I played Monster Hunter World for 500 hours – now that I've seen Monster Hunter Wilds up close, here are the 13 changes I'm most excited about

GamesAction RpgMonster HunterSummer Game Fest 2024I played Monster Hunter World for 500 hours – now that I’ve seen Monster Hunter Wilds up close, here are the 13 changes I’m most excited aboutWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works. GamesAction RpgMonster HunterSummer Game Fest 2024I played Monster Hunter World for 500 hours – now that I’ve seen Monster Hunter Wilds up close, here are the 13 changes I’m most excited aboutWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works. (Image credit: Capcom) A 30-minute hands-off Monster Hunter Wilds demo atSummer Game Festshowed me exactly what I was hoping to see: Monster Hunter World used as a launchpad for something bigger, more seamless, and more imaginative. Rough edges like Iceborne’s cumbersome clutch claw – which some players grew to resent for how mandatory and limiting it could feel – have been cut, and in their place are features that I’ve wanted for years, and some that I never knew I wanted until now. After 500 hours of Monster Hunter World and about as much of Rise, here are the Monster Hunter Wilds details that jumped out to me. Summer Games PreviewWe’re diving into the hottest upcoming games out of Summer Game Fest. To find all of our hands-on reports, visitGamesRadar’s What’s Hot 2024 hub. Summer Games PreviewWe’re diving into the hottest upcoming games out of Summer Game Fest. To find all of our hands-on reports, visitGamesRadar’s What’s Hot 2024 hub. Summer Games PreviewWe’re diving into the hottest upcoming games out of Summer Game Fest. To find all of our hands-on reports, visitGamesRadar’s What’s Hot 2024 hub. Summer Games PreviewWe’re diving into the hottest upcoming games out of Summer Game Fest. To find all of our hands-on reports, visitGamesRadar’s What’s Hot 2024 hub. Summer Games PreviewWe’re diving into the hottest upcoming games out of Summer Game Fest. To find all of our hands-on reports, visitGamesRadar’s What’s Hot 2024 hub. Summer Games PreviewWe’re diving into the hottest upcoming games out of Summer Game Fest. To find all of our hands-on reports, visitGamesRadar’s What’s Hot 2024 hub. 1. Wounding monsters is a lot easier now (Image credit: Capcom) 2. Focus mode lets you focus on fighting the monster, not the camera (Image credit: Capcom) I wasn’t totally sure what focus mode, a new stance available to all weapons, really is, so I asked director Yuya Tokuda about it. It’s not a lock-on camera setting, he explained, but rather a way to “set your angle related to the monster more easily than you could before.” This makes it easier to stay focused on attacking or defending, Tokuda says, and ensures that your moves are “going to be connecting properly.” There are no limits on focus mode, either; it’s not tied to a resource like stamina, so you can use it as much as you want. Speaking of which… 3. Every weapon has at least one new attack (Image credit: Capcom) I saw a few normal weapon animations that looked new to me, but I still need to see a little more here before committing to specifics. But I know for a fact that every weapon has at least one new attack, because focus mode comes with an exclusive attack that deals extra damage when you use it to break a wound. You can pop wounds with normal attacks, too, but it seems you’ll deal less damage. The greatsword’s focus move seems to be a counter stance that leads into a running charge attack of some kind, and the longsword seems to have an alternate spirit combo, but I don’t want to read too much into animations just yet. Still, new moves for all 14 weapons? Good news. 4. NPC hunters are back (Image credit: Capcom) The star of our demo used the greatsword, longsword, and heavy bowgun, but I got a brief glimpse at several other weapons – including my beloved lance and hammer – thanks to three NPC hunters who answered an SOS flare. Remember how Monster Hunter Rise let you go on hunts with loads of story characters? Well, I don’t know if Wilds also lets you pal around with story characters, but it does let you call in some NPC cavalry if you want some help and don’t have any friends online. 