Monster Hunter Wilds makes World look like a first draft

Monster Hunter Wilds continues the series' basic premise - fight big monsters, turn them into gear, and fight bigger monsters. It remains one of gaming's most simple yet compelling loops, but Monster Hunter World had me worried Capcom had reached a ceiling.

After spending some time playing Monster Hunter Wilds at Gamescom, however, it's clear there's much more to come.

Like Riding A Wyvern

My demo at Gamescom kicked off with a single-player quest set immediately after the character creation.

Naturally, it wouldn't be a Monster Hunter game without some hammy voice acting, but the real star is the group of Balahara that burst from the sand as our Hunter (now voiced) rides.

Acting like mini sandworms, they leap from the ground at times as our Seikret mount struggles to keep up before deftly climbing and sprinting through jutting rocks to glide down gracefully.

As an opening, it's certainly eye-catching, with the RE Engine working overtime on monsters, weather, and sand behaviour. It's also a great chance to see the new environmental hazards that let you pull down dangerously poised pillars of stone without needing to use the slinger as in World.

While this tutorial serves as a taster, it was the subsequent quest to hunt Chatacraba that felt more like a true, well, hunt.

I picked the Insect Glaive, my main choice of weapon in Monster Hunter World, and was zipping through the air as if I hadn't left the 2018 entry.

Still, there are new features here that mean it's not quite the same as before. For one, wounds will open on monsters that can be attacked for additional damage with a new focused attack.

These felt like they did huge damage, but unlike the traditional "break" system, a wound can be destroyed and another can form. That means fights feel more dynamic than just waiting for a monster to face the right way, and tackling the big-tongued beast was relatively trivial with that in mind.

Hunt together

Still, Monster Hunter is always best with friends, and this time around, that goes for the monsters, too.

Given the quest to hunt an Alpha Doshaguma, a sort of lion/bear hybrid, I located it in a rolling plain, surrounded by its herd - each of them absolutely massive.

Riding up on my Seikret, I went straight for the Alpha, using my Insect Glaive to fly over his pack and get the first hit in - just as others started to swing their oversized weapons, too.

While you can use a new radial menu to use common items like the whetstone, you can also change weapons entirely while on the Seikret. This meant I could swap to my Greatsword to deal big damage.

As the Alpha Doshaguma strode off into a desert, we followed, slashing at its heels and nudging its companions into quicksand pits.

One thing you can't count on, however, is the weather. A storm began to streak lightning through the skies and bolts of it began to hit everything around - the Doshaguma and our party included. After the heavy snow of Iceborne, I'm excited to see what additional tactical opportunities await.

For now, I was content just to practice my dodging and avoid being zapped. On top of that, a new swarm of small insectoid monsters can sneak up on you if you're not looking and overwhelm you with their numbers while also boasting a unique animation.

Final Thoughts

Monster Hunter Wilds is an ambitious next step for a franchise that could have rested on its laurels, and the result makes World look like a first draft.

While Monster Hunter Wilds is still without a release date, rest assured that this could be the biggest Monster Hunter yet.

Previewed on PlayStation 5.