Capcom took the stage at the 2026's Summer Game Fest to show off the reveal trailer for Monster Hunter Wilds: Ascendance, a large-scale DLC expansion to the latest entry in the Monster Hunter series, Monster Hunter Wilds.

Unlike the base game, which took place on land, the Ascendance DLC will take players on an epic journey through the heavens as we explore floating islands filled with ancient ruins and ravenous monsters to hunt.

Among the new monsters we'll be hunting are an original Flying Wyvern-type creature that resembles a flying fish that divebombs players, the iconic Elder Dragon Kushala Daora who assails players with never-ending tornadoes, and Lao-Shan Lung, a colossal Elder Dragon that hasn't been seen since 2017's Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate.

However, Monster Hunter Wilds: Ascendance will be giving players new tricks to combat these creatures, as the Slinger gadget players used for firing Slinger ammo in the base game can now be used to supercharge weapons and activate new techniques that will rip enemies to pieces.

Monster Hunter Wilds: Ascendance is set to launch sometime during 2027 for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC via Steam.

Windows Central's take

Now, Monster Hunter Wilds and I had a rocky relationship, despite me being a hardcore Monster Hunter fanboy who's been in love with the series since Monster Hunter World.

At launch, it gravely disappointed me for its lackluster difficulty throughout the main campaign, subpar performance, and lack of substantial endgame content. Thankfully, post-game updates managed to fix most of these issues, while providing some satisfyingly challenging monsters to hunt like Omega and Gogmazios.

After looking at this trailer, my excitement for Monster Hunter has been lit up again because this expansion looks amazing. The new floating islands locale is easily the best-looking area in the game, the new original Flying Wyvern looks cool, and the new supermoves look fun to use.

Also, it's wild to see Lao Shan Lung again after so many years. This thing that debuted in the original Monster Hunter from 2004 paved the way for multiplayer-scale raid monsters in the series like Kulva Taroth, Jhen Mohran, and Zorah Magdaros, to name a few, and I'm kind of excited to fight it again without being held back by old-school controls this time.

Best of all, we'll doubtless be getting Master Rank quests, which in the past have often been the most challenging in a Monster Hunter game, meaning the story campaign might actually provide some difficulty this time and not be afraid of putting the player in danger.

I can't wait to see what else Monster Hunter Wilds: Ascendance has in store when it launches sometime in 2027 for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC via Steam.

🗨️ Over to you

What do you think of Monster Hunter Wilds: Ascendance? Does it make you want to revisit Monster Hunter Wilds or play it for the first time if you've been holding off on playing until the DLC expansion arrives?

If you have any thoughts on the matter, please let us know through the poll below, the comments section, or our Reddit page.

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We're a short while away from the release of Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection, the next big entry in the Monster Hunter's JRPG spin-off series. As a fan, I'm excited to see this underrated Xbox JRPG series finally get a next-gen makeover along with a darker and more mature story, innovations to its turn-based combat and monster-taming gameplay, and of course, a whole batch of new Monsties to ride on with.

Yet, I can't help but feel nervous that it could end up severely disappointing me as Monster Hunter Wilds did at launch, with toned-down difficulty and performance issues so bad that it incited a year of 'review bombs' on Steam.

Fortunately, my paranoia was mostly wiped clean after having an amazing time previewing Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection's opening chapters, so I was looking forward to what else it had to offer. After completing the full game, my love for the entire Monster Hunter franchise was renewed because I haven't played a Capcom JRPG this fun in ages, despite some controversial gameplay decisions that may anger long-time fans.

So, what are those decisions, you may ask? Read on to find out in my review of Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection.

This Review was made possible thanks to a code provided by Capcom. The company had no input nor saw the contents of this Review before publication.

Monster Hunter Stories 3: Story, art, and performance

Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection follows the story of the prince/princess of Azuria, a veteran monster Rider dedicated to saving their kingdom and monster-kind alike from a horrific phenomenon reducing all life to crystal called Encroachment.

To make matters worse, Arzuria is on the brink of war with its neighbouring kingdom, Vermeil, which is aggressively expanding its territory into forbidden ground to escape the Encroachment.

With the fate of two kingdoms and the ecosystem as a whole hanging in the balance, our hero sets forth on a journey along with their Skyscale Rathalos and specially-trained Riders called Rangers to uncover the truth behind the Encroachment and stop it before all is lost.

This game has, without a shadow of a doubt, the best storyline I've seen in a Monster Hunter by a country mile.

While it does feature the typical Monster Hunter affair of an unknown phenomenon causing havoc on the ecosystem, it's made more interesting by the fact that it's causing turf wars between mankind to the point where they're forced to use Monsties as tools of war to survive.

However, don't take this to mean that it's full of doom and gloom.

Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection hasn't forgotten its adventurous roots, as there are plenty of moments where it immerses the player in the wonders of nature, intriguing worldbuilding, and heartwarming levity to break up the morally grey war story between Arzuria and Vermeil.

Its cast of characters is just as entertaining as the story, as each member of your party has a charming personality and a riveting backstory worth completing their long Side Story quests to fully see.

Even the main Player Character is surprisingly compelling in their own right. They're a gentle soul that loves nature and will do anything to save Monsties and mankind alike, all the while displaying careful tact with regards to handling delicate situations as befitting of a future King/Queen.

In fact, I'd go as far as to say this game has the best batch of characters since the fan-favorite Caravan group from Monster Hunter 4, and I would love to go on more adventures with this bunch of Riders in future games or even DLC expansions.

For those who were afraid that this game was going to suffer the performance issues Monster Hunter Wilds did, I am happy to report that the Xbox Series X version of Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection's performance is A-Okay.

It runs at a rock-solid stable 60 FPS and 1080p resolution in Balanced mode and 30 FPS with 1440p resolution in Prioritize Resolution Mode (though the Kinship Skill cutscenes will go into 60 FPS).

Prioritize Framerate Mode has 60 FPS (or higher at around 70-90 FPS) and 1080p resolution, but the draw distance will be downgraded as monsters, trees, and other environmental assets in the sandbox exploration areas will look like unfinished textures from miles away until you get close to them, so they can load in properly.

But no matter what mode you choose on Xbox, you will be able to fully experience this game's beautiful, vibrant locales, gorgeously detailed anime character designs, and cinematically flashy super moves during combat without fear of framerate drops or gameplay-degrading stuttering.

Monster Hunter Stories 3: Gameplay

Monster Hunter Stories' tried and true turn-based combat and monster-taming gameplay is alive and kicking in Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection. They feature plenty of refinements and innovative new mechanics to keep things fresh and fun.

Firstly, taming monsters has never been more exciting thanks to the brand new Habitat Restoration system. As you explore the world, you will work to restore the exosystem by finding monster eggs, hatching new Monsties, and releasing them back into the wild to restore their population.

It felt so satisfying seeing this game's vibrant biomes, once nearly devoid of life, get slowly repopulated with monsters you worked hard to save, and it really helps sell the immersive feeling that you are a monster Rider working to keep nature in balance.

It's also rewarding from a gameplay perspective. Repopulating monster populations can lead to unlocking new Monsties to add to your party and unlock insanely powerful and cool new passive and active abilities to use in battle.

And you'll need to master them quickly because turn-based combat in Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection is no joke. Enemies hit hard, have lots of health, and rarely engage the player in the series' iconic Head-to-Head mechanic, so the player can't rock-paper-scissor their way to victory like in past games.

Once I got the hang of the enemies' new approach in battle and mastered the game's new combat mechanics like the new Longsword and Synchro Rush attack, turn-based battles became incredibly enjoyable to engage in.

The consistently tough enemies kept me engaged throughout my playtime, incentivising me to keep my gear up to date. Plus, it felt so satisfying to outfox enemies using out-of-the-box strategies and optimized Monstie party builds I created after investing so much time in the Habitat Restoration system.

That being said, it is rather annoying that Capcom didn't take my complaints about Battle Allies being uncontrollable in my Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin review to heart and instead doubled down on it.

Granted, the Battle Allies' AI is somewhat more competent than the previous game, as they'll often win in Head-to-Heads depending on which one you bring to fight certain monsters, and you can set their AI to prioritize different targets.

However, they'll still make stupid mistakes that will end up costing you dearly in battle, leading to unintentional frustration. I'd much rather take direct control of them so I can better synergize with their skills instead of praying the AI doesn't use a move that will get them killed.

Yet, this is a nitpick compared to some rather controversial decisions that may turn off not only Monster Hunter Stories fans, but Monster Hunter fans in general.

These decisions include a smaller roster of Monsties to collect in previous (this game has roughly around 80 or so Monsties to collect, whereas previous games had over 100), the lack of any multiplayer feature, and, shocking of all: NO HIGH-RANK POSTGAME.

Now, the first two issues I can forgive because the roster for this game is mostly made of original monsters that hadn't been in the series before (and most of them are really entertaining to use in battle).

As for the lack of multiplayer, I don't mind it being gone in favor of the developers focusing more on the single-player content and story, as it paid off in spades in this game. Though I'm a little sad to see we won't get any more of Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin's Co-Op quests, as I enjoyed them way more than the PvP modes the previous games had.

What I can't forgive, however, is not having a High Rank post-game. High Rank difficulty and post-game content have been a core part of Monster Hunter's identity since the original PlayStation 2 game in 2004.

So seeing a Monster Hunter game at launch, spin-off or not, not have any post-game bosses, post-game areas, post-game Monsties, or even a High Rank difficulty to test our endgame builds to their limits is heartbreaking.

Plus, this will establish a dangerous precedent where we'll no longer get any High Rank content at launch for a Monster Hunter game, setting the whole franchise back if Capcom continues it and we don't speak up on it.

However, and this is a big however, that doesn't mean there's absolutely nothing to do once you complete the main story. If you focus on completing the main story quests with little side-questing, it will take you around 40 to 50 hours.

Yet, I was able to squeeze over 120 hours out of this game by completing every side quest and Battle Ally Side Story, collecting every Monstie, experimenting with the Habitat Restoration system, and hunting down all the Feral Monsters, Invasive Monsters, and Calamitous Elder Dragons because I loved this game's core gameplay and story so much.

So I can assure you that this game will not leave you starving for content. If you can put aside the reduced Monstie roster and lack of multiplayer and a High-Rank postgame (which I totally understand if you don't, as it's an extremely bitter pill to swallow), then you will be in for one heck of a JRPG adventure you won't soon forget.

Monster Hunter Stories 3: Should you buy it?

Overall, I feel this game is the Monster Hunter Stories equivalent of Monster Hunter Tri — an ambitious entry that risks taking the series in a new direction with modern-day graphics, a mostly original roster of monsters, experimental gameplay ideas, and a much greater focus on cinematic storytelling.

While the lack of multiplayer and a High-Rank postgame will be extremely disappointing to long-time Monster Hunter fans (which I hope gets rectified with potential DLC expansions), that doesn't mean you should skip out on this game.

Its core gameplay loop of releasing monsters into the wild to restore ecosystems is addictive, and turn-based battles are gratifying while not being afraid of making the player work for their victories.

The graphical artstyle is a delightful feast for the eyes, and the story and character writing were epic, funny, and heartwarming from beginning to end. Not to mention, it has some of the best character writing Capcom has done since its classic Breath of Fire series.

If you're a fan of Pokémon-like alternatives that actually try to evolve the monster-taming genre or if you're a fan of turn-based JRPGs in general, then I highly recommend grabbing this near-perfect gem, as it's worth Riding On for.

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On February 22, 2026, Capcom uploaded a new trailer for Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection, as well as a Developer walkthrough to help newcomers to the series get up to speed on the game's story and gameplay.

The "Go Forth" trailer gives players a deeper glimpse into the game's story while revealing a whole bunch of new monsters to hunt and tame as Monsties that can be controlled as party members in battle.

Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection's story centers around the Encroachment, a mysterious phenomenon turning all life to crystal that has forced the kingdoms of Vermeil and Azuria into waging war against each other for survival.

The trailer hints that the player will eventually uncover the source of the Encroachment while contending with shocking revelations and painful loss of family members along the way.

Over the course of the "Go Forth" trailer, we also get glimpses at several returning monsters from previous games and newcomers to the Monster Hunter Stories series that will be implemented as bosses to beat and potentially new Monsties to tame.

These monsters include Nibelsnarf, Shogun Ceanataur, Ajarakan, Barroth, Seregios, Ibushi, Narwa, and a mysterious egg that may contain an original monster exclusively for this game.

The wait for Monster Hunter Stories 3 is getting too much bear, I need to hunt now!

I was already sold on Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection after being wowed during my preview of the game, but this trailer has sent my anticipation levels into critical mass.

After many years, we finally have a crab monster as a rideable Monstie in the form of Shogun Cenataur. The story is looking even more intense, and seeing Narwa and Ibushi again as enemies to fight has me giddy with nostalgia for Monster Hunter Rise.

While it lacked the gruelling challenge of previous mainline games, Monster Hunter Rise more than made up for it with cool monsters, a slick and colorful art style, an excellent PC port that functioned at launch, and over-the-top arcadey gameplay that, in my opinion, is still vastly superior to Monster Hunter Wilds in terms of focus and execution.

In fact, I'm going to fire up Monster Hunter Rise right now and relive its glorious Sunbreak expansion to kill time before Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection arrives on March 13, 2026, for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC via Steam.

We'd like to hear your thoughts

Are you looking to play Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection after watching this trailer? Which monsters from the mainline Monster Hunter series would you like to see be included in the Monster Hunter Stories games as a Monstie?

If you have any thoughts on the matter, let us know in the comments below.

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

Monster Hunter Wilds has just received its final major update for the base game titled Ver.1.041.00.00, and it's celebrating the game's 1st anniversary with a bang.

This update has brought more performance enhancements for both consoles and PC, an Arch-Tempered version of Arkveld to battle, new Event Quests to indulge in, and various other bug fixes for all platforms.

Here are some of the biggest highlights of this update, according to Monster Hunter Wilds' patch notes.

First off and most importantly, this patch will be bringing several more performance enhancements for PC, Xbox Series X|S, and PlayStation 5 versions, which include:

• Reduced CPU/GPU processing and made adjustments to lower the load on the game.
• Added internal Levels of Detail (LOD) for 3D models, adjusting them to display optimal quality based on the situation to reduce GPU load.
• Optimized monster and endemic life spawn-time processing to reduce CPU load.
• Added effect caching to decrease CPU load when generating duplicate effects.
• Optimized rendering processes to reduce CPU/GPU load.
• Performed other minor adjustments to lower the overall load.

While these performance boosts aren't as extensive as the last PC performance, these changes are receiving a very positive reception based on early impressions.

Recent Steam reviews have been 70% overwhelmingly positive in the past few hours, with many people claiming that the game is in a perfectly functional state.

MHWilds (TU5) - Patch 1.041 VS Patch 1.040 - 1.010 – Performance/Benchmark Test from r/MonsterHunter

However, Reddit user nreal_NeoX points out that the game still suffers from a CPU-bottleneck issue despite it's VRAM usage being reduced and improved 1% lows. Fortunately, the CPU bottleneck is nowhere near as bad as it was before, so gameplay performance shouldn't feel too strained anymore on PC.

As for the consoles, I've tried out the performance patch briefly on Xbox, and I have noticed that the game in Balanced Mode now stays at a relatively stable 30-40 FPS, whereas before it dipped below 30 FPS constantly.

Resolution Mode has the game capped at 30 FPS with sharper anti-aliasing, and Performance Mode has the game running more consistently at 60 FPS than it did in previous patches.

The game on Xbox definitely feels a lot less sluggish to control for me compared to how it did at launch in all modes, but I'll be sticking with Performance Mode despite the dip in resolution quality so I can achieve my frame-perfect counters without input-delay.

Now that we've got the performance changes out of the way, let's talk about gameplay content.

This update introduces Arch-Tempered Arkveld as the final Arch-Tempered Monster, along with new 10* Quests where you have to fight harder versions of Arch-Tempered Arkveld, Rey Dau, Nu Udra, Uth Duna, and Jin Dahaad.

There's also new side missions involving Rudy from Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection and Nadia, a returning NPC from Monster Hunter 4 with new gear and cosmetic rewards up for grabs.

The update has added a ton of new Event Quests with all kinds of rewards ranging from useful armor sets and items to goofy cosmetics. In addition, dozens of Event Quests have also been made permanently available and can now be played offline.

Now's the time to re-join the hunt in preparation for Monster Hunter Wilds' upcoming expansion

Perhaps the greatest news that this final update has brought is that people actually care about Monster Hunter again.

According to SteamDB, Monster Hunter Wilds' con-current playerbase on Steam has skyrocketed in the last 24 hours to the point that nearly 80,000 people are playing it on Steam.

I'd imagine the developers at Capcom have regained their spirits now that they've won back the fanbase's trust on PC and console with these updates.

Granted that it's annoying we had to wait an entire year for the game to become stable enough to enjoy it, but it's better than not getting any performance patches at all, like the tragic Wild Hearts never did on Xbox and PC.

Either way, Monster Hunter Wilds is in a very good state both in stability and endgame. If you have been on the fence for this game, now's the time to finally jump in and hunt giant monsters with your friends.

Stay tuned for more Monster Hunter news as we keep out for info regarding Monster Hunter Wilds' DLC expansion and the upcoming release of the JRPG spin-off, Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection.

Over to you

What do you think of this last update for Monster Hunter Wilds? Has it fully redeemed the game after it burned you at launch or are you waiting until it's DLC expansion for more content?

If you have any thoughts on the matter, let us know in the comments below.

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

I’ve been playing Monster Hunter games for 8 years now, ever since Capcom’s best-selling Monster Hunter World sucked me into its addictive monster-hunting universe.

I’ve done it all, from slaying Fatalis in Monster Hunter World: Iceborne, fighting horror-themed monsters in Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak, to befriending Monsties in Monster Hunter Stories 1 and Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin.

Given my experience with this franchise (and playing Monster Hunter Stories 3's free playable demo), Capcom allowed me to get a hands-on preview of Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection on Xbox, the latest entry in Monster Hunter’s Pokémon-like spin-off series, where you tame monsters rather than purely hunt them.

After spending over 20 hours of the game’s first two chapters, I was shocked in the best way possible. Not only is Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection already shaping up to be the best Monster Hunter Stories game, but it also has the potential to be one of the best games in the entire Monster Hunter franchise.

This preview was made possible thanks to a code provided by Capcom. The company had no input nor saw the contents of this preview before publication.

A story that goes beyond hunting monsters

My preview with an introduction to the game’s premise. You play as the crown prince/princess of Azuria, who’s leading a team of monster Riders called Rangers to investigate Encroachment, a mysterious phenomenon that’s turning all life to crystal and driving many monster species to extinction.

The Encroachment situation is so dire that it’s caused Azuria’s neighboring kingdom, Vermeil, to aggressively expand its territory into forbidden lands that Azuria is protecting to escape crystallization, driving both kingdoms to the brink of war.

After a brief, traumatic altercation with Vermeil’s armies, our protagonist sets out on a journey along with the Rangers and their personal Skyscale Rathalos to stop the impending war by discovering the truth behind the Encroachment while saving endangered monster species along the way.

Right from the get-go, Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection easily has the best plot hook out of any Monster Hunter game I’ve played, and it’s left me wanting to see where it goes.

It has shades of grey morality, intrigue, and compelling drama, while maintaining the wondrous sense of adventure, love for nature, and power of friendship themes that the series has always had, but done more maturely, to represent how much the series has grown from its child-friendly roots.

Habitat Restoration offers new layers of monster catching complexity

This sense of maturity for the series also extends to Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection’s gameplay. In the beginning, the gameplay loop plays out like its predecessors.

You embark on a journey throughout the world, taking up quests to hunt monsters, exploring vibrant biomes to hunt said monsters, and carving their body parts to craft powerful gear to hunt bigger monsters like the mainline Monster Hunter series.

Along the way, you will also delve into Monster Dens, where you can collect monster eggs and recruit friendly monsters called Monsties to your party to help you explore precarious terrain and battle hostile monsters.

However, that’s where this game’s similarities with the first two games end. Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection introduces a new gameplay mechanic that has me completely addicted, called Habitat Restoration.

Thanks to the Encroachment, the monster population of several ecosystems has dwindled to near extinction. So, our job is to save these monsters by finding monster eggs, hatching them, and sending the newly hatched monsters back into the wilds to repopulate their numbers.

As you restore monster populations, their Ecosystem Rank within a habitat will grow and unlock the chance for newly hatched Monsties to obtain new abilities and passive stat boosts depending on what habitat they were put in.

You can even unlock powerful secret monsters to recruit as Monsties by sending specific monsters to specific regions, and it felt so satisfying once I figured out how to find them.

