An increased focus on the natural ecosystem and interplay between monsters points towards a more systems-driven Monster Hunter. I’m all about it.
“Living, breathing world” is a 100% an overused cliche when it comes to games, and I’m not going to tell you that you’ll be so immersed in Capcom’s ambitious Monster Hunter sequel that you’ll feel like you’re really there. But in a hands-off demo of Wilds at Summer Game Fest, most of what Capcom shared that’s new in this iteration stemmed from a more deeply simulated world, with each detail getting me more excited than the last. The presentation seemed laser-targeted on addressing what I thought were Monster Hunter’s biggest weaknesses, or at least opportunities: making the hunt part of Monster Hunter as involved and varied as the parts where you smash a creature in the face with a giant sword.
Here’s a smattering of things from the presentation that immediately got me psyched:
Quests no longer have to be selected from a mission board or NPC menu; you can dynamically start them by initiating hunts in the field.
Wilds seamlessly transitions between the village and the field. You can set up camps where you want out in the field and use them as fast travel points. And when you finish a hunt, there’s no need to go back to the village; you can stay out in the world and resupply from a camp.
There’s now a dynamic day/night system that affects monster behavior, movement patterns, and more.
Weather events both directly and indirectly affect combat and monster behavior: a sandstorm lowers visibility, sends herbivores fleeing the area, and causes lightning strikes that can hit the player and monsters. The desert’s thunder element apex predator also becomes more powerful during the storm and actively wants to be struck by lightning. Lightning striking shrub brush can also trigger fires.
There’s seemingly a higher density of environmental traps like vines, rockslides, etc. you can trigger remotely with the new hook slinger.
More advanced monster AI enables more advanced behavior and interactivity between monsters; for example, when a new monster named Doshaguma was near death, a horde of small raptors decided they had a shot to take it down. They were wrong, but still, cool to see them going on the offensive.
To give you some perspective on where I sit as a Monster Hunter player: I loved World, my first experience with the series, and played it religiously for months.
