How Monster Hunter Wilds Can Improve On Monster Hunter World

Monster Hunter Wilds was recently announced at The Game Awards. The teaser trailer revealed that the game will be released in 2025, launching the long-running franchise into its sixth generation of games. This generational leap accompanies a move to the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series systems; Wilds‘ trailer makes it evident that the developers at Capcom intend to take full advantage of the increase in power. 2018’s Monster Hunter World brought the franchise into even greater popularity because of its massive leaps forward in presentation and its environments, and its portable Switch follow-up, Rise, continued to build on World‘s focus on exploration. To succeed, Monster Hunter Wilds must double down on its commitment to these themes while implementing other changes.

Before Monster Hunter World, the franchise typically thrived on handheld platforms. Not only did players have to load into areas from a hub world, but they had to load between zones within that area. World took advantage of the hardware it was on to eliminate this and build larger regions with more ecological diversity. Rise had less dense regions but focused on movement and let players explore every inch of its areas. Monster Hunter has never looked better, and these choices have modernized the franchise, but they resulted in fewer changes to other aspects of the titles than previous Monster Hunter games. Monster Hunter Wilds must build on what made MH World a hit, but it cannot neglect these other elements for another entry.

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Changes That Will Put Monster Hunter Wilds Ahead of MH World

Bigger Regions or an Open-World

Monster Hunter World stood apart from previous entries because of its immersive environments and sense of exploration. The obvious next step is to make Monster Hunter Wilds open-world. Alternatively, making each area larger could achieve a similar effect. Monster Hunter World‘s zones were some of the series’ largest, but given the density of small monsters visible in Wilds‘s trailer, larger areas with more to discover feel like a must. The flight abilities of Wilds’ mount are also indicative that there will be large areas to traverse. An open world or massive regions would put MH Wilds ahead of MH World, and getting one of the two seems like an inevitability.

Better Hub Areas

Whether or not Monster Hunter Wilds is open-world, it needs a better hub area than Astera was in World. Astera was large and felt immersive, but navigating it was often confusing for new players, and its fast travel system introduced lengthy loading screens on the console version. Monster Hunter World: Iceborne added Seliana, a more condensed hub world that solved many of these issues in addition to adding new features. Rise‘s Kamura village is also easier to navigate and oozes charm. Monster Hunter Wilds‘ hub areas need to be practical from the start rather than being fixed in DLC. Kamura Village and Seliana show that these spaces can be functional without sacrificing charm and immersion.

New Weapons and Combat Overhauls

The MH series hasn’t had a new weapon type in almost a decade. While Monster Hunter World and Rise made changes to the way some weapons work, the games are long overdue for a new type of weapon to be added. New systems or additional flexibility could also help to flesh out Monster Hunter Wilds‘ combat more. If the game features larger zones and a more open structure, letting players carry two weapons on a hunt would further enhance player freedom. Monster Hunter‘s weapons are a big part of the franchise’s appeal, so adding more and fleshing out systems around them makes sense.

Bring Back Wirebugs

Monster Hunter Rise introduced Wirebugs which could be used to move quickly, launch one’s character into the air, or do special attacks in combat. Wirebugs, alongside wall running, made Monster Hunter Rise‘s movement the franchise’s best, and the special moves they introduce are a more balanced alternative to MH World‘s clutch claw. Monster Hunter Wilds‘ trailer shows that its environments will be largely enhanced, and Rise‘s navigation tools could make exploring them more fun. This inclusion, alongside other enhancements, could make Monster Hunter Wilds an even bigger step forward for the franchise than MH World.

Monster Hunter World

Released

January 26, 2018

Genre(s)

Action RPG

ESRB

T for Teen: Blood, Mild Language, Use of Alcohol, Violence

How Long To Beat

48 Hours

Metascore

90