This Habitat Restoration also synergizes with the Monster Hunter Stories series’ stable Rite of Channelling mechanic that allows you to transfer the Genes of one Monstie to another to grant them stat boosts, passive abilities, status effect immunities, elemental resistances, and new attacks they wouldn't naturally learn.

I spent the majority of my preview time sending monsters into the wild and farming for eggs just to see what kind of new, powerful abilities I could transfer to my main menagerie of Monsties for my efforts in restoring monster populations, and it felt so rewarding to do.

Combat that's both familiar yet totally fresh and more creative

However, not every habitat is safe to release monsters in. Some of them are inhabited by monsters mutated and driven mad by the Encroachment called Feral Monsters that you must put down in order to secure a habitat for restoration.

Additionally, some endangered monster species can only be unlocked by defeating dangerous beasts called Invasive Monsters because they have stolen their eggs for dinner.

This leads me to the combat system of Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection, which has seen its fair share of improvements from previous games.

Combat in Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection is a turn-based affair where you, your partner Monstie, and your AI-controlled party members take turns attacking hostile monsters using powerful abilities, weapons, and tools.

It also has elements of Rock-Paper-Scissors, where some special moves have attack types: Power, Technical, and Speed.

During these engagements, you can overpower an opponent to deal extra damage if your move's attack type beats theirs, or cancel an incoming attack outright if you and a party member both use an attack type that beats an opponent’s attack type, resulting in a Double Tacck.

Plus, when you win in these Rock-Paper-Scissors-style engagements (known in-game as Head-to-Heads), you fill up your Kinship Gauge, which, when full, you can mount your Monstie and perform a cinematic super move called the Kinship Skill to decimate your opponents with.

As for what’s changed about Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection’s combat system from previous titles, for starters, characters now use a Stamina Meter that they can use to activate special attacks with instead of Kinship Gauge (but at the cost of slowing the rate at which the Kinship Gauge fills).

Also, you can now carry as many types of items as you want (at the cost of using only a limited number of them), and you can now choose which attack type your special moves will have before performing (except special moves that have no attack type).

As a result, combat feels looser and freer, allowing the player to have more creative ways to take down monsters and no longer feel restricted by certain abilities they like using being locked behind a single attack type like in previous games.

Feral and Invasive Monsters are no cakewalk

However, don’t get cocky in thinking that these improvements will make the game easy.

If you’re not paying attention to a monster’s attack patterns, countering their attack types correctly, and being properly geared up before a hunt, they will destroy you in a flash, especially the Feral and Invasive Monsters.

Feral Monsters are boss monsters that hit like trucks, frequently use attacks that don’t have attack types to avoid being countered in Head-to-Heads, and counterattack if you hit their crystallized body parts while they’re enraged.

The few Feral Monsters I encountered in my preview were tough and encouraged me to try out out-of-the-box strategies to avoid their attacks.

These included using the new Longsword weapon type to parry incoming non-typed attacks and using attacks that focused on depleting an enemy’s Wyvernsoul Gauge to stagger them rather than dealing straight damage.

What's the Wyvernsoul Gauge, you may ask? Another one of Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection’s new combat mechanics is the Wyvernsoul Gauge which acts as a stagger meter for enemy monsters that, when depleted, causes them to fall over like in the mainline games.

When this happens, the player is then briefly given the option to activate a Synchro Rush attack where all party members dogpile on a helpless enemy to deal a ton of damage and greatly fill each party member’s Kinship Gauge.

Alternatively, you can choose to let the Synchro Rush option pass and use this opportunity to heal your party, set up buffs/debuffs, or attack an enemy monster’s specific body part without fear of reprisal for a turn.

This opens up new layers of strategies to the combat system that lead to some epic moments where I tripped a Feral Monster and unleashed a barrage of attacks to destroy its crystal body parts while it was helpless, so I didn’t have to worry about being countered anymore.

However, such strategies won’t carry you to victory when fighting Invasive Monsters, which are ten times worse than Feral Monsters.

Invasive Monsters are creatures that have been driven to other areas thanks to the Encroachment and are wreaking havoc in ecosystems they don’t belong in. They are incredibly powerful, have a ton of health, and are almost impervious to all forms of attacks when you first fight them.

Yet the goal when fighting Invasive Monsters is not slaying them but forcing them to retreat. This is accomplished by examining an invasive Monster's behavior, tracks, and body parts for clues and discovering specific methods to counter their Invasive Attacks.

These range from destroying certain body parts at the right time, using specific moves, and other non-conventional methods. So, in a way, battles with Invasive Monsters function more like puzzles rather than straight-up brawls and provide an interesting change of pace from typical battles.

Once you figure out how to force an Invasive Monster to retreat, you can track it back to its den and retrieve the egg of an endangered species you wouldn’t find normally while exploring, hatch it, and send it back into the wild to restore its population.

Once that’s done, you can challenge an Invasive Monster again in its den to finish it off for good using what you've learned from the initial battle.

However, I strongly recommend not fighting them right away before getting stronger gear and Monsties because I was doing no damage with the starter gear and low-level Monsties I had at the beginning of the game.

Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection is shaping up to be another smash hit for Capcom

Overall, I absolutely loved Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection from what I played during the first two chapters, and I’m hungry for more.

It has a complex plot I’m genuinely invested in, the party members you travel with have fun and charming personalities, the combat system feels vastly improved from past titles, and the new Habitat Restoration adds new addicting layers to the monster-collecting gameplay loop.

Not to mention, there are tons of side content to indulge in, like Side Story quests that delve into your party member’s backstories, using Monstie exploration abilities to uncover hidden treasures and gear in the environment, and dozens upon dozens of Monsties to collect.

If this is just what the first 20 hours are like, I can’t imagine how crazy the gameplay will be once I hit Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection’s late game or endgame content.

If you’re a fan of Xbox JRPGs, Monster Hunter, or Pokémon-like alternatives on PC that try to evolve the niche monster-catching genre, I highly recommend putting Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection on your wishlist because this game has the potential to be one of Capcom’s best games of 2026.

Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection is set to release on March 13, 2026, for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC via Steam.

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Ryozo Tsujimoto, the lead producer of Capcom's Monster Hunter franchise, took the stage in Monster Hunter Wilds' latest developer update video to reveal news on the game's final base game update releasing on February 18, 2026, and its DLC expansion set to be revealed this Summer.

This update will bring about more performance boosts for consoles and PC, new challenges to overcome like Arch-Tempered Arkveld, new gear and collectibles to obtain in new Event Quests, and much more.

Here's everything you need to know from the Monster Hunter Wilds' February 2026 update.

First of all, the Monster Hunter Wilds' February 2026 update will introduce the final Arch-Tempered monster for the base game, Arch-Tempered Arkveld.

This will be a 10* Event Quest where you get to hunt a much more powerful version of Arkveld that will use the abilities of its Guardian counterpart from the story campaign while incorporating new deadly moves in its arsenal.

There will also be a Challenge Quest version of Arch-Tempered Arkveld to fight on March 19, 2026.

What's more is that there will be new 10* Quest versions of the previous Arch-Tempered monsters to fight that reward players with Timeworn Charms that can be appraised for rare-quality talismans, and Battle-tempered Emblems to reinforce Gogma Artian weapons with.

On top of that, there will be a new Hunt-a-Thon optional Quest where you get to fight four Arch-Tempered monsters back-to-back, serving as the base game's final ultimate challenge.

The February 2026 update will also include the following:

• Monster Hunter Wilds' Weapon and Pendant Design contest winners, the Shatterseal Greatsword and Meatmergency Pendant, will be obtainable in Event Quests.
• A special collaboration with Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection where the player can earn Rudy as Palico armor and Monstie egg pendants in a Side Mission.
• An extra Side Mission where the player can earn the armor set of Nadia, an Ace Hunter from Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate.
• A free Character and Palico Voucher, where players can change their characters' and Palico's design.

Ryozo Tsujimoto then gives players a run-down of various Event Quests that players can take up in the coming weeks.

These quests include fighting an overpowered Rompopolo, a horde of slime monsters (an in-joke referencing the game's anti-arachnophobia feature), and fighting a Rey Dau and Gypceros duo to obtain the Gala Suit and Felyne Star armor sets from Monster Hunter World.

What's more is that all the previous seasonal events will return on a weekly rotational basis, along with a new Anniversary seasonal event. Plus, there will be even more new Event Quests added to the previous seasonal events, whose details will be revealed at a later date.

Next up, Ryozo Tsujimoto mentions that the Monster Hunter Festa event will take place on February 22, 2026, in Makuhari Messe, Japan.

Plus, Monster Hunter Wilds' final base game will include more performance enhancements for both consoles and PC platforms, building off the back of the game's resoundingly successful PC performance patch.

These include more CPU/GPU optimization, reducing GPU processing loads by adding level-of-detail (LOD) quality levels to 3D models' polygon mesh, and more.

Ryozo Tsujimoto then closes out the presentation by confirming that Capcom is working on Monster Hunter Wilds' large-scale DLC expansion.

It will be similar to Monster Hunter World: Iceborne and Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak, and more details on it will be revealed during this Summer 2026.

Capcom has fully redeemed Monster Hunter Wilds for its 1st anniversary

Monster Hunter Wilds has had a rough journey, but at last, it's finally seen light at the end of the tunnel.

At launch, the game disappointed hardcore fans like me with its lackluster difficulty and absence of a substantial endgame, and was review-bombed on Steam for nearly a year for its shockingly subpar PC performance.

Yet the developers never gave up on Monster Hunter Wilds. Though various post-game updates adding in new challenging monsters for hardcore players, balance changes, an insane crossover with Final Fantasy 14, and fixes for the game's PC performance issues, Capcom managed to win back the fans' favor, including mine.

Between this update and the upcoming Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection, things are looking up for Monster Hunter in 2026.

Stay tuned for more hunts as we keep an eye out for news on Monster Hunter Wilds' DLC expansion, which will no doubt be revealed during Summer Game Fest 2026.

What do you think of Monster Hunter Wilds now that it's finally reached the end of its post-launch updates? Do you think it's in a better state now than it was at launch, or do you think the game needs more improvements on a fundamental gameplay level, that the DLC expansion could bring?

If you have any thoughts on the matter, let us know in the comments below.

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

During Nintendo's February 2026 Direct, Capcom arrived with good news regarding Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection, the latest upcoming entry in the Monster Hunter Stories series.

As of this moment, Capcom has released a free demo for the game, which you can download right now on Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC via Steam.

The demo will include the opening chapters of the game, and any progress made within it will be carried over to the full game.

As for its contents, the demo will allow players to create their protagonist using its advanced character creator, experience a taste of Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection's in-depth combat and exploration gameplay, the new Habitat Restoration system, and catch several Monsties to add to their collection of critters.

The vampiric Malzeno has returned for Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection

On a side note, Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection also revealed during its free demo announcement that Malzeno, the flagship monster of Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak, will be featured in the game as no doubt a challenging boss to overcome.

As someone who loved Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak, it's pretty cool to see Malzeno make a comeback for this game. Hopefully, this means that Malzeno will become a recruitable Monstie for us to control in battle like Nergigante was for Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin.

I've been looking forward to playing this game for months because of how much it aims to evolve the gameplay and presentation of the Monster Hunter Stories series.

Thanks to this demo, I finally can get a brief taste of Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection ahead of its March 13, 2026 launch for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC via Steam.

Are you looking forward to playing Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection? Will you be giving the free demo a go?

If you have any thoughts on the matter, let us know in the comments below.

On January 27, 2026, Capcom rolled out Monster Hunter Wilds' long-awaited PC performance patch, which aimed to address the many stability, framerate, and bug issues that had plagued the game's PC version since its release last year.

After being in the wild for a few days, the patch seems to have done the trick.

Players all over the internet are reporting that Monster Hunter Wilds on PC is running much more smoothly than ever, and have even stopped review-bombing it on Steam (as confirmed by @Okami13_ on X).

@Okami13_ tested the game on Steam to see what kind of performance improvements this patch has brought to Monster Hunter Wilds, and he discovered that it has:

• Better 1% lows for smoother gameplay with less hitching and stutter.
• Lower VRAM usage (10+ GB -> 7.5GB).
• Higher FPS in some cases.
• CPU optimizations.
• High-res texture pack is actually usable now.
• Lowered the install size by 45GB with texture pack.
• Some users report that their new frame rate WITHOUT FG = old frame rate WITH FG.
• More graphics options to tweak.

@Okami13_ even also discovered that the DLC Checker system bug that caused massive framerate drops has also been fixed.

What's even crazier is that players like @DeckWizard on YouTube are reporting that the PC performance patch has also improved the game's stability to the point where it's actually playable on the Steam Deck.

After tweaking the game's graphical settings and activating the paid 2X FPS Lossless Scaling app that costs $7 on the Steam Deck, DeckWizard was able to get the game running between 30 and even 60 FPS.

Granted, the visual fidelity of Monster Hunter Wilds takes a big hit as you will need to turn most of the game's graphics to Medium or Low. However, the fact that it's playable at all on Steam Deck when the game isn't Steam Deck certified goes to show how much Monster Hunter Wilds' PC performance has been improved.

Granted, the PC performance patch is not entirely well-received.

Reddit user @Unreal_NeoX also did some testing and discovered that Monster Hunter Wilds on PC is still suffering from a CPU bottleneck issue holding back the game's performance from achieving its true potential.

Monster Hunter Wilds - Patch 1.040.03.01 CPU-Settings Performance/Benchmark Test from r/MonsterHunter

He states, "The CPU bottleneck can be slightly improved with the new settings, but it can not be removed. Even with all CPU options set to the absolute minimum, the GPU can not be loaded to its full capacity."

Unreal_NeoX also recommends updating your computer's BIOS, GPU driver, and Chipsetdriver to make the most of this performance patch while having SAM enabled.

Monster Hunter Wilds' road to performance redemption is hitting the home stretch

In the end, while there are still issues to iron out, Monster Hunter Wilds is a much better place on PC performance wise thanks to this patch.

Fortunately, this won't be the last performance upgrade the game will receive, as the base game of Monster Hunter Wilds will receive one final major update in February 2026.

As stated during the December 2025 Monster Hunter Showcase, this final major patch for Monster Hunter Wilds will feature more CPU/GPU optimization and additional levels of quality (LOD) to the polygon mesh for 3D models (reducing GPU processing load).

The good news is that this performance upgrade will be rolled out not just to the Steam version, but also to the Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5 versions, too.

What's more is that the February patch will also include an Arch-Tempered version of Arkveld, the flagship monster of Monster Hunter Wilds. This newly improved Arkveld will serve as the final ultimate challenge for players to tackle in the base game, much like Arch-Tempered Nergigante did back in Monster Hunter World.

Will this final update help Monster Hunter Wilds reach its performance potential on both PC and console? Stay tuned to find out as we keep an eye out for the release date for Monster Hunter Wilds' final post-launch update in February 2026.

What do you think of Monster Hunter Wilds' PC performance patch? Has it made the game more fun and stable for you, or do you think the game needs further improvements?

If you have any thoughts on the matter, let us know in the comments below.

It's been nearly a year since the release of Monster Hunter Wilds, a game that many (myself included) looked forward to playing but were ultimately disappointed by its lackluster difficulty, barebones endgame, and PC performance issues that caused players to review bomb it on Steam for months.

While Capcom has fixed a majority of the game's issues through title updates, it has yet to address the game's PC issues, which have only gotten worse to the point where the DLC's checker system is causing framerate issues (which Capcom has confirmed is a bug).

Hopefully, those technical bugbears will finally be put to bed as Monster Hunter Wilds' biggest PC performance patch will launch tonight at 6:00 p.m. PT (or January 28, 2026, 2:00 a.m. UTC for the rest of the world).

To help fans understand what the PC performance patch will change, Capcom has recently shared patch notes for the update on Monster Hunter Wilds' official website.

The patch notes are as follows:

Major Additions and Changes (Steam)

• Improved CPU/GPU processing specific to the Steam version.
• Reduced shader warming processes performed outside the shader compilation screen to lower CPU load.
• Adjusted texture streaming to improve visual quality while reducing VRAM usage.
• Adjusted the High Resolution Texture Pack to reduce VRAM usage and overall package size.
• Added a CPU tab to the Options menu, allowing players to adjust settings related to CPU load.
• Added new categories to the graphics settings, along with new settings for existing options.
• Adjusted graphic presets and added a confirmation window to automatically update your settings on first launch after updating.
• Expanded the Volumetric Fog setting in the graphics options from two levels to five. The previous "High" setting has been renamed to "Highest," and "Low" to "High," with three new lower options—"Medium," "Low," and "Lowest"—now available.
• Fixed an issue where a warning dialogue incorrectly indicated that the AMD Radeon driver was outdated when using driver version 26.1.1 or later.

Bug Fixes and Balance Adjustments (Steam)

• Fixed an issue where system load could increase around the Support Desk at Base Camp or the Grand Hub due to claimed content status checks.
• Adjusted Variable Rate Shading behavior so it is forced off during upscaling to maintain proper effect visuals.
• Fixed other miscellaneous issues.

Do note that this performance patch will require 2GB of install space, and your PC's video driver must be updated before downloading this patch.

NVIDIA users must update to NVIDIA GeForce 581.57 or newer, while AMD users must update to AMD Radeon 25.9.1 or 25.9.2. Capcom has stated that there are some issues identified with AMD Radeon drivers versions 25.10.2 and higher.

This information regarding video drivers is subject to change at any point due to certain factors, such as NVIDIA and AMD support availability.

Will Monster Hunter Wilds finally get fixed on PC?

It's been a long, bumpy road for Monster Hunter Wilds, but hopefully, this PC performance patch will finally address the issues that have plagued this game since launch.

We'll keep an eye on the fan reception of the PC performance patch and let you folks at home know if it's considered a success or a failure!

Do you believe this PC performance patch will fix Monster Hunter Wilds' performance issues? Are you still playing Monster Hunter Wilds or have you moved on to other games?

If you have any thoughts on the matter, let us know in the comments below.

It's been nearly a year since the release of Monster Hunter Wilds, the latest mainline entry in the Monster Hunter series. While it went on to sell over 10 million copies, the game ended up being my biggest disappointment of the year for it's non-existant difficulty, unfinished endgame content, and needlessly convoluted multiplayer system.

Not to mention its performance on PC has been absolutely abysmal to the point players have been relentlessly review-bombing it on Steam. While Capcom has been busy improving its endgame content with post-launch updates that added challenging new monsters, new gear to grind for, and an insane crossover with Final Fantasy XIV, there have been little to no improvements for the game's performance on PC.

However, Reddit user by the name of u/de_Tylmarande has reportedly discovered one of the main causes for Monster Hunter Wilds' subpar PC performance, especially for people using mid-range PC hardware.

MH Wilds - Bad performance mystery (Solved?) from r/MonsterHunter

According to u/de_Tylmarande, the performance issues are partly caused by a system Monster Hunter Wilds uses to check how much DLC content a player owns. They discovered this after doing testing using two separate Steam accounts, where one had no DLC and the other did.

This DLC ownership checking system was running constantly in the background, and they concluded from their testing that the more DLC that was registered to a player's account, the fewer performance hiccups there were.

de_Tylmarande then decided to take it a step further by using a mod that disabled the DLC ownership checking system and was shocked to discover that disabling the system resulted in a 75% performance increase (26 fps with the mod off and 46 fps with the mod on while running in the Windward Plains hub area).

Considering Monster Hunter Wilds has tons of piecemeal DLC items like cosmetic armor sets, Seikret and weapon skins, stickers, emotes, and various other knick-knacks, it would make sense that the DLC ownership checker would cause performance issues.

It essentially forces your PC's CPU to overclock, trying to track if any of them are on your Steam account, and causing Monster Hunter Wilds' framerate to suffer as a result.

Now, it's highly likely this is a bug caused by accident. Yet, it's wild that in nearly a year of releasing post-launches, Capcom didn't catch such a huge game-breaking bug in testing that a random fan on Reddit managed to do in their spare time.

However, there is a chance that Capcom may address this in the coming weeks, as they've announced on their Japanese X account that a performance patch for the Steam version will be rolled out on January 28, 2026.

Although there is also a possibility that Capcom's upcoming patch won't fix the issue regarding the DLC ownership checker, causing frame drops at all.

If that happens, u/de_Tylmarande says he'll finish the mod that disables the DLC ownership checker and release it as open source as a last resort option.

But will either option be enough to fix Monster Hunter Wilds on PC and bring back disenfranchised PC players? We'll keep an eye out to let you know if performance improves on PC officially or unofficially.

Do you think Monster Hunter Wilds PC performance will finally get fixed in Capcom's upcoming patch on January 28, 2026, or will you wait for unofficial mods to do the job?

