>>FULL REVIEW
Monster Hunter Wilds is probably the easiest game in the series to recommend to someone who always looked at Monster Hunter and thought it seemed like too much work.
Capcom removed a lot of that work.
Finding monsters is easier.
Moving around is easier.
Managing hunts is easier.
Even combat is slightly easier to understand thanks to Focus Mode helping players aim attacks at specific wounds and monster parts.
The actual weapons are still beautifully complicated.
Great Sword does not play like Dual Blades.
Bow does not feel like Hammer.
Learning one weapon properly can be more satisfying than unlocking twenty weapons in another RPG.
That part of Monster Hunter remains untouched.
Where Wilds becomes controversial is everything surrounding those fights.
Older Monster Hunter games made preparation part of the identity. Learning environments mattered. Bringing the wrong items mattered. Tracking something could take time.
Wilds constantly tries to get you back to the monster faster.
As a casual player that sounds great.
For longtime hunters it can make the experience feel less like hunting and more like selecting which boss you want to fight next.
The environments themselves are gorgeous enough that I wish exploring them mattered more.
Weather changes entire areas. Herds move around. Monsters interact naturally and the whole world feels much more alive than a sequence of combat arenas.
Then there is performance.
This has been Wilds' ugly cloud since launch.
Capcom has spent a huge amount of time improving optimization and the current version is better than the original release. PC reception still makes it obvious that players have not forgotten.
A game this expensive should not have needed this long to get its technical side under control.
The content situation has improved considerably too. Wilds launched lighter than some fans expected and grew into a stronger game through updates.
That history matters when reviewing it now.
Current Wilds is good.
The combat is often excellent.
The frustrating part is knowing it could have had a much cleaner reputation if the technical condition and endgame had been stronger from the beginning.
WHO THIS IS FOR
Players who want Monster Hunter’s excellent combat without as much of the old friction surrounding every hunt.
SKIP IT IF
Poor optimization bothers you or the preparation and tracking side of older Monster Hunter games was your favorite part.
