At the same time, some missions are investigations to find where a particular monster is on a map, for later reference, while creature can have different statuses, such as frenzied monsters and tempered monsters (that have survived multiple battles) which are tougher but make the process of fighting the same creature again and again – in order to gain enough resources to craft items – a lot more enjoyable.
Although there are now story missions that can focus more on exploration and unique set pieces, generally each one sets you the goal of defeating a particular monster, whose carcass you can then butcher for resources needed to make new armour, weapons, and other items (the game is entirely bloodless, which you could argue is somewhat hypocritical, given what you’re doing).
All of this is the same for Wilds but the one benefit of the new focus on storytelling is a wider range of bespoke missions where it’s not simply ‘go here and kill this.’ A lot of the plot involves searching for a long lost expedition, which leads to unique set pieces where you weren’t initially on the hunt for monsters but they suddenly turn up anyway.
You always enter combat with a bipedal cat-like creature called a Palico, which can offer some assistance in terms of healing items and acting as a distraction, but ideally you want to be playing with up to four people in online co-op, which is where much of the game’s popularity comes from – even though you can also play on your own and with computer-controlled allies.
The follow-up to Monster Hunter: World is finally here and it’s easily the best in the series so far, with an expanded open world and improved combat.
