performance has improved in the final game, and we may even get a second beta

Just before we all exit 2024 and prepare for the new year, Capcom hosted one last community update to address virtually all of the major topics raised by the recent Monster Hunter Wilds beta.

The livestream addressed a number of key topics, including some that have caused some controversy among the Monster Hunter community. It was full of good news and even the promise of another chance with the beta.

Anyone who played the recent Monster Hunter Wilds beta, or watched others play it, will tell you very clearly that the game simply didn’t run very well on any system. Even high-end PCs struggled with constant frame rate drops and subpar performance. The beta was clearly heavily CPU-bound, meaning that even those lucky enough to own the most expensive GPUs couldn’t make their way to a smoother experience. Things were even worse on consoles, too.

This was one of the first things game director Yuya Tokuda addressed in the livestream. We were able to see a gameplay video of an updated version, which certainly looked smoother than the beta version. According to Tokuda, the team fixed a rendering bug in the PS5’s Prioritize Frame Rate mode that was responsible for some of the performance issues, and generally improved it in other ways.

The team also shared target frame rates and resolutions for all console versions. As expected, Graphics Prioritize modes run at a higher resolution but limit the frame rate to 30fps, while Framerate Prioritize can go up to 60fps by rendering at a lower resolution.

This is all good news for everyone. He even The best news for PC gamers is that Capcom is considering releasing a benchmarking tool to help players understand how the game will run on their systems. The game‘s minimum specifications will also be reduced.

One of the most discussed issues with the open beta was the lack of a hitstop/hit for weapon attacks. The hitstop effect will return in the final version and you can expect weapons to feel heavier as a result. The sound effects have also been improved there.

Another controversial issue has been the degree of friendly fire, particularly when using upward hammer attacks. That has been adjusted, as has the spear fire. Friendly fire will always be an element of combat in Monster Hunter, of course, but as Tokuda explained, it’s all about balance.

As for whether we’ll get a chance to try Wilds one last time before launch, Tokuda teased that we might have a second open beta, but couldn’t directly confirm this. Although you may have more content in the first beta, don’t expect many of the improvements discussed in the live stream to make their way to that version.

Monster Hunter Wilds will be released on February 28 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.