If you have any thoughts on the matter, let us know in the comments below.

After being postponed for a few days by a Tsunami warning, Capcom has finally uploaded the latest Monster Hunter Showcase event as a VOD, along with new trailers for Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection and Monster Hunter Wilds.

There is an avalanche of information to unpack from this presentation, including new gameplay systems in Monster Hunter Stories 3, a preview of the Gogmazios boss fight in Monster Hunter Wilds' upcoming 4th update (which will launch on December 16, 2025), Capcom addressing complaints regarding Monster Hunter Wilds' PC performance, and much more.

Here's all the new information announced at the Monster Hunter Showcase.

Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection — New Gameplay Systems

The Monster Hunter Showcase begins with a trailer for Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection, showing off brand new gameplay systems.

In this game, you play as a Ranger, a group of monster Riders dedicated to protecting the environment and saving endangered monster species from a life-threatening phenomenon called the Crystal Encroachment.

Not only that, Invasive Monsters are rampaging through the lands, and it's your job to drive them away so they can't damage the ecosystem or its endangered monsters.

Invasive Monsters are a special type of boss monster that will require careful strategy and preparation to defeat. Once they're repelled, you can follow them back to their den and rummage through their nests to rescue any endangered monster eggs these Invasive Monsters have stolen.

Once you have retrieved a stolen egg, you can hatch it and release the monster back into the wild to help repopulate its species.

Once a monster species' population has fully recovered, you can then obtain their eggs in the wild and hatch them into Monsties, which are tamed party member monsters that can be used for exploration and battle.

This is part of Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection's biggest new gameplay system to the series — Habitat Restoration. As you fill a habitat with eggs from endangered and non-endangered monster species, its Ecosystem Rank will increase.

As a habitat's Ecosystem Rank rises, monster eggs will be easier to obtain, and Monsties hatched from them will have a higher chance of obtaining more powerful genes and skills that will aid them in battle.

Additionally, special eggs that hatch into powerful Monsties like the Dreadqueen Rathian can only be acquired by engaging in the Habitat Restoration system.

The Habitat Restoration can also allow the player to change a monster's natural element and transform it into a Dual-Element Monster by placing it in habitats with a unique element.

For example, if you place a Tobi-Kadachi, which is naturally a Thunder-elemental monster, in a habitat with the fire element, there is a random chance you will encounter an egg that will hatch into a Tobi-Kadachi with Thunder and Fire elemental properties and skills.

A Dual-Element monster's appearance will also be drastically different from a regular monster's to reflect its new innate elements.

The Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection section of the Showcase concludes with Capcom confirming that Arkveld, the flagship monster of Monster Hunter Wilds, will be in the game as a monster to fight and tame as a Monstie party member.

Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection is set to release on March 13, 2026, for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC via Steam.

Monster Hunter Wilds — Title Update 4

The Monster Hunter Showcase then switches over to covering news regarding Monster Hunter Wilds' 4th Title Update, which is set to go live on December 16, 2026, for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC via Steam.

The biggest attraction of this update is the return of Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate's Gogmazios as a challenging post-game boss fight that can be undertaken with four players and four NPC Support Hunters at the same time.

Slaying Gogmazios will reward materials to craft special armor sets and upgrade the Artian Weapons into their final form — the Gogma Artian Weapons.

Gogma Artian Weapons are powerful weapons that can be forged with one Set Bonus Skill and one Group Skill chosen at random and re-rolled to the player's liking.

Upgrading Artian Weapons into Gogma Artian Weapons can also allow players to reset their passive stat bonuses or keep them so they can be enhanced even further.

Gogmazios isn't the only notable piece of content coming in Monster Hunter Wilds 4th Title Update, as it will also include:

• Arch-Tempered Jin Dahaad to fight in a Permanent Event Quest with new armor sets as rewards.
• A Transcendence System that will allow you to 'transcend' High Rank Armor Sets to their full potential, which will increase their defense stats and improve their Decoration Slots.
• Optional High Rank Side Quests, where you can take on several 9* Tempered Monsters to unlock special nameplates as rewards.
• Hunting Exercises where you can take on 9* Tempered Monsters.
• Two New Support Hunters to take with you on hunters (Griffin the Great Sword wielder and Nightmist the Light Bowgunner).
• A ton of free and paid DLC to obtain, including poses, Layered Armor, Layered Weapons, Gestures, Pendants, and more.
• A free Character Edit Voucher and Palico Edit Voucher to change the looks of their character and Palico.
• New Event Quests, where players can obtain special gear, fight tougher monsters, and farm Heavy Armor Spheres to upgrade their armor sets.
• A Free Challenge Quest involving Arch-Tempered Jin Dahaad.
• A new seasonal event called Festival of Accord: Lumenhymn (which will run from December 19, 2025, to January 14, 2026), where players can obtain special gear, gestures, and decorations for a limited time.

Monster Hunter Wilds — Final Update and Performance Improvements

After rounding out news for Monster Hunter Wilds' 4th Title Update, Capcom decided to do an encore by revealing news for the game's final content update that is scheduled to launch on February 18, 2026.

This final content update for the game will include:

• Arch-Tempered Arkveld as the final Arch-Tempered to hunt.
• A new weapon and pendant created by fans from an "Original Weapon and Pendant Design" content.
• A collaboration with Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection, where players can obtain a pendant and Palico armor inspired by Rudy from Monster Hunter Stories 3.
• A Latin-American Spanish voice language option.

Capcom closes out the Monster Hunter Showcase by revealing its plans for improving Monster Hunter Wilds' performance on console and PC platforms.

When the game's fourth title update launches, the console and PC versions of Monster Hunter Wilds will receive CPU/GPU optimization improvements.

These improvements include:

• Improving processing time by distributing process access frames for elements that demand the heaviest load, like players, monsters, and graphical user interfaces.
• Reducing processing load by cutting the number of simultaneous effects and improving collision detection for the Seikret and Palico.
• Other enhancements like optimizing and reducing memory usage.

Capcom then announced that the Steam version of Monster Hunter Wilds will be getting an exclusive performance patch in January 2026 that will improve CPU/GPU optimization and include options and presets to reduce processing loads.

The patch will also contain improvements for shader compilation processing to reduce stuttering, VRAM usage refinements, and upgrades for the High-Resolution Texture Pack to improve texture streaming speeds.

Capcom goes on to say that it will add even more CPU/GPU optimization for both console and PC versions of Monster Hunter Wilds in February 2026, while also adding levels-of-detail (LOD) quality to the polygon mesh for 3D models to reduce GPU processing loads.

Also, Capcom is re-examining memory-related processes to identify if further potential performance improvements could be made.

Monster Hunter Wilds is available for purchase on Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC via Steam.

Today was when the next Monster Hunter Showcase was supposed to go live and give players the latest news on Monster Hunter Wilds and Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection.

However, Capcom has announced on its social media platforms that the Monster Hunter Showcase has now been postponed due to a recent tsunami warning issued in Japan.

The tsunami warning in question was caused by an earthquake off the north-eastern coast of Japan at 2:33 pm GMT | 9:33 am ET | 6:33 am PT with a 7.6 magnitude (as reported by Sky News).

Thousands of citizens have been told by the Japanese government to evacuate as a tsunami up to three metres high is expected to follow the earthquake and cause widespread damage to low-lying buildings.

The developers at Capcom are following the evacuation order by cancelling the Monster Hunter Showcase until further notice.

This Monster Hunter Showcase was meant to reveal more information regarding Monster Hunter Wilds' upcoming 4th Title Update, which will feature the return of Gogmazios from Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate as an endgame boss.

It was also meant to show off more features of the upcoming title update, such as:

• New endgame systems like upgrading the Artian Weapons to their final form using Gogmazios materials and upgrading armor into Transcendent Armor with higher defense.
• PC performance improvements to address CPU and GPU complaints players have been review-bombing the Steam version about for months.
• Easier methods to obtain Armor Spheres.
• Balance adjustments for all Weapon Types.
• New 9-star quests.
• A new Seasonal Event called the Festival of Accord.

The Monster Hunter Showcase was also meant to show us new information regarding Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection, the latest entry in Monster Hunter's turn-based spin-off series.

Back in October 2025, the game showed off its character creator system, opened pre-orders, and released a trailer revealing the return of Yama Tsumaki, an Elder Dragon that hasn't been seen in a Western-released Monster Hunter title since Monster Hunter Freedom Unite.

Stay tuned for more updates as we keep a close eye on the new broadcast date for the Monster Hunter Showcase.

Monster Hunter Stories and Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruins, two of my personal favorite Pokémon-like PC titles, have finally arrived on Xbox, as the Monster Hunter Stories Collection has now launched for Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S.

What's even better is that these games can be played on the Xbox Ally and Xbox Ally X via remote play, so you can continue playing these awesome Xbox JRPGs whenever your main Xbox console is being used by someone else.

If you haven't heard of these games before, here's a quick refresher on why these games are awesome for both JRPGs and people looking for a true evolution of the Pokémon formula.

The Monster Hunter Stories series is a spin-off of Capcom's popular Monster Hunter franchise. However, instead of hunting monsters in semi-sandbox locales with action-RPG combat, you battle monsters in turn-based combat while seeking to befriend them as potential "Monstie" party members.

Each game has you play as a Rider, a special group of warriors who can tame monsters by using mystical artifacts known as Kinship Stones.

Together with your Monstie companions and other colorful characters you meet on your journey, you will travel the world to uncover mysteries, find new Monsties, and save the land from disastrous calamities.

What makes these games unique and fun is that they successfully combine the monster-catching gameplay formula of Pokémon with the gameplay mechanics, setting, and monsters of the Monster Hunter franchise.

For example, these games let your character fight alongside their tamed beasts in battle instead of sitting on the sidelines.

They can wield the iconic Monster Hunter weapons like Greatsword, Hammer, and Hunting Horn, lay down traps to ensnare enemies, whilst commanding their Monsties to perform powerful moves to lay waste to hostile monsters.

The Monster Hunter Stories games also offer diverse character and Monstie customization. You can equip your Rider with all kinds of gear to boost their stats, and equip your favorite Monsties with the genes of other Monsties to gain new abilities and become the ultimate killing machine.

I can't wait to return the world of Monster Hunter Stories on Xbox

As both a Monster Hunter and JRPG fan, I absolutely adore these games.

While their stories are fairly simplistic, they have charming casts of characters to root for and bright and colorful worlds to explore.

My favorite parts of these games are their challenging but fun, rock-paper-scissors-style combat systems, spending hours finding every single Monstie and splicing their genes to create an unstoppable army of Frankenstein-esque freaks of nature.

Now, Xbox fans will finally get to experience these games for themselves as the Monster Hunter Stories Collection is available for purchase on Xbox consoles at various retailers.

Not to mention, this game will be great for new fans to get caught up in the series in the lead-up to Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection, which is looking to be the biggest entry in the series yet with its darker story, expanded world, and calvadade of new recruitable monsters from Monster Hunter Rise and Monster Hunter Wilds.

FAQ

Capcom has just unveiled the latest trailer for Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection. While it doesn't give us more gameplay, it does cover more of the game's story and characters, and provides details on the game's Deluxe Edition and pre-order bonus.

It also reveals the return of an old-school monster I've wished were in Monster Hunter Wilds, but decided to make a comeback here instead. Here's everything you need to know about the next entry in the Monster Hunter Stories series from this new trailer.

The trailer largely shows more of the game's lush locales, which are under threat of being destroyed by the mysterious Encroachment phenomenon, turning everything into crystal.

It also gives us brief glimpses of the game's characters, whom our protagonist will meet on his journey, from the antagonistic forces of the Vermeil Empire to other Monster Riders who may join him as party members.

The biggest surprise, however, is that at the end of the trailer, it reveals that Yama Tsukami, a giant monster that hasn't been seen in a western-released Monster Hunter game since 2008's Monster Hunter Freedom Unite, will at long last return to the franchise as an epic boss fight.

The trailer then closes out with confirmation that pre-orders for the game have gone live, along with information regarding its pre-order bonus and Deluxe Editions.

Pre-ordering the game will net you access to the Skyscale Queen Layered Armor Set for Eleanor.

There will also be amiibos to purchase for the Nintendo Switch 2 version that will unlock Skyscale Rathalos Layered armor sets for the main character and an outfit for Rudy.

On top of that, if you happen to have save data from Monster Hunter Stories 1, Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin, and Monster Hunter Rise, you gain automatic access to Layered Armor sets from those games.

At long last, I can finally fight Yama Tsukami in Monster Hunter Stories

I was dead-set on getting Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection after seeing its extended gameplay deep dive, but the addition of Yama Tsukami being a boss has now sealed the deal.

I've never fought this monster personally since it was locked behind Monster Hunter Freedom Unite, and I don't have a PSP on hand anymore.

So, the idea that I'll finally get to fight this hot-air balloon Cthulhu in Monster Hunter Stories, let alone a modern Monster Hunter title, has got me more excited than when Capcom announced Omega for Monster Hunter Wilds.

I can't wait to ride on with my Monsties and finally have my dream match with Yama Tsukami when Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflections launches on March 13, 2026, for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC via Steam.

FAQ

Last weekend, during Gamescom Asia, Capcom attended the event to show off footage of Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection, the latest upcoming entry in Monster Hunter's JRPG spin-off series.

It was virtually identical to the gameplay demo shown at Tokyo Game Show 2025, demonstrating its exploration and combat systems but with a couple of key differences.

It showed off gameplay footage of the female protagonist that the player can choose to play as, and our first look at the game's robust character creator system.

A few days after the event, Capcom then uploaded the gameplay segment of the character creator onto the official Monster Hunter's official social media account, X, so that the general public could more easily see it, and it's looking mighty impressive thus far.

In previous Monster Hunter Stories titles, the character creator system has been fairly simple compared to modern mainline Monster Hunter games. You have your standard hair and skin color options, with some additional facial expression options to fit the series' more anime art style.

The character creator in Monster Hunter Stories 3, on the other hand, is going to include double the amount of customization options as previous entries, possibly so it can be on par with the insanely detailed character creators seen in Monster Hunter World and Monster Hunter Wilds.

We have mountains of customization options from eye shape/color, jaws, front and back hairstyles, lip shape, skin color, tattoos, and extra cosmetic accessories to boot.

There's even an option to let you adopt hairstyles based on iconic Monster Hunter monsters, like in Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin.

One of the extra accessories that caught my eye is that we can have Wyverian Ears, a cosmetic that lets you cosplay as one of Monster Hunter's elven-like race.

This is interesting, as this cosmetic option is usually locked behind a microtransaction paywall in the mainline games like Monster Hunter Wilds and Monster Hunter Rise.

Meaning that fans who wanted to semi-play as a Wyverian instead of a human in Monster Hunter games had to pay extra cash to do so.

The fact that we don't have to do that in Monster Hunter Stories 3, and we can use this cosmetic item off the bat, just for buying the game, is pretty awesome, and it's something that Capcom should do more often.

Let us fight for our cosmetic rewards, not pay for them.

In my personal opinion, Capcom's been getting obsessed with locking cool cosmetics and animations behind expensive microtransaction fees, and it should stop doing that.

Either let us have them in the main game by earning them through quests, fight for them through difficult Event quests, or at least reduce the cost so they don't cost you nearly hundreds of dollars when bought altogether.

But I digress, for slightly overpriced DLC won't stop me from playing Monster Hunter games (unless the gameplay disappoints me like Monster Hunter Wilds did at launch), especially Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection, as it looks absolutely stunning thus far.

The Monster Hunter Stories games are some of my favorite Pokémon-like titles on PC, and I can't wait to play the 3rd entry as it's already looking like the first, true, next-gen evolution of not just the Monster Hunter Stories series, but of the creature-collector genre as a whole.

Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection is set to be released on March 13, 2026, for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC via Steam.

With Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection on the horizon, it's time to revisit Capcom's awesome spin-off series that blends the best bits of Monster Hunter and Pokémon-likes in preparation for its next-gen debut.

Thankfully, the PC version of the Monster Hunter Stories Collection that bundles the first two games is now on sale, 'True-Charged-Slashing' its MSRP of $67.99 down to $28.59 at Loaded.

Why is Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin a great game for creature-collector and Monster Hunter fans?

I don't know about you, but I have become disgusted at the state of Pokémon in recent years.

From Nintendo patenting of "summoning a character" in games that potentially could cause major irreparable damage to the gaming industry, to modern Pokémon games looking like unfinished mobile games (and even abandoning turn-based combat in Pokémon Legends: Z-A), I have officially given up on the franchise.

Thankfully, we have tons of better alternative Pokémon-like games to enjoy on PC, one of my favorites being Monster Hunter Stories.

These games are JRPG spin-offs of Capcom's Monster Hunter franchise that combine its action-hunting elements with that of the turn-based, creature-collector genre.

They are colorful, charming, fun titles that have you explore giant, imaginative worlds filled with mysteries to solve, villains to beat, and monsters to slay or tame as Monsties.

Each game in this collection is equally enjoyable in its own unique way. Monster Hunter Stories 1 has a more memorable story with deep character customization options for your Monstie party members.

Meanwhile, Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin streamlines the combat system while adding tons more Monsties to collect and devastating weapons to use in battle to keep it fresh.

These games are a blast to play from start to finish, and I cannot recommend them enough for Monster Hunter fans and creature-collector fans. Especially now that the collection is on a 58% discount sale for $28.59 at Loaded, giving you the chance to buy both games for the price of one.

This makes this the perfect time to jump into the series and get hyped up for the impending release of Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection, whose gameplay looks amazing so far.

FAQ

The Xbox Ally is on the horizon, and you're probably wondering what games you should play on it first.

If you want my recommendation, I would go with Monster Hunter Rise, one of the craziest co-op action games built for hunting on the go with friends online. Especially now that it's on sale for a cheaper-than-dirt 75% discount on Loaded, taking its $39.99 MSRP down to $10.89.

Why should you should you get Monster Hunter Rise?

Monster Hunter Rise is a co-op action-hunting game where you hunt giant monsters and use their parts to craft gear that will help you protect your home, Kamura Village, from being destroyed by an unnatural disaster called the "Rampage".

It's one of the more arcadey entries in Capcom's Monster Hunter series for eschewing the franchise's grounded approach to combat for insane aerial mobility and introducing mounts to the series.

While it's a big departure from the norm, Monster Hunter Rise ended up being one of the more exciting entries in the series.

Its combat system had cool mechanics that made you feel unstoppable, the new Japanese-inspired monsters were fun to fight, and even the tower-defense style Rampage events were a fun deviation once you understood how they worked.

The Xbox version in particular is fantastic as it features all the performance and resolution improvements of the PC version, with the bonus of Xbox Play Anywhere and cross-platform support with Xbox-compatible hardware.

In addition, the Xbox version comes packed with all the post-launch title updates, so you will have plenty of endgame content to indulge in after the primary campaign is over.

This makes Monster Hunter Rise an ideal game for the Xbox Ally as you will be able to play it on the go with fellow Xbox players online who are playing it on Xbox consoles or Windows PC.

Not to mention, it will run smoothly at high framerates and resolutions as the Xbox Ally features powerful hardware on par with the Steam Deck.

So if you want an enjoyable co-op action portable Xbox title, then I highly recommend Monster Hunter Rise, which is now on sale for $10.89 at Loaded.

FAQ

Monster Hunter Wilds is the latest iteration of Capcom's storied Monster Hunter franchise, selling over 10 million copies and wowing audiences with its imaginative setting, over-the-top combat, and fantastical creatures to hunt.

This next-gen entry in the series typically has a high fetching price of $69.99. However, Amazon has slashed that MSRP almost in half with a 46% discount, so it's now $37.99.

Why is now the right time to get into Monster Hunter Wilds?

Monster Hunter Wilds has had a 'wild' lifecycle to say the least.

Despite its shiny next-gen graphics, fun and in-depth combat system, and awesome new monsters, this game has caused some controversy amongst fans of the series, especially when it first launched.

It was plagued with performance issues (even more so on PC), it had no substantial endgame content to indulge in, and the streamlined systems combined with a lackluster main campaign robbed the game of the challenging yet satisfying difficulty curve that past Monster Hunter titles were beloved for.

I myself have voiced displeasure at Monster Hunter Wilds' flaws ever since it came out.

Thankfully, Capcom has been taking the fans' complaints to heart and has been working to address these issues through various free updates over the last few months.

These updates have made tons of balance changes, added higher-tier Tempered monsters for players seeking challenging hunts, new quests with fun cosmetics, and introduced insanely tough monsters like Mizustune, Seregios, Lagiacrus, and Omega.

As a result, the game's lack of endgame content and difficulty issues have now been thoroughly fixed, and will be getting the long-requested performance improvements in the game's 4th title update in December 2025.

