I have a love/hate relationship with the Monster Hunter series. The first title I ever tried was Monster Hunter World. I went into that game with low expectations, but I was completely wrong and ended up really enjoying my time with it. After that, I decided to pick up Monster Hunter Rise, which turned out to be a huge mistake as I immediately was dissatisfied with it. Due to that poor experience, I was iffy about getting Monster Hunter Wilds. Now that I tried the beta, I’m wishing it would be released sooner.
My starting hours with the Monster Hunter Wilds beta
While I didn’t get to spend the entire weekend playing Monster Hunter Wilds, my experience made me want to keep going despite my other obligations. When I launched the beta, I was greeted with an in-depth character creator that is something out of the Dark Souls series. I felt like I could make anyone I wanted and so I toyed with it for hours until I made my character look just right. With my shiny new hunter ready to go, I jumped into the sands, ready to take down some giant monsters. Don’t think it went easy on me. After the tutorial, I was thrust into a fight I was ill-prepared for but eagerly accepted.
I quickly mounted a Seikret in an exciting chase to rescue a girl being attacked by various sandworm-looking monsters called Balahara. Dodging left and right, the Balahara kept me on my toes, but I prevailed thanks to my quick wits and trusty sling. After getting to safety, it was time to choose my gear. My weapon of choice; was the trust Insect Glaive, which had more controls than I remember it having in Monster Hunter World. Despite the numerous inputs, the controls felt very intuitive and I could easily figure out my attacks if I forgot them thanks to the on-screen prompts.
Moving onto the first quest, I took my insect glaive into battle against my first monster; The Chatacabra – a fierce foe that took many strikes to fell. Nevertheless, I managed to scrape on by with barely a scratch. The first fight was thrilling, much like World was back in the day but with an extra layer of excitement brought on by the monster’s wild strikes and quick movements. I had to stay on my toes to make sure I didn’t fall victim to its many attacks. When the beast finally fell, I felt a wave of relief and enjoyment as I collected its parts and continued on.
A massively appealing and detailed open-world
After felling the beast, I moved on to camp where I explored and was greeted with an immense level of detail. For instance, Gemma, the blacksmith, can be seen crafting weapons for the company. Pay close attention to her and you can watch as she takes a starting piece of metal, throws it into the furnace, hammers it into a blade, and quenches it in the water trough. Sure, you can see similar details in other games, but the level of detail Capcom achieved in this sequence alone is enough to pull me in.
After exploring the camp, I tried out some more of the weapons. I have always been one to stick with one or two weapons and never branch outside of my comfort zone. I wanted to change things up with this new Monster Hunter title so I tried out the charge blade and the longsword. First, the charge blade, while much different than the insect glaive, offered the same level of intuitiveness as my previous weapon. I never had a struggle with it and instead, the attacks felt natural and flowed together easily. The same can be said about the longsword. The moveset offered a good range of attacks without making it overly complicated to wield. I can’t wait to try out more weapons when the full game is released.
Finally, I rode out of camp and into the beautiful desert landscape. The movement of my mount felt smooth and the way it jumped between the rocks was astounding. It moved with grace toward the next monster on my list; the Doshaguma. Little did I know, this monster likes to roam in packs, which I quickly discovered as its kin attacked me and tossed me around like a ragdoll. It was the perfect opportunity to try out the network features. I quickly launched an S.O.S. and had other hunters by my side within moments. We made quick work of the three monsters attacking us and shared a bountiful reward. While I didn’t attempt multiplayer much, it didn’t have any issues.
I have hope for the future of Monster Hunter
After my experience with Monster Hunter Rise, I was understandably a bit nervous to try out Wilds. After all, the series felt like it took a step back from everything I experienced in Monster Hunter World. I am glad to say that the Monster Hunter Wilds beta feels as though the series took a massive five steps forward thanks to the level of detail in the world, the intuitiveness of the combat system, and the fierceness of the monsters. Everything I experienced in the beta was golden and I hope that the full release of the game is just as good.
