Summary
- Technical issues plague Monster Hunter Wilds on PC, impacting gameplay and causing frustration among players.
- Empty areas in the game leave players wanting more emergent moments and interactions in key locations.
- Lack of endgame content and slow updates are driving players away, highlighting the need for meaningful additions to retain engagement.
Monster Hunter Wilds launched to massive excitement and praise across the board, reaching an impressive player count and a wide range of positive reviews that sent it to the top of the charts. Since then, however, it hasn’t been a smooth ride. While the game boasts great visuals, refined combat, and a bold new world, its post-launch life has seen growing frustration among fans.
Between technical performance issues, shallow endgame content, and slow updates, the community has been vocal about what still needs fixing, and despite its strong foundation, Wilds risks losing its long-term player base unless it evolves quickly and adapts to the needs of the consumer by solving these issues.
Performance
Even High-End Systems Struggle
Despite several patches, the PC version of Monster Hunter Wilds remains plagued by frame drops, shader bugs, and asset pop-in, with even top-of-the-range PCs struggling to hold a steady framerate. Some players have reported crashes tied to environmental events, and the combination of these issues has made it difficult to enjoy the game as intended, especially when combat and exploration demand precision.
Steam reviews have taken a significant hit as a result, with many users holding off on playing until Capcom delivers a proper optimization patch. Performance shouldn’t be an afterthought, and for many PC players, it’s become the biggest monster in the game. Until the technical foundation is fixed, Wilds can't truly shine on all platforms.
Empty Areas
More Spectacle Than Substance In Key Locations
The zones in Wilds are expansive and often stunning to look at. Players can experience dynamic weather, stampeding herds, and some of the most immersive environments in the series, but many areas feel underutilized. Long stretches of travel and few interactions outside of monsters or resource nodes make the spaces in between events feel more empty than alive.
Monster Hunter Wilds Making Big Weapon Changes
Monster Hunter Wilds director Yuya Tokuda and art director Kaname Fujioka explain the changes coming to this installment’s weapons.
Players want more emergent moments, like NPCs, dynamic quests, or more roaming mini-bosses, to make exploration worthwhile. With such a rich setting, the world should feel like a thriving ecosystem even between hunts, but as it stands, the vastness of Wilds' map sometimes works against player engagement.
Endgame Content
An Unsatisfying Grind
While Wilds delivers a compelling main progression arc, it currently lacks the post-game loop that past titles thrived on. After finishing the main campaign, players are left with just a few high-challenge hunts, minimal gear motivation, and a small monster roster for late-game farming. This means that many players who would love to keep on playing after the campaign is said and done just don't have the content there to enjoy.
Community feedback has been consistent: players miss deeper systems like the Guiding Lands, Tempered Monsters, or layered augmentations, and Capcom has promised that more is to come. In the meantime, the grind feels shallow. Without meaningful repeat content, many hunters are simply moving on, and if things don't pick up soon, they may never return.
Slow Updates
A Content Drip, Not A Downpour
Title Update 2 brought exciting additions to Wilds, including underwater combat, returning monsters like Lagiacrus, and seasonal events, but for many, it was too late. By the time these updates arrived, the player base had already dwindled, and goodwill had started to erode. Many long-time fans who were expecting to receive more content sooner were left disappointed.
Players expect a live-service model to deliver faster content drops, and Capcom’s current pace simply hasn’t matched expectations, especially with competition pushing constant patches out at a much quicker rate. If Wilds wants to hold the attention of its player base, it needs a roadmap they can rely on and a long-term plan for updates that contain meaningful changes and additions to keep people invested.
Poor Communication
Transparency That Needs Some Work
Capcom’s handling of criticism has been cautious, with sparse updates and limited developer transparency. After widespread performance complaints, it took weeks before an official response addressed the issues, leaving many fans in the dark and wondering whether the developers were listening in the first place.
Monster Hunter Wilds Sales Continue to Drop Off
Capcom announces its latest Monster Hunter Wilds sales figures, revealing that the once massively popular game continues to face declining sales.
When updates do drop, they’re often vague or lacking in detail, leading to confusion over what issues are actually being fixed. In an era where developers are expected to communicate openly, this has cost Capcom some trust with its most devoted players, and that trust needs to be rebuilt over time. With clearer patch notes, developer videos, and community Q&As, players will have an easier time understanding the game's state and direction, but right now, things are frustratingly silent.
But It Isn't All Doom And Gloom
Still So Much To Appreciate
Amidst the complaints, one truth remains: Monster Hunter Wilds is visually breathtaking and a welcome addition to the franchise. From its lighting systems to monster animations, every hunt feels cinematic, and the combat itself is just as exciting as fans had hoped it would be. The game’s new scale allows for epic encounters and massive, reactive environments that feel alive in ways the series has never achieved before.
The gameplay is some of the best in the franchise, combining weighty weapon play with flashy new moves and improved hit detection. When things work, Wilds is the best version of Monster Hunter ever made; it just needs the support and polish from Capcom to live up to its own potential.
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 89 /100 Critics Rec: 95%
