Monster Hunter Wilds Unleashes the Force of Nature

Sharpen your weapons — Monster Hunter Wilds is out. Since the first Monster Hunter exploded onto the Japanese market in March 2004, the series has moved inexorably towards world domination. Monster Hunter Wilds is the latest action RPG in the series, where humans and monsters struggle to live in harmony in a world of duality. Intel Gaming Access took a spot by the fire with the Monster Hunter Wilds development team to talk behind the scenes.

The story of Monster Hunter Wilds is rooted in a fast-changing and unpredictable world, where humans and monsters alike struggle to survive its extremes. It’s a world of two sides: one minute a harsh place where monsters fight in packs, and the next a rich environment overflowing with life. The dynamic, ever-changing environments complement the richly-drawn characters in this fantastical adventure, as you venture into the Forbidden Lands on the trail of a mysterious monster…

As with previous Monster Hunter titles, players will be able to unpack the relationship between the world and its people while creating more powerful weapons and armor with resources acquired from hunting. “This title expands the seamless experience to create a more immersive adventure than before,” says the Monster Hunter Wilds dev team. “In addition, we placed even greater importance than in World on expressing the ecosystem in which the monsters live, and playing within that ecosystem.”

One of the ways they’ve done this is by evolving how quests work. “In previous titles, it was a series of ‘go on a quest and return to the base’ activities, but by seamlessly connecting the base to the field and allowing players to start quests on the field, a variety of activities can be done in a continuous period of time,” the team explains. “We asked ourselves, what could we do if we could experience hunting in this continuity? This curiosity was the core concept behind the development of the game.”

In every Monster Hunter game, your livelihood depends on your skill as a hunter of powerful monsters, but in Wilds there are new action elements designed to let both beginners and veterans get plenty out of the experience. “Some people may have the impression that Monster Hunter is a difficult game, so we have also included many features to help beginners easily understand the various mechanics of the game,” says the dev team. “In this sense, we would like not only the fans who have supported Monster Hunter so far, but also beginners and those who like RPGs to play the game.”

Fans may be surprised to find out just how long the latest epic adventure has been in the works. “Development of Monster Hunter Wilds was started at a point before the release of Monster Hunter World: Iceborne in 2019,” the team reveals. “During the development of Monster Hunter: World, we decided to create Wilds on a next-generation console, and we began to examine whether we could realize our various concepts, aiming for the best Monster Hunter we can do with those machine specifications.”

Monster Hunter Wilds is no slouch when it comes to performance demands, not least because of its seriously ramped up visuals. “The game has evolved greatly in terms of graphics, so I think that if you want to enjoy the game with higher quality graphics, you will need a PC with good performance,” say the developers. “However, the game also has performance settings such as Prioritize Resolution, Balanced, and Prioritize Framerate, alongside various graphics options, so we hope you will enjoy the game with your own preferred settings.”

PC players have been given an extra helping hand to get the most out of Monster Hunter Wilds.

“If you’re unsure about whether your PC can run the game smoothly, we have a benchmark tool available on Steam, so please try it out,” say the Monster Hunter Wilds developers. “Also for PC players, the game supports ultra-wide displays, and you can experience the game with more enhanced graphics using the high-resolution texture pack released as free DLC on the Steam version, featuring various super-resolution technologies, and ray-tracing features.”

Monster Hunter Wilds is out now, and the journey ahead promises to be long and rewarding. “We’ll begin releasing event quests the week after launch, and we plan to release the first free title update in the spring of 2025, which will include new content such as additional monsters,” says the development team. “We are pleased to announce the appearance of the popular monster Mizutsune in the first title update, so look forward to seeing it in action in the world of Monster Hunter Wilds.” Oh, we will.

Buy Monster Hunter Wilds on Steam