Monster Hunter Wilds (PlayStation 5)

A quick review of this Monster Hunter game, which I hadn't originally planned to do… So, personally, I have mixed feelings. You'll see a review where I recommend the game, but in reality, I'm quite ambivalent. —————— Positive Points —————— • Gameplay: From my point of view, and no offense to die-hard Monster Hunter fans, it surpasses Monster Hunter World, which is the second Monster Hunter game I've ever played (the first being Monster Hunter Freedom 2 when I was a kid). Many complain because the use of injuries greatly simplifies the game, and it's true. I'd even add that EVERYTHING in this Monster Hunter game is designed to simplify the game; the combat loses its technical depth to become pure, unadulterated violence. The gameplay of this Monster Hunter is designed for mindlessly mashing monsters. The mount is also there to simplify combat, as you can ride it to sharpen your weapon or use consumables without being hindered by your character's inertia, and the Palico already has everything you need to help in combat. ——————– Negative Point ——————– • Bestiary: To put it simply, it's POOR and BLAND, and it's TERRIBLE. To elaborate, there are currently 29 monsters in this Monster Hunter, but a large portion of them are duplicates. That's for the spoiler-free part, now if you want details on the bestiary we have: [spoiler] Ajarakan, Arkveld, Balahara, Blangonga, Chatacabra, Congalala, Doshaguma, Gore magala, Gravios, Gypceros, Hirabami, Jin Dahaad, Lala Barina, Nerscylla, Nu Udra, Quematrice, Rathalos, Rathian, Rey Dau, Rompopolo, Uth Duna, Yuan Kut-Ki, Zoh Shia, Uth Duna and the Xu wu or the Anjanath thunder. You only have 26? That's normal, it's because for the rest we'll have the same ones in a "Guardian" version. This concerns the Rathalos, the Doshaguma, and the Arkveld, but THE WORST part is that if I take the example of Lala Barina, we have Nerscylla who resembles her, the Congala and the Blangonga who are two useless monkeys to fight, the Nu Udra and the Xu Wu who are just two ugly octopuses. [spoiler] Some will tell me, "They have different mechanics," NO. Sure, there are some specific features that slightly differentiate them, but only a purist would tell me that the fight between a Rathalos and a Rathian is different, "It's normal, they're the same species." OK, but that doesn't change the fact that the Rathian takes up a space in a bestiary that is already very poor, and it's the same for the other examples mentioned in the spoiler! (The reason I didn't hide Rathian and Rathalos is because they're in almost every Monster Hunter game, so everyone knows they'll be there again.) Anyway, all this to say that out of the 29 available monsters, I only enjoyed 5 of them. • Playtime: The story is much shorter than MHWorld's for those who are interested, and the endgame is quite limited. After all, fewer monsters means less equipment to craft, therefore less farming; you'll quickly run out of things to do. —————————- Conclusion —————————- Well, I told you the review would be short (compared to what I usually write). Is the game good? Yes, for me, the gameplay is its biggest strength. Chances are you won't want to go back to the older Monster Hunter games if you like Wild's gameplay. The focus system completely removes the frustration of missing your opponent during an attack. To compare, it's like having played Dark Souls your whole life without knowing you could focus your opponent with the right stick, and then suddenly being told it was possible. Should you buy it? Definitely not at the price I paid, which is €72 for the Premium Deluxe Edition. I'll probably fight some big monsters for a few more hours, but I've already explored everything the game has to offer. It's worth playing, though. We'll see what's added later. They've already announced they're going to add the Mizutsune, so with a bit of luck, we'll get new monsters soon, but as it stands, the game is very bland. I won't talk about optimization; for this Monster Hunter game, you need a beast of a PC. I have a 2080 Ti and an i9 processor, and I still have to play on low settings at 30fps, so at least you're warned about that (feel free to try the Monster Hunter Wild benchmark on Steam; it's free, and you'll know what to expect). I'm still posting a positive review because, from my point of view, the gameplay changes are amazing. But if what I've written leaves you indifferent, or if you're even afraid you won't enjoy being spoon-fed, then move along. If you liked this review, great! Don't hesitate to say so; it's always appreciated and motivates me to write more. If it raised any new questions, feel free to ask them. In any case, I'm available to answer them in the Steam comments section!