I’ve always seen Monster Hunter as a cinematic game, though perhaps not in the way that many gamers picture when they hear the word. I’m not talking about big-budget cutscenes. Rather, spectacle is baked into its world. There’s no greater thrill than watching on as the titanic beast I’m tracking suddenly gets attacked by another creature. It’s like watching a kaiju battle unfold organically.
With Monster Hunter Wilds, though, Capcom is upping the ante. In a 90-minute demo, I played through the upcoming action RPG’s first two missions. They were standard hunts against towering beasts, but something was different this time. A larger emphasis on thrilling cutscenes and cinematic set pieces took center stage between my normal hacking and slashing. That makes for a sequel that takes Monster Hunter to the next level, unlocking its blockbuster potential.
More cinematic
When my demo begins, I’m sailing on an ocean of sand with a crew of ragtag characters. After getting briefed on a monster in the area, the dreaded White Wraithe, I’m treated to an action-packed sequence. I see sandworms chasing a character in the distance, as if I’m watching a scene out of Dune. My hero leaps from the side of the ship and lands on a Seikret and gives chase. As I gain control of my character, I’m suddenly in a chase sequence. Worms leap around me, and I have to knock them off my trail with my slingshot. It’s positively dazzling.
Immediately, I think back to 2020’s Monster Hunter film adaptation. There are some similarities that stand out off the bat — especially the desert setting. Part of me wonders if Wilds was originally planned alongside that film, as if they were meant to create continuity between one another. I can imagine Capcom thinking the poorly received film may have had a chance to onboard players onto its next major release.
Thankfully, the comparisons end there. The demo I played quickly dropped me into familiar territory as I was tasked with hunting down a Chatacbra, a frog-like creature. I equipped an insect glaive and quickly gave chase across the desert sands until I found it hanging out in a wet cave. The slicing and dicing commenced.
Despite bigger-budget set dressing, Monster Hunter Wilds retains the series’ basics. Beasts are giant damage sponges that are meant to be chipped down over hard-fought battles. The more I slashed, the more I exposed wounds in my prey. Those are represented as red gashes on its effected limbs. While I can’t lock on to them, holding the PlayStation 5 DualSense’s left trigger allows me to focus the direction I’m slashing in. By pointing myself toward a weakened hind leg, I’m eventually able to get it off balance and start wailing on its head as it tries to recover. After four minutes of battling, I slay my foe and carve its parts.
In my second quest, I’m tasked with hunting down a furry Alpha Doshaguma. I leave my village on the back of my Seikret and leap around some twisted natural architecture to make my way to the ground. I find the docile beast hanging in a pack, with two others sitting at its side. To isolate my hunt, I load a wad of dung into my slingshot and let it rip. The pack scatters and I start slicing, this time with my quick dual blades.
The loop of the fight is the same, but I start to experience some of the ways that Wilds brings spectacle into its moment-to-moment gameplay. The fight happens as an enormous lightning storm takes place overhead. I’m dodging its massive attacks while bolts zap down next to me. When it tries to escape, I leap onto my mount and fire a flare gun into the sky to summon nearby hunters to aid me. Both are heart-pumping images that bring more adrenaline to fights.
I see a few more moments like that when I’m freely exploring the open-world. I get into a battle with a sandworm at some point, which snakes its way onto a bony overhang and attacks from above. Later, I engage an enormous winged beast hanging out on a sand dune. When it flies away, I chase it to a small pond, where it gets into a brawl with a crocodile-like monster — and completely eviscerates it. Moments like that make Wilds feel less mechanical, delivering the same excitement that’s in its flashy cutscenes.
High-level hunting
This would be the part where you might expect me to talk about how much more approachable that loop is than previous games (a refrain that tends to pop up anytime there’s a new Monster Hunter release). That’s not the case here. While Monster Hunter Rise made for an easy onboarding point, Wilds throws players into the deep end. I’m frantically scrolling through radial menus as I search for my tools and learning the complexities of the insect glaive on the fly. It’s as hardcore as Monster Hunter gets, which makes it feel like a game for veterans compared to Rise.
While it took me some time to get the hang of its systems-heavy gameplay, I got back on the saddle quickly. That let me focus my attention on trying as many weapons as possible. This time, players can equip two different weapons at a time. During one outing, I mixed my dual blades with a heavy bowgun. In another, I equipped a great swords and lance. Anytime I was on my mount, I could press right on the D-pad to change which one I brought into battle. That breaks up the monotony of fights, as I found myself swapping my gear anytime I had to give chase as a beast escaped.
As for combat itself, you should know what you’re getting into if you’re used to Monster Hunter. Large weapons like great swords are slow and lumbering, requiring players to commit to every single hit. Dual blades are quick by comparison, but only do a few points of damage on each slash. It’s not a game series known for its fast and snappy battles, and that carries through here as I slowly slice beasts up with standard attacks, aerial hits, and specials.
Though it’s a very high-level Monster Hunter game in that sense, I get the feeling that it’ll be easy for newcomers to latch onto in other ways. Its more cinematic approach makes it feel like a familiar experience. Its open-world design feels more freeing to explore too, as I’m no longer booted back to my camp once I kill a monster. My rewards pop up on the side of the screen and I’m free to keep running around. Tweaks like that bring it more in line with modern games without giving up what makes Monster Hunter so special.
I’ll need to spend more time with it to see how creative its monsters get and get the nuances of each weapon down, but the outlook is great. Monster Hunter Wilds feels like a thrilling new chapter full of high-octane moments that bring the series’ natural excitement to surface. We could be in for one of 2025’s biggest hits if the full game capitalizes on what I’ve seen in just 90 minutes of play.
Monster Hunter Wilds launches in 2025 for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.
