Everything I’ve heard about Monster Hunter Wilds so far makes me want to play it. Obviously first and foremost, the fact it’s reviewing so well means a lot of people think it’s a good game. But that’s a pretty basic reason. There’s also the fact it has retained or even expanded upon my favourite part of the game – the cinematic scope – and while opinions vary on whether streamlining the complexities is an overall positive, it certainly appeals to me, a filthy casual.
But there is one part of the Monster Hunter Wilds buzz that is putting me off. ‘Once you’ve rolled credits, that’s where the real game starts!’. I’ll level with you, sport. I just don’t care enough. Once I roll credits I’ll be putting the game down and moving on with my life. It’s nothing personal, it’s just how most video games work.
I Won’t Stick Around After The Story
The main draw in a video game for me is the story. The underlying gameplay needs to be cool, and conversely I have played a lot of games with bad, light, or nonexistent stories because I’ve enjoyed the mechanics – but once I’ve taken those characters to the convoluted end of their arc, I’m done. I even make up stories for myself in sports games to feel that narrative drive.
You might now be saying ‘but Monster Hunter doesn’t really have a story!’. You might also be saying ‘that’s fair, Monster Hunter always has great stories!’. I wouldn’t know. I’m a filthy casual and thus, while I have tried, I have never actually finished one. I am hoping Wilds will be one to go the distance, but you have to understand that for me, the distance is the credits. Regardless of what Marvel movies have trained us to think, the list of all the people who worked on a thing signals the end of that thing, and it will be my cue to exit.
It’s nothing against Monster Hunter. In fact, the nature of the reviews have seen it oust Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii from the top spot of my ‘play next’ list having already dispatched Avowed before making my way through Citizen Sleeper 2. In part that’s because I think I’ll have more to write about it – which means you get to read more articles from Stacey Not A True Fan Henley! – but also because everything everyone is saying about it (except this one thing) is making the game seem perfect for me.
Sometimes, Post-Credits Are Worth Sticking Around For
Obviously, there are exceptions to this ‘credit’ rule. Some games play with the meta of it all. Nier: Automata, for example, is a decent enough action-adventure game up until the first time you roll credits. It’s not until you play it again that the themes of perspective, religion, identity, and existentialism come into focus. I one hundred percent agree that you don’t see the real Nier: Automata until after the first set of credits, but in this case credits are part of the actual story, not (as they seem to be in Monster Hunter) the signifier of the end of the narrative and the beginning of the more challenging hunts where the only draw is bloodlust.
Other games are in this company too. Animal Well is two (maybe even three) games in one that you unlock one after the other by reaching the end and gathering collectibles. That, too, uses the credits playfully as part of the narrative. Both Animal Well and Nier: Automata offer a version of a full game before the credits, but not the full experience.
I haven’t played Monster Hunter Wilds myself, so it may be that this is the game Capcom gets high art with it and makes the credits a metatextual experience to show cycles of violence against beasts whose only crime is to follow their nature next to settlements we have unnaturally built in their domain. But from what I’m reading, that’s just when the game gets harder and gives you more freedom, and thus goes from good to great.
Well, I’m good with good. If I end up truly loving Wilds, I might stick around and sweep up absolutely everything. But in a busy year, I can’t make any promises. If the credits aren’t a narrative device but are a barrier to separate ‘this is the part of the story you need to play for a complete experience’ and ‘but this is the really good stuff once you’ve got that out of the way’, I think I’m fine with a complete experience. If you’re making a game that appeals to casuals, you have to be prepared for some of them to come in with a casual’s attitude.
-
OpenCritic
-
Top Critic Rating:
89/100
- Released
-
February 28, 2025