Get rid of boring paperwork fast. Yes, Wild Hearts is a lot like Monster Hunter: World. The similarities are obvious both structurally and conceptually. Far from being a Monster Hunter clone, though, it’s mostly great creature design and brilliant, fast-paced combat with a focus on makeshift construction that makes him stand out on his own as a differentiating and viable alternative. can stand on two legs.
Wild Hearts’ gameplay loop is pretty much the same as Monster Hunter’s, but I’ll keep it as brief as possible for beginners. Create your avatar with our excellent character creator and be introduced to the harbor town. It is a peaceful settlement in the Agatsuma region of feudal Japan. The harbor is the hub of activity, forging weapons and armor to prepare for the hunt at the blacksmith, perusing the goods at the shop, talking to the locals, picking up side quests, and healing at the local bathhouse. take a dip for .
Once you’ve fed, watered, armed, and taken risks, head into the wilderness to track down and hunt monsters called kemono that threaten Minato. Well, maybe merchants are having trouble securing trade routes because fire monkeys are attacking anyone who treads their territory. Whether it’s a main story moment or one of the less fleshed out side quests, there’s always a reason to get out there, and it always ends with having to fight a big monster.
The kemono itself is, for the most part, a great design. They are based on real, recognizable animals, growing to absurd sizes and merging with nature in the most jarring ways. There is a magma-skinned gorilla that can summon lava at will. They’re an elegant mix of the formidable and the beautiful, and the beasts reserved for boss fights are usually the most amazing of all.
Combat is fast and chaotic.Preparation intention It helps, but when you’re in the heat of battle, timing, a detailed understanding of your weapons, and awareness of your surroundings are the keys to victory. It runs the gamut from genre standards like a mighty greatsword, to a samurai sword that turns into a whip once charged. You have filled the required gauge.
The most interesting feature in combat is the Karakuri system. You can collect a resource named Thread of Heaven from rocks and trees in the environment and use it to construct structures called Karakuri. The simplest of these ranges from torches that set your weapon on fire when passed, to springboards you can jump off to avoid deadly attacks. Later, you can build more elaborate constructions, such as a giant spring-loaded hammer that can pancake your enemies, or a harpoon gun that can catch your target and wail while the creature is tethered.
Uses of Karakuri extend beyond combat. You can build structures in the world to make your movement a little easier. can be cleared. These items stay in the world, so they will be there waiting for you the next time you visit.
Camps can also be built to act as fast travel points across the wilderness, and these camps can be equipped with various amenities. The most useful of these is probably the food prep device that allows you to eat a hearty meal before a big hunt and gain buffs in the process. This is necessary for the toughest fights in the second half of the game.
It took me about 45 hours to reach the end of Wild Hearts, and about half of that time the game felt a little too easy. His first 20 hours did not fail to hunt. However, there are certain points where the difficulty ramps up significantly, and each hunt from that point is a real challenge, and these battles are the most rewarding when you finally come out on top.
The best hunt in the game evokes the same feeling in us as fighting ferocious bosses in Elden Ring or scaling the backs of towering creatures in Shadow of the Colossus. It’s tense and won’t kill you in one or two hits, but learning your prey’s attack patterns and combining attacks, evasions, and contraptions to your advantage can be incredibly satisfying and always fun. Become. .
So it’s a shame that many of the fights later in the game are either bigger, nastier versions of the beasts you’ve already fought, or the same foes as before, just with different compelling elements. In particular, the final hunt may be visually spectacular, but mechanically unrewarding, boring, and a little cheesy. It’s a typical barnstormer, so it shouldn’t be too upsetting.
Of course, you can’t make it to the somewhat disappointing finale without keeping your sword sharp and your armor shining. If you don’t have enough of a particular resource, our helpful veterinarian will tell you which monsters drop which items and where to attack for the best chance of finding what you need. It will tell you what to do.
Weapon upgrades also have useful features. If you don’t like your weapon after upgrading it, you can revert it to its previous state and get back all your resources minus a small amount of gold. Useful if you want to switch to attack or start using a completely different weapon but don’t want to farm all the monster parts twice.
Wild Hearts is online co-op and very easy to join. You can always ask for help while hunting, and a helpful player may lend a hand. You can also set a session. Play the entire game with your friends. His only concern in multiplayer online was that the game seemed to have a hard time dealing with three of him running around to build a giant hammer and a harpoon his gun at the same time, so the occasional The frame was that his rate dropped.
Playing Wild Hearts in co-op is super fun and makes the game more manageable. If the monster you’re fighting is distracted by someone else, not only can you get a free attack, but if killed in battle, one of your partners can revive you. In our opinion, this makes the game a lot easier, but it doesn’t break the game.
Conclusion
Wild Hearts is a very thrilling game at times. This is a game where you kick yourself through ill-timed dodges or missed opportunities, and jump off your chair when you finally take down a nasty enemy with a last-minute attack. That said, there are some disagreements about difficulty, but the core monster-hunting experience is good enough that the joy outweighs the frustration.