If you've been on the fence on Monster Hunter Wilds and have been waiting for its rocky launch problems to get patched, then now's the perfect time to join the hunt, especially now that it's on sale for $37.99 on Amazon.

FAQ

Monster Hunter has gone ballistic with Tokyo Game Show 2025 announcements.

More info has been revealed for Monster Hunter Wilds' upcoming crossover with Final Fantasy XIV, an extended version of Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection's Nintendo Direct September 2025 trailer was shown, and we now know the first two entries in the Monster Hunter Stories franchise are finally coming to Xbox consoles!

However, the announcements aren't over yet as GameSpot has uploaded an exclusive 18-minute gameplay preview for Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection.

This video gives us our first detailed look at this upcoming Xbox JRPG's turn-based combat and exploration, which is a nice change since the trailers have mostly consisted of cinematics with brief snippets of gameplay.

Does it retain the gameplay formula of its predecessors? Let's dive into this gameplay preview to find out.

The preview begins with our protagonist, the crowned prince (or princess, as you can decide their appearance and gender during character creation) of Azuria, exploring the woods with their companions, Simon and Thea.

Right off the bat, we can see Twisted Reflection will retain the same exploration gameplay as past Monster Hunter Stories titles, but on a much bigger scale.

The level design of the dungeons and open-world regions that connect them are gigantic compared to Monster Hunter Stories 1 and Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin's smaller maps.

Plus, the new regions are littered with all kinds of platforming segments that will require the help of your Monsties (monsters that can be tamed by the player so they become party members) to traverse and discover hidden pathways that contain secret items and collectibles like Poogies.

Two things I noticed that are different from previous games are that you can now switch which Monsties you're riding without having to dismount, and that Rathalos, the series mascot, is now your starting Monstie.

These very welcome changes I appreciate because they save time having to change Monsties on the fly while exploring, and you can pull some sweet platforming tricks by switching Monsties in mid-air.

Also, I am so glad you don't have to wait until near the end of the game anymore before you get your hands on a Rathalos, because one of the greatest joys of this series is soaring through the sky using a Monstie's Fly ability, taking in the glorious, colorful environments.

However, gameplay in Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection isn't just a nature hike, as you routinely come into contact with hostile monsters that want to eat you.

We quickly find this out with battles that show off the game's turn-based combat, which is confirmed to follow the structure of previous titles.

Turn-based battles in Twisted Reflection have the player character, their Monstie, and secondary guest allies take turns whacking enemies with deadly weapons and abilities.

However, battles in Monster Hunter Stories are somewhat unique compared to other JRPGs, as they have a Rock-Paper-Scissors element to them.

Each character can perform Power, Technique, or Speed-type moves in battles. When a character attacks their chosen target and the defender is planning to fight back against the attacker (as presented by a glowing bar between them), they can engage in a Head-to-Head.

If a character's attack type beats out the other's (Power > Technique, Technique > Speed, Speed > Power), they win and inflict extra damage to their enemy, but if they both use the same attack type, it's a draw and they deal neutral damage to each other.

If a party member and their Monstie both use an attack type that beats out their opponent's, they cancel the enemy's attacks and perform a Double-team, dealing twice as much damage as their regular attacks.

After getting into fights with smaller monsters and finding the frozen remains of a Khezu, killed by a mysterious phenomenon called Crystal Encroachment, the protagonist gets into a fight with a bat-like monster called Paolumu.

During this battle, we get an introduction to the concept of switching weapons in battle to exploit an enemy's weakness (elemental and weapon types). It also shows how breaking an enemy's parts or depleting their Wyvernsoul Gauge through regular damage can knock an enemy out of their transformed states to save your team from devastating attacks.

We also get a glimpse of one of Twisted Reflection's new gameplay mechanics, the Synchro Rush. When you topple a monster through various means, a Quick-Time-Event will pop up on-screen that, when pressed, will enable your entire party to dogpile on the helpless enemy with a barrage of lethal attacks.

It's a cool mechanic and a fun incentive for players to find out optimal ways to knock an enemy down for big damage cash-outs.

The player then proceeds to finish off the Paolumu by mounting their Monstie after they fill their Kinship gauge (by dealing damage or winning Head-to-Heads) and unleashing a cinematic super move called a Kinship Skill.

At one point in the trailer, an unexpected challenger appears in the form of Chatacabra from Monster Hunter Wilds, but there's something strange going on with it. It's infected by Crystal Encroachment, resulting in the beast becoming insane and widely attacking everything in sight.

This is where we get possibly the biggest new gameplay addition of Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection – Feral Monsters.

Feral Monsters are dangerous variants of regular monsters that have gained increased strength and health, and new Feral Attacks to use in battle that their normal counterparts don't have. For instance, the Feral Chatacabra's Feral Attack has it shoot Great Thunderbugs from the crystals on its body to shock and paralyse party members.

To stop a Feral monster's Feral Attacks, you will need to destroy their crystallized body parts, but they'll automatically counterattack if you try, so you will need to find a safe opening to attack them.

Fortunately for our heroes, that opportunity comes when the player depletes the Feral Chatacabra's Wyvernsoul Gauge, which staggers it and triggers its transformed state.

In this state, the enemy monster won't counterattack if you go after its crystallized body parts, but you will be in danger of suffering the monster's increased attack power while it's in its transformed state.

This creates an interesting strategic dilemma where you have to decide which body part to go after.

You could attack a Feral Monster's crystal body parts, so you won't have to worry about Feral Attacks later on in the fight. Alternatively, you could try to knock it out of its transformed state immediately because you fear your party won't survive the enemy's heightened attack power for long.

This is only the beginning of Monster Hunter Stories 3, and I can't wait to learn more

Thankfully, our heroes manage to overcome this monster with careful, strategic strikes that destroyed the crystal body parts before finishing it off with Rathalos' signature Kinship Skill, the Sky-High Dive, concluding the gameplay preview.

As a fan of Monster Hunter Stories, I'm loving what I'm seeing so far of this game. It's like the series is finally getting the chance to evolve now that it's no longer constrained to just mobile game platforms and being developed for next-gen, home consoles in mind.

The stylised anime graphics look gorgeous while retaining some of the detailed fidelity of mainline titles. Meanwhile, the combat looks more fun and involved than ever, with the concept of Feral Monsters sounding enjoyable and challenging.

I can't wait to see what new monster-hunting adventures await us and what new Monsties we can tame when Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection launches on March 13, 2026, for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC via Steam.

Monster Hunter Wilds had recently received a gameplay presentation by Capcom at Tokyo Game Show 2025, showcasing all the content coming in its 3rd Title Update, which will launch on September 29, 2025.

This free update is looking to be the biggest one to date as it will feature a collaboration with Final Fantasy XIV, where players get to hunt a giant killer robot called Omega Planetes, obtain several Final Fantasy-themed gear and cosmetics, and much more.

After Capcom's Tokyo Game Show 2025 round-up concluded, people attending the event got their hands on playable demos where they fought Omega Planetes and uploaded their exploits onto the internet. Needless to say, the footage looks horrifying as Omega Planetes is already looking to be the hardest boss amongst Monster Hunter Wilds' massive monster roster yet.

Be warned: there will be spoilers for the Omega Planetes fight, so if you want to go into the fight blind, this is your only warning.

For those unaware, Omega Planetes is a gargantuan war machine inspired by Omega, one of Final Fantasy's most powerful superbosses and one of Final Fantasy XIV's raid bosses that was added in the MMORPG's Stormblood expansion.

From what's been in gameplay footage uploaded by the likes of GameSpot, Omega Planetes will appear to utilize many of its abilities from its FFXIV counterpart and incorporate new mechanics and attacks that players will need to watch out for.

Omega Planetes' regular attacks consist of blasting players with lasers, ramming them with its hardy body, burning people with flamethrowers, and barraging players with a rain of missiles and rocket punches.

In addition, Omega Planetes can fire Mustard Bombs, which will leave giant patches of scorching fire on the ground that will burn any player standing in them. If a player gets targeted by this attack, they will need to move away and position it on a corner so players can have room to safely move in.

Some of Omega Planetes' attacks can also inflict a nasty status effect called HP Penalty, which cuts a player's max HP down by a huge chunk, and there's no way to cure it other than waiting for it to wear off.

Unfortunately, Omega Planetes isn't going to give you a chance to recover from it. To combat this, a player can draw the boss's attention away from the group by damaging it until the player obtains its Enmity (as represented by a glowing red arrow directed from the boss).

To make matters worse, Omega Planetes won't be the only monster you fight in this hunt, as it can create minions called Omega Micros to harass players with kamikaze attacks.

Killing these Omega-Minis will generate a shield that can protect you from Omega Planetes' attacks for a short time. You will definitely need to take advantage of this during the later portions of the boss fight as Omega Planetes will eventually enter Pantokrator Mode.

Pantokrator Mode has Omega Planetes become enraged and start firing off nearly all attacks in its arsenal at once in all directions. To get Omega Planetes out of this state, you will have to inflict Wounds on its legs and exploit them with Focus Mode attacks, deal enough damage so they will break and knock this killing machine down.

But those aren't the only tricks Omega Planetes has up its chassis. In the third phase of the fight, the boss fight will fly off and summon a hologrammatic clone of Nerscylla to fight you while Omega Planetes prepares to charge its ultimate move, the Delta Attack.

You will need to dump all of your firepower into the hologram Nerscylla as fast as you can to generate a shield upon its demise so you survive the incoming Delta Attack. If you don't, it's game over, as this beam can wipe out all players in a single hit.

If you manage to survive, you will enter the final phase where Omega Planetes pulls out all the stops to destroy with every move in its arsenal, including employing the infamous 'Larboard' and 'Starboard' laser attacks that Final Fantasy XIV fans will recognise.

Prepare the most, out-of-this-world hunt in Monster Hunter history

As someone who's fought Omega in Final Fantasy XIV, Omega Planetes will look like a really faithful and fun recreation of the raid boss in a Monster Hunter setting.

It also looks insanely tough as it is packed with devastating AoE attacks, and MMO-style mechanics that will require a whole squad of players to help you overcome, much like the Behemoth fight from Monster Hunter World's crossover with Final Fantasy XIV.

Not to mention, this is probably the first hunt we have to take advantage of Monster Hunter Wilds' mechanics to their fullest, instead of optionally using them.

For example, there will be multiple monsters to face in this fight, like Omega Planetes and Nerscylla, each with differing elemental resistances (Omega Planetes is weak to Thunder while Nerscylla is weak to fire).

This means we will have to bring a Thunder-elemental and a Fire-elemental weapon and swap between mid-fight via the Seikret mount, so that we can kill the Nerscylla quickly and avoid the Delta Attack in time.

Also, keep in mind, this is most likely the 'normal' version of the Omega Planetes boss fight. I say this because, speaking from experience fighting Behemoth in Monster Hunter World, there's probably going to be a harder, Tempered version of Omega Planetes to hunt, and I would be so up for it if that's the case.

Over the course of several title updates, Capcom seems to be taking my complaints of the game being too easy to heart by vastly improving the endgame content and adding more challenging monsters to the roster, like Seregios and Lagiacrus in its 2nd Title Update.

Now it seems we're going to witness the culmination of their efforts with their Final Fantasy XIV collaboration, and I can't wait to dive into it and farm Omega Planetes' part to forge that sweet Dark Knight armor set.

However, will this update be able to bring back disenfranchised fans who review-bombed the game for its poor PC performance, among other issues? We will have to wait until September 29, 2025, when Monster Hunter Wilds' 3rd Title Update launches.

Monster Hunter Wilds is available for purchase on Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC via Steam.

Xbox’s Tokyo Game Show 2025 has just wrapped up, and there was plenty on display for everyone. The presentation opened with Phil Spencer speaking Japanese in a very American accent, which gave me a small chuckle. Thankfully, he switched back to English as he set expectations for the showcase.

Gungrave G.O.R.E.: Blood Heat

Gungrave is back, and this time it’s bigger than ever. The cult classic that first launched in 2002 is being completely reimagined with Gungrave G.O.R.E.: Blood Heat, a full rebirth of the series built in Unreal Engine 5. Everything from the combat to the level design has been rebuilt, aiming to modernize the over-the-top gunplay while keeping the series’ dark, gothic edge intact. Even if you’ve never played a Gungrave game before, this new entry is designed to stand on its own, while still offering the same dual-pistol chaos fans fell in love with years ago. It arrives on November 12, 2025, for Xbox Series X|S and PC, launching day one with Game Pass.

Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly Remake

Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly was first released in 2003 on the PS2, known in Japan as Project Zero II. Now it’s getting the full remake treatment, something long-time fans will welcome. This Japanese horror classic follows two twin sisters lost in an abandoned village, armed only with a mystical camera that can capture and fight off ghosts. It launches in 2026 for Xbox Series X|S, available day one with Game Pass.

Animo

In what’s likely giving Nintendo a small heart attack, Aniimo looks like it takes notes from Pokémon and the newer Palworld. It’s an open-world action RPG where you can capture creatures called Aniimo, then either control them directly or fuse with them for combat and exploration. The game will be Xbox Play Anywhere, but there’s no confirmation on a release date or other details just yet, though pre-registration is open.

Monster Hunter Stories 1, 2 and 3

As if Monster Hunter Stories 3 coming to Xbox wasn’t enough, the entire Stories lineup is dropping on the platform. It’s a welcome addition for anyone who hasn’t tried them before, as the Stories games are quite different from Worlds or Wilds, but still packed with charm and fun. Monster Hunter Stories and Monster Hunter Stories 2 are also coming to Xbox One and Xbox Series, with pre-orders open now, while Monster Hunter Stories 3 is set to launch on March 13, 2026.

Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake

The classic JRPG is back. Originally released in the 1980s, Dragon Quest I & II is returning with a full HD-2D remake, and it looks stunning. Square Enix also revealed a brand-new area called the Ocean Floor, proving this is more than just a straight remake and offering new content for fans. The game launches on October 30, 2025, for Xbox Series X|S with Xbox Play Anywhere support.

Project Evilbane

This one kind of came out of nowhere, and it ended up being one of the more interesting games shown. Project Evilbane is a new 4-player co-op action RPG with a heavy dark fantasy vibe. At first glance, I thought it looked like more of Crimson Desert, which gives you a good idea of the tone. The game is still a ways off, set to launch in 2027 for Xbox Series X|S and PC, with Xbox Play Anywhere support confirmed.

Ninja Gaiden 4

In partnership with PlatinumGames, Ninja Gaiden 4 isn’t far off, and the showcase focused on two of its modes. Hero Mode is designed for a more casual playthrough, giving you auto-guard, auto-dodge, and assists that can be toggled mid-game to match your comfort level. For those who want the classic punishing challenge, Master Ninja Mode was also shown. It’s a hardcore difficulty that can’t be changed once selected, built for players chasing the toughest experience possible. Ninja Gaiden 4 launches on October 21, 2025, for Xbox Series X|S and PC, supporting Xbox Play Anywhere and day one with Game Pass.

Mistfall Hunter

A brand-new IP, Mistfall Hunter is a third-person action PvPvE extraction RPG with a dark fantasy twist. Game director HAO introduced the game at TGS, thanking players for joining recent betas and highlighting the Solemn Needles map, a pale forest haunted by divine energy and the towering Divine Anchor. The game mixes survival and extraction mechanics with co-op play, supporting up to four players as you fight both enemies and rival hunters. It’s planned to release in 2025 for Xbox Series X|S and PC, with Xbox Play Anywhere confirmed.

Terminull Brigade

Terminull Brigade is a free-to-play third-person action roguelike looter-shooter set in a sci-fi world. Not much was shown beyond a cinematic, but it looks like it could give Marathon some competition. The game is already playable on PC via Game Pass, with procedurally generated encounters, loot upgrades, and that familiar extraction risk-versus-reward loop. It comes to Xbox consoles in October 2025.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 7

I could sit here and grill Call of Duty, but Treyarch and Activision do seem to be making some smart changes based on community feedback. From turning down partnerships that didn’t fit the game’s themes to showing off a surprisingly strong Zombies mode the other day, I’m actually a little more interested in Black Ops 7 than I was. At TGS, the spotlight was on its Japanese-themed multiplayer maps, and they genuinely looked impressive. Black Ops 7 launches on November 14, 2025, and will be available day one on Game Pass.

Forza Horizon 6

Unfortunately for Xbox, this one leaked earlier in the day through an Instagram post, which we covered, but it was still good to finally see it properly revealed. And honestly, Forza Horizon 6 looks seriously impressive. Japan has been the most requested setting for years, and Playground is delivering, with a mix of neon-lit cityscapes, traditional countryside, and iconic backdrops like Mount Fuji. The reveal confirmed a 2026 release window, with the game launching on Xbox Series X|S and PC, supporting Xbox Play Anywhere and arriving day one with Game Pass.

Quick hits from the showcase

Here's also a quick-fire run of other titles shown. Project 007: First Light got a new trailer, while Hotel Barcelona from Swery is finally launching tomorrow. Rhythm Doctor is making its way to Xbox, offering a quirky rhythm twist, and Sudden Strike 5 continues the long-running WWII strategy series. Double Dragon Revive also showed more of its story mode and unlockable content, with a 2025 release. On top of that, Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven shadow-dropped into Game Pass today, Starsand Island is set for February 1, 2026, and Winter Burrow brings cozy mouse survival to Xbox on November 12, 2025.

DLC / Expansions

On the expansions front, there was plenty to keep existing players busy. Microsoft Flight Simulator is getting a Japan world update, with detailed cities like Osaka and Kyoto alongside landmarks such as Mount Fuji and Tokyo Tower. Hitman: World of Assassination players can now hunt down a new Bruce Lee celebrity target, which is live today. Fallout 76 highlighted its latest community-driven C.A.M.P. update and content drops, while Age of Mythology: Retold – Heavenly Spear DLC lands on September 30, 2025, adding a Japanese pantheon, myth units, and a brand-new campaign.

Rejoice Xbox JRPG and Monster Hunter fans, for Capcom has finally answered our prayers by announcing during Tokyo Game Show 2025 that it is bringing the entire Monster Hunter Stories franchise to Xbox platforms.

That's right. On November 14, 2025, Monster Hunter Stories and Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin, will be ported to Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S.

For those unaware, the Monster Hunter Stories series is a spin-off series of Capcom's Monster Hunter franchise, where you befriend monsters and ride them into battle as opposed to hunting every one of them down.

You explore the world to find undiscovered mysteries, save the land from evil threats, fight giant monsters in turn-based battles, and tame monsters so they become friendly Monsties that will aid you in battle.

Monster Hunter Stories 1 and 2 are regarded by many Monster Hunter fans (myself included) as some of the most underrated in the Monster Hunter series and beloved for their charming anime-aesthetics, giant bestiaries of Monsties to collect, and fun, in-depth combat systems.

I myself have reviewed the PC ports of Monster Hunter Stories and Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin, and regard them as some of the best Pokemon-like titles you can play on PC for their clever twists on the creature-collector genre, while expertly incorporating mechanics from the mainline Monster Hunter series.

Now, Xbox fans will finally get a chance to experience these games for themselves when Monster Hunter Stories 1 and 2 drop on November 14, 2025.

It's good timing, too, as these two titles will help Xbox newcomers familiarize themselves with Monster Hunter Stories' gameplay structure in preparation for Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection, which will launch on Xbox Series X|S and PC via Steam on March 13, 2026.

This new upcoming entry in Monster Hunter Stories is a darker take on the series, featuring a dramatic story with themes of war and sacrifice, and taking on monsters driven mad by a mysterious disease known as Crystal Encroachment

It will also be the biggest entry in the series to date with a gigantic world to explore, new weapons and mechanics to master in battle, tons of new Monsties to tame, and new monsters to face in battle like Magnamalo from Monster Hunter Rise and Rey Dau from Monster Hunter Wilds.

Monster Hunter fans have a lot to look forward between 2025 and 2026

Capcom is on fire with these recent Monster Hunter announcements and practically stole the show for this year's Tokyo Game Show.

Not only is Monster Hunter Wilds about to have an absolute insane crossover with Final Fantasy XIV, but we're also getting the entire Monster Hunter Stories franchise on Xbox.

I was personally worried about Monster Hunter for a while after Monster Hunter Wilds disappointed me at launch, in contrast to my colleague, Jez Corden's more positive review of the game.

However, Capcom is starting to turn things around to get me excited to play Monster Hunter, especially Monster Hunter Stories, as I love those games and enjoy them way more than Pokémon these days.

I can't wait to replay Monster Hunter Stories 1 and 2 again on Xbox this November and get my hands on Monster Hunter Stories 3 when it drops on March 13, 2026.

But before then, I got a giant robot to hunt in Monster Hunter Wilds when its 3rd Title Update drops on September 29, 2025.

