10 Biggest Differences In Monster Hunter Wilds From Monster Hunter World

There used to be two seperate Monster Hunter series: Monster Hunter Main, and Monster Hunter Portable. That distinction has largely been forgotten, but the tradition can help us understand the relationship between Monster Hunter World and Monster Hunter Wilds.

Wilds is the follow-up to Monster Hunter World, seven years in the making. It takes a similar approach to World by making the famously arcane series more approachable and friendly to new players. Wilds takes that ethos a step further by borrowing mechanics from some of the most popular RPG and open-world games of all time. Read on to find out the biggest differences between Monster Hunter World and Monster Hunter Wild.

A Bigger, More Interconnected World

Like World, Monster Hunter Wild’s hunting grounds are split up into distinct biomes. But this time around you won’t be returning to a single town at the end of every hunt. Wilds’ world is built as one continuous sequence of interconnected maps that you can travel between on foot, with townships and villages placed within those maps, rather than outside of them.

The effect is that Wilds has a more seamless world to explore. It’s faster and easier to travel between the different biomes, and you don’t have to waste any time between hunts going back to the hub every time. Wilds delivers a more natural monster-hunting simulation than any of the games that came before it.

The Seikret Mount Is A Game Changer

It’s hard to overstate just how much the new seikret mount changes the game. This nimble creature is always by your side, ready to scoop you up at a moment’s notice and ferry you anywhere you want to go.

In battle, the seikret provides a way to escape danger or recover from a hit quickly. It also allows you to perform battle maintenance like drinking potions and sharpening your weapon without having to stop moving. The seikret even automatically takes you to the monster so that you can spend your travel time harvesting crafting materials or preparing for the next leg of the fight. You can even attack from the mount without getting off! This companion changes the texture of monster hunts immensly.

Alpha Leaders Of The Pack

While most monsters are still solitary predators, there are a few that prefer to travel in a pack, with the biggest and most aggressive monster serving as the pack’s alpha. It is often necessary to separate the alpha monsters from the rest of their pack, and you have a variety of ways to accomplish that. Sometimes you can lead the smaller monsters into a trap, or lose them in a chase. The most efficient way to get rid of a monster is the same as always: hit ’em with a big ol’ ball of poop.

Herds add a new layer of realism to Monster Hunter Wilds that will change how you approach certain fights. It’s always fun to learn more about the ethology of the monsters, and Wilds provides a lot more details about where and how each monster lives.

Monster Wounds Are Weak Spots You Make Yourself

Focus mode is a new mechanic in Wilds that lets you target specific body parts on a monster, and wounds are a new monster mechanic that rewards you for your diligence and careful aim during a hunt. While wounds may seem like a more complicated version of weak spots at first, they’re just a new way to control a hunt and demonstrate the damage you’re doing visually.

If you attack the same spot on a monster repeatedly you will eventually open up a wound that you can target in focus mode. By repeatedly attacking a wound you will deal bonus damage until the wound is eventually destroyed, causing the monster to flinch and take even more bonus damage. Each weapon has a special focus attack you can use to instantly break wounds too. It’s a fascinating system that adds more depth and pacing than anything we saw in Monster Hunter World.

A Big Focus On Narrative

If Monster Hunter World has any flaw it’s definitely its paint-by-numbers story. In fact, the entire Monster Hunter series has always been light on narrative implements. That has never really bothered fans, but Capcom decided to approach Wilds’ narrative as an area for improvement anyway.

From the prologue cutscene, it’s clear that Wilds puts a big emphasis on story and character. Your journey across the Forbidden Lands is an action-packed odyssey that reveals a number of interesting and surprising details about the way the world of Monster Hunter works. Ultimately this isn’t the greatest story ever told in a video game, but it’s easily the best one a Monster Hunter game has ever offered.

Not including Monster Hunter Stories, which are fantastic story-driven turn-based RPGs.

Dangerous Weather Patterns

The regions or biomes of Monster Hunter Wild are all subjected to a weather cycle. These weather conditions have a huge impact on the topography of each biome, as well as the monsters you’ll encounter and the threats you’ll face during a hunt. This is another step towards realism for Monster Hunter, and the way these weather systems affect battles is pretty remarkable.

Each biome cycles between three phases: fallow, inclemency, and plenty. The Fallow is a drought where not much grows and the river beds are drained. The Inclemency follows, which is characterized by a devastating storm system that creates dangerous lightning strikes. Finally, during the period of Plenty you will encounter new endemic life in the area, as well as lots of resources to gather across the lush and thriving biome. Weather makes each region feel like three different locations, and it adds a lot of variety to the gameplay.

No More Cat Chef

Thanks to Wilds new open-zone approach, you won’t see the return of the beloved Meowscular Chef. The Master Cat Chef was your go-to for battle prep in Worlds, but this time around you’ll have to rely on your own cooking abilities to make sure you’re plenty fed and prepared for the battles ahead.

Using the portable BBQ, you now have the ability to cook a world-class meal anywhere, at any time. Luckily we still get to enjoy those gorgeous cooking cutscenes and delicious-looking meals, but sadly we’ll be eating alone without our favorite Palico chef.

Support Hunters Are NPC Teammates

While Monster Hunter World lets you play with your friends throughout most of the campaign and beyond, Wilds introduces a new way to hunt with a party. Support Hunters are NPC companions that you can summon to your side in battle in the exact same way you would send of a flare to call for other human hunters. They’re prepared for battle, and in some ways, are more reliable than human players.

This is a great feature for those who don’t like teaming up with other people in the game and will be especially beneficial to players who start late. It can sometimes be hard to find other players willing to do early game content once the game has been out for a while, so Support Hunters ensure you’ll always have a teammate by your side if you want one.

Fight Better With Two Weapon Loadouts

For the first time, Monster Hunter Wilds lets you equip two weapon loadouts at the same time. Your primary weapon is the one you’ll begin each hunt with, but if you jump on your seikret you can instantly swap to your other weapon set. This is a great way to ensure that you’re prepared for any battle by allowing you to make adjustments when your weapon isn’t optimized for your current fight.

This feature might make Wilds too complicated for some, but for veteran Monster Hunter players, this is a welcome addition that will make you a lot more flexible in battle. Even if you aren’t prepared to play two weapons at once, you can always use your second slot to equip an elemental version of your main weapon. This way you can swap between them depending on the monster you happen to be hunting.

Wear Whatever Armor You Want

While World had gender-specific armor pieces, Wilds lets you outfit your hunter with whatever gear you like. There are still two cosmetic choices for every armor piece, but you have the option to choose between the more masculine or more feminine option for each piece, regardless of the gender of your character.

This is a boon for those of us who know fashion is the real endgame for Monster Hunter, but it’s also just a much-needed feature for Monster Hunter going forward. Capcom has been behind the times a bit on this one, so it’s nice to see the studio course correct and decouple armor design from gender this time.