Summary

  • Focus Mode in Monster Hunter Wilds allows players to target wounds or weak points for extra damage during combat.
  • The Great Sword returns with a unique Focus Strike attack, carving through monsters with powerful chops in Wilds.
  • Riding the Seikret mount enhances traversal, providing bonuses like auto-guidance, health recovery, and weapon switching.

Monster Hunter Wilds releases new information regarding the Focus Mode mechanic and how it can change how traditional weapons like the Great Sword play. One of the biggest announcements out of The Game Awards 2023 was Capcom's Monster Hunter Wilds, the next major entry in the massive popular franchise. Since then, fans have been eager to learn more about how this game looks to expand upon the foundations of Monster Hunter World, though details to this point have been few and far between.

While the core gameplay loop of hunting massive monsters remains the foundation of the experience, Capcom has revealed a number of major franchise firsts for Monster Hunter Wilds. Specifically, Wilds includes a fully voiced protagonist, launching day one on PC as well as consoles, and giving players the ability to take two weapons with them on a hunt thanks to a mounted sling on the Seikret. However, Monster Hunter Wilds includes a dynamic weather system and pack mechanic where smaller monsters can be found traveling and hunting together in large groups. Now, Capcom is revealing new details surrounding combat and the various weapons players will be able to use.

It's clear that Monster Hunter Wilds is planning to have a big presence at Gamescom 2024 this year, as the official social media account is promising new reveals each day leading up to the show. Alongside the Great Sword, Monster Hunter Wilds showed off a new mechanic called Focus Mode, which aims to add a new layer to how players battle vicious monsters. Using Focus Mode, players can specifically aim their attacks or guards to target wounds or weakpoints, such as Wilds' Chatacabra and its large tongue. Focus Strikes offer special attacks based on the weapon being used, dealing bonus damage to the targeted wounds or weakpoints on the monster.

Focus Mode Can Change How Traditional Weapons Function in Monster Hunter Wilds

In terms of weapons, Monster Hunter Wilds has confirmed the return of the Great Sword, a weapon that longtime fans should be well versed with. However, with the introduction of Focus Mode, activating this mechanic while battling the various monsters opens up new possibilities during combat. The Monster Hunter Great Sword remains powerful at the cost of slower movement and attack speed, though activating focus mode allows players to specifically target wounds or weak points on the monster, allowing for more damaging hits or potentially ways to harvest specific materials. Capcom has revealed a carving slash as the Great Sword's unique Focus Strike attack, with other weapons having their own specialized moves as well.

Alongside the Great Sword and Focus Mode, Capcom provided fans a rundown of many of the game's basic mechanics, including riding Monster Hunter Wilds Seikret mount. In terms of overall movement, players can run faster when their weapon is sheathed, though players will want to summon their Seikret to really enhance traversal. Not only does it provide a much faster way to traverse the sprawling maps, but it can provide additional bonuses such as automatically guiding the player to their target, allowing them to recover health, a place to sharpen their weapon, as well as being able to switch between a primary and secondary weapon while on a hunt.

Rating block community and brand ratings Image
Monster Hunter Wilds Tag Page Cover Art

Monster Hunter Wilds
Display card tags widget
Action
Adventure
Display card system widget
Systems
PlayStation-1 Xbox-1 PC-1
Display card community and brand rating widget Display card open critics widget
Top Critic Avg: 89 /100 Critics Rec: 95%
Display card main info widget
Released
February 28, 2025
ESRB
T For Teen // Violence, Blood, Crude Humor
Developer(s)
Capcom
Publisher(s)
Capcom
Display card main info widget end Display card media widget start
Monster Hunter Wilds Press Image 1
10 Images
Monster Hunter Wilds Press Image 1
Monster Hunter Wilds Press Image 2
Monster Hunter Wilds Press Image 3
Monster Hunter Wilds Press Image 4
Monster Hunter Wilds Press Image 5
Monster Hunter Wilds Press Image 6
Monster Hunter Wilds Press Image 7
Monster Hunter Wilds Press Image 8
Monster Hunter Wilds Press Image 9
Monster Hunter Wilds Press Image 10
Display card media widget end

WHERE TO PLAY

DIGITAL
Checkbox: control the expandable behavior of the extra info

The unbridled force of nature runs wild and relentless, with environments transforming drastically from one moment to the next. This is a story of monsters and humans and their struggles to live in harmony in a world of duality.

Fulfill your duty as a Hunter by tracking and defeating powerful monsters and forging strong new weapons and armor from the materials you harvest from your hunt as you uncover the connection between the people of the Forbidden Lands and the locales they inhabit.

The ultimate hunting experience awaits you in Monster Hunter Wilds.

Franchise
Monster Hunter
Genre(s)
Action, Adventure