It was virtually 2 am final night time once I noticed one thing that gave me the largest grin: A 66-second video showcasing the searching horn in Monster Hunter Wilds. I watched it as soon as, then once more, then turned the cellphone to my associate to indicate her. “Oh that is sick,” she muttered half-asleep because the horn consumer performed a melody that created an area-of-effect buff on the battlefield.
The Looking Horn video, a part of a sequence of movies showcasing what’s new with every weapon kind in Wilds, is so brief that Capcom actually may’ve printed it as a YouTube Quick or TikTok, however I believe the corporate guess on Monster Hunter followers being ravenous for any Wilds gameplay, and it was proper. Since Capcom began publishing them on YouTube 4 days in the past, these overview movies have racked up hundreds of thousands of views. Should you had any doubt left that Wilds is gonna be the largest Monster Hunter thus far, I assume it is squashed now.
I’d signify about half of these views, to be honest. I maintain rewatching the overview of my favourite weapon, the gunlance. A lot of the video covers fundamental strikes that’ve been mainstays for the weapon for a number of video games now, but in addition some new strikes that look completely sinister. With Wilds’ new Focus Strikes (which additionally has a devoted video explainer), gunlancers can cost towards a monster, uncork the wyrmstake, and repeatedly drill into the beast like a carnivorous Dig Dug. I additionally noticed a brand new full burst combo that fires the lance’s shells in a horizontal arch, which must be useful for focusing on out-of-reach monster components.
The overview movies for the insect glaive and heavy bowgun are additionally informative. There’s Focus Ability the place you plant the glaive in a monster then spin round it like Spider-Man on a flag pole, and the heavy bowgun has an “Ignition” mode that allows you to fireplace it like a full-auto machine gun. I’ll assume that is new territory for the bowgun, however admittedly I’ve all the time slept on Monster Hunter’s ranged choices.
I’ve excessive hopes for Focus Mode and Focus Strikes. The brand new mechanic appears to interchange Change Abilities from Monster Hunter Rise, they usually additionally seem toned down. Rise’s huge theme was mobility—everybody had wirebugs strikes and particular expertise that allow you to get airborne everytime you wished, which was enjoyable, however got here at the price of among the “heft” I affiliate with the sequence.
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Wilds seems extra grounded in precision assaults powered by Focus Mode. On this new stance, a reticle seems on display that allows you to “purpose” assaults at particular physique components. Crucially, Focus Mode additionally highlights wounds you open up on monsters, making it simpler to focus on these spots and deal further injury. There is a significantly nasty new nice sword transfer that you could solely set off by focusing on wounds and weak spots—the hunter digs the sword right into a wound and begins dragging the blade throughout its physique with implied resistance. Ouch.
At this price, it will be one other week or two earlier than Capcom is finished exhibiting off Wilds weapons. Some fan favorites are but to come back: the twin blades, searching hammer, bow, and naturally, the lengthy sword.
