Monster Hunter Wilds (PlayStation 5) Review

A proven hunter is assigned a mission: head to the new world and help locate a missing group of people. This hunter, the player character, is part of a huge crew heading out to catalogue and explore these lands, veritable first explorers in line with expeditions to the real-world Americas (though with less killing of the locals). Having discovered that there are human civilisations out in the uncharted areas, the teams set out to find them and earn their trust. Most of this comes from dealing with monster issues.

Using the first encounter as an example, the crew immediately run into a girl in distress. A huge swarm of monsters is chasing her and her Seikret (more on them later). The hunter throws danger to the wind and hops from the ship to the Seikret, riding it through the swarm and saving the girl. It's exciting, it's more involved storytelling, and it leads directly into the next mission, to save her brother. The story progresses like this at most times: a fast-paced bout of monster-hunting sandwiched in intense or lore-expanding cutscenes. It's a structure that works surprisingly well and is, at most points, very satisfying.

All of this does have a knock-on effect on the usual structure of the series. Instead of a single hub village or base, the game has several camps from which the player can set out on missions. This allows for the nature of the exhibition to play out quite naturally, though it does mean the quest selection has been whittled down heavily as the player moves through the narrative. Most camps have the same facilities set up, the smithy being the most important one, given the nature of Monster Hunter's main gameplay loop.

The gameplay has been tweaked, but at its heart, it's the same game everyone loves and remembers. Weapons have had a few small tweaks, but ultimately, it's the same set as in Rise. The most exciting addition is the Seikrets. These little bird dinosaurs are the first proper mounts in the series. They carry the player and others right from the off, ferrying them usefully and quickly across the slightly larger maps. Some players may find the funnelling nature of the auto-travel to be too strict, but this can be disabled in the settings if players prefer to predominantly control the Seikret instead, though some journeys are driven by the game, giving the player narrative choices without direct movement control.

On-foot hunting benefits from a pretty hefty movement overhaul. Hunters are now more fluid than ever slipping and sliding over the terrain very satisfyingly. All combat actions have been sped up a little and there seem to be larger combos than ever before for each weapon. Exploration is also enhanced by the map design which has some interesting landmarks and transition points making them all feel interconnected. The time of day during story missions is set, making the hunts feel potentially less dynamic than in older titles however during the optional hunts and missions the time travels normally.

Monsters are also fantastic with plenty of new beasties to sink a blade into. Some are bizarre but all of them present a unique challenge to capture or kill. One favourite is a new monster that lives in the oils of the third map. It sucks them up into its plastic~y sacks and uses them to attack the player. One of those cool moments where monsters are using the environment in what feels like a natural way. These crazy new beasts also have important story moments through which they are introduced, these scenes do an amazing job of making them appear dangerous and threatening. Just a shame it's not backed up by the difficulty for the majority of the story content which is quite easy to win.

This is a very pretty game most of the time! Character rendering in particular is worlds better than the previous game. Costumes are varied and have loads of physics elements on them, hair is swooshy and animated they all just have a lot of life to them which is great given the renewed focus on the human characters. Players have a multitude of armour sets to unlock and create as well all of which add flavour to the player hunter. for the first time, players can choose either the traditionally male or female armours and just build the style they prefer for their hunter.

Palicos are also hugely upgraded here. Language aside they now have great fur effects applied to them as well as a nice indepth character designer. In fact, it was possible to make a palico that is reasonably close to the reviewers own cat! Felynes play a huge role in the story supporting the cast with some being prominent characters on their own.

Environments, as is usually the case in Monster Hunter, have a character all of their own. Each region presents a unique hunting scenario with Lush forests, vast deserts and weird oily caves there is a fantastic variety. Everything has a nice tangibleness with all environmental assets interacting with characters and monsters in a reasonably convincing way. It is a real showcase of the RE Engine's prowess and flexibility in tackling a variety of game environments. The only real downside is some iffy textures here and there that can get quite up and personal with the camera.

Musically this is also a stellar showing for Miwako Chinone who has absolutely blown the series through the sound barrier. The title theme is a glorious piece of music with excellent mixing that emphasises the powers of a good sound system and excellent recording. In fact, the game has the most varied and incredibly fun soundtracks of the series so far! All other sounds presented are also amazing with environmental and atmospheric being incredibly effective. Hunters and NPC voicework is acceptable in all languages tested with it allowing for the player hunter to be properly involved in the narrative which felt pretty good throughout.

Finally, to extend the longevity of the game, there is a Gathering Hub area that becomes available in the post-game content. This is a much more traditional Monster Hunter affair and plays host to the most difficult and aggressive hunts. A truly excellent addition for the core monster hunter fanbase.