The modern age of the Monster Hunter franchise, ushered in by the incredible success MH World enjoyed on PC, is in full bloom. On February 28th the franchise will bear for us its latest fruit: Monster Hunter Wilds, bigger, better, stronger, pretty much all the adjectives we should expect from World’s first same-scale follow-up.
What does Wilds bring to the table? Is it going to just be more MH World? Let’s take a look at some of the key differences, new features, and improvements we know of from previews and announcements available at the time of writing!
It is possible some info will become outdated or contradicted when the game comes out, however!
Roaming free
Probably the biggest, most immediately noticeable difference is the world structure. In Monster Hunter World (MHW) we had a central hub, from which we ventured out into different, discrete maps to do whatever we needed to do before getting on a wingdrake taxi and loading back into the HQ. It was a great system, making it easy to compartmentalize your time with the game.
Monster Hunter Wilds (MHWi) takes a different approach, and both the hub, and the wilderness are integrated into one map, so you can smoothly transition between them. Although it might make it harder to manage your time, it certainly works wonderfully for immersion, as one could already experience from the playtests.
Reportedly, the different biomes are going to be accessible in the same manner, allowing you to go from an Windward Plains to Scarlet Forest, for example. This kind of integrated experience is likely to make the setting for Wilds feel like a coherent whole, although Worlds’ approach of each biome being fully separate had its merits, as it made the New World feel large by the implication of off-screen travel.
A living ecosystem
One of Monster Hunter World’s best features, aside from gameplay, was the incredible attention to detail and believability the Capcom team has paid to depicting the setting. Even beyond the graphics, the maps felt alive, with beetles stomping on tree branches, sleepfrogs trembling in fear when a large monster went by, and herds of aptonoth (they do move in herds!) gently grazing the grass while flocks of birds chill out on their backs. It mas majestic.
And it seems that Wilds is going even harder on the “Animal Planet” aspect of the series! Even the (rather limited) open beta for the game allowed players to witness scenes like small predators catching their prey at a riverbank, birds going through their migrations and nesting seasons, or monsters large and small moving and fighting in packs. It’s a good thing the Ghillie mantle and a camera are making a comeback in the game, because you could spend many hours just admiring the work Capcom put into making this setting feel like a living place.
The biomes also go through distinct phases, each having their own challenges, opportunities, and monster activity. For example, if you want to hunt down the thunderous wyvern Rey Dau, you better get out into the lightning storm raging across Windward Plains during its Inclemency period.
Mounting expectations
Monster Hunter World introduced rideable small monsters when the Iceborne expansion rolled in. All you could do with them was specify a destination and rely on them to get there. It was handy for giving you a moment to sharpen the weapons or recraft potions. MH Rise introduced Palamutes, fully controllable, rideable dogs who could also join you in combat with a range of helpful skills.
Wilds goes a step further, introducing Seikrets, feathery lizards which look a bit like the Varactyl Obi-Wan was riding in Revenge of the Sith. Unlike a Varactyl, however, they are mostly bipedal and can glide with their wing-like forelimbs. More importantly: Seikret can not only self-navigate, but also have a holster for a secondary weapon. That’s right: you take TWO weapons on a hunt and can swap them easily when you’re in the saddle. You don’t even need to dismount to get some attacks in, which is going to make it easier to bother monsters when they are moving from one zone to another.
Mix’n’match armor sets
A major boost to the true endgame — Fashion Hunter — is the fact that in Wilds you will be able to craft armor pieces for both male and female hunters regardless of the body type you pick in character creation.
This way you have double the variety of armor pieces to choose from compared to previous instalments. The community was delighted by this change’s announcement, and one can only hope that getting the “layered” versions of the armor pieces will be as easy as it was in MH Rise, rather than as unfriendly as in World.
Engine change
Before we phase into the conclusion, it’s important to note that there was a substantial engine change between MH World and Wilds. Technically the change happened with Rise, but it was a much smaller game, so while excellent, it’s lessons aren’t necessarily applicable.
MHW ran on Capcom’s MT Framework, while MHWi is built in (also Capcom’s) RE Engine. It remains to be seen what the release-day performance is going to be, and unfortunately the second Open Beta period reportedly does not feature optimization changes made since the previous one, so it’s anybody’s guess. Prior experiences with the engine are inconclusive: Rise and Resident Evils worked splendidly, while Dragon’s Dogma 2 struggled in certain areas.
We’ll see when the Wilds launches at the end of February.
Plenty to wait for
Talking about all the stuff Wilds is changing relative to World would take an article that’s twice as long, especially if we delved into more gameplay comparisons, but it’s not the only article on MHWi we’re ever going to have, so we’ll cap this one here.
Exploring the World, or going Wild?
MH World completed its lifecycle a few years ago, which makes it a known quantity. There are still plenty of players for those interested in co-op, a rotation of seasonal events, and a truckload of guides and other community-sourced tutorials to help you get ahead. And it’s still amazing, worth playing even if you also plan to get Wilds.
Speaking of MHWi, getting on that train at release (coming February 28th) means experiencing the discovery and wonder at the same time everybody else does, and getting ahead of the inevitable content updates bringing in loads of new monsters, quests, and gear. And, since Wilds is allegedly going to have a story that isn’t perfunctory, it also means avoiding spoilers, if its something you care about.
Ultimately, it is up to you, whether you want to play one of the hottest releases of the year as soon as it arrives, or spend some time in one of the best games of 2018 and 2019 (the Iceborne expansion) and wait for Wilds to cool a bit.
One way or another, take a look at offers on our Marketplace, and grab yourself a deal, there’s no reason to pay full price, after all.