2025 is shaping up to be a massive year for gaming, with titles likeAvowed, Borderlands 4, Civilization 7, Death Stranding 2, Fable, Grand Theft Auto 6, Metroid Prime 4, Pokemon Legends: Arceus, and more already written into next year’s calendar. Not least among them isMonster Hunter Wilds, an upcoming entry in one of Capcom’s many flagship franchises. Expanding on the alreadymassive success inMonster Hunter World, Monster Hunter Wildswill see players become a Hunter journeying to the Forbidden Lands on a new mission. Once thought to be abandoned, these lands are teeming with life, monsters, and humans, with the driving mystery being The White Wrath and the destruction of a village inhabited by people.
Game Rant recently played aMonster Hunter Wildsdemo at Gamescom, which consisted of two parts: the opening segment of the game and a later, more open field. We started the demo off by getting to choose a preset look for our Hunter and Palico, with us choosing an older gent with enviable facial hair for the former and a Palico with an equally amazing mustache for the latter. Once that was chosen, the beginning cinematic kicked off.
Monster Hunter Wilds Starts Off Strong
The opening cinematic shows off the major graphical enhancements betweenMonster Hunter WildsandMonster Hunter World, and it explains we were chosen for this hunt in the Forbidden Lands. The commander-esque NPC explains that The White Wraith attacked a village there, where a child named Nata was the only survivor. Although unconfirmed, it seems that this White Wraith is theflagship monster forMonster Hunter Wilds, but either way, we’re off to the Forbidden Lands after that. We’re introduced to our party (which is also joined by Nata), get moving, and then once we arrive, we see a young girl around Nata’s age riding a Seikret, being chased by a horde of monsters.
Given a great sword, we hop on another nearbySeikret and get taught how the riding works. It felt surprisingly smooth for an otherwise erratic animal, and the chase scene ended up being a lot of fun. It was an effective and not-long tutorial that pushed us into our first hunt. After saving the girl, she tells us her old brother is in danger, and we use the Seikret (who knows his scent) to hunt him down in a nearby cave. We were able to choose our weapons for the upcoming fight, however, and there’s a small questionnaire for anyone who needs to know what type of weapon in Monster Hunter Wilds fits their preferred playstyle best. We decided on the Switch Axe and followed the Seikret to a cave system.
Once we found her brother, he was being attacked by a Chatacabra. Anyone who has played Monster Hunter knows what to expect from the combat, and this was no different. It was pretty simple and straightforward as the tutorial boss, and it served as a good highlight for upcoming fights. We could call our Seikret during this fight to get away (if needed), heal, do combat from it, and sharpen our weapon. The various combos fromMonster Hunter Wilds' Switch Axewere fun both mechanically and visually, and it was obvious how this combat would be strengthened later in the game.
What really stood out was how obvious the wounds were, with certain areas of a monster glowing red now when in Focus Mode.Monster Hunter Wilds' Focus Modelets players more accurately aim their attacks to break specific parts, and with all the returning and new features, it went down rather easily. We made for a nearby camp with the brother intact, saw the cinematic there, and were then moved to the second part of the demo.
Monster Hunter Wilds: Hunting the Alpha Doshaguma
The second part of the demo began with us in a camp, choosing our weapons once again (and we stuck with the reliable Switch Axe and chose aHeavy Bowgun). We were told that we were to hunt an Alpha Doshaguma, but that we needed to separate it from its pack by flinging dung at it. This would cause it to stink and presumably drive away the lesser Doshaguma, but true to their pack mentality, that still proved easier said than done. After some back-and-forths, a distraction here and there, we got it alone and went to work with our weapons. The combat was everything a Monster Hunter fan could want, with us later chasing it down to finish it off.
However, what caught our attention most in this fight is not exactly what went down during it, but what happened around it. At one point during the fight, we saw massive lightning crashing down in the distance. It wasn’t some far-off flash but, instead, massive crashes that were seemingly getting closer. They never did get right on top of us though, and later on, we figured out it was caused by another monster. That environmental reaction isn’t just caused by monsters either. During the fight, the sands began to whip up as a storm enveloped our fight, entirely naturally. Capcom has said that it aimed to make more realistic creature reactions andenvironments inMonster Hunter Wilds, and it seems safe to say it succeeded. It really set the tone for an excellent hunt.
The nameMonster Huntersets certain expectations when it comes to environments, gameplay as a whole, and combat, andMonster Hunter Wildsnailed that tone in each of these areas. It pushes the envelope selectively, but in ways that definitely matter. And while there’s still quite a wait until its release, it seems like it’ll be worth it.
Monster Hunter Wilds
WHERE TO PLAY
The unbridled force of nature runs wild and relentless, with environments transforming drastically from one moment to the next. This is a story of monsters and humans and their struggles to live in harmony in a world of duality.Fulfill your duty as a Hunter by tracking and defeating powerful monsters and forging strong new weapons and armor from the materials you harvest from your hunt as you uncover the connection between the people of the Forbidden Lands and the locales they inhabit.The ultimate hunting experience awaits you in Monster Hunter Wilds.
