Monster Hunter Wilds is dropping banger after banger at Gamescom: gender-neutral armor, skippable cutscenes, built-in weapon skills, single-player pause, 3D map, and more
Aug. 21, 2024Hunting horn and bowgun mains rejoice, and for the other 11 lance mains, please join me in celebration
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Fashion remains a cornerstone of Monster Hunter, and there’s big news on that front. “In previous Monster Hunter games, you had male and female armor separate,” Fujioka explained in the dev stream (via interpreter). “I’m happy to confirm that in Monster Hunter Wilds, there’s no more male and female armor. All the characters can wear any gear.” This could theoretically double the cosmetic armor choices available to each hunter, or at the very least greatly expand them.
Armor comes up again later in the session with one of many direct iterations on Monster Hunter World. Armor sets are back, but this time around we can use armor from different monsters of the same type – like flying wyverns, for example – to activate shared armor skills, rather than being locked to one specific monster’s set. This provides more ways to build mixed armor sets while still obtaining set bonuses.
Weapons have new skills as well. Tokuda was light on details, but he certainly made it sound like the weapons in Wilds go beyond the honing effects and stat bonuses attached to weapons in previous Monster Hunter games.
“There’s also going to be specific attack skills attached to weapons as well,” the game director said. “I think you’ll be able to create a build that gives you a bit of flexibility so that changing your weapon changes one of the skills on it and that lets you have two different strategies at the same time rather than being locked to just what you put on your armor.”
Additionally, “all of the weapons, pretty much, now all have some kind of perfect-timing effect on them, depending on how you’re using it,” Tokuda explained. The lance offers a useful example: perfectly timed guards can lead into follow-up attacks, or even close-up “power clash” sequences where you beat back a monster gnawing on your shield. Other weapons with shields seem to have similar man-vs-monster sequences attached.
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The hunting horn, light bowgun, and heavy bowgun got a bit of love as well. “I think some people think the hunting horn and bowguns are more support style weapons,” Tokuda said, “but we’ve actually adjusted them this time around to make sure that you can be giving a high damage output as well. You won’t be just on the sidelines supporting the party, you’ll be in there dealing damage like everyone else.” Frankly, I find this terrifying. These weapons were already monstrous in their own right – whothe hellthought the heavy bowgun was a support weapon – so if they’ve gotten special attention this time, they’re sure to be mighty.
Other interesting new details include:
A new Monster Hunter Wilds trailer reveals the scariest spider boss this series has cooked up in 20 years– meet Lala Barina and the lightning wyvern Rey Dau.
As Monster Hunter Wilds finally approaches, veteran dev says making a new monster “takes about one year,” and that’s not counting “small, detailed adjustments”
Monster Hunter Wilds director explains balancing plans: “Some weapons, like the long sword and bow, are too easy to use and overpowered”
Dev behind new Doki Doki Literature Club-style psychological horror says it’s not “for those with weak hearts,” but with 98% positive Steam reviews, I’m not sure I can stay away
