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The Monster Hunter Wilds beta was a fantastic success, with hordes of players descending upon the sequel to Capcom’s best-selling game of all time. The new RPG is an impressive beast, but it certainly wasn’t without issues. Game director Yuya Tokuda has been listening to all the feedback on performance drops, polygonal monsters, and concerns around weapon balance and unsatisfying impacts, however. In a new community update, he’s joined by community managers Joe and Jonno, and translator Patrick, to show off all the major changes that are being implemented.
Almost certainly the most common complaint from the initial playtest of Monster Hunter Wilds was the tuned-down hitstop and sound effects. In World, there’s a brief but significant pause as your biggest attacks land, and that combined with punchy sound design is what makes you feel like the coolest hunter in town. Wilds was found to be lacking in that department – something Tokuda was initially surprised by. He says that when World launched, there was a lot of feedback, especially from players outside Japan, that the RPG‘s combat felt too weighty.
“That’s completely the opposite of what we heard this time, where people were saying everything felt a bit too light and floaty and weaker,” Tokuda remarks. “I’m taking that as a positive,” he says, “where I feel like in the years between Monster Hunter World coming out and the Wilds OBT players around the world have gotten used to that meaty, weighty hitstop action that is kind of one of the hallmarks of Monster Hunter. So hearing that they’ve accepted that and they want it back is really interesting, and nice for me to hear.”
Head to 33:33 in the video above and you’ll see a good demonstration of the new-look hitstop on the Great Sword’s True Charged Slash, which has also had its damage boosted. Another key consideration is friendly fire, something that was already fairly tuned down for the open beta. The full version, however, will mitigate friendly fire even further on Hammer upswings, and use of a Shockproof Jewel can nullify it altogether.
Tokuda notes that friendly fire is one of those things some players enjoy, but that the increased range on big attacks such as the Gunlance’s Wyvern Fire made it too much of a detriment in multiplayer hunts. With the introduction of Monster Hunter Wilds crossplay and a lot of new hunters picking up the game, he says that the old style of friendly fire caused too many potential points of frustration in multiplayer.
If you felt like monsters were too quick to keep changing locations in Wilds, that’s also being addressed – Tokuda says this should now feel similar to the pace of World, but adds that the addition of Pop-up Camps means that fast travel is even more useful to stay on the move than in previous games.
After that comes a full breakdown of all the major weapon changes – I won’t list every single one here, as it’s more valuable to actually see them in action, but there are certainly some highlights. The Insect Glaive gets its iconic Vaulting Dance back, and your aerial power will actually rise each time you successfully vault. Collecting orange extract will also negate knockback effects.
Lance’s Charge Counter now allows you to guard while charging, and the Perfect and Power Guards can be chained into a new move. Switch Axe’s transformation into Sword Mode has been improved, and Full Release Slash negates knockback. Sword and Shield’s Backstep and Sliding Swipe will be better at evading attacks, and you can use Rising Slash while guarding.
Finally, the Bow has been rebalanced to make normal attacks and Arc Shots feel stronger, placing less emphasis on the need to use the auto-homing Tracer attack. Its Focus Strike, meanwhile, will now lock onto multiple wounds one after another. Beyond that, there are a number of more wide-ranging skill adjustments along with changes to address “hit detection and low damage output compared to past Monster Hunter titles.”
It’s an impressive list of changes – there’s even an extended question and answer session afterwards, if you’re eager to hear more. I’m particularly pleased with the hitstop adjustment. It’s nice to hear that the community is of one mind on the feature, because it’s certainly one of the most satisfying aspects of the series, and something that transforms your greatest moments into truly unforgettable ones.
Tokuda also addresses skills appearing on Monster Hunter Wilds weapons, which he explains is to help ensure that your armor set doesn’t become useless when you switch between the two weapons you’re carrying on a hunt. You won’t lose skills when upgrading a weapon within a specific tree, but additional ones may also be introduced. Jonno comments that this should mean “far less instances of a weapon being the best for multiple situations.”
So will there be another Monster Hunter Wilds beta before launch? Tokuda responds to queries about a second beta suggesting that it’s under consideration, but states that it would only be a way for those who missed it at the time to have a second chance to play. It would not include any of the new weapon changes, which are under development specifically for the full launch build.
February can’t come soon enough. Look ahead to the Monster Hunter Wilds release date with us by running down a list of all Monster Hunter Wilds monsters confirmed so far.
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