During its pre-Tokyo Game Show 2025 program, Capcom hosted a presentation for Monster Hunter Wilds' 3rd Title Update, which is confirmed to launch on September 29, 2025.

In this presentation, we were given an in-depth look at the game's upcoming collaboration with Final Fantasy XIV, in which players will be tasked to hunt Omega Planetes, a monster inspired by one of Final Fantasy's most infamous superbosses.

It turns out this Title Update 3 will be even crazier than we initially thought from its Gamescom trailer.

This is because the update will give the players the power to assume the Dark Knight and Pictmancer Jobs from Final Fantasy XIV, a new Arch-Tempered version of Nu Udra to fight, a ton of cosmetics to collect from fighting Omega Planetes, Event Quests, DLC, and more.

Here's a round-up of all the news on Monster Hunter Wilds' 3rd Title Update.

Everything coming in Monster Hunter Wilds' 3rd title update

Monster Hunter Wilds' 3rd Title Update will add a new quest where players get to meet Alpha and Omega, a couple of characters traveling from Final Fantasy XIV.

They need your help to stop Omega Planetes from invading your world and blowing it to space dust.

Omega Planetes will be one of the toughest battles in the game yet, as it will blast players with a barrage of lasers, missiles, and rocket fists to reduce them to smithereens.

If players manage to defeat this mechanical marauder, they'll be rewarded with materials to craft special equipment lifted directly from Final Fantasy XIV.

One of the things this special equipment includes is the Bale Armor, a Dark Knight gear set from Final Fantasy XIV's Shadowbringers expansion.

This armor possesses the "Soul of the Dark Knight", a set-bonus armor skill that lets players activate "The Blackest Night" ability, which consumes a portion of the player's health to form a shield and then counterattack if an enemy hits it.

There will also be a new Great Sword to go with the Bale Armor called Shadowbringer, which possesses a mysterious, passive weapon skill that boosts your attacks.

Another piece of special equipment you can forge from Omega Planetes materials is the Soul of the Pictomancer. This item lets you wield the powers of the Pictomancer Job introduced in Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail.

With magical paint and brush, you can conjure works of art to come to life and attack your enemies with a flurry of magical mayhem.

The Soul of the Pictomancer and Bale Armor's "The Blackest Night" abilities can be activated as an item in your item hotbar or through custom radial menu shortcuts, much like Akuma's abilities from Monster Hunter Wilds' Street Fighter VI crossover update.

The rest of the rewards for taking part in the Final Fantasy XIV collaboration include a cosmetic costume for the Seikret that transforms it into a chocobo, an armor that transforms a Palico into a Morbol, and various pendants, gestures, hunter profile backgrounds, and hunter profile poses.

The rest of the presentation then discusses other content that will be available in the 3rd Title update, which is as follows:

• Arch-Tempered Nu Udra
• New DLC gestures.
• Cosmetic DLC Pack 3 which will include new cosmetics, quest completion animations, music, Pop-up tent items, and more.
• New Event quests and Challenge quests.
• A new autumn event called Dreamspell.

The presentation then capped with a teaser for Monster Hunter Wilds' 4th Title Update, which will arrive in December 2025.

This teaser reveals that the next monster players will face is Gogmazios, the final boss of Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate.

This gargantuan Elder Dragon is regarded as one of the toughest bosses in the entire franchise for its unholy strength, producing endless amounts of oil to trap players in, and firing laser beams that can kill players in one shot, even with endgame gear.

In addition to Gogmazios, the 4th Title Update will have various gameplay improvements, expanded Endgame content, and a winter-themed seasonal event.

Congratulations, Capcom, you've gotten me to care about Monster Hunter Wilds again

I never thought I'd say this, especially after ranting about Monster Hunter Wilds' lackluster difficulty at launch, but I'm beyond excited to play Monster Hunter Wilds again after seeing this update's full details.

Omega Planetes looks really cool and faithful to the Omega boss fight in Final Fantasy XIV. I also think the new gear looks insane, and seeing Gogmazios finally make a comeback to the mainline series after so many years is a pure delight to see.

I can't wait to join the hunt again and reduce Omega Planetes to scrap when Monster Hunter Wilds' 3rd Title Update launches on September 29, 2025.

Monster Hunter Wilds is available for purchase on Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC via Steam.

The Nintendo Direct September 2025 event has come and gone, revealing a mountain of new games and more information on already announced titles heading for Xbox and PC.

One such title that has received new intel is Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection, the latest entry in Monster Hunter's spin-off Monster Hunter Stories series.

During the Nintendo Direct, Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection got a new trailer revealing more of its story, playable Monsties, turn-based combat, and most importantly – its release date.

We know that Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection will be launching on March 13, 2026, for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC via Steam.

Here's everything we know about Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection from the Nintendo Direct and another trailer released shortly afterwards by Capcom.

The trailer begins with a recap of the game's premise. Monster Hunter Stories 3 takes place in a world where Rathalos have been driven to extinction.

One day, however, an egg birthed a pair of Rathalos bearing the mark of the world-ending Skyscale Rathalos. To protect their world from this doomed prophecy, the kingdom of Azuria put one of the baby Rathalos to death.

Many years later, a horrible plague has begun spreading throughout the land, encasing everything in crystals and making the local monsters turn feral.

You play as the heir of Azuria, who has been tasked by the kingdom along with the surviving twin, Rathalos, to investigate and find a cure for this crystal plague.

To make things worse, war is on the horizon as the trailer shows footage of Azuria engulfed in battle with the kingdom of Vermeil, whose armies are led by a warrior riding the other twin Rathalos, which was presumed to be dead for years.

The trailer then showcases a montage of Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection's gameplay, which looks to be a full-blown evolution of the Monster Hunter Stories formula compared to the previous game, Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin.

For starters, while riding your Monsties (which are monsters that a player can tame and control) out in the open world, you can switch which Monstie to ride without dismounting.

For example, you can jump off a cliff and hover while riding a Tobi-Kadachi, then switch immediately to riding a Rathalos in midair, without needing to dismount from Tobi-Kadachi and plant your feet on the ground to call a Rathalos first.

This will no doubt make exploring the world go by way faster and potentially allow for some cool platforming tricks where you can jump and forth between multiple Monsties while traversing precarious areas.

Next, the trailer gives us brief glimpses of Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection's turn-based combat system, which looks to be the same as in previous games.

Human party members take turns using their weapons to attack enemy monsters or command their pet Monsties to sic them. Combat is waged by employing attacks with either Power, Technical, or Speed tags to overpower opponents in Rock-Paper-Scissors style clashes.

What's new about the combat system thus far is that we're getting a new weapon type for the player character to use in battle, the Longsword.

Additionally, enemy monsters now have a special gauge meter below their health bar that decreases whenever they take damage, which they never had before in previous games.

Could this be a damage mitigation shield counter like Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, or an 'Enrage' meter that causes an enemy monster to instantly perform a devastating attack when the meter is empty? We'll have to wait for more info from Capcom to find out.

At long last, I can finally ride Plesioth and make everyone's lives miserable in Monster Hunter Stories

Perhaps the most exciting announcement from the trailer is that we'll be getting several new monsters to hunt and potential new Monsties to tame.

Thus far, we know that Paolumu, Rathalos, Velocidrome, Tobi-Kadachi, Nerscylla, Yian Kut-Ku, and Anjaneth will return as Monsties from previous games.

Glavenus and Legiana are also potentially returning Monsties, as we see them being ridden in cutscenes but not during gameplay yet.

As for new monsters, we see a feral Chatacabra and a tease for Rey Dau from Monster Hunter Wilds at the end of the trailer.

By far the most exciting addition for me personally is that Plesioth is finally going to be a Monstie after being only an enemy for many years in previous games.

For those who don't know, Plesioth is one of the most reviled and hated monsters in the entire Monster Hunter franchise. It's gigantic, hits like a truck, it can shoot steel-cutting water beams, and it has a venomous bite that puts players to sleep.

Worst of it, Plesioth repeatedly uses an infamous attack now referred to by Monster Hunter Stories 2 as the 'Hyperspace Tackle', which can hit players a million miles away despite not looking like it hit them due to its massive, invisible range.

I've always wanted to have a Monstie version of Plesioth ever since Monster Hunter Stories 1, so I could give enemy Plesioths a taste of their own medicine and prank players in online PVP multiplayer matches.

I'm so happy to finally see my wish come true, along with all the new, exciting monsters and gameplay features Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection is bringing.

I know for a fact that I wasn't expecting to see monsters from Monster Hunter Wilds' monster roster so soon.

Here's hoping we get to see Arkveld, Rey Dau, and Nu Udra as tameable Monsties when Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection launches on Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC on March 13, 2025.

Capcom and Square Enix took the stage at Gamescom 2025 to reveal that Monster Hunter Wilds will get an upcoming crossover event with Final Fantasy XIV and vice versa.

In Monster Hunter Wilds, players will get a chance to ride the Final Fantasy series' iconic Chocobos as cosmetic skins for the Seikret mounts and catch the speedy Cactuar to add their Endemic Life collection.

In addition, Monster Hunter Wilds will add a boss from Final Fantasy XIV to its extensive monster roster — Omega Planates.

Omega Planates is based on Omega, one of the Final Fantasy franchise's most infamous superbosses that made its debut in 1992's Final Fantasy V as a secret, optional boss and has made appearances in future titles since.

Omega is a giant beetle-like robot armed to the teeth with lasers, rocket punches, and tons of world-shattering explosives.

It's often regarded as one of the toughest bosses in Final Fantasy history as Omega is impervious to nearly all forms of damage, it has a mountain of health to chip at, and it can wipe out players in the blink of an eye if they're not prepared.

The Final Fantasy XIV version of Omega is particularly special, as that game made an entire Raid storyline around it, which had players fight Omega numerous times.

Omega was even later given an Ultimate Raid-tier boss fight in Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker that pushed raiders to the limit.

Players will get to hunt this Omega and ride Chocobos as part of Monster Hunter Wilds' 3rd Title Update, which will be released sometime in late September 2025.

Meanwhile in Final Fantasy XIV, its Dawntrail expansion will feature a crossover event where players can obtain Monster Hunter Wilds' Seikret mount and take on the intimidating Arkveld in a special Trial raid fight.

Arkveld is Monster Hunter Wilds' flagship monster that was once thought to be extinct and is now on a rampage planning to make everything else extinct.

Arkveld attacks players using the chain-like appendages on its arms as weapons and bombards them with Dragon-elemental explosions, which have a mile-wide radius.

This crossover event will go live for Final Fantasy XIV in early October 2025.

Do note that in order to unlock this fight, players will need to be Lv. 100 and complete the Main Scenario Quest "Dawntrail.

Just when I'm losing hope for Monster Hunter Wilds, one of Final Fantasy's most insane bosses has convinced me to start hunting again.

This isn't the first time that the Monster Hunter has had a huge crossover event with Final Fantasy XIV.

Monster Hunter World had a collaboration with Square Enix's popular MMORPG that added the iconic Behemoth as a boss, and it ended up being one of the hardest in the whole game.

With the addition of Omega, we might be in for a crazier challenge, as this mechanical monstrosity is no joke.

I personally fought Omega in Final Fantasy V Pixel Remaster and Final Fantasy XIV, and this thing kicked my butt for many hours on end to the point I was tempted to look up guides on how to beat it.

The Final Fantasy V version of Omega was especially gruelling as it required you to build a very specific party composition and pray you were able to kill Omega faster than it could kill you.

Normally I'd be terrified at the thought of fighting Omega in Monster Hunter Wilds (especially after how nightmarishly difficult fighting the Behemoth was in Monster Hunter: World), but I'm actually happy they're adding this boss to the game.

This boss may help solve the lackluster difficulty problems Monster Hunter Wilds has been suffering from since launch earlier this year.

The endgame update buffing Tempered Monsters is a good start, but we need more challenging monsters that push players to the limit using every tool at their disposal and encourage them to prepare for the hunt with the best gear possible instead of relying on Focus Strikes and Wounds to knock enemies down.

Either way, I can't wait to fight Omega and obtain all kinds of cool gear from farming its metallic hide when the 3rd Title Update for Monster Hunter Wilds launches in late September 2025.

Let's hope this update will also come with Optimization upgrades for the PC version to win back fans who've been review bombing Monster Hunter Wilds for months.

As for the Final Fantasy XIV crossover fight with Arkveld — while I don't play the game anymore after the Dawntrail expansion disappointed me, I'm happy for Final Fantasy fans getting to fight another Monster Hunter monster other than Rathalos which was added in Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood.

Arkveld was a really cool monster to hunt in Monster Hunter Wilds, and I hope he'll be just as fun to fight in Final Fantasy XIV and potentially give players a chance to earn a mount version of Arkveld for their mount collection.

Monster Hunter Wilds is available for purchase on Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC via Steam.

Monster Hunter Wilds, the latest entry in Capcom's Monster Hunter franchise, has recently received the patch notes for its next major update that's set to go live on August 13, 2025.

According to the game's director, Yuya Tokuda, this patch will add several new Tempered versions of challenging monsters to address fans' complaints of the endgame content's lackluster difficulty.

In addition, a new endgame reward system will be implemented to complement the new Tempered Monsters, and several adjustments will be made to the game's mechanics, systems, and weapon type balance.

Here are the major highlights of what you can expect from Monster Hunter Wilds' Ver. 1.021 Update.

Hunt new 9★ Tempered Monsters

The first significant content addition from this update is the inclusion of several Tempered versions of the toughest beasts from Monster Hunter Wilds' monster roster.

These include new Tempered versions of Rey Dau, Uth Duna, Nu Udra, Jin Dahaad, Gore Magala, Arkveld, Mizutsune, Lagiacrus, and Seregios.

They will appear in 9★ Quests and will be available to hunt once a player reaches Hunter Rank 100.

With the addition of these new challenging monsters, Capcom has decided to implement a new rewards system tied to completing 9★ Quests as an incentive to take them on.

These new rewards are Glowing Stones, which, when appraised, can transform into special Talismans that grant the player powerful passive Skills.

Unlike the regular craftable Talismans, which offer a preset set of passive Armor Skills, these new Talismans, formed from Glowing Stones, have completely random skills attached.

Additionally, the randomized Talismans offer not only armor skills, but they also grant weapon skills and Decoration Slots, which can fit both armor and weapon skill Decorations.

So with a bit of luck, you could end up acquiring powerful Talismans that open up tons of new possibilities for creative weapon+armor set builds, much more so than regular Talismans could.

However, do note that the randomized Talismans can't be upgraded, and due to their randomized skill set, it could take you a good long while to farm for Talismans with the specific skill and Decoration slot set you want.

Several weapon and game system balance adjustments

New Tempered Monsters isn't the only new thing this update is bringing to Monster Hunter Wilds.

It will also include several balance changes to the game's vast array of weapon types, specifically for Great Sword, Long Sword, Sword & Shield, Dual Blades, Hunting Horn, Lance, Switch Axe, Charge Blade, Insect Glaive, Light Bowgun, and Heavy Bowgun.

For the most part, these balance changes include increasing the attack power of each weapon's techniques, making them easier to combo moves together, and making the Bowguns' elemental ammo and Special Ammo Modes more viable during endgame hunts.

The most interesting change is with the Dual Blades, which has received a brand new move called the Turning Tidedrill. This is a new finisher that can be performed after the Focus Strike: Turning Tide by pressing △ (PS5), Y (Xbox), or the default Right Click (PC).

This will allow you to drill your Dual Blades into a monster's wound instead of riding down their spine like a demented spinning top of death, if you wish to continue assaulting a monster without messing up your positioning.

The update will also include several game system changes like making it easier to swim and use items underwater while fighting Lagiacrus, increasing the duration of all cooked meals, adjustments to several Armor Skills, tweaks to Support Hunters and the Seikret mount, and more.

For more detailed information on these changes and several miscellaneous bug fixes, you can check out the full mountain-sized list of patch notes for this update on Monster Hunter Wilds' official website.

Monster Hunter Wilds needs a difficulty spike for the whole game, not just the endgame content.

To say that Monster Hunter Wilds is one of the biggest disappointments of 2025 would be an understatement.

This game had a strong launch in February 2025 by selling over 10 million copies, gathering over a million concurrent Steam users, and receiving worldwide critical acclaim.

However, several months later, the fans have turned on Monster Hunter Wilds with review bombs criticizing the game's poor optimization on PC, unremarkable story campaign, lack of meaty end-game content compared to previous titles, and aggressively dumbing down the series' beloved challenge thanks to incongruent and excessively streamlined gameplay mechanics.

To Capcom's credit, it has been trying to address these issues through its post-launch patches, with this latest one aiming to add much-needed content and difficulty to the game's endgame content as Capcom promised it would back in March 2025.

While I commend Capcom for that, I feel this is a small band-aid on a huge, gaping wound of an issue. In my opinion, it's not just the endgame that's lacking in difficulty; it's the entire game.

Monsters in Low Rank and High Rank quests (with some exceptions) barely do any damage to the player (even with un-upgraded gear), die too quickly to the new game mechanic's, and the game constantly warns when you're about to die with the flashing health bar, taking the unpredictable, adrenaline-pumping danger away from hunts.

While this new update may make Tempered Monsters threatening again, it's not going to solve the problem of players being forced to sit through 50-60 hours of a mediocre story campaign hunting weak Low Rank and High Rank monsters just to get to the exciting endgame content.

Personally, I feel Capcom should give players the option to remove the flashing warning health bar in the options menu and buff up the damage output and health of Low Rank and normal High Rank monsters to incentivise the player into improving their skills and gear throughout the entire game instead of at the end.

Not only will this give players a great sense of accomplishment for taking the time to prepare hunting monsters, but it will also make them better players and enjoy the game from start to finish.

Either way, this update is a step in the right direction that I hope Capcom continues to tread on so that Monster Hunter Wilds can truly fulfill its potential and become one of the best games in the series.

In the meantime, we'll keep an eye out for more updates on Monster Hunter Wilds and news regarding the next upcoming Xbox title/upcoming PC title for the Monster Hunter Stories series, Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection.

Monster Hunter Wilds is available for purchase on Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC via Steam.

On July 31, 2025, Capcom revealed a new entry for its Monster Hunter Stories series titled Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection, which is slated to be released in 2026.

Monster Hunter Stories is a series of turn-based JRPGs where, instead of hunting monsters like in the mainline Monster Hunter franchise, you tame them so they can become your friends (a.k.a. Monsties) and help you fight bigger monsters.

This new instalment will take Monster Hunter Stories in a bold new direction with a new world to explore, a grim story filled with war and strife to experience, and a host of new Monsties to tame and ride.

Here is everything you need to know about Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection.

When is the release date for Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection?

During Nintendo Direct September 2025, Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection was confirmed to be released on March 13, 2026.

When is Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection up for Preorder and what is its price?

Pre-orders for Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection are now active at various digital retailers. The game will have a Standard Edition ($69.99), a Deluxe Edition ($89.99), and a Premium Edition ($99.99) with various bonus content available for the Deluxe Editions.

Additionally, there will be a pre-order bonus cosmetic Layered Armor set for Eleanor, and bonus Layered Armor sets for the main protagonist if you have save data from Monster Hunter Stories, Monster Hunter Stories 2, and Monster Hunter Rise.

What will the gameplay and story be like in Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection?

Monster Hunter Stories games usually have you travelling the world, exploring towns and landscapes, traversing dungeons, and fighting giant monsters.

While delving dungeons, you can swipe eggs from a monster's nest and hatch them so they can become tamed monsters nicknamed Monsties. By using the skills of Monsties, you can overcome environmental puzzles and defeat hordes of beasts in action-packed turn-based battles.

Turn-based battles in Monster Hunter Stories games are unique as they incorporate rock-paper-scissors-style attacks where certain attacks can beat out others, and deal extra damage to the enemy.

In addition, if a Rider builds their Kinship gauge by winning in these rock-paper-scissors-style clashes, they can unleash special Kinship attacks where they team with a Monstie to deal extravagant damage to enemies.

As confirmed by GameSpot's Tokyo Game Show 2025 preview, we now know that this game will indeed continue this aforementioned gameplay structure set by its predecessors, Monster Hunter Stories and Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin.

It will also incorporate new weapons like the Long Sword and new gameplay mechanics like the Wyvernsoul Gauge. The Wyvernsoul Gauge is a special meter underneath an enemy's health bar that goes down when you damage them.

When the Wyvernsoul Gauge is empty, you can perform a Syncho Rush, which has all four party members, both Riders and Monsties, gang up on an enemy monster to beat it into a bloody pulp.

The biggest gameplay addition Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection is bringing is the new Habitat Restoration system, as revealed in 2025's last Monster Hunter Showcase.

