The Monster Hunter franchise has long been a cornerstone of the Action-RPG genre, continually evolving to deliver immersive and strategic hunting experiences. Monster Hunter Wilds, Capcom’s latest entry, takes a bold step forward with a seamless open-world design that removes traditional loading screens between villages, hubs, and hunting zones.
Alongside this, the game introduces streamlined guidance and an improved UI to enhance accessibility while maintaining the depth veteran players expect. With a world significantly larger than its predecessors—Windward Plains alone is reportedly twice the size of Monster Hunter: World’s Wildspire Waste— Wilds aims to push the series to new heights.
However, while these advancements signal an exciting direction for the franchise, they also present potential challenges that could impact the core Monster Hunter experience. As a dedicated player with over 1,000 hours in the series, I spent about ten hours in the open beta tests and found that some of these ambitious changes raise concerns regarding gameplay depth, pacing, and technical performance.
Traversal Challenges
The sheer scale of Monster Hunter Wilds introduces concerns about traversal. While mounts facilitate faster travel, the expanded world may lead to excessive downtime between engagements, potentially detracting from the core hunting experience. If not designed thoughtfully, vast landscapes could disrupt the balance between exploration and action, shifting focus away from the methodical, high-stakes hunts that define the series.
Community discussions have already highlighted this concern. In a Reddit thread, users expressed apprehensions about the game becoming a “running simulator” if traversal lacks engaging mechanics.
One user aptly summarized the issue:
My main concern is that a considerable portion of playtime will be just holding forward. So many open world games boil down to “pick a spot on the map and hold forward for 5 minutes, then maybe something interesting happens.” I’d rather have a hub that I load into after each hunt, then get teleported to my destination once I’m ready to head back out. In an open-world game, traversal must be just as fun, if not more so, than what you do at the destination. Very few games pull this off.
— A comment reply from u/ChemicalGrenade0 to u/RLOjangMaster's post
To address this, Wilds must ensure that exploration enhances rather than hinders the hunting experience. Dynamic encounters, interactive environments, and innovative movement mechanics could help mitigate potential traversal fatigue and maintain engagement between hunts.
Technical Shortcomings
Visually, Monster Hunter Wilds is stunning. Its ecosystems are intricately detailed, bringing the world to life with breathtaking environments and dynamic creature interactions. However, technical performance has emerged as a significant concern based on both beta test footage and firsthand gameplay experiences.
During my time with the beta, I encountered inconsistent frame rates, particularly in areas with dense foliage and multiple large monsters interacting simultaneously. These performance dips disrupted the otherwise immersive experience. Additionally, some players reported severe texture pop-ins, asset loading issues, and noticeable stuttering when playing the game on PC—issues that, if unaddressed, could hamper the game’s visual fidelity.
For a game that aims to be the most immersive Monster Hunter title yet, ensuring stable performance across platforms should be a top priority. Optimization efforts, particularly on hardware that struggles with large-scale environments, will be crucial in delivering a polished final product.
Steep Learning Curve
Weapon mastery has always been a core component of the Monster Hunter experience, but recent titles have introduced increasingly complex mechanics that demand constant adaptation. While depth in combat is a hallmark of the series, the growing disparity in weapon balancing and evolving mechanics presents a learning curve that may feel more overwhelming than rewarding.
During the beta, I extensively tested the Switch Axe—a weapon I’ve dedicated over 300 hours to across Monster Hunter: World and Monster Hunter Rise. However, the sweeping changes in Wilds forced me to relearn the weapon entirely, making my accumulated experience feel somewhat obsolete.
While innovation is necessary to keep gameplay fresh, drastic changes to core weapon functionality risk alienating long-term players who have invested years into mastering their preferred playstyles. A balance between innovation and familiarity is essential to ensure that changes are enhancing rather than disrupting fluid and strategic combat.
A Promising Title with Room for Refinement
Monster Hunter Wilds takes the franchise in an ambitious new direction, introducing innovations that could redefine the series. However, certain aspects—such as its open-world structure, technical performance, and gameplay balance—still require refinement to fully deliver on that promise.
As a longtime player, I hope Capcom takes beta feedback seriously and fine-tunes these elements before launch. If executed well, Monster Hunter Wilds has the potential to be one of the most immersive and satisfying Monster Hunter experiences to date.
Monster Hunter Wilds is set to release on February 28, 2025, for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.