Monster Hunter Wilds promises to be one of the most exciting games of the early 2025 release calendar. We know the drill at this point: With it comes vast exotic lands full of new and returning creatures for us to hunt solo or with our pals alongside Capcom’s latest system improvements and gimmicks for the game. However, at Tokyo Game Show 2024, I got a deeper taste of what that means. After spending time in the story with the Charge Blade and going on free hunts with the Gunlance, I’m loving the new things you can do from Wilds’ new mount, as well as the devastation you can unleash with Focus Strikes.
A new land ravaged by dangerous beasts
Monster Hunter Wilds kicks off in a desert biome as we join a hunting caravan into the dunes and rocks of this latest area. There was a village in these lands, but it has been hit hard by a dangerous and deadly apex predator that scattered its people to the winds. In the story demo we came along just in time to save some of those people. It starts with a child who is running through the desert from a pack of sandworm-like creatures that are chasing her desperately for a happy snack. Thankfully, she’s on a speedy Seikret, the new mount in Wilds, and another unmounted Seikret gives us the opportunity to jump on its back, give chase, and save her.
After that, we learned she was part of the desert village and was forced to flee with her brother. He stayed behind to help her escape and we go to find him with the Seikret we used to save the girl. That takes us right to the first monster of the game, the Chatacabra. It’s a frog-like Wyvern with a thick, long slimy tongue it likes to unleash on the unfortunate beings it wants to make into its meal. The brother is one of those things, so we intervene and go after the beast, turning this particular beastly predator into the prey.
I used the Charge Blade in this story demo. I’ve mained it since Worlds came out and enjoy its defense in Sword-and-Shield Mode, which is used to charge its devastating attacks in Axe Mode. Hitting those big swings with a fully-loaded Charge Blade is just as delectable as always, but it was when Wilds started introducing me to Focus Strikes that it got buck wild. If you focus your attention on certain parts of a foe long enough, you can eventually open up a weak spot. That’s when you use the Focus system to focus your attacks into that spot, and finally hit it with some absurd finishers depending on what weapon you use. For the Charge Blade, the Focus Strike put it in Axe Mode and got the blade spinning like a buzzsaw, upon which I buried it in Chatacabra’s face and knocked it on its butt.
I was a little rusty on my combos, though, so I’m excited what I’ll be able to do once I’m hitting Amped Elemental strikes again. For this early battle, belt sanding it with Focus Strikes and finishers was enough to do the job.
Where the wild things wander
I played a second demo at Tokyo Game Show 2024 that stepped away from the story and put us on a free hunt, where you can explore a biome to your heart’s content and hunt down its common Wyverns. In particular, we were set on the trail of an Alpha Doshaguma. This was another hulking beast that had similarities to a very hairy buffalo. Also, as the name implies, it’s the leader of a pack that travels along with it. Fighting the pack all at once was far too dangerous, so we needed to isolate the Alpha from the rest for the hunt to be successful. Enter the improved Hunter’s Sling and the Dung Pods.
At first, I actually ended up having to fight the pack and it was clear they’d steamroller us, barraging my hunter with charging attacks that kept me off balance. After getting my footing amid the Doshaguma and its crew, I blasted it with Dung Pods to make them scatter in every direction. Singling them out is key to fighting back, after all. After scaring them away, I used the Seikret to track the Alpha to its new location and begin the real battle.
For this fight I used the Gunlance, which lets you unleash artillery-powered stabs and explosive follow-ups when you get your combos right. It’s very much a dance of letting a rip with bullets and stabs, and reloading when you feel safe to do so behind the security of your shield. Once again, hitting the Focus Strikes on this beast was when I had the most fun, but I also enjoyed the utility that the Seikret mount brought to this fight.
In Wilds, you can now use the Sling to collect items from the environment. That means if I needed to refill my stock of Dung Pods, I could get it without having to leave the Seikret’s back, and at distance. In most cases, I could grab an item at high speed while riding after the tracks of my quarry. That’s a great addition to Wilds, even beating out being able to collect resources from the Palamute’s back in Rise. You still had to get close in that case. Now you just need to be close enough to target it with the Sling.
It looks like there are also contextual combat moments in battle that can be hugely beneficial if you hit or defend at the right time against monsters. At one point, the Doshaguma lunged at me, snapping its jaw around the edges of my Gunlance’s shield and prompting a button mash prompt. By hitting the prompted button fast and repeatedly, I eventually parried the monster back, shoved my Gunlance in its muzzle, and unleashed every shell I had into its mouth. It was insanely exhilarating, and I’m excited beyond belief to see what the other weapon classes might get from clashes like these.
The Wilds call to you
As if I couldn’t be more giddy for Monster Hunter Wilds, I was floored by what I got to play at Tokyo Game Show 2024. My Charge Blade and Gunlance felt amazing in this game with the extra hype of clashes and Focus Strikes, and I really appreciate the quality-of-life improvements that come with the Seikret. Being able to load two weapons onto it was cool enough, but grabbing resources on the fly from its back is an awesome upgrade over previous games. I was excited for Monster Hunter Wilds before this. Now I can hardly wait for February 2025 to arrive.
This is based on two playable PS5 early demos of the game at Tokyo Game Show 2024. Monster Hunter Wilds comes to PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S on February 28, 2025.
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replyTJ Denzer posted a new article, Monster Hunter Wilds' Focus Strikes & mounted interactions make hunts more exhilarating