In this game, Invasive Monsters are invading ecosystems and stealing the eggs of endangered monster species. You must take on these thieving bosses, follow them back to their dens after forcing them to retreat, and retrieve the eggs they've stolen.

Once you hatch the egg, you can release that monster back into a habitat to help revitalize its dwindling population. Once a monster's population is no longer endangered, you can retrieve eggs from the wild and hatch them into recruitable Monsties.

As you rescue more monsters, a habitat's Ecosystem Rank will increase. The higher a habitat's rank, the easier it will be obtain Monsties with powerful passive and active abilities.

Additionally, some unique Monsties like the Dreadqueen Rathian, can only obtained by levelling up ecosystems through the Habitat Restoration system.

On top of that, releasing monsters in specific habitats will grant a random chance for Monsties hatched from their eggs to be born with two elements, creating Dual-Element Monsties.

For example, if you place a Thunder-elemental monster like Zinogre and Tobi-Kadachi in a fire-based habitat, you may be able to find an egg from their dens that will give birth to a Monstie that uses both Thunder and Fire elemental skills and passive traits.

The Dual-Element Monstie's appearance will also be drastically different from its regular counterpart to reflect its innate secondary element.

As for the story, Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection will be set 200 years after the events of Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin, and will feature a more mature, grim story than its generally light-hearted predecessors.

In this time period, Monster Hunter's most iconic monster, the Rathalos, has gone extinct, and a mysterious phenomenon classified as Crystal Encroachment is threatening to transmogrify the land and all lifeforms into lifeless crystals or crazed mutants.

To make matters worse, tensions between the neighbouring kingdoms of Azuria & Vermeil begin to flare up as each realm bears witness to the birth of twin Rathalos, which are thought to be extinct.

These twins aren't ordinary Rathalos, however, as they bear the marks and elongated horns of the legendary Skyscale Rathalos, a harbinger of doom that caused a civil war 200 years ago.

To prevent a full-scale disaster, one of the Skyscale Rathalos was put to death, and the other was put into the care of the heir of Azuria (a.k.a. the player).

With these looming threats overhead, you must investigate the cause of the Crystal Encroachment for ways to cure it, and protect the land from a potential bloody war sparking between Azuria and Vermeil.

What monsties will Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection have?

One of the main selling points of the Monster Hunter Stories series is getting to tame and ride iconic monsters from the mainline Monster Hunter series, and Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection will be no different.

So far, it's been confirmed that Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection will include classic Monsties like Rathalos, Velocidrome, Legiana, and Anjanath.

The game will also include monsters from recent mainline games as Monsties, such as Magnamalo and Rakna-Kadaki from Monster Hunter Rise, and Arkveld, Chatacabra and Rey Dau from Monster Hunter Wilds.

In addition, monsters from previous games that were only enemies will finally become tameable Monsties after all these years, like the infamous Plesioth.

What platforms will Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection be released on?

Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection will be released on various platforms, including Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC via Steam.

That first is particularly special because this game will be the first title in the Monster Hunter Stories series to release on Xbox consoles. This is great news for Xbox JRPG fans, as now they can experience one of the best Pokémon-like titles out there.

If Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection sells well on Xbox, perhaps it will convince Capcom to port the rest of the series onto Xbox consoles as well.

If we're really lucky, Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection may show up on Xbox Game Pass as well.

Capcom's Monster Hunter franchise has risen to worldwide stardom over the last several years, taking players on a wild ride hunting the biggest, baddest monsters in video game history.

One such title is Monster Hunter Rise. This game is an arcadey take on the Monster Hunter formula, where you fly through the air to chase monsters and face down hordes of them at once with powerful super moves in Tower Defense-like 'Rampage' hunts.

This game normally has a modest MSRP of $39.99 at most retailers. However, Amazon is hosting a last-minute Amazon Prime Day sale for a digital code for the Xbox version with an insane 75% discount, taking it down to $10.00.

If you want to get your hands on one of Monster Hunter's best games for dirt-cheap, don't miss out on this discount before it goes away at the end of today.

Why should you buy Monster Hunter Rise over Monster Hunter Wilds?

Monster Hunter Rise is a co-op action hunting game released in 2021 for the Nintendo Switch before being later ported to Xbox and PC via Windows and Steam.

This game had you play as a hunter of Kamura Village, sworn to defend their home from an encroaching horde of monsters banded together by a mysterious phenomenon known as the 'Rampage'.

Like any Monster Hunter title, your goal is to hunt monsters, skin their hides upon slaying upon, and then use their body part to forge mighty weapons and armor so you can hunt bigger monsters.

Monster Hunter Rise sets itself apart from the rest of the series with many unique mechanics exclusive to this game. For one, it has a Palamute mount (a precursor to Monster Hunter Wilds' Seiket mount), which can help you travel maps faster than on foot when riding it.

Secondly, Monster Hunter Rise features the powerful Wirebug mechanic. This godlike insect can allow players to fly through the air like Spider-Man, perform mighty super-moves that can decimate monsters, and even briefly take control of monsters via the Wyvern Riding technique to beat up other monsters.

Thirdly, in addition to regular hunting missions where you must track and kill your target in the wild, Monster Hunter Rise features unique Tower Defense-like missions called Rampage quests.

In these missions, you must set up siege weapons and fortifications to protect Kamura Village from hordes of monsters looking to raise it to the ground, culminating in epic boss fights with unique Apex Monsters leading the pack.

When I first played Monster Hunter Rise when it came out on the Nintendo Switch, I wasn't endeared to it. Its High Rank content was incomplete at launch due to the pandemic, and the game's frame rate performance and resolution were severely held back by the Nintendo Switch's outdated hardware.

It was a decent action game, but it felt rushed and unfinished. However, thanks to numerous post-launch updates adding more monsters and fixing its incomplete High Rank content, and a well-done PC port which vastly improved its frame rate and resolution (which is carried over in the Xbox version), I grew to appreciate and love Monster Hunter Rise.

It was an over-the-top departure from the mainline titles like Monster Hunter World, which focused on grounded combat and preparation, and instead embraced high-flying Devil May Cry-esque combat insanity.

The new Japanese-inspired monsters were a joy to fight, the combat system was vastly in-depth with many Wirebug super-moves and weapons to play with, and even the Rampage quests were a fun change of pace from regular hunts once I figured out how to optimize my siege equipment and force monsters into choke points.

And this all without getting into its DLC expansion Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak, which vastly improved almost every aspect of the base game while adding tons of new monsters to hunt and endgame content to partake in.

However, even with post-launch updates and performance improvements, Monster Hunter Rise isn't perfect. Due to be a Nintendo Switch port, the graphics aren't the most detailed in the world (in fact, it looks on par with PlayStation 3 games), so you won't be getting a next-gen visual feast for the eyes with this game.

Additionally, the plot basically amounts to "There are monsters trying to eat us, go kill them," and doesn't evolve much beyond that.

If you're looking for a game with a complex plot and captivating character development, you're better off with JRPGs like Metaphor ReFantazio (which is currently on a 45% discount sale) and Persona 3: Reload (which is also on sale for a 49% discount).

Finally, due to its arcade-like nature with Rampage Quests and Wirebugs, Monster Hunter Rise lacks the hardcore challenge and difficulty curve that previous games like Monster Hunter World and Monster Hunter 4 had.

It may look intimidating at first for newcomers, but once you get the hang of its mechanics, you and your friends will be able to slay monsters in no time without much difficulty (with some endgame exceptions).

Now, that last statement makes me sound hypocritical, as I heavily criticized Monster Hunter Wilds' for a similar lack of challenge.

However, I would gladly take Monster Hunter Rise over Monster Hunter Wilds in its current state any day of the week for many reasons.

Monster Hunter Rise has a more charming and colorful art style, its combat is way more complex and interesting, it has more endgame content and monsters, and its performance on Xbox and PC is FAR more stable than Monster Hunter Wilds is currently.

For further context, Monster Hunter Rise on Xbox and PC is able to reach a consistent framerate of 60fps or even 120fps with 1080p or 4K resolutions.

Monster Hunter Wilds, meanwhile, can barely perform at 60fps without sacrificing visual fidelity on Xbox. Plus, the PC port has been having so many crashes and stability issues, that fans have started review-bombing Monster Hunter Wilds.

So if you're looking for a fun, complete Monster Hunter experience to play with friends online while waiting for Capcom to fix Monster Hunter Wilds with post-launch updates, then I highly recommend Monster Hunter Rise.

In fact, now's the perfect time to get into Monster Hunter Rise as a digital code for the Xbox version is currently being sold with a Rathalos-sized 75% discount, thanks to Amazon Prime Day.

That means for a limited time, Monster Hunter Rise's usual MSRP of $39.99 has been reduced to $10.00 at Amazon. This is the lowest price I've ever seen this game drop to, so get on it while you can, as this deal's duration ends TODAY.

With the $29.99 you will be saving with this deal, you can use it towards purchasing an Xbox Wireless controller (which is having $28% discount at Walmart) or the Razer Wolverine V2 Chroma controller (which is also having $41% discount at Walmart) to help you perform those Wirebug supermoves with greater input accuracy.

However, there's a stipulation with this discount when buying Monster Hunter Rise on Amazon. In order to access this discount, you will need to sign up for Amazon Prime Membership.

It's a worthy price to pay, as becoming an Amazon Prime Member will reward you with various other benefits.

These include access to Amazon's multimedia streaming services, same-day shipping when ordering physical products, and access to other discount deals like this sweet 26% discount for the Seagate Storage Expansion Card for Xbox Series X|S, so you can install extra space for your Xbox Series X|S to fit in Monster Hunter Rise.

Capcom has just released, on its japanese website, a new fiscal year report showing game sales revenue from April 2024 to March 2025.

According to the report (as shared via @HazzadorGamin on X), revenue through Capcom games sold on Steam has risen by a monumental 61.1%, selling over 28 million games on Valve's digital platform.

This roughly means that Capcom has generated $366 million on Steam alone, and this is only accounting for 31.1% of Capcom's total revenue.

That being said, the fiscal year doesn't have much good news for Capcom's console games sales. Capcom's game sales on PlayStation systems once made up 10.5% of the company's total revenue in 2024, but those figures have been omitted from this report, confirming that it has dropped below 10%.

Unfortunately, we can't say anything about the state of Capcom's game sales numbers on Xbox and Nintendo Switch systems, as they are not featured in the report.

Capcom's been a financial hot streak, yet the quality of its PC games don't reflect that.

I personally believe that a huge factor in Capcom making a ton of money on Steam is due to the success of Monster Hunter Wilds, which was released just a few weeks before the end of the 2024-2025 fiscal year on February 28, 2025.

This highly anticipated entry in Capcom's Monster Hunter series broke sales records by shipping over 10 million copies in just a month on Steam, Xbox Series X|S, and PlayStation 5.

Also, it's worth noting that Capcom released other titles to help boost its revenue during 2024 before Monster Hunter Wilds came along, which drew players in.

These include the original, artistically rich strategy/action game hybrid, Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess, and Dragon's Dogma 2, the long-awaited revival of Capcom's cult open-world RPG series, Dragon's Dogma.

That being said, despite Monster Hunter Wilds helping Capcom make bank, the game has received a ton of "Overwhelmingly Negative" reviews on Steam over the past couple of months.

PC players have been criticizing Monster Hunter Wilds' for its subpar PC performance even while running the Best graphics cards, the lack of a true challenge fighting the monsters, its minuscule amount of endgame content, and more.

Capcom's been busy helping fix the scarcity of Monster Hunter's endgame content, with free titles adding new enemies to its monster roster. The first title update added Miztzune and High-Rank Zoh Shia, while the recently released second title update added Lagiacrus and Seregios.

Capcom even released a mini-update that you play as Akuma from the Street Fighter series, complete with his own unique move-set that functioned differently from the main weapon types.

Yet even with these cool updates, players are still not satisfied as they are complaining that these updates barely do anything to upgrade the PC version's performance. People are experiencing crashes, framerates tanking below 30fps, aliasing galore, and other optimization issues.

Judging from the aforementioned fiscal year report, it's quite possible that Capcom rushed Monster Hunter Wilds out the door before it was properly optimized to get out before the fiscal year for 2024-2025.

It paid off big for Capcom, but the quality of Monster Hunter Wilds suffered heavily as a result.

You'd think after the optimization issues Dragon's Dogma 2 had when that game launched (as my colleague Jez Corden discovered in his review of Dragon's Dogma 2), Capcom would've realized that the RE Engine isn't designed to run big open-world games like Monster Hunter Wilds.

However, I'm guessing it was too late to back peddle in time to change Monster Hunter Wilds' so it was able to run with the RE Engine better. Perhaps due to being too far into development or not willing to compromise, missing out on meeting the fiscal year deadline.

Thankfully, Resident Evil Requiem hopefully won't suffer these problems.

Capcom confirmed in a developer interview (only available on Resident Evil's website), that it will not be an open-world multiplayer game (as it was originally going to be according to the leaked rumor), because Capcom says the fans didn't want the Resident Evil series to go in that direction.

However, Capcom will need to do more than simply keep RE Engine-made games away from open-world structures if it hopes to maintain the quality of its upcoming PC games and even upcoming Xbox games.

In my opinion, Capcom needs to take time to properly optimize each game, take fan feedback into serious consideration with regard to game design and performance, and not rush out products to meet deadlines and make a quick buck.

Otherwise, the fans will turn on them as they did with Monster Hunter Wilds and not stick around to purchase anymore of their products, bringing Capcom's recent financial success on Steam to a grinding halt.

Will Capcom heed the fan outcries and learn from its lessons to maintain its high sales revenues for the next fiscal year without sacrificing the quality of its upcoming games?

Will it be able to finally fix the performance issues of Monster Hunters Wilds so fans will stick around to play more of its free title updates and probable DLC expansion?

We will have to wait and see what Capcom's next move is to find out.

Capcom had recently concluded its June 2025 Capcom Spotlight event with a massive gameplay showcase for Monster Hunter Wilds' upcoming second free title update, which will be launching on June 30, 2025, alongside similarly swim-themed content for Street Fighter 6.

We already knew that the 2nd Title Update would feature the return of the fan-favorite monster Lagiacrus (as teased in the 1st Title Update), but we were not prepared for what the rest of the update would entail.

Not only will this update include Lagiacrus, but it will also feature another returning monster called Seregios, the cosmetic Layered Armor, Arch-Tempered Uth Duna, more cosmetic DLC and event quests, and the shocking return of underwater combat from Monster Hunter Tri!

Here's all the new info on Monster Hunter Wilds' second Title update announced during the June 2025 Capcom Spotlight event.

The showcase begins by fully unveiling what Lagiacrus will be like in Monster Hunter Wilds. For those unaware, Lagiacrus is a large Leviathan-class monster that attacks its prey by lunging at them with its jaws and zapping them with lightning produced from its back spikes.

And from the looks of the gameplay trailer, Lagiacrus will fight just as he did back in 2009's Monster Hunter Tri, but extremely sped up now that the beast is powered by next-gen hardware.

What's truly shocking is that partway into hunting Lagiacrus, players will be forced to fight it underwater, confirming that underwater combat will be making an unexpected return to the Monster Hunter series just for this fight.

Underwater combat was a unique mechanic that was only ever featured in Monster Hunter Tri and in 2011's Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate.

It was a controversial system that had players fighting Leviathan-type monsters under the sea. Most players didn't like underwater combat at the time because it had stiff controls, and most of the weapon types weren't effective underwater.

Yet it was memorable for showcasing the true strength of Leviathan-type monsters like Lagiacrus, who were far more dangerous underwater than on land.

Now, 14 years after its last appearance in Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate, underwater combat will be returning in Monster Hunter Wilds, albeit in a reworked state.

You can't use your weapons underwater, so you will need to use your Slinger to activate environmental traps to damage Lagiacrus or grapple onto it to stab it in the eye with a knife normally used for carving carcasses.

Lagiacrus isn't the only classic monster coming to Monster Hunter Wilds, as Capcom revealed he will be joined by Seregios, who was last seen causing havoc in Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak.

Seregios is a Flying Wyvern that flies as fast as a speeding bullet, divebombing its enemies with lightning-fast kicks and claw attacks. It also dislodges its scales to fire as projectiles at players, inflicting the health-draining Bleed status if they get hit.

Seregios was a tough foe to face in Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak, and will no doubt be a menace to fight in Monster Hunter Wilds now that we don't have Wirebugs anymore to chase after it in the air.

To complement the returning monsters, Capcom revealed that the next Arch-Tempered monster for Monster Hunter Wilds will be Arch-Tempered Uth Duna.

The regular Uth Duna was a massive, tanky, Leviathan-type monster that had tons of health, strength, and the ability to cause massive waves that could swallow up players. With this in mind, the Arch-Tempered version will no doubt be twice as hard to deal with, so make sure to prepare your gear for the upcoming fight.

Capcom then went on to describe various gameplay system additions that will be included in the 2nd Title Update.

First off, Monster Hunter Wilds will receive a Layered Weapon system, which will allow players to change the cosmetic appearance of their weapons upon crafting their final form in the weapon forge tree.

Other system additions include:

• New brightness filter options for Photo Mode and the ability to hide characters like Alma, the Seikret, and your Palico from view while in Photo Mode.
• The ability to swap Alma with Erik as your handler during hunts.
• A new Support Hunter named Mina, and the ability to choose which Support Hunters can join you while playing solo.

After that, Capcom stated the 2nd Title Update will include tons of new Event Quests with unique gear rewards, cosmetic DLC (some of which are free while others have to be paid for), and a new limited-time festival called Flamefete, which will host unique quests and rewards.

One of the biggest Event Quests to look out for is the Fender Special Collab quest. This quest will reward players with an emote that will let them play a virtual version of the $2,000 Rathalos-themed Fender guitar, in case you don't have the cash to buy the real guitar.

Finally, Capom announced that Monster Hunter Wilds' 3rd Title Update will arrive in late September 2025, and it will feature another new monster to hunt and a Fall-themed limited-time festival.

Will this massive update help Monster Hunter Wilds overturn the recent Overwhelming Negative reviews on Steam?

Normally, this update would be a massive cause for celebration. Two classic monsters are being added to Monster Hunter Wilds' giant list of monsters, we don't have to wait for the DLC expansion for Layered Weapons, and there is a ton of cool Event Quests on the way.

Unfortunately, things have not been looking good for Monster Hunter Wilds as fans have been review bombing it on Steam, criticizing the game for its subpar performance on PC, lackluster difficulty, and barren endgame content.

With the 2nd Title Update, I can definitely say that people won't be short on things to do during the Endgame as we'll be forging plenty of new gear from hunting Seregios and Lagiacrus, and crafting all kinds of fashion sets with the Layered Weapons system to complement the Layered Armor system.

Not to mention, Tempered Monsters in general have been massively buffed in the last update, providing players with the endgame challenge that was missing at launch.

As for the PC performance issues, according to the update's patch notes, Capcom is planning to implement several improvements for the Steam version.

These improvements include DLSS4 and FSR4 support, multi-frame gen support for NVIDIA DLSS, and separating the upscaling and frame generation options in the graphics menu.

Will it be enough to win back the fans' favor? We'll have to join the hunt to find when Monster Hunter Wilds' 2nd Title Update goes live on June 30, 2025.

Monster Hunter Wilds is available for purchase on Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC via Steam.

Things are not looking good for Monster Hunter Wilds, especially on PC.

After a successful few months of selling over 10 million copies, garnering over a million concurrent Steam players, and receiving critical acclaim (including a 4/5 star review from us at Windows Central), people have recently started turning on Capcom's latest entry in the vaunted Monster Hunter series.

According to the game's Steam page, fans have been review-bombing Monster Hunter Wilds to the point where its rating is now at "Overwhelmingly Negative".

Criticisms from fans range from Monster Hunter Wild's lack of substantial end-game content compared to previous Monster Hunter titles, the series' vaunted challenge being aggressively dumbed down due to incongruent and overly streamlined mechanics, a brief and forgettable story campaign — and, most notably, its subpar performance on PC.

Fans have stated that Monster Hunter Wilds' optimization on PC remains poor after several months, even when they run the game with the best PC graphics on the market. Verified reviews decry the game's frame rate, constant stuttering, numerous graphical glitches, gameplay bugs, atop crash events.

As a result, Monster Hunter Wilds' one million-plus concurrent Steam player base, has gradually dropped to below that of the far-older Monster Hunter: World.

Indeed, fans have even started returning to playing Monster Hunter: World seeking the challenge and content breadth Wilds has yet to offer. As of writing, it has twice the amount of concurrent players that Monster Hunter Wilds has right now, despite Monster Hunter: World being over seven years old and no longer receiving updates from Capcom.

