Monster Hunter Wilds PS5 Preview. While it’s difficult to picture it now, the Monster Hunter franchise wasn’t always the multi-million selling juggernaut we know and love today. Having first appeared on the scene just over 20 years ago, Capcom’s addictive marriage of beast-slaying and resource gathering was a cult effort pretty much up until Monster Hunter: World catapulted it into the mainstream consciousness. Nowadays, it stands proudly alongside stablemates Resident Evil and Street Fighter as one of Capcom’s biggest franchises, with Monster Hunter: World the company’s single highest-selling game with 25 million units shipped. Not too shabby, eh?
Related Content – Upcoming PS5 Games 2025: The Best PS5 Games Coming Soon
Despite this, I’ve never played a Monster Hunter game before, and I suspect there’s many in the same boat as me. For whatever reason, the series passed me by, but fortunately I’ve popped my Monster Hunter cherry with a mammoth six-hour session on Monster Hunter Wilds. During this time, I sampled a massive landscape ripe with lush locations, meet some eclectic characters, and more importantly, took on vicious and colossal creatures that put my skills with the game’s myriad of weapons to the test. In short? Monster Hunter Wilds is shaping up to be one hell of an adventure.
Monster Hunter Wilds PS5 Preview
Monster Hunter Wilds may seem intimidating at first – its generous-sized map peppered with points of interest, be it resources, creatures and locations – but as a newcomer I have to say it’s incredibly user-friendly. The game makes it pretty clear where to go and what to do next, and despite the abundance of menu screens you’ll be trawling through, I never once felt overwhelmed. The character customisation screen is the first thing I dipped into, which is rammed with ways to tweak your Hunter to pixel perfection; there’s 24 preset appearances, 13 for your Palico (the feline-like companion who never leaves your side), plus all the usual bits and bobs you’d expect including clothing and voice.
After polishing off my character – a handsome-looking chap with flowing blonde locks, I might add – I got a real taste of Monster Hunter Wilds, with the first couple of missions available to tackle. The base camp in the nearby mountains serves as the nucleus of my adventuring, and it’s here I was able sample its diverse armory via my Hunter’s tent.
There’s 14 weapon types in total, ranging from the lumbering but powerful great sword, the nimble dual bales, to the long-range light bowgun and many more. I dabbled with as many weapons as I could, and it’s clear just from my few hours that Monster Hunter Wilds is more than able to accommodate pretty much whatever play style tickles your fancy.
Combat is simple enough, although it does subvert expectations based on what you’re used to by this point. I instinctively kept hitting Square to attack, simply because that’s been drilled into my brain over the decades from other titles. Not so in Monster Hunter, and as such found my Hunter holstering his sword in the midst of battle. Instead, Triangle and Circle are your main attack buttons here, executing different strikes depending on what you’re wielding at the time.
Your Hunter feels more than capable of taking on the game’s ample bestiary of hulking, crawling, slithering and marauding creatures you’ll come up against. Weapons feel weighty and impactful, and your thanks to a lock-on mechanic it’s easy to keep track of your opponent while dodging and striking as required.
Make no mistake, though; you can’t just mash your way to victory. Creatures all have their individual strengths and weakness, and you’ll get clobbered quickly if you don’t learn their patterns and know when you can go on the attack or defend. Key to dispatching the colossal beasts is the wound system. By attacking a specific area enough times, you’ll open a wound, indicated by a glowing red weak point on the enemy’s body. If you hold R1 and hit Square, you’ll perform a special attack when targeting the wound, causing massive damage in the process; it all unfolds with cinematic flair too, with a different animation for each foe.
Part of the strategic tapestry of battling in Monster Hunter Wilds is the need to keep your weapon sharpened. Whack away at foes long enough, and it’ll blunt, weakening its efficiency in battle. Therefore, you’ll have to sharpen your weapon with Whetstones. This has to be done in the midst of battle too, so you’ll need to think carefully about when you give your blade some TLC. It kept me constantly aware, and added a welcome micro-managing aspect to scraps that dives beyond just watching your health and supplies.
Monster Hunter Wilds places major emphasis on resource gathering as fans would expect, and you’ll be hoovering up all sorts of materials in the world or from slain enemies. Once you bring beastie down, you can harvest materials from its hide to craft armor and weapons; I fashioned rather dashing armour set using the hide of the brutal, lizard-like Chatacbra.
There’s absolutely tons of different combinations and types to forge, and you’ll also be upgrading existing sets to improve their efficiency in combat using currency and materials. Even from my few hours with the game, it’s abundantly clear that Monster Hunter Wilds offers a truckload of freedom in regards to how you tailor your experience – the fact it’s so beginner-friendly is a massive bonus.
You’ll also cook up health-giving meals using the ingredients you’ve collected, and are treated to a great scene of your Hunter preparing the dish before chowing down on the resulting meal.
The world of Monster Hunter Wilds appears diverse and ripe for exploration. Even with the few missions I tackled, Capcom’s latest creature feature is ripe with vibrant locations brimming with personality and dangers alike. From lush forests punctuated by sparkling pools of water to sprawling deserts and mountainous terrain, Monster Hunter Wilds is shaping up to be visually striking adventure that, from early impressions, has no issue batting off any possible monotony.
Traversing the landscapes is made easy too thanks to the use of your Seikret, which is a fast way of getting about the place and can also go on auto-mode to follow waypoints.
As for the creatures themselves, Monster Hunter Wilds doesn’t disappoint. The five or six missions I was able to tackle, or hunts as the game calls them, are essentially epic boss fights that pitted me against unique and challenging beasts that are oozing with strategic depth. “Forest Findings” saw me pitted against the Ape-like Congalala, which specialised in brutal melee attacks not to mention literally farting a poisonous gas in your face, while “A Hunter’s Pride” saw my hunter duking it out with sand worms known as Balahara.
The Alpha Doshaguma meanwhile, a colossal bear-like foe that literally knocks you off your feet with each attack, really tested my use of the dodge mechanic and highlight the importance of timing.
My session wrapped with a ruck against two special foes, the Rompopolo and the Nerscylla, by far the most challenging enemies not to mention the longest fights during my hands-on. The Rompopolo is an insect-looking beast that is battled in a swamp-like area that hinters navigation, with the creature able to produce explosive goop from the mucky waters, while the spider-like Nerscylla can web you up and put you to sleep if you aren’t careful, leaving you vulnerable to follow-up attacks. Oh, and it can poison you too. Lovely!
Both of these battles were pretty lengthy and really highlight the importance of not only mastering attack and defence, but also resourcing management, as you’ll need to gulp health-giving potions and cure poison status, not to mention sharpen your blade after prolonged fighting.
Monster Hunter Wilds had me hooked throughout my five – six hours of play. Despite my newbie status with the series, Capcom’s beast-slaying sequel was not only incredibly inviting for first-time players, but looks and plays like a sure fire Game of the Year contender. If the final game is as polished as my hands-on build, then newcomers and Monster Hunter fans alike are in for a huge treat.
Monster Hunter Wilds is due out on February 28, 2025 for PS5, PC, and Xbox Series X/S. Thanks to Capcom for the opportunity to preview the game ahead of release.