Mer än 20 år! Så gammal är Monster Hunter-serien. Monster Hunter Wilds heter den nya inkarnationen.

Into the Wilds we go! With over 20 years of Monster Hunter now in full bloom, does Monster Hunter Wilds continue the success of World while recovering from the mistakes made by Rise? Read on below to find out in this spoiler-free review of one of the most hyped games of the year.

(En svensk, AI-genererad, sammanfattning finner du i slutet av recensionen)

The Hunter and Handler

What would Monster Hunter be without its titular star, The Hunter? Fully customizable, with the ability to change even the slightest detail , Wilds allows you to truly create the hunter of your dreams. Along with a plethora of customization features, you’ll also be able to make use of the returning armor layering system. Don’t like your current armor? Swap it out for something a little more striking; fashion, after all, is always the end goal.

Journey to the Forbidden Lands as part of the first expedition team charting a course for the unknown in a world yet undiscovered by the Guild of Hunters. During your adventures in the Forbidden Lands, the Hunter, along with the expedition team, the handler Alma, and Palico friends, will discover new and wondrous creatures in a new seamless hunting experience. Gone are the area load times; gone are the hours of running around aimlessly carrying Wyvern eggs back to base. With plenty of new tools, including a new mode of transportation in the Seikret (a replacement for the Palamute from Rise), as well as several returning Monsters from previous titles, Monster Hunter Wilds pushes the boundaries of play further than ever before.

Weapon Choice

So, we’ve covered the Hunter themselves, but what’s a hunter without their weapon? While Wilds misses the chance to bring back previously used weapons (come on, bring back the Tonfas for once!), for some reason, all the classic weapons are still on offer. Be it the weapon that you originally started with back in 2004, the Sword and Shield or one of the new returning weapons in the Charge Blade, there are plenty of choices to make regarding weapons, and Wilds makes this even easier by allowing you (after a few missions) to bring two weapons into battle to really spice up encounters.

All weapons have been reworked and come complete with new features that now pair seamlessly with the Focus and Wound systems added into Wilds itself.

Using Focus mode, you’ll have much better control over your Hunter’s direction, being able to swing and dodge effortlessly while keeping the monster in your sight. Upon damaging a monster enough, you’ll start opening wounds; attacking these will cause you to latch onto the monster (similar to the previous clutch claw mechanic of World), dealing a sizable amount of damage to said monster and also rewarding you with items/parts related to the monster you’re hunting. Opening and destroying wounds really speeds up the gearing process compared to previous titles, so it’s something that I can encourage you to do.

Perhaps you’re not geared toward dealing damage and would prefer to play more of a tank role with a lance. While you may not be actively focusing on creating wounds, you’ll encounter ”Power Clashes”.This is another new feature that, when perfectly timed, causes you to not only guard against a monster’s onslaught but also push back, eventually downing or pushing the monster aside as if you were an immovable object meeting an unstoppable force of nature.

Whatever you’re into, the current weapon choices, as well as the new systems included, really bring a new way to play and encourage you to adapt and change things up based on the encounter rather than focusing on just one role.

Palico Friends Ahoy

It wouldn’t be a Monster Hunter game without our trusty Palico friend, returning once more (fully customized) to take on many encounters throughout the Wilds. The Palico this time around is much more active in combat. While their previous iterations do frequently engage in combat, I’ve found that in Wilds the AI behind the Palico is far superior to earlier games. Whenever I was in danger, I could always rely on my Palico buddy to help me out, regardless of my situation. Low on HP? Here comes a Palico flying on the end of a vigor wasp to fully heal you. Did the monster grab you? Here comes your furry buddy with his array of bomb-throwing abilities to the rescue. Need more damage? Watch a hunter’s best friend pull out a cannon or take to the skies in a frankly adorable airship, blasting away at whatever the hunter encounters. Much like the Handler (who I’ll cover next), the Palico friends this time around feel much more alive. While I’m not a fan of them having speaking roles, the English is frankly creepy. (Thankfully, you can switch them back to the classic Meows of yore.) This really reinforces the fact that you’re not all alone in this; while you can place the Palico on standby for missions, I see no reason to do so, as the Palico is just so useful throughout any hunt. While in multiplayer, they do go on standby as needed to replace actual players, these furry friends have more than solidified themselves in the now-classic three-man party.

