Monster Hunter Wilds is a more streamlined hunt than ever before

Capcom has been gradually going bigger with each mainline Monster Hunter title. The publisher isn't bucking that trend with the upcoming Monster Hunter Wilds. In many ways, it feels far bigger than its predecessors, from the scale of the wildlands to the game's various features. As part of this year's Summer Game Fest: Play Days weekend, Shacknews got to take a first look at one of Capcom's biggest titles of 2025.

Capcom kicked things off the way most Monster Hunter games do and that's by strolling around the base camp. This is where players can prepare for their next objective at their own pace. They can take a moment to talk to other characters. They can prepare their arsenal and inventory for their next hunt. This can mean crafting weapons with Gemma the smithy or purchasing cooking ingredients from a nearby cheesemonger. After enduring a handful of bad cheese puns (the kind that are no gouda), the Capcom team demonstrates the game's cooking system. Hunters are advised to eat a good meal that raises their attributes for the next hunt and they can do so by combining ingredients and cooking their next dish at a campfire. If nothing else, Capcom can certainly be lauded for its detailed eating animation. Mastication never looked so good.

It's now time to start the hunt and this is where it should be noted how seamless the transition is from the preparation phase to the hunt itself. Monster Hunter Wilds was able to transition from the base camp, to the nearby village, to the wide open Windward Plains with no loading screens whatsoever.

The hunt could now begin. Solo hunters will ride with their handler Alma and their Palico companion. The Windward Plains are a wide open world filled dry brush, high-altitude cliffs, and active wildlife. The objective was to hunt down an Alpha Doshaguma, stronger than a standard version of the creature. Of course, being an Alpha, the target wasn't roaming alone. It was surrounded by several lesser Doshaguma and they were ready to protect their Alpha with all their might.

One of the handiest new features of Monster Hunter Wilds was noticeable from the very start of this hunt. Players can now ride a new mount called a Seikret. This is a bipedal bird-like creature, similar in appearance to chocobos from Square Enix's Final Fantasy series. They can move players through the plains quickly, helpful when being pursued by giant creatures like the Alpha Doshaguma. More importantly, players can perform actions while riding, whether it's swapping weapons or gathering materials, without having to stop.

The Alpha Doshaguma is a fierce beast. This specific one during our demo was also a jerk, as within minutes, it trampled the player-built camp just outside its habitat. Soon after, the fight was on. Monster Hunter veterans know that these hunts can be lengthy and depend on both a hunter's skills as well as a lot of luck. In this case, the hunter was able to drag the Alpha Doshaguma on a wild chase, away from its pack, and lure it onto a fortuitous quicksand trap, one laid down by a Balahara monster. This trapped the Alpha Doshaguma temporarily, but it wasn't long before it was back on its feet. Dynamic weather patterns started to kick in at this point, with an active sandstorm blinding all parties and leaving behind Thunderbugs, which could be used as a makeshift Shock Trap.

The next step was to lure the Alpha Doshaguma into a cavern with the hope of using environmental traps to weaken it further. This is where players can exercise standard Monster Hunter trapping strategies, like raining down boulders from above or getting the attention of a rival monster. Sure enough, this cave was home to a Chanacabra and it didn't appreciate invaders, so it got into an all-out brawl with the Alpha Doshaguma. As the two monsters got into a fight, it was time to call for backup. While it's possible to play Monster Hunter Wilds with friends, solo players who don't have friends available to them can fire off an SOS flare to summon three NPC hunters for an assist.

The NPC hunters are formidable fighters themselves, but their greater role is to help distract the target. While they distract the Alpha Doshaguma, a Shock Trap can be set up nearby. The NPC hunters will be aware if you're setting up a trap and will try and lure a target in that direction. The NPC distractions can also help if players need to make a temporary retreat back to camp to change weapons or refresh their inventory.

It takes roughly 25 minutes for the Capcom demo team to finally subdue the Alpha Doshaguma. Again, it took some heavy strokes of luck stacked onto their skill for this hunt to go right. At one point, they attempted to agitate a nearby Apex Monster in hopes that it could give the Alpha Doshaguma a beatdown. It certainly did that, but it also attacked the hunters, so the whole exercise turned out to be a wash. The hunters finally prevailed when they found the Alpha Doshaguma trying to sleep off the relentless attacks and woke it up by planting some Barrel Bombs, detonating them around the monster, and then ultimately subduing it with Dual Blades.

Continuing with the theme of streamlined hunting, successfully completing an objective will no longer take players back to the base camp. They now have the option to explore their surroundings further and potentially start another objective right away. The Capcom demo team showed off the ability to continue exploring the plains. Unfortunately, they were immediately ambushed by the Alpha Doshaguma's pack, unhappy that their leader had been taken down.

The Monster Hunter isn't short on water cooler stories, especially given how often Murphy's Law will apply itself. Monster Hunter Wilds looks to be no different and the best way to keep up a successful formula is to streamline it as much as possible. Capcom appears to be doing that and it'll be exciting to see what else the team comes up with. Monster Hunter Wilds is coming to PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S in 2025.

This preview is based on an early demo played live for the press during Summer Game Fest: Play Days 2024. The final product is subject to change.

Ozzie Mejia

Senior Editor

Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?