I’ve always struggled to get into Monster Hunter despite repeated, fairly lengthy attempts. I put a dozen hours into World, and about the same amount of time into Rise, and though there were things I liked about the games, I could never get into the Capcom series’ particular brand of crunchiness.
Rejecting Monster Hunter’s Particular Flavor
This is weird because I tend to crave that crunch. I’ve written recently about how much I enjoy Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2’s detail-oriented gameplay that forces you to sweat the small stuff. Baldur’s Gate 3, a very mechanically deep game, is one of my favorite games of all time. And though I struggle to beat FromSoftware’s games, I love them, and can spend dozens of hours in their worlds even if I never cross the finish line. I tend to enjoy games that demand a lot from the player, but Monster Hunter has consistently kept me at insect glaive’s length.
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Wilds is the easiest Monster Hunter yet, and I’m not sure how to feel about it.
As Monster Hunter Wilds has approached, I’ve realized that I may have been put off by the series’ lack of attention to characters and storytelling — both of which Wilds is working to change. These have, until now, been games that are laser-focused on hunts. There are characters and quests, but the most important thing is getting pelts and making belts. That’s the core gameplay loop. You prepare, head out into the field, kill a monster, collect parts, and craft armor.
That hasn’t been enough for me. I just haven’t enjoyed the gameplay enough for that to be all that’s pulling me forward.
Plus, I just don’t love heading back to camp between hunts.
So, the news that Wilds is so approachable it’s turning off some long-time series fans is great news for me. Reviewers are praising the characters, saying they go beyond the perfunctory roles they’ve played in the past. They’re complaining about the game being easier (which has me peering into the release window like a sicko). And the loop has been tweaked slightly so that you don’t need to go back to homebase between hunts. You can just keep exploring.
All of this sounds great, as does the campaign being shorter and more streamlined than in previous entries. I may not click with Monster Hunter this time around, but finishing Wilds’ story would leave me feeling that, converted or not, I gave it an honest try.
Is Change A Good Thing?
But I’m skeptical it will be great news for the series’ long-term health or sales prospects. As Dragon Age: The Veilguard’s failure indicated, watering down a series’ core appeal to attract a more mainstream audience doesn’t work as well anymore. After over a decade of Dark Souls, the broader game playing audience has gotten accustomed to esoteric design, complicated systems, and high difficulty. Baldur’s Gate 3 was huge, Dragon’s Dogma 2 was huge, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is huge and getting huger. The two best-selling Zelda games are the ones with tough enemies, crafting systems, survival mechanics, limited handholding, and open-ended structures. Players want a little gravel in their granola. I may not be into Monster Hunter, but I generally share that desire for deeper experiences, not more streamlined, approachable fluff. Give me unfair death over constant success any day of the week.
You can only sand down an experience so much before there’s nothing recognizable left. As I prepare to hop into Monster Hunter Wilds, I’m hoping that it manages to thread the needle, bringing in a non-fan like me onboard while also getting old fans back into the hunt. But that seems as difficult as, well, getting Diablos to drop its hardhorn.
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