Monster Hunter games are generally known for their "long tail," as in strong post-launch content and endgame mechanics coalesce to keep the game fresh for elongated periods of time. Monster Hunter Wilds' endgame is vanishingly brief, given that the game's difficulty curve eliminated the necessity to grind gear, as monster battles were too easy to require any learning or counter play.

Will Monster Hunter Wilds be able to win back the fans' favor?

I'm somewhat torn over this situation. On the one hand, nobody wants to see a game fail to live up to expectations and be reviled by the public when the developers have worked long and hard on it. On the other hand, I feel vindicated knowing that more are starting to realize Monster Hunter Wilds' deep flaws. We called out most of its issues and lack of real danger months ago.

Now, granted, Monster Hunter World and Monster Hunter Rise suffered similar fan backlash when their base games first launched before being improved by Title Updates and DLC expansions. However, these issues are taken to a detrimental extreme in Monster Hunter Wilds, especially on PC, thanks to the game's subpar performance, which has yet to be addressed in the first Title Update or the Akuma update.

Hopefully, future Title Updates (like the Lagiacrus Title Update launching at the end of June 2025) will be able to win back the fans by adding more significant endgame content that will keep players coming back for more and fixing the PC version's performance issues.

The disruption of Monster Hunter Wilds' gameplay ecosystem could lead to a permanent abandonment from some long-time fans, whose expectations simply haven't been met with Wilds — so far.

Monster Hunter Wilds is available for purchase on Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC via Steam.

Yuya Tokuda, the director for Monster Hunter Wilds, has uploaded a Director's Letter recapping all the new content that will be added to the game in its next update, launching on May 28, 2025.

The May Update will include all kinds of new activities for players to indulge in, like a Street Fighter 6 Collaboration quest, new Tempered Monsters to slay, balance adjustments to weapons, and more.

Here are the biggest highlights for Monster Hunter Wilds' May Update (as taken from Monster Hunter Wilds' official website).

Monster Hunter Wilds May Update - Street Fighter 6 Collab

The first major content highlight (and undoubtedly the star of the update), is a collaboration with Street Fighter 6, the latest entry in Capcom's flagship fighting game series.

In this collab, players will embark on several new quests where they will get to interact with Akuma, one of the deadliest fighters in the entire Street Fighter universe. Upon completing these quests, you will get to unlock a special armor set and cosmetic layered armor that transform you into Akuma himself.

Unlike the Akuma armor set previously featured in Monster Hunter Rise, Monster Hunter Wilds' version will grant you special items that grant you the ability to perform Akuma's moves and combos lifted directly from Street Fighter 6.

If you wear the regular armor set and layered set together, it will power up these moves to the point where they could deal significant damage to even the toughest monsters in the game.

Monster Hunter Wilds May Update - More Tempered Monsters

As Capcom stated back in March when they were going to make the game harder, Monster Hunter Wilds' May Update will feature several new 8★ Tempered Monsters to hunt when players reach Hunter Rank 41.

These new 8* Tempered Monsters are Gore Magala, Rey Dau, Uth Duna, Nu Udra, and Jin Dahaad. These buffed up beasties will have more health, better resistence to the wounding mechanics, and have increased stats for multiplayer scaling.

In addition, the spawn rate of higher-difficulty level quests (with multiple monsters and Tempered Monsters with higher strength ratings) will now be increased based on your Hunter Rank.

Monster Hunter Wilds May Update - Weapon Balance changes

Next up is that the May Update will implement a ton of balance changes to weapons and the game systems, as well as various bug fixes.

While there are too many changes to list here (you can read full patch notes on Monster Hunter Wilds' website for more details), we can say that the Hammer, Hunting Horn, Gunlance, Light Bowgun, and Heavy Bowgun received the biggest improvements.

The aforementioned weapons received massive buffs to their damage output and various tweaks so that each weapon type's moves are easier to pull off.

Monster Hunter Wilds May Update - Miscellaneous

Lastly, Capcom listed several quality-of-life improvements and other minor new features that will be added in Monster Hunter Wilds' May Update. These changes (as taken on the official Monster Hunter Wilds website) includes:

• Hunters will be able to rest in the Grand Hub and Suja, Peaks of Accord. Resting restores all destroyed Pop-up Camps.
• A confirmation window will no longer appear after obtaining an item when your item pouch is full. The obtained item will automatically be sent to your item box.
• The visibility of the remaining time of meal effects is improved. The countdown will display 10 minutes before expiration.
• Notifications have also been adjusted in Ver. 1.011. Notification frequency in locales has been lowered, and only high-priority targets will be displayed in the Environment Overview.
• Improvements to Camera behavior during hunts, and joining multiplayer quests for private lobbies and squad lobbies.
• Being able to view the individual endemic life you have captured.
• Optimizations to VRAM usage and fixes to crashes due to insufficient VRAM. (Steam only).
• The rewards for 8★ investigations and field surveys have been increased.
• Guild Point rewards for fishing have been rebalanced.
• Certain whoppers and rare fish have had their rewards increased, while others have had their rewards decreased.

More changes will be coming in Title Update 2, but will they be enough to make Monster Hunter challenging again?

All the new content coming to Monster Hunter Wilds in this update sounds pretty cool, especially if you're a fan of both Street Fighter and Monster Hunter.

Monster Hunter has had crossovers with Street Fighter ever since Monster Hunter 4, but this is probably the craziest one yet, as I've never seen an armor set flat give you an additional move-set on top of your equipped weapon type. I'm curious to see how it will play out and if it will influence the abilities of other collaboration gear in the future.

However, what I'm most interested in is the new batch of 8★ Tempered Monsters. I have gone on record multiple times that Monster Hunter Wilds' difficulty was extremely disappointing for hardcore fans like me.

One of the many major issues I had was that a majority of the monsters (except for 8★ Tempered Arkveld), just felt so weak to fight due to relatively low HP and getting constantly get stun-locked by this game's Wound and Focus Strike mechanics to the point where they couldn't fight back half the time.

When Arch-Tempered Rey Dau and High Rank Zoh Shia arrived in the First Title Update, I was excited because they were the first monsters I fought in the whole game that posed a real challenge.

They had tons of health, hit like trucks, and they weren't being tripped constantly by attacking their Wounded parts. It was one of the few times I had to put in effort and use the game's combat mechanics to their fullest to achieve victory, and it was a breath of fresh air.

Seeing that resiliency is being applied to the new batch 8★ Tempered Monsters in the May update is a step in the right direction to help make the endgame content more appealing for players.

However, I would much rather see this sort of balance tweaking be applied to all of Monster Hunter Wilds' monsters (both Low Rank and High Rank), not just the Tempered Monsters.

That way, the Low Rank Story campaign won't feel like a cakewalk tutorial for endgame content anymore as you will be constantly challenged throughout the whole game, be forced to utilize the combat mechanics and armor sets to their fullest potential, and be rewarded with the immense satisfaction of overcoming the odds like the in older games.

Capcom has said that it is planning to make more balance changes in future updates. So hopefully my wishes for Monster Hunter Wilds to be a more challenging game from beginning to end will eventually come to pass, but we'll have to wait to find out.

In the meantime, we'll have Akuma teaching us how to beat monsters with only our fists to busy when the May Update launches for Monster Hunter Wilds on May 28, 2025, for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC via Steam.

Intel released an update for its "Game On" driver for Arc desktop and laptop graphics hardware to version 32.0.101.6795 over Memorial Day Weekend — available to download directly from Intel.com.

The patch notes are slim, but by no means insignificant, and come in two parts: First, launch day for Elden Ring Nightreign is fast approaching for PC players on May 29, and Intel is providing official support for FromSoftware's co-op player-versus-environment parallel universe spinoff with this update.

Alongside Elden Ring, Intel Arc users will be ready for the recently previewed multiplayer survival game Dune: Awakening, which launches on June 10, and F1 25 even earlier on May 30 for high-speed sim racing fans.

Second, there's a little treat for fans of the multiplayer open-world action RPG Monster Hunter Wilds, which has gradually received patches from its developers to address performance issues and now has the same treatment at a hardware level.

According to Intel, running Monster Hunter Wilds at 1080p on an Intel Arc B-Series "Battlemage" graphics card with this updated driver will increase your average frames-per-second (FPS) by around 9%, or by 6% if you play at 1440p. So, that's only an extra ~5 FPS if you're already hitting 60 FPS, but it's better than nothing for a demanding PC game and a good reason to upgrade.

Are you tempted to switch to Intel Arc yet?

Intel's continued (if expected) efforts to support the latest and greatest PC games are appreciated, but the performance bumps for titles that already struggle to run on modest hardware are particularly encouraging.

Sure, there's a reason that Intel Arc graphics primarily advertise to the 1080p and 1440p bracket, given their penchant for mid-range hardware like the B580 and B570 "Battlemage" cards and my last-gen favorite, the plucky A750 from its "Alchemist" range.

Nevertheless, it lends more credibility to handhelds using modern Arc mobile graphics, like the highly praised (if hard to find) MSI Claw 8+ AI, when Intel's driver team puts extra effort into improving framerates on its affordable hardware with new driver releases.

I've seen firsthand how Intel Arc graphics have improved since the launch of its first discrete A-Series graphics, and I'm eager to see the trend continue, particularly if NVIDIA and AMD are determined to release cards with only 8GB of VRAM.

All I'm really craving is for more high-profile OEMs to adopt Arc mobile graphics in new PC gaming handhelds, and for Intel to expand its B-Series cards into the high-end with some more powerful models. We'll see.

Patch notes

Gaming Highlights

Intel Game On Driver support on Intel Arc B-series, A-series Graphics GPUs and Intel Core Ultra with built-in Intel Arc GPUs for:

• Dune: Awakening
• Elden Ring Nightreign
• F1 25

Game performance improvements on Intel Arc B-series Graphics GPUs versus Intel 32.0.101.6793 software driver for:

• Monster Hunter Wilds (DX12)
  • Up to 9% average FPS uplift at 1080p
  • Up to 6% average FPS uplift at 1440p

Capcom has just announced via its official website and The Game Awards' X account that it has achieved its highest sales figures and operating income records in the company's history within its 2024-2025 fiscal year report (ending on March 31, 2025).

According to the report, Capcom's net sales were ¥169.6 billion ($1.14 billion), up 11.3% year-on-year, while its net income was ¥48.45 billion ($327.5 million), up 11.7% year-on-year. This is the eighth consecutive year that Capcom has broken sales records, and the 11th consecutive year it has increased its operating profit growth.

On top of that, Capcom has announced that it has sold over 51.87 million video game units worldwide. This success is largely thanks to Capcom's flagship franchises like Resident Evil, Street Fighter, and, of course, Monster Hunter.

Monster Hunter is currently Capcom's biggest franchise, with Monster Hunter World selling over 28.2 million copies, Monster Hunter Rise at 16.7 million copies, and the latest entry, Monster Hunter Wilds, selling over 10 million copies in just a month after its release.

After declaring this financial success, Capcom stated, and I quote from it's official website, "Moving forward, for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2026, Capcom anticipates net sales of 190,000 million yen and operating income of 73,000 million yen, which would result in nine consecutive years of record high profit at all levels and eleven consecutive years of over 10% operating income growth."

In short, things are going well money-wise for Capcom, and the company is confident in its future endeavors.

If Capcom's upcoming Xbox titles/upcoming PC titles like the new Okami and Onimusha: Way of the Sword live up to fans' expectations after being a dormant Capcom IP for so long, then fortune will continue to smile for this legendary studio.

Monster Hunter Wilds, the next-gen successor to one of Capcom's best Xbox games and best PC games, Monster Hunter World, is now available for purchase after launching on February 28, 2025, for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC via Steam.

Tomorrow on April 4, 2025, the 1st Title Update for Monster Hunter Wilds will finally go live. To help prepare players for what they can expect in this update, Capcom has released the patch notes for it on its official website.

Aside from recapping previously announced additional content like new monsters to hunt like Mizutsune and a High-Rank version of Zoh Shia, the patch notes reveal that the 1st Title Update will contain several weapon balance changes, bug fixes, quality-of-life improvements, performance upgrades for the PC (Steam) version, and more.

Here are the full patch notes as taken from the official Monster Hunter Wilds website:

Monster Hunter Wilds 1st Title Update patch notes - Major changes and additions

– New monsters can now be hunted after meeting certain in-game conditions.

– Mizutsune has been added. Reach HR 21 to unlock an extra mission that can be started by speaking to Kanya in the Scarlet Forest Base Camp. Complete the mission to unlock Mizutsune.

– Tempered Mizutsune has been added and will appear when you are HR 41+ after completing the Mizutsune extra mission.

– Zoh Shia has been added as a high-rank monster. Reach HR 50 to unlock a story mission that unlocks Zoh Shia.

– New story, extra, and side missions have been added.

– New weapons, armor, and skills have been added.

– The upgrade limit has been increased for armor of rarity 5 and above.

– The Grand Hub has been added. It can be unlocked by completing a tutorial mission that appears from HR 16.

– The following features have been added to the Grand Hub: Barrel Bowling; the Diva; Arena Quest Counter; the Canteen; the Arm Wrestling Barrel.

– The Expedition Record Board has been added to the Grand Hub, along with rankings for time attack quests.

– Arena Quests have been added.

– Challenge Quests and Free Challenge Quests (Challenge Quests with no equipment restrictions) have been added and will be made available at a later date.

– New status ailments have been added.

– New voice lines for Alma (the Handler) have been added.

– An arena log page has been added to hunter profiles.

– The Change Appearance menu in the camp now has an option to change Alma's outfit.

– New pop-up camp gear options have been added.

– New limited bounty categories have been added.

– New voice lines, pose sets, and gestures have been added.

– Preparations have been made for the Festival of Accord, planned to run from April 23 to May 6.

– The following features will be temporarily modified during the Festival of Accord: the Handler's Outfit; Seikret decoration; the Diva's song list; the Grand Hub decorations; the Canteen's menu.

Monster Hunter Wilds 1st Title Update patch notes - Bug Fixes and Balance adjustments

Base Facilities

– After unlocking the Grand Hub, the Squad Information Counter will move from the Windward Plains Base Camp to the Grand Hub.

– Fixed an issue where consecutive uses of the BBQ Grill inside a tent could cause game controls to stop functioning.

– Fixed an issue with the BBQ Grill where ingredients would be used but meal effects wouldn't trigger when a meal is canceled, such as when an Environment Link is disbanded.

– Improved the response time for controls in all dialogue scenes, such as facility conversations.

– The "Rest" command now requires 500 guild points, and investigations reward 10% more guild points than before.

– Increased the amount of points required for "Wyverian Melding" and "Meld Decorations" at the Melding Pot.

– Increased the amount of melding points obtained from some items and rare decorations when using them as melding materials.

– Fixed an issue where meal invitations would sometimes be announced or show up in the Environment Overview at times when the invitation could not actually be accepted.

– The "Transfer Items" option has been added to the Provisions Stockpile menu, allowing you to restock items outside of the tent.

Missions

– Fixed an issue where some side missions which required specific item turn-ins could not be completed correctly.

– Fixed an issue that prevented the completion of side mission conditions during event quests.

Monsters and Endemic Life

– Fixed an issue where some monsters would stop moving in certain situations.

– Fixed an issue where some monster wounds would disappear unintentionally after performing certain actions.

– Fixed an issue where the game might crash after blocking a Gravios's attack.

– Fixed an issue where the introductory cinematic camera (used for newly discovered monsters) would trigger on monsters you've already discovered.

– Fixed an issue where the Smokeshroud Gekko endemic life would not appear in the Windward Plains.

– Adjusted the behavior of some monster actions.

– The distance between the monster and camera has been increased for certain monsters, such as Gore Magala.

– Fixed an issue where Jin Dahaad would unintentionally disappear from the locale.

Player - General

– Fixed an issue where the hunter profile could not be edited properly.

– Added a feature that lets you reset hunter profile edits.

– Fixed an issue where sneak attacks could not be canceled when using light bowgun, heavy bowgun, or bow.

– Fixed an issue where weapon pendants could appear in scenes where weapons are not displayed.

– Fixed an unintended issue where large falling boulders could be blocked.

– Lance: Made it easier to land thrust attack finishers after a focus strike in which the first hit causes large knockback.

– Hammer: Fixed an issue where Focus Strikes could not be used quickly after coming to a stop after moving during a charge.

– Light Bowgun: Fixed an issue that caused Wyvernblast to react to Palico attacks.

– Palico: Fixed an issue that prevented stun and exhaust values from increasing when a Palico attacks a monster with a blunt weapon.

– Hunting Horn: Fixed an issue where certain actions that required simultaneous inputs were not behaving correctly.

– Heavy bowgun and light bowgun ranged attack capabilities have been adjusted when riding a Seikret.

– The effects of the Corrupted Mantle have been adjusted.

– The Rocksteady Mantle's damage mitigation has been increased.

– Mending Mantle and Evasion Mantle durations have been increased.

– Bow: Dragon Piercer damage has been decreased.

– Bow: Power Volley elemental values have been increased.

– Bow: Thousand Dragons damage has been increased. This includes when using Close-range Coating and Power Coating.

– Bow: Power Shot and Power Volley are now affected by the skill Charge Master.

Player - Skills

– Fixed an issue where Opening Shot did not work with special ammo.

Player - Support Hunters

– Fixed an issue that caused Support Hunters to be unable to reach certain areas.

– Fixed an issue that prevented guest players from receiving the effects of Rosso's Demon Ammo, Armor Ammo, and Recover Ammo.

– Fixed an issue that resulted in guest players not seeing any visual change when a Support Hunter would equip a mantle.

– Adjusted the rate at which Support Hunters use certain items.

Player - The Handler

– Adjusted the distance that the Handler keeps from the monster during hunts.

Monster Hunter Wilds 1st Title Update patch notes - Miscellaneous

Miscellaneous - Login Bonuses

– There will now be login bonus days that include a free meal voucher (one out of the different types).

– Login bonuses now include at least one Barrel Bowling Voucher every day.

Miscellaneous - System

– (Steam) Improvements were made to VRAM usage, and the DirectStorage version has been upgraded.

– Fixed an issue that prevented pigment information from being included in shared loadouts.

– Fixed an issue with some display settings on the character models on the title screen and save data selection screen.

– Fixed an issue where the model display toggle for pendants would not function properly when previewing armor.

– Fixed an issue with the visual effects of the Hope Charm.

– Fixed an issue so that other Link Members are now properly prioritized to be displayed in Base Camps and other shared locations.

– Fixed an issue that made communication errors more likely to occur when firing an SOS Flare right after the start of a quest.

– Background color has been changed to black for areas outside of the game's rendering range.

– Fixed an issue where a squad leader leaving a squad would not correctly transfer leader rights to the sub-leader.

– Fixed an issue that made it impossible in some instances to obtain the Powercharm or Armorcharm even after fulfilling the requirements to do so. If you have fulfilled the requirements and have not obtained the items, they can be re-obtained after proceeding through another Quest Results screen.

Miscellaneous - Quests

– Fixed an issue where some NPC dialogue would be cut off when completing certain story assignments by capturing the target.

– Fixed an issue where accepting an Investigation but failing to depart (due to a communication error or similar) would still reduce the number of times you can accept that Investigation.

– Failing to join another quest while already in the middle of a quest will now forcibly end the current quest and take you back to base.

– Fixed an issue that would prevent game progress after departing on a quest while performing platform-related invitations.

– Fixed an issue where quest party size limits would not work as intended when performing certain actions.

– Fixed an issue where a quest would not appear in an SOS Flare Quests search if the quest host fires the SOS Flare but then leaves the quest.

Miscellaneous - Quests

– Fixed an issue where the stated number of Pop-up Camps and their locations would not match up with their actual data in some situations.

– Adjusted the placement of some ore deposits to make them easier to gather while riding the Seikret.

– Fixed an issue where some voice lines would not trigger properly.

– Fixed various text issues.

– Fixed other miscellaneous issues.

The hunt for the elusive Mizutsune is on!

Monster Hunter Wilds has recently achieved the monumental milestone of selling over 10 million copies in just a month after its release. Despite this commercial success and much critical acclaim (including our 4/5 star review of Monster Hunter Wilds), the game has received many harsh critiques from fans.

Criticisms range from subpar PC performances as stated by the game's 1 million concurrent player base, a needlessly complicated multiplayer, to a severely disappointing difficulty downgrade compared to previous Monster Hunter titles.

Hopefully, the improvements to VRAM usage and the DirectStorage within this update will help the Steam version perform much more smoothly and make it more enjoyable for PC players.

As for the issues regarding difficulty balancing and multiplayer. It looks like the patch notes don't mention any changes to the multiplayer system or any huge balance changes to existing monsters aside from changing their behavior.