5. Bringing two weapons is no gimmick (Image credit: Capcom) Sign up to the GamesRadar+ Newsletter Weekly digests, tales from the communities you love, and more “I can’t go into too much detail just yet because we have a campaign ahead of us to reveal more gameplay details,” he said, “but I would say that as the story progresses, players will be able to gain access to skills or features that will tie into this new system of using two different weapons at the same time. As to what exactly that means, watch this space. We’ve just started revealing information.” 6. Quests are seamless now (Image credit: Capcom) 7. You can build temporary camps, and monsters can destroy them (Image credit: Capcom) Things are so freeform, in fact, that you’re not tied to the normal encampments. You still have key bases, but you can also spend research points to plop down a temporary camp in many locations to, from what I could tell, do basically anything you’d do at any other base. This is another nice time-saver, and the fact that monsters can destroy your temporary camps while you’re away helps sell the immersive, hunting simulator side of the game. 8. Maps are twice the size of previous games (Image credit: Capcom) If you like exploring and manipulating the environment in Monster Hunter, you’re in for a treat with Wilds. A Capcom spokesperson said the maps in Wilds are a little more than twice the size of previous games', and it was clear from the map UI that tons of large monsters can pop up at once too. 9. Maps go through phases of abundance rich with free healing (Image credit: Capcom) Bigger maps means more stun bugs, ensnaring vines, sandpits, boulder traps, and other environmental tricks to take advantage of while hunting. You can also expect to cash in on some free healing – Vigorwasps and so on – during phases of abundance that kick in while you’re hunting or gathering that seem to trigger at random. 10. Dynamic weather is not messing around (Image credit: Capcom) (Image credit: Capcom) I don’t knowhow manymantles are back, but I saw a Ghillie Mantle in action, which is exciting. Some of the mantles in Monster Hunter World were a little game-warping, but I like the idea of having more equipment to pack when you go out for a hunt, and cooldown-based mantles are a solid enough system that I’m happy to see return. 12. Sneak attacks are kind of good (Image credit: Capcom) The Ghillie Mantle ended up being pretty powerful offensively, too, because it let our hunter easily sneak right up to a Doshaguma to deliver a proper, button-prompted sneak attack to jump-start the hunt with a burst of damage. Here are some quick numbers, bearing in mind that this seemed like low-level stuff and it’s all subject to change: a charged greatsword swing dealt 234 damage, and a sneak attack hit for 522. (An attack from the aforementioned apex lightning wyvern dealt 3,836!) 13. Mounting is back to normal, and seems really strong (Image credit: Capcom) I enjoyed the wyvern riding in Monster Hunter Rise, but after puppeteering my 300th monster, I started to miss the simple act of climbing onto my quarry and stabbing them up until they could be downed for some free damage. Meanwhile, in one 15-minute Doshaguma hunt, our hunter managed to get three mounts in with a freakin' greatsword – not the most agile or airborn of weapons. The iconic Monster Hunter 4 mounting minigame is sadly a thing of the past, but mounting is back and seems very powerful, especially in multiplayer. Monster Hunter Wilds is just one of the manyupcoming PS5 gamesto keep an eye on this year. 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Shadow is wasted whilst Jim Carrey steals the show” 1Sonic the Hedgehog 3 review: “Keanu Reeves as Shadow is wasted whilst Jim Carrey steals the show” 1 Sonic the Hedgehog 3 review: “Keanu Reeves as Shadow is wasted whilst Jim Carrey steals the show” 2Mufasa: The Lion King review – “It’s no Hakuna Matata but this Disney origin story is a class above the 2019 movie” 2Mufasa: The Lion King review – “It’s no Hakuna Matata but this Disney origin story is a class above the 2019 movie” 2 Mufasa: The Lion King review – “It’s no Hakuna Matata but this Disney origin story is a class above the 2019 movie” 3Kraven the Hunter review: “The insistence on an R-rating helps save this, with a decent helping of bloodthirsty action” 3Kraven the Hunter review: “The insistence on an R-rating helps save this, with a decent helping of bloodthirsty action” 3 Kraven the Hunter review: “The insistence on an R-rating helps save this, with a decent helping of bloodthirsty action” 4The Lord of the Rings: The War 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