The Handler Alma

What’s a hunter without its Handler? While there have been many jokes (particularly regarding Monster Hunter World’s Handler being completely useless and, for lack of a better word, a complete meme), Alma breaks the mold by being one of the most useful side characters to date. While she does have limited lines during hunts and often repeats herself, the fact that she’s also out in the field really brings a change to the norm. Previously, handlers would just sit back at camp , but Alma is on hand to offer not only tips but also collect items for you by simply existing, which is an excellent feature. While she doesn’t do too much to interfere with the hunt itself, it really enhances the bond between Hunter and Handler that the Monster Hunter series as a whole has been promoting in previous games.

If I were to liken the Hunter’s relationship with Alma to something similar, I would have to mention the anime Hellsing. For fans of that series, you’ll see plenty of similarities between Alucard and Integra Hellsing. I’m pretty sure that the voice actors were fans, as you can hear several lines that fit the series to a tee.

I’m more than certain that we’ll see plenty of ”Hunter the guild authorizes” content within the coming days. While in some cases the line doesn’t work I mean, Alma dear, this monster is literally going to eat me, but thanks for authorizing me to kill this monster.
Every time you reach a new, thrilling encounter, this line just hits hard every single time and really solidifies the two/three-man cell that works in the name of the Guild. Alma is an example of a Handler done right, and I hope that in the future they’ll continue to use Alma as a template for future characters.

Conclusion

So, we’ve reached the conclusion. While there is so much more, I could say regarding Monster Hunter Wilds and how I’ve enjoyed the experience, saying too much would ruin the journey for others, so I will cover my feelings (as much as I’m allowed to) regarding this latest entry in the franchise.

Personally, I believe this to be one of the best Monster Hunter titles on the market to date. While I very much enjoyed World and wasn’t best pleased by the follow-up Rise, Wilds takes the best of both games and combines them into one of the most unique and interesting takes within the franchise. The changes to the weapon abilities, as well as the ability to swap weapons on the fly, really change the game. One moment, you could be charging headlong into a monster with a lance in hand, and as they take to the skies, swap to a bow in order to keep the damage going. However, while this would have been the intended way to play, Wilds misses the mark in execution. While it is indeed possible to play as mentioned above, there is little reason to do so. In the end, outside of perhaps one encounter throughout the game, there is little reason to actually swap from your main weapon. Ultimately, I just ended up running around with two different elemental dual blades based on whatever duo monster encounter I would come across.

Aside from this, the lack of event quests at launch, as well as having to deal with Nata for the entire game, ended up becoming quite frustrating for me. While I think Nata was originally well-written, by the end of the experience, all I wanted to do was launch this whiny child off the highest cliff using the back end of a greatsword. That said, while Wilds didn’t entirely hit the mark for me personally, I loved everything else about the game and will still hail it as the best in the series so far. The variety of encounters was frankly breathtaking; seeing plenty of new monsters as well as some returning classics really showed me how much this series continues to up the ante with every new release. Given that this series is now over 20 years old and they’re still coming up with new and unique encounters, as well as system changes, it shows that the developers and programmers truly enjoy what they do. Outside of a somewhat awkward PC release that’s still yet to be optimized, Monster Hunter Wilds is a joy to play, and even after 40 hours, I’m still finding new and interesting encounters that really push the limits of player abilities and design.

AI-genererad sammanfattning på svenska

Monster Hunter Wilds firar över 20 år av Monster Hunter-franchisen och tar sikte på att bygga vidare på framgången från Monster Hunter World samtidigt som man rättar till tidigare misstag. Spelet erbjuder ett brett utbud av vapen, inklusive klassiska vapen och ett nytt system som låter spelarna använda två vapen i strid. De nya Focus- och Wound-systemen förbättrar spelupplevelsen genom att ge spelarna bättre kontroll och belöna strategiskt spel. Palicos återvänder och visar upp förbättrad AI som effektivt hjälper spelarna under jakten.

Handlaren Alma beröms för att vara mer aktiv och hjälpsam, vilket stärker banden mellan jägare och handlare. Wilds förenar de bästa elementen från tidigare spel och erbjuder spännande möten och nya monster. Vissa spelare kan dock bli besvikna över avsaknaden av eventuppdrag och vissa sidokaraktärer. Trots dessa små problem betraktas Wilds som ett av de bästa spelen i serien och ger en minnesvärd spelupplevelse.
 

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Written by: Steve Gilman