Monster Hunter Wilds, Or Monster Hunter World?

With the release of Monster Hunter Wilds, fans are ready to wonder which game truly brings the Monster Hunter experience and either expands on it or improves on it. Monster Hunter World brought the appeal of the series to a wider audience, and much of its DNA resides within Wilds.

6:30

Related

The Biggest Monsters In The Monster Hunter Series, Ranked

These 13 monsters are the biggest of them all, though that doesn’t stop an optimistic hunter from slaying each one.

But Monster Hunter Wilds brings many new forms of gameplay and adventure into the world of Monster Hunter. Both games, despite being similar, have some distinguishing features that make them unique experiences, regardless of where you start.

7

Graphics – Monster Hunter Wilds

Monster Hunter Wilds takes the franchise to new heights, being designed for the new hardware of consoles and testing the limits of PC graphics cards. The game also has the advantage of building on the foundations of the graphical evolution that started with Monster Hunter World.

Taking the advance further, Wilds plays with many details, from realistic injuries and wounds that you leave on monsters to new details of mining outposts and bonepiles. The details in monster attacks are also way more upgraded, and there are more particles and debris at play, giving a more visceral experience during hunts.

6

Audio And Music – Monster Hunter World

The music and sound design in Monster Hunter World are irreplaceable. They invoke the feeling of adventure and epic battles, and many leitmotifs can be heard throughout epic battles, from the siege of Zorah Magdoros to the clash against Xeno Jiiva.

Monster Hunter Wilds has just stepped in with a more calm and explorative theme, but, for now, the music of Monster Hunter World remains one of the most awe-inspiring soundtracks in the series. Very few things can beat the fanfare of slaying your first Elder Dragon or encountering Nergigante for the first time. Even the redone themes of returning monsters like Teostra and Deviljho had more impact on the hunts.

5

Gameplay And Combat – Monster Hunter Wilds

Monster Hunter Wilds has made it a point to diminish the amount of waiting time between village tasks and preparation to going on quests. You go straight to action without waiting for things to load in, which makes your interactions in the world feel alive and moving.

The slinger is back with a few added mechanics. You don’t have the Clutch Claw to tenderize or force monsters onto walls, but instead, you can harvest crafting items from a distance and snatch a wider array of different pods.

Related

Monster Hunter Wilds Enters Steam Top Ten One Hour After Launch

There is no stopping Monster Hunter Wilds right now.

Monster Hunter Wilds takes the slow, impactful combat of Monster Hunter World and applies the balance with weapon versatility featured in Monster Hunter Rise. Monster Hunter Wilds also introduces the Focus Mode. This special stance controls the trajectory of attacks and targets ‘wounds’ that you made on the monster for additional damage and material rewards.

4

Story – Monster Hunter Wilds

Monster Hunter Wilds has one of the most intricate and involved stories in the series. As opposed to Monster Hunter World, the relationships between the guild teams are much more involved. In many ways, the story implements the best parts of Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate and Monster Hunter Rise, where the flagship monster is intertwined with the events of the game.

Monster Hunter Wilds alludes to the lore/background information of both the nature of the world and the relationships hunters have with the natural order, from acting within regulations to stating the laws of the Guild.

The story follows the expeditions of your team of hunters and guild associates investigating the mystery of a young boy named Nata and his village known as the Keepers. Along the way, you meet a clan of seikret-riding people, a massive forge where folks craft all kinds of great materials, and a couple of comical goblin-like lynians known as Wudwuds. Along the way, the mystery of the Forbidden Lands and its ecosystems brings you deeper into the secrets of a civilization that has been alluded to in previous installments.

3

Monster Roster – Tie

The stars of any Monster Hunter aren’t your hunter or their armor and weapons, it’s the monsters you carved up to make them. The series has always excelled in creature design, their fighting styles, and the way they are made to be ‘real’ animals thriving in their environments.

Monster Hunter World brought many classic and new monsters to their roster, and the graphical upgrades made every scale, claw, fang, and horn pop with extra attention. Fighting them has also been a thrill, and every dynamic encounter is a new chance to get carted or carve up a rare reward.

Monster Hunter Wilds continues to expand the roster with all kinds of interesting and impressive-looking monsters. Along with some returning beasts from previous games, like Rathalos (can’t be Monster Hunter without him) and the Yian Kut Ku, there are new monsters galore, like Quematrice, the combusting Chicken-like brute wyvern, the knuckle-walking amphibian Chatacabra, and the mysterious Arkveld, a monster thought to have been extinct until now.

2

Exploration – Tie

The Monster Hunter series has always been known for creating beautiful environments and populating them with so much life, from the monsters present to the endemic creatures that scatter into bushes and rivers. The world is alive, and it’s teeming with all kinds of new details to find or stumble upon.

Related

Monster Hunter Wilds: Complete Item Crafting Guide

Here’s everything you need to know about crafting items in Monster Hunter Wilds

Both Monster Hunter World and Monster Hunter Wilds contain some of the biggest and most intricate environments in the franchise. From the different weather systems and seasons along with how they affect the ecology present to the expansive scale of the regions you inhabit.

The idea that your hunting ground is just a small part of the entire environment is also made clear when you manage to see the expanse surrounding your map. It also presents how herds of monsters and creatures could just move around and where they could go when they leave the locale.

1

Conclusion – Monster Hunter Wilds

Overall, Monster Hunter Wilds takes the graphics, monster diversity, expansive environments, and the streamlined gameplay of Monster Hunter World and expands on them. Certain changes also stand out, with two examples being how Well-Done steaks can fully boost both your stamina and health now, and how your seikret companion can hold a second weapon for you, and navigate the environment much better than tailraiders.

Monster Hunter Wilds is a worthy successor, and follows up on the foundations that made Monster Hunter World an incredible experience. Even so, both games stand firmly on their own and can be experienced separately with their unique and diverse roster of monsters, array of weapons and playstyles, and the regions/locales. If you love Monster Hunter World, you’ll have a great time in Monster Hunter Wilds. And if Monster Hunter Wilds was your first door into the series, then give Monster Hunter World an enthusiastic shot.

Released

February 28, 2025

ESRB

T For Teen // Violence, Blood, Crude Humor