The Monster Hunter Wilds Open Beta is about to finish! Here are my first impressions of my time with it.
This Open Beta included:
– Character creation.
– First story mission.
– An expedition-style free roam of the Windward Plains map.
I have spent close to 10 hours in the Beta now (on PlayStation 5), and it is awesome.
My First Impressions of The Monster Hunter Wilds Beta
The character creation is very detailed and almost overwhelming with the customisation levels Capcom have implemented. Luckily there are presets to choose from, and you can then manually fine tune it or randomise it (with either heavy or minimal changes) along with many other in game settings. I like the approach for easily changing details you care about and then randomising the rest.
The first story mission is very different from previous Monster Hunter titles. Let’s be honest, Monster Hunter games are not known for having good stories. World first introduced a cinematic story with detailed cut scenes, where previously the older titles didn’t have as much focus on narrative story telling. This time it seems Capcom wants to shake off that reputation, as the Hunter speaks (!) and conversations between NPCs are done in the Bethesda style with more speech options. I’m cautiously optimistic this game may just deliver us an engaging story, as World and Rise story pretty much amounted to: Hunt X monster! Now here’s an excuse to hunt Y monster! and so on.
The Beta really shines when you complete the first hunt and get access to the Forbidden Lands first open area, the Windward Plains map. This map is absolutely jacked. It is huge and filled with endemic life and monsters ready to be hunted. During my exploration, I found hidden areas, including a village and nook with a ton of ores to mine. After finding a few of these nooks, I felt like a loot goblin, absolutely fizzing for my next ore hit.
A new feature of Wilds is that monsters roam in packs, often with a leader or “Alpha” version of the monster. Engaging these packs is really cool, and you often have to use the map to your advantage or use items to create openings – or you will get your butt kicked.
The monsters roaming around the map are not there forever; they have a timer displayed on the map that counts down until they leave. Most of the timers I saw are about 25 minutes. You can begin hunting these foes, but be aware they will leave when the timer runs down if you don’t manage to slay them. However, if you did enough damage, then you will unlock a quest version of the monster to hunt. These quests are the traditional Monhun-style hunt, with 3 carts and a 50-minute time limit.
This is particularly important to note, as there is an Apex Predator that shows up from time to time. No, not Randy Orton. The big bad for the Windward Plains map is Rey Dau, the railgun big boy who lands some nasty hits for high damage. He’s a tough monster to slay with limited time available, but the quest version is more forgiving. I managed to RKO him and got some really good rewards – fingers crossed they transfer over to the full version! (I am absolutely not expecting them to).
What I Liked
– The graphics and map design are absolutely stunning. I often found myself admiring the absolute chaos happening around me while hunting the apex predator Randy Orton Rey Dau. He appears during storms, so there was a lot of lighting and sandstorms sweeping around me. When lightning would strike, the flora around me would be set alight or the sand would turn to glass shards. Really impressive to see during combat, and makes for memorable moments. This game is a real visual treat.
– Capcom has improved the lobby system, increasing the player count to 100 (up from 16 in World, or 4 in Rise). Each base camp will still display just 16 players, but you can seamlessly join any of the 100 players through the lobby menu.
– The changes to combat feel good. This game has pulled back on the flashy features from Rise or Iceborne, and now the main “gimmick” is the Focus Mode. Weapons play more traditionally, and the Focus Mode lets you quickly adapt if a monster moves or you mistime a charged attack. Wounding works much like Iceborne; by dealing damage to a body part, it gets wounded and takes more damage. You can use the Focus Mode to perform a special action and destroy the wound, which deals huge damage and often creates a trip or knockdown.
What I didn’t like
– The map is absolutely huge and very detailed, but this now means the monsters will roam and flee from combat much more often. I felt like I just caught up with a monster, and it flees again. You need to learn the areas and use the environmental traps to really make the most of your hunts, especially in the free roam mode.
– Mounting is a mechanic that lets you climb on top of a monster and knock it down for an opening. You mount the monster by performing aerial attacks, like hopping off a ledge with a charged attack or sliding down a sandy dune and jump attacking. This time around, mounting does not always create an opening. It feels quite weird to complete the mount, and the monster walks it off.
– The Lance weapon still exists.
Overall, this Beta is very impressive, and I couldn’t be more excited for this game to release. The combat feels great, and exploring the map to find new monsters or the hidden nooks and cranny’s feels rewarding; not a lot of games manage to nail that feeling.
We hope to see you in the Forbidden Lands fellow hunters, when Monster Hunter releases on February 28 2025, for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and PC. You will know if you find our boss Jayden; he’s the Longsword hunter who keeps getting carted.
