One Monster Hunter Wilds Feature Improves the Single-Player…

It has long been possible to play a Monster Hunter game solo, as every installment encourages players to return to each hunt to farm materials for crafting the armor and weapons necessary to stand up to increasingly challenging foes. That being said, attempting to play a Monster Hunter game solo has never been recommended, since many of each installment's late-game hunts can be arduous and time-consuming. In light of that, co-op Monster Hunter games like Monster Hunter: World have allowed players to join other players on their hunts, or to summon other players mid-expedition who can assist. Now, Monster Hunter Wilds is coming in hot with a new take on this system that could make it the most single-player-friendly game in the series.

Monster Hunter Wilds Hands-On Preview: A New Hunt Begins

The Best War Games played an hour of Monster Hunter Wilds at Gamescom, with the title easily validating itself as one of the most anticipated games of 2025.

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By Joshua Duckworth

How Monster Hunter Wilds' Support Hunter System Improves the Single-Player Experience

How Monster Hunter Wilds' Support Hunter System Works

In Monster Hunter: World, players can use an SOS Flare to summon other players to their aid right in the middle of an expedition. As one would expect, this became a very popular feature in the game, since Monster Hunter is known for its difficulty, and having a full team of dedicated players can make things far easier. In Monster Hunter Wilds, SOS Flares essentially work the same way, but they have been improved to allow players to also summon NPC Hunters if they wish with the game's new Support Hunter system.

With Monster Hunter Wilds' new Support Hunter system, players can adjust their co-op support settings to be either "Player Only" or "Support Hunter." Additionally, players can customize the maximum number of Hunters allowed on their team, up to a party of four. When "Support Hunter" is enabled, Monster Hunter Wilds will send NPC Hunters to the player's aid if no other players join after a certain amount of time.

With "Player Only" enabled, however, only other players will join the hunt, which is what the feature was by default in the past.

Monster Hunter Wilds' Improved SOS Flares Iron Out the Kinks for a More Reliable, Single-Player-Friendly System

With Monster Hunter Wilds' improved SOS Flares, players never need to worry about going it alone, so long as they adjust their settings accordingly. In Monster Hunter: World, especially as the game grew much older, its SOS Flare system naturally became an unreliable way to get assistance from other players. An SOS Flare might be used, only for no one to respond to the call for help, thereby leaving the player who used it high and dry to fend for themselves. That's why Monster Hunter Wilds' Support Hunter system is such an improvement over the original, as players will always eventually have a full party of Hunters, even if no human players join the hunt.

Monster Hunter Wilds' new Support Hunter system is just one of its many innovative features, but it seems like it will accomplish the job of making this particular installment more solo-player friendly than any mainline Monster Hunter game before it. If that turns out to be the case, then, like Monster Hunter: World, Monster Hunter Wilds may see an influx of new players to the franchise, thanks to the increased accessibility it offers.

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OpenCritic Reviews: Top Critic Avg: 89 /100 Critics Rec: 95%

Released: February 28, 2025
ESRB: T For Teen // Violence, Blood, Crude Humor
Developer(s): Capcom
Publisher(s): Capcom

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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.