How Monster Hunter Wilds Balances Exploration With the…

Summary

Monster Hunter Wilds blends seamless exploration with the thrill of the hunt in a diverse, dynamic world.
The Seikret mount in Monster Hunter Wilds serves as a versatile tool for both exploration and combat.
Monster Hunter Wilds' living ecosystems and weather dynamics enhance gameplay by encouraging adaptation.

For the most part, throughout the mainline series, Monster Hunter's worlds have been little more than a functional backdrop for the series' hunts. The worlds of earlier installments, like Monster Hunter Freedom and Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate, heavily relied on segmented zones, where environments were visually distinct but were really just glorified combat arenas. While Monster Hunter: World offered players more interconnected, immersive maps, even its core gameplay loop still prioritized tracking and slaying monsters over interaction with the world. However, the latest installment, Monster Hunter Wilds, features a world that is more immersive than ever, drawing the attention of players off the beaten path and yet still bringing them back to the reason they visited the world in the first place — the hunt.

Unlike many previous entries, Monster Hunter Wilds' world is far more than a mere backdrop serving to contextualize the hunt. With its seamless exploration, diverse biomes, realistic ecosystems, and dynamic weather system, Monster Hunter Wilds effectively balances the awe of exploration with the thrill of the hunt, ensuring players both new and old can find something worthwhile as they set out on the back of their Seikrets.

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By Josh Cotts

Monster Hunter Wilds Balances Exploration With Gameplay

Monster Hunter Wilds Offers Seamless Exploration Through a Diverse World

One of the standout features of Monster Hunter Wilds' world is its seamless exploration, simply due to how it affects gameplay. Since Monster Hunter Wilds' world isn't segmented like past entries have been, it encourages more spontaneous interactions with the game's environments and monsters. With no loading screens, players can explore the map organically and uninterrupted, taking complete charge of their journey, whether it be fueled by a sense of discovery or the enticing crafting materials hidden within the exoskeletons of Monster Hunter Wilds' monsters.

Monster Hunter Wilds features a world that is more immersive than ever, drawing the attention of players off the beaten path and yet still bringing them back to the reason they visited the world in the first place — the hunt.

Monster Hunter Wilds' map isn't just big, though, as its diversity is an essential aspect of its seamless design as well. Each biome in Monster Hunter Wilds is a living ecosystem where weather patterns, time of day, and inter-monster relationships occur naturally and evolve dynamically. For instance, certain monsters exhibit specific behaviors during particular weather conditions, encouraging players to adapt their combat and exploration approach accordingly. This is where Monster Hunter Wilds shines the brightest, as it showcases a living, diverse world that isn't just a backdrop and directly affects gameplay instead.

Monster Hunter Wilds' Seikret Is Useful for Both Exploration and Combat

One of the primary tools used to bridge the gap between exploration and the hunt is Monster Hunter Wilds' Seikret mount. Obviously, the Seikret is useful for letting players explore at a much more rapid pace than they could by simply walking, but its mechanics go much deeper than that. For exploration, players can use the Slinger to retrieve items from a distance while mounted and mobile on their Seikret. This ensures exploration in Monster Hunter Wilds is always in motion and players can get more accomplished in a shorter amount of time.

The Seikret is also extremely useful in combat in Monster Hunter Wilds. Firstly, players can mount a monster in Monster Hunter Wilds by jumping from the Seikret to the monster's back, after which they can attack it repeatedly until a Wound opens up. Secondly, the Seikret mount can be used mid-combat to allow players a mobile way to heal and buff themselves or to sharpen their weapon. Previously, players would have to either be stationary or move slowly to perform these actions, and Monster Hunter Wilds' Seikret mount changes that.

The Seikret is also the most efficient way to prepare for a hunt, as players can not only gather items while on the back of the Seikret, but they can also take care of combat preparations on the way to their objective by setting the Seikret to Auto Move.

With Monster Hunter Wilds, the series' world design is no longer just a backdrop for the hunt but an essential part of the overall experience. The shift to seamless exploration, living ecosystems, and the versatility of the Seikret mount ensures that players aren't just passing through environments but actively engaging with them along the way. Unlike past entries, where the hunt was the sole focus, Monster Hunter Wilds creates a space where the world itself actually makes the hunt even more thrilling.

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