Capcom is adding a number of new features to the series withMonster Hunter Wilds, the biggest of which is arguably the title’s open world.Monster Huntertitles usually have reasonably large environments that tend to be more famous for their density, but these environments are put in separate instances behind loading screens.Wildsrequires no loading screen to enter hunting areas, and I could venture right out of camp into the Windward Plains in the game’s latest beta to get a feel for a portion of the world.
It seems that all the areas will be connected together (the beta currently only has the Windward Plains) and allow players to visit multiple environments at once, similar to a massive version ofIceborne’s Guiding Lands. This shift initially presented me with some concerns,particularly becauseMonster Hunterhasn’t had an open world before, and there wasn’t much wrong with the old formulaof having players load into a specific area. The beta alleviated my fears, however, giving me an understanding of what Capcom has been cooking in the lead-up toMH Wilds' full release.
Monster Hunter Wilds' Open World Is A Natural Evolution For The Series
More Than Just A Gimmick
Whenever a game series announces that it will be turning to an open world, there’s always some cause for concern.Switching to an open-world formulaa can feel like a forced gimmick to get in a buzzword and appeal to the masses, which was something of a fear of mine going into thefirst open beta forMH Wildsback in August. I felt like there wasn’t anything wrong with the way thatMonster Hunterdid its environments, and I would have been happy with a larger and denser version ofMH World’s hunting areas.
Monster Hunter Wilds' Customization Has Learned From Iceborne In Both The Best & Worst Ways Possible
Monster Hunter Wilds will have some of the series' most varied customization options and seems to be learning from Iceborne specifically.
Back in the first beta, I didn’t get to formulate as strong an opinion on the open world, instead ending up flabbergasted byMH Wilds' 100-person lobbiesand spending most of my time trying to work out what changes were made to my beloved Charge Blade while gawking at the muscle physics of the monsters. After the second beta,I got to run around the Windward Plains and admire the dynamic weather changeswhile swearing that the developer didn’t give us enough time to hunt the Arkveld. It made me realize that I wanted to exploreMH Wilds' world.
The Arveld is a wyvern known as the White Wraith, although its species is unknown.
A big problem I had withMH Worldwas doing Expeditions or collecting missions,as it felt like a waste of time to go to an area just to pick up some shrooms with all the loading that’s required. WithMH Wilds, going on an Expedition would be far more convenient, since players can just run out into the open world to explore without any loading screens. The vastness of the Windward Plains, which makes room for more monsters, is helped by the Seikret mount and putting up campsites to teleport and rest at, preventing traversal from becoming tedious.
MH Wilds' Open World Feels Real In The Beta
From Monster Herds To Excessive Lightning
Monster Hunteris a series that I fell in love with because of the attention to detail regarding its ecology. Sure, I love swinging massive weapons at fire-breathing lizards, butCapcom puts in a lot of effort to make the world feel like a functioning one with hierarchies and dense flora. Although the Windward Plains area obviously doesn’t have much flora, the size of the place allows for more monster herds, including packs with alphas that players can hunt, specifically the Doshuguma in the beta. The extra space allowed by the open world strengthens the sense of hierarchy.
Monster Hunter Wilds Beta Test Will Get An Extra 24 Hours Due To PSN Outage
After the nearly 24-hour PSN outage, Capcom has announced they will be giving Monster Hunter Wilds fans an extra day to playtest the upcoming title.
Pair this with the dynamic weather systems and how smoothly they seem to transition, and the open world (or at least the Windward Plains) feels alive. When the storms hit in the beta,lightning strikes naturally occurring spires and the spines of some non-hostile monsters, as if both wildlife and the natural environment have evolved to deal with these extreme storms. This feeling that the environment and weather are one is further added by making the Rey Dau the alpha monster of the area, even if it gets destroyed by the Arkveld (just like me).
There are currently four confirmed ecosystems planned forMH Wilds: Windward Plains, Scarlet Forest, Oilwell Basin, and the Iceshard Cliffs.
Of course, the feeling that the world is a living, breathing one isn’t exclusive toMH Wilds, since many titles have been given this praise in the past. I felt similarly aboutWorldandIceborne, but the open world has added to this feeling in a lot of ways.Having more than three monsters bounding about is a nice touch, especially whenMH Wilds' full releaseis out and players get their hands on the full roster. Seeing more Turf Wars while roaming the world is never going to be a bad thing.
The Open World Of MH Wilds Is More Than Just A Gimmick
The Open World Adds, Not Subtracts
Capcom has evidently thought clearly about what it wants to do with the open world, adding a Seikret mount to get around, mobile camps, and dynamic weather systems. It isn’t just a gimmick to make thegame more approachable,although that does seem to be a goal withMonster Hunter Wilds,given its heavier story focus and how Alma can help new players choose their weapon. It feels like something that was always going to be added once the technology was ready, not a change to appeal to the masses while losing the series' identity.
Monster Hunter Wilds Beta Is Now Live, Draws Over 250K Concurrent Players
Monster Hunter Wilds has already hit a major player milestone, soaring to over 250,000 players in the first 24 hours of its second open beta.
I still have some fears regarding the open world, but these fears now don’t have to do with the implementation and design philosophy behind it. Instead,my hesitations come from potential performance issues, especially on PC, since Capcom can be hit or miss when it comes to portingMonster Huntertitles (WorldandIceborneseem to have had the worst of it). Whilethe second betashows a marked improvement in performance, having the entire open world might cause some issues with maintaining frames, even with high-end PCs. The RE Engine (MH Wilds' engine) is being pushed to its limits.
Performance concerns aside, the second beta has proved to me thatmakingMonster Hunter Wildsopen world was the right choice and has given Capcom the license to expand the worldto make it feel even more alive. I’ll miss the denser home bases, like Astera and Seliana, but these are minor sacrifices when it comes to exploring such vast environments with even more monsters. It feels likeMonster HunterWildsis closer to the success ofElden RingandZelda: Breath of the Wild’s open worlds, rather than the attempts found in the newSaint’s RoworDynasty Warriors 9.
