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Unleash the monsters

Last time I’ve played a Monster Hunter game it was years ago when Monster Hunter World was released. It was a nice game hunting down monsters and with a solid plot. February 28, 2025 the newest installment to the series, Monster Hunter Wilds was released and I played it through using PS5 Pro.

Plot

A few years ago, a young boy named Nata was rescued from the border of the Forbidden Lands, an area the guild had yet to explore. When the boy reported that he was the only one to escape a mysterious monster that had attacked his village, the guild decided to send a research team to the Forbidden Lands to investigate.

So, this is the beginning of the game and the story get more deeper and the world wider as player finds new people and tribes. I did like how the plot got some mystery to it: where Nata was from? What was the White Wrath that attaked his village? Do they ever get him back?

Gameplay, controls, audio and visuals

Monster Hunter Wilds is an action role-playing game. The gameplay is designed for online play, but it can be played as a single player offline experience—just as I did. What the game consist, shortly, is that player must go on missions and hunt down big monsters and then come back to the hub area. There are more than one hub area as the player gets them more around the map as they ventures. But there are so much more into it, player must also collect loot and materials on their missions to upgrade weapons and other gear. I must put it right here: I think the upgrading system was little bit difficult to understand. It wasn’t as plain and simple as in other games I used to play where player can upgrade their things. But, maybe it was just me.

There are also tons of other objects and weapons player can use, such as making special potions. There’s a cat-like animal with player all the times. It is player’s little helper that throws thing like bombs at the enemies. The cat’s stats can be upgraded the same way as the main character’s.

What I liked in Monster Hunter Wilds was the SOS system, it is a way to call for help from another players. This is used for player to get help to fight the monsters and other online players can come to help, but it also uses for NPCs. As I didn’t play this online, I got some NPCs to help me and I used them all the time to help me to slay the monsters.

Controls in Monster Hunter Wilds were OK and they did work just fine. Player can choose from 14 weapons what they wanna use, depending on their playing style. There is option for everything: if you are shooter then there is a bow for you, if you like slow but heavy attacks then the hammers are great, or if you like fast movements then dual blades. I opted for dual blades as the game offered them for me after a short query. As the game’s systems are very elaborated, to the point that player must sharpen their tools, yes, even in mid-fight, which I though to be kinda extra.

All the audio was good. I liked the voice acting and all the sounds player can expect from the environment. The music was top-notch as was al the sound effects.

Visually Monster Hunter Wilds was where it struggled the most. The game simply looked bad and good at the same time. What I mean with that, was the graphics looked veeery muddy and low quality, but then the character models looked sharp and lively. I have no idea why it was like that. Maybe it will be fixed soon? If we forget about the low quality textures, the game world itself was nicely designed and I did like the monsters. They were all well-designed and different from another. Monster Hunter Wilds is PS5 Pro enhanced, and I played this using PS5 Pro. There are three options for graphical settings and they are: Prioritise Resolution, Balanced and Prioritise Framerate. I played this through on Prioritise Resolution mode, but I think the Balanced or Framerate mode is better for this type of fast paced action game.

Gotta slay ’em all

Monster Hunter Wilds is about 15 hours long and I did enjoy my time with it, even though the game is little bit on the easier side, which is not bad, but I thought it would’ve been more tougher. The only negative aspect is the graphics, which were very bad at times. I do recommend Monster Hunter Wilds whoever like these types of games.

Monster Hunter Wilds is available on PS5 (reviewed using PS5 Pro), Xbox Series X|S and Windows.

(Review copy kindly provided by the publisher)

SCORE:

4/5

“What I liked in Monster Hunter Wilds was the SOS system, it is a way to call for help from another players”

RELEASE DATE: February 28, 2025
GENRE: Action
DEVELOPER: Capcom
PUBLISHER: Capcom
PLATFORMS: PS5 (reviewed using PS5 Pro)
Xbox Series X|S
Windows

 

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