Monster Hunter Wilds hands-on preview — there goes my social life

A few weeks ago, I attended a Capcom event where I got to play Monster Hunter Wilds for nearly six hours non-stop. I hadn’t played any game for that long in ages, so you’d think I would’ve gotten tired of the experience. The opposite was true. After playing Monster Hunter Wilds for a good chunk of the day, I was eager for the full game.

Given how I had sunk close to 300 hours on Monster Hunter World, you can understand my excitement for its follow-up. Based on the aforementioned hands-on session and additional time with the game’s two previous beta tests, Monster Hunter Wilds has everything I want, only on a much grander scale.

Though playing online with friends isn’t seamless, the rest of the game is shaping up to be one of 2025’s best. I predict this will be another time-sink for me. And I’m fine with that. Here are my early impressions of Monster Hunter Wilds.

Monster Hunter Wilds hands-on preview: The basics

• What is it? Monster Hunter Wilds is the follow-up to Monster Hunter World. It features dynamic environments, new weapon abilities, a larger supporting cast and a slew of missions you can play offline or with others.
• Who is it for? This game is for anyone who likes mission-focused action games with a healthy dose of RPG micromanaging. It’s suitable for series veterans and newcomers alike.
• How much does it cost? Monster Hunter Wilds costs $69 and will available on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X on February 28.
• What do we like? The variety of environments and monsters, deep customization and upgrade options, engaging narrative and replay value.
• What don’t we like? Connecting online with friends is unintuitive.

A dynamic world

Monster Hunter World had large semi-open world maps with interconnected sub-regions you could fully explore. Monster Hunter Wilds follows suit, featuring even larger environments. But instead of just making bigger maps and calling it a day, the team went further by making each of the game’s landscapes more dynamic than ever before.

The game’s regions go through two distinct seasons called Fallow and Plenty, with an intermediate period called Inclemency. Fallow is a season when food is scarce and dangerous predators roam the land, while Plenty features more herbivorous animals and monsters. Inclemency usually consists of heavy rains or sandstorms. Every season has different monsters, which adds to the game’s replayability.

In addition to wildlife, there are also villages in each region teaming with people whose cultures reflect their respective lands. This is a big change from Monster Hunter World, which lacked already established settlements. The different cultures, dynamic seasons and varied ecology make for a rich game world to get absorbed in.

Lastly, you can ride mounts called Seikret to traverse the lands. These Chocobo-like feathered raptors can take you directly to your next hunt but you can also control them manually when you’re exploring. On that note, you’re able to create pop-up camps across the maps that serve as fast travel points. Monsters will destroy your camps in more dangerous locations but you can always rebuild them.

Intense hunts

Monster Hunter’s 14 iconic weapons return in Wilds, each with new abilities that make them deadlier than before. On top of that, new combat moves serve to further spice up encounters with monsters—giving you a distinct edge when used properly.

Focus Mode is an all-new ability that lets you aim your attacks and blocks with greater accuracy. You can use Focus Mode to highlight wounds or weak points on a monster and follow up with Focus Strikes to deal greater damage that stuns monsters. Performing Focus Strikes and seeing your prey reeling is one of the most satisfying things you can do in the game.

As always, hunts are more fun with friends since up to four of you can work together to take down monsters. However, if none of your friends are available or if your internet is down like it was during the recent PlayStation outage, you can pair up with (pretty useful) NPC characters by sending up a signal flare.

Speaking of monsters, there is a greater variety in Wilds, and not just in terms of numbers. Whereas the majority of monsters in Monster Hunter World were reptilian (dinosaurs, lizards, dragons, etc.), Wilds has beasties inspired by the entire animal kingdom. There are furry mammals, creepy arthropods, slithering cephalopods, and some monsters that combine multiple traits. I had a blast fighting against some of the more outrageous monsters, like giant octopuses or huge spiders, since their attacks are unlike those of vertebrate animals.

It wouldn’t be a Monster Hunter game without the ability to customize and upgrade your weapons and armor. From what I’ve played, this system of slaying monsters and then using their parts to upgrade or create equipment isn’t much (or any different) than before. That said, it’s possible the end game could mix things up. Regardless, the core loop of slaying monsters, crafting gear, and slaying deadlier monsters with said gear, remains intact.

Engaging plot

Monster Hunter Wilds has a greater focus on narrative and characters. While hunting monsters still drives the narrative forward, it’s good to have characters you actually care about.

Though you’re the main playable character, this game’s protagonist is a boy named Nata. This mysterious child comes from the distant Iceshard Cliffs, which he fled after his village was attacked by a vicious monster called “The White Wraith.” From what I’ve played, the game centers on you trying to return Nata to his home and also uncovering the mystery of the White Wraith and how its presence affects the world.

Spotty match-making

Monster Hunter Wilds is more fun with friends, but trying to connect with your buddies can be even more difficult than slaying a powerful monster.

The game has lobbies and Link Parties. The former are public servers the game drops you into when you log in while the latter is for forming small private groups. If you're in a lobby, it's relatively easy to join others' open quests or have them join yours. However, if you want to directly connect with friends, it'll require some work.

In short, you’ll need to send Link Party invites to your friends through your platform’s network. If that doesn’t work (which sometimes didn’t during the betas), you can also directly invite friends by using their in-game Monster Hunter ID. After that, you’ll have to initiate a quest that your friends can join via the “Link Member Quests” menu.

Thankfully, you won't have to go through the first part of this process once friends have joined your Link Party. Even if you log off for the day, you can link back up with the same folks in your Link Party. While that's appreciated, an easier way to connect with friends would've been better. Hopefully, this can become more streamlined in the full game.

Outlook

I only touched on some of what I experienced, but so far, Monster Hunter Wilds is shaping up to be the game I’ve been waiting years for.

Hunting monsters never gets old and neither does exploring each land. And though I wish pairing up with friends was easier, the satisfaction of taking down a powerful beast with your crew is unrivaled. As I said, I expect to spend a lot of my free time this year playing this game.

Monster Hunter Wilds will be available on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X on February 28. Stay tuned for my full review!