So it is likely we'll be getting multiplayer improvements and hard balance changes to existing monsters later in May when Arch-Tempered Ray Dau arrives or in the second Title Update during the Summer of 2025.

In the meantime, we'll have Mizutsune and Zoh Shia to sink our blades into when Monster Hunter Wilds' 1st Title Update launches tomorrow.

Monster Hunter Wilds, the next-gen successor to one of Capcom's best Xbox games and best PC games, Monster Hunter World, is now available for purchase after launching on February 28, 2025, for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC via Steam.

Monster Hunter Wilds, the latest entry in Capcom's immensely popular Monster Hunter franchise, has recently achieved a major milestone by selling over 10 million copies worldwide, as per an official statement on Capcom's official website.

What makes its sales figure so impressive is that it took Resident Evil Village three years after its release in 2021 to reach such sales numbers.

Additionally, Monster Hunter Wilds managed to ship 8 million units worldwide in only three days after its launch. This officially makes Monster Hunter Wilds the fastest-selling title in Capcom history, beating out the previous record-holder, Resident Evil 4 Remake, which sold 3 million copies in two days after its launch.

Major balance changes are coming to Monster Hunter Wilds in the coming months

To celebrate the occasion, the director of Monster Hunter Wilds, Yuya Tokuda, has announced on Monster Hunter Wilds' official website that Capcom will send players a free item pack in-game as a 'thank-you' gift for their support.

Additionally, Yuya Tokusa has shared plans with the community about Capcom's plans for Monster Hunter Wilds post-launch updates in the coming months.

These plans start with a brief recap of Monster Hunter Wilds' 1st Title Update, which is set to go live this week on April 4, 2025.

This update will bring a ton of new content to the game, including the addition of new monsters to fight, such as the returning Mizustune, more Tempered Monsters to fight, an online Gathering Hub called the Grand Hall, new quests to complete, new gear to collect, cosmetic DLC, and more.

Next up, Yuya Tokusa has announced that Capcom plans to implement a ton of balance adjustments to Monster Hunter Wilds in the upcoming Title Updates. So far, these plans include buffing the Hammer weapon, nerfing the overtuned Corrupted Mantle, increasing the health, resistances, defenses, and multiplayer scaling of several Tempered monsters, and other weapon balance adjustments.

These balance adjustments are planned to be implemented at the end of May or in the second Title Update scheduled to launch in Summer 2025.

Afterward, Yuya Tokusa says that the game will receive various quality-of-life improvements in the upcoming Title Updates, including reducing the waiting time when using facility functions in each locale, and general improvements to UI/UX, restocking items, joining multiplayer hunts, using the Seikret, camera behavior, and more.

Yuya Tokusa then stated that Capcom is working hard to fix the stability of the PC (Steam) version of Monster Hunter Wilds. It plans to do this by reducing the VRAM usage and upgrading the DirectStorage version of the Steam version when the 1st Title Update launches.

Yuya Tokusa also says that Capcom is looking to improve the overall gameplay flow of Monster Hunter Wilds by making adjustments to its in-game economy, balance, and other areas, starting with several 'downward adjustments' (a.k.a. nerfs) to its overall game balance in the coming months.

Lastly, Yuya Tokusa has confirmed that Layered Weapons (a system where you can change the cosmetic appearance of weapons) will return to Monster Hunter Wilds in a future update.

Let's hope that these balance adjustments makes hunts threatening again in Monster Hunter Wilds

When Monster Hunter Wilds first launched, it had a fair share of positive reviews (including our 4/5 review of Monster Hunter Wilds) and a lot of criticism from its 1 million+ concurrent player base.

These include critiques regarding its subpar PC performance, convoluted multiplayer system, and lackluster difficulty. So seeing Capcom acknowledge these issues and vowing to fix them in the upcoming title updates instead of having to wait for a DLC expansion for these fixes is comforting to know for me, as Monster Hunter Wilds really disappointed me at its launch.

However, regardless of how I or anybody else feels about the game, its massive sales milestone of 10 million copies shows that Monster Hunter Wilds' issues have done little to impact the general public's enjoyment of the game or its financial success.

Success that I feel will continue to grow stronger if Capcom's planned balance adjustments and content updates manage to address fan criticisms and refine Monster Hunter Wilds' gameplay.

Either way, I can't wait to join the hunt again as this announcement, along with the 1st title update's content, has rekindled my interest in Monster Hunter Wilds.

Monster Hunter Wilds, the next-gen successor to one of Capcom's best Xbox games and best PC games, Monster Hunter World, is now available for purchase after launching on February 28, 2025, for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC via Steam.

Monster Hunter Wilds has recently received a gameplay showcase stream hosted by Capcom. This showcase has shown a metric ton of new gameplay footage and information regarding the game's Title Update 1, which is now confirmed to launch on April 4, 2025.

Here's everything you need to know about all the content coming soon in this update from new monsters, the Gathering Hub, quests, info regarding the next title update, and more.

SPOILER WARNING: This page contains spoilers for the finale of Monster Hunter Wilds' Low Rank story, so read at your own risk.

New monsters

The gameplay showcase begins by highlighting a new monster being added to Monster Hunter Wilds' monster roster, Mizutsune. This creature is a water-elemental Leviathan that attacks its prey with fast claw strikes, water breath beams, and spitting giant bubbles that cause players to become slippery and fall over when hit.

Once players reach Hunter Rank 21 in High Rank, they will be able to talk to an NPC named Kanya in the Scarlet Forest region and receive the quest that will unlock Mizutsune for hunting.

The next big piece of news regarding monsters is that Arch-Tempered monsters from Monster Hunter World have been confirmed to return in Monster Hunter Wilds. Arch-Tempered monsters are an especially difficult class of monsters that are stronger than Tempered Monsters.

They hit like trucks, have lots more health to burn through, and even feature new attacks separate from their regular counterparts. Overcoming these foes will reward players with unique Gamma armor sets, complete with new cosmetic looks and passive abilities to use.

The first Arch-Tempered monster that Monster Hunter Wilds will receive will be an Arch-Tempered version of Rey Dau. Players will be allowed to hunt this creature once they reach Hunter Rank 50 and when the Event Quest for Arch-Tempered Rey Dau goes live, which, according to Capcom, is "April 29 to May 20 (PDT)."

The last piece of monster news is that Monster Hunter Wilds Title Update 1 will include a High Rank version of Zoh Shia. This unholy abomination was the final boss of Low Rank that players only got to fight once, but now they'll get to hunt it again and earn special gear for defeating it.

The quest for hunting the High Rank version of Zoh Shia will unlock for players once they reach Hunter Rank 50. Afterward, Zoh Shia will begin showing up randomly in the Wyvern's Wakening section of the Ruins of Wyveria on the world map and can be made into a quest.

Grand Hub

The next section of the gameplay showcase focuses on a new Gathering Hub being added to Monster Hunter Wilds called the Grand Hub.

This place is a gigantic online multiplayer hub where players can gather to form parties before embarking on hunts, eat meals prepared by the Palicos, and have fun playing mini-games such as fishing, arm wrestling, and barrel bomb bowling.

Players can even sit down and relax listening to a Diva singing at night, a returning feature from Monster Hunter 4.

The Grand Hub will be unlocked for players once they talk to Tetsuzan in the Suja, Peaks of Accord campsite upon reaching Hunter Rank 16.

On a side note, the Squad Information Counter will be relocated from the Windward Plains to the Grand Hub once it unlocks.

Arena Quests

The next section of the gameplay showcase reveals that Monster Hunter Wilds will be getting Arena Quests in the Title Update. Arena Quests are special challenges where players hunt monsters in an enclosed arena and post their kill times on online leaderboards to see who has the fastest kills.

There will also be new Challenge Quests and Free Challenge Quests available as limited-time Event Quests that will reward players with cosmetic pendants upon completion.

Arena Quests and Challenge Quest will force players to wear specific armor sets and weapons and will only allow up to two players. Meanwhile, Free Challenge Quests will let players wear whatever gear builds they want and allow up to 4 players to join or summon NPC support hunters to fill in for missing players.

Arena, Challenge, and Free Challenge Quests will be made available once you unlock the Grand Hub and talk to Ricardo at the Arena Quest Counter there.

Alma outfits, DLC content, and roadmap

The showcase begins to wind down by covering miscellaneous content additions coming in the 1st Title Update. These include the ability to change your Handler Alma's outfit after completing a side-quest, upcoming free and paid DLC content which includes stickers, emotes, poses, accessories, layered armor, and more.

These will be made available in DLC content packs or sold individually.

Capcom has confirmed that more Event Quests will be added later and that Seasonal events from Monster Hunter World will be returning in Monster Hunter Wilds. The first of these seasonal events will be the Spring-themed Festival of Accord: Blossomdance, which Capcom says will launch on "April 22, 2025," and last until "May 6, 2025 (PDT)."

This event will allow players to take up previously released Event Quests and take on new ones to earn unique gear, pop-up camp decorations, emotes, and more.

Capcom then revealed a content roadmap for Monster Hunter Wilds mentioning all the content updates the game will receive up until the end of May.

In addition to everything we just discussed, the roadmap mentions that Monster Hunter Wilds will feature a collaboration with another Capcom franchise that's yet to be named, along with additional features.

Lagiacrus is finally coming back!

Capcom then closes the event by releasing a teaser for the next title update which is set to launch during the Summer of 2025, and it confirms that it will feature the return of Lagiacrus, the flagship monster of 2009's Monster Hunter Tri.

Fans have been begging and pleading for this classic monster to return in a traditional Monster Hunter game ever since it last appeared in Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate in 2017. Now after 8 long years, Lagiacrus will finally make its next-gen comeback in Monster Hunter Wilds this summer.

This content update is already looking to fix a ton of my problems with the base game and more

To say that there will be a lot of content to look forward to for Monster Hunter Wilds post-launch would be an understatement. While I'm worried about whether or not this Title Update 1 will address my criticisms regarding the base game's balance and difficulty, it already looks like it will immediately fix the post-game problems I have with the game.

The Grand Hub looks amazing, Mizutsune and Arch-Tempered Rey Dau look exciting to fight, and I'm glad we're going to be able to fight High Rank Zoh Shia so soon rather than having to wait for the final Title Update to fight the final High Rank boss as we did in Monster Hunter Rise.

Not to mention, I'm so happy to see Lagiacrus finally coming back in the next Title Update later this year, as it was on my wishlist for Monster Hunter Wilds, and it's one of the coolest monsters in the entire Monster Hunter series.

Will this Title Update also feature hidden surprises that Capcom is not willing to publicly divulge to surprise players? Join the hunt to find out when Monster Hunter Wilds' Title Update 1 launches on April 4, 2025.

Monster Hunter Wilds, the next-gen successor to one of Capcom's best Xbox games and best PC games, Monster Hunter World, is now available for purchase after launching on February 28, 2025, for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC via Steam.

Capcom has announced on social media that it will host a gameplay showcase for Monster Hunter Wilds' first "Free Title Update," set to launch in early April.

The showcase will happen on Tuesday, March 25, 2025, at 10:00 AM ET / 7:00 AM PT / 2:00 PM GMT, broadcasted on the official Twitch channel for Monster Hunter Wilds.

This gameplay preview will give players a glimpse of everything they can expect in the first update to the game. These include new monsters to fight, like the return of Mizutsune from Monster Hunter Rise, and unannounced creatures stronger than Tempered Monsters.

It will also provide a sneak peek at the Gathering Hub, an online multiplayer hub area for players to meet and chat before forming parties to embark on quests.

Capcom also mentions that the update will include "other new additions," so Monster Hunter Wilds will likely see balance changes and bug fixes, but we'll have to wait for the live broadcast to find out.

Are you ready to hunt the slippery Mizutsune in Monster Hunter Wilds?

Monster Hunter Wilds is currently one of the most popular titles in the Monster Hunter series, currently topping 1 million concurrent players on Steam. However, opinions on the game are split between critics and fans.

Critics mostly lavish praise on the game (including Jez Corden in his review of Monster Hunter Wilds), while a portion of the fanbase criticizes it for poor PC performance and needlessly convoluted multiplayer system.

I have criticized Monster Hunter Wilds heavily for its lackluster difficulty, non-existent endgame content, and particularly restrictive equipment skill system.

So, I'm hoping that the first "Title Update" will address these issues so that Monster Hunter Wilds can fulfill its hidden potential of being a fantastic game and restore the challenging difficulty that made fans like me fall in love with the franchise.

Monster Hunter Wilds, the next-gen successor to one of Capcom's best Xbox games and best PC games, Monster Hunter World, is now available for purchase after launching on February 28, 2025, for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC via Steam.

Capcom's Monster Hunter Wilds was the best-selling game of February 2025 in the U.S, and is now the best-selling game of the year for the U.S, taking the crown from previous frontrunner Call of Duty: Black Ops 6.

That's according to the latest report from Circana executive director and analyst Mat Piscatella, who shared details on the U.S. video game industry on Wednesday via Bluesky.

Following behind Monster Hunter Wilds is Warhorse Studios' Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 and Firaxis Games' Civilization 7. Rounding out a top ten list that has a refreshingly high number of new games, Obsidian and Xbox's Avowed fell in seventh place.

PlayStation 5 was the best-selling console in dollar sales and units, with Xbox Series X|S consoles second in both categories.

Subscription spending was notably up 9% year-over-year, offset by declines in hardware and software. Total video game sales reached $4.5 billion for the month, a drop of about 6% year-over-year from February 2024.

As always, remember that Circana tracks game sales through dollar amounts, not copies sold. Some publishers like Nintendo also do not share digital data, while developers like Larian don't share any data at all.

Take-Two Interactive is back to sharing non-delayed digital information though, meaning the full impact of titles like Grand Theft Auto 5 is now accurately reflected in the charts.

February 2025 Circana sales charts: Here are the top 20 best-selling games in the U.S.

1. Monster Hunter Wilds
2. Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2
3. Civilization 7
4. PGA Tour 2K25
5. NBA 2K25
6. Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
7. Avowed
8. Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii
9. Grand Theft Auto 5
10. Madden NFL 25
11. Minecraft****
12. EA Sports FC 25
13. Marvel's Spider-Man 2
14. Red Dead Redemption 2
15. Hogwarts Legacy
16. EA Sports College Football 25
17. Helldivers 2
18. Elden Ring
19. Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero
20. Astro Bot

February 2025 Circana sales charts: Here are the best-selling games of the year in the U.S.

1. Monster Hunter Wilds
2. Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2
3. Civilization 7
4. Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
5. NBA 2K25
6. PGA Tour 2K25
7. Madden NFL 25
8. Grand Theft Auto 5
9. EA Sports FC 25
10. Minecraft****
11. Red Dead Redemption 2
12. Marvel's Spider-Man 2
13. Avowed
14. EA Sports College Football 25
15. Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth
16. Hogwarts Legacy
17. Donkey Kong Country Returns*
18. Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii
19. Helldivers 2
20. Elden Ring

*Denotes no digital sales data
****Denotes no digital sales data on Nintendo Switch

Monster Hunter is at the top, and it seems to be staying there

The rise of Monster Hunter into one of Capcom's biggest franchises is something to be studied. Wilds' predecessor, the 2018 Monster Hunter World, is currently Capcom's best-selling game of all time.

I'm not sure if Wilds will be able to overcome World, but the game is certainly off to an excellent start, with Capcom previously confirming that it's already crossed 8 million copies sold worldwide.

If Capcom can roll out support with updates that bring new quests and monsters to fight, I won't be surprised to see Monster Hunter Wilds end the year in the top three best-selling games in the U.S.

It's also good to see Avowed launch in a strong place, considering many Xbox console players will no doubt be hopping in through Xbox Game Pass. Hopefully we'll see Obsidian Entertainment some sort of expansion before long.

Have you ever pretended to be ill on the launch day of a game you're excited about just so you could take a sick day off work to play it? I'm willing to bet many gamers have, and if you're one of them, you've got something in common with the developers of 2024's hit creature collector RPG Palworld.

Pocketpair — the Japanese studio behind the game — publicly shared a memo sent to its employees internally on social media, revealing that it made Friday, February 28 a company-wide holiday and gave nearly everyone the day off. The reason? Tons of employees were sending in "mysterious reports" they'd be sick that day, which just so happened to be the release date of Capcom's highly anticipated ARPG Monster Hunter Wilds. I'm sure that was just a coincidence!

"Regarding February 28th, we have received a series of mysterious reports from many employees that they may feel unwell tomorrow, so the company has decided to institute a special holiday," the memo reads.

Addressing the public in the memo, Pocketpair added: “Please note that updates to Palworld and Craftopia are progressing smoothly and are expected to be implemented as scheduled.”

With how extremely popular Monster Hunter is in Japan in general, it's hardly surprising that so many of Palworld's employees were willing to call in sick so they could spend the day checking out Wilds. And frankly, with how strong the new game is already performing, I'd wager plenty of folks around the world have done the same.

Just this morning, Monster Hunter Wilds rocketed past 1 million concurrent players on Steam alone, and has surpassed Cyberpunk 2077 to become the seventh most played title in Steam history (countless others are surely joining in on Xbox Series X|S and PS5). The monumental launch success follows a slew of positive reviews from press and critics, with the game enjoying a Metacritic score of 90 and an 89 on Opencritic.

Despite that explosive start, though, Wilds isn't reviewing well with players — at least not the ones embarking on hunts with a PC. At the time of writing, only 48% of the game's 14,140 Steam reviews are positive, earning it a cautionary yellow "Mixed" rating on Valve's PC gaming platform.

The overwhelming majority of negative reviews cite terrible optimization and numerous performance issues, even when hardware far surpasses Monster Hunter Wilds' PC spec requirements. Notably, some user and critic reviews alike also assert that the game is way too easy and effortless to play — a sentiment echoed in our own Monster Hunter Wilds review.

"Without some balance tweaks, I'm not sure Monster Hunter Wilds will achieve the longevity of its predecessor, but new players may appreciate the gentler learning curve," writes Windows Central Executive Editor Jez Corden.

But while its PC performance leaves much to be desired and the lack of challenge may leave some hardcore fans feeling abandoned, most agree that there's a strong foundation for Capcom to work off of here. After all, it supported its 2018 predecessor Monster Hunter Worlds with years of major improvements and content additions, so there's no reason to believe the same won't happen with this 2025 follow-up.

And hey, even if you ate into some of your sick leave to play Wilds only to find yourself disappointed with its current state, at least you've got the day off, right? That's more than I can say.

Monster Hunter Wilds may not be in the best state right now — especially if you're playing it on PC — but nevertheless, it has the potential to grow into one of the best Xbox games and best PC games to play if you're into ARPG battles with giant monsters. It's normally $69.99, but thanks to this deal, you can get the PC version for just $58.79 at GreenManGaming.

Capcom's latest blockbuster title is here, and so far, Monster Hunter Wilds is blowing away expectations, reaching 1.2 million concurrent players on Steam at the time I'm writing this, per SteamDB.

That number immediately puts Monster Hunter Wilds into an upper echelon of Steam games, with only a tiny handful of titles seeing higher peaks in Steam's history. The all-time record belongs to PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG), which saw a mind-boggling 3 million concurrent players.

Last year's survival-crafting game Palworld reached over 2 million concurrent players. Black Myth Wukong also put up eye-catching numbers, reaching over 2.4 million concurrent players despite being an entirely single-player game.

For Capcom and Monster Hunter, the preceding game in the franchise, 2018's Monster Hunter World, reached an already-impressive 334,000 concurrent players on Steam years ago, but that number has been squarely obliterated by the early performance of Monster Hunter Wilds.

Monster Hunter Wilds received impressive reviews from most outlets and critics, with a fair bit of praise for the gameplay systems and the variety of monsters that are available to fight.

While the game is garnering some impressive sales so far, player reception is extremely divided. Monster Hunter Wilds is currently sitting at a a 47% positive rating on Steam with over 10,000 reviews.

Many player reviews are highlighting poor performance in the PC version of Monster Hunter Wilds, echoing concerns seen from when players were using the pre-launch benchmark tool to evaluate the game's framerate at different settings.

Monster Hunter Wilds uses Capcom's proprietary RE engine, eschewing the prior MT Framework engine that's been used for most older Monster Hunter games.

While RE engine titles like the Resident Evil games tend to usually run quite well, with gorgeous visual effects and simultaneous high framerates, the engine doesn't appear to have scaled to open worlds with dynamic systems quite as well.

Last year's Dragon's Dogma 2 also saw poor performance across all versions of the game, and it similarly ran on RE Engine.

Hopefully we'll be hearing from Capcom that performance improvements are on the way soon.

Ideally, the team can also take lessons from what has and hasn't worked in using this engine with open-world esque games as it works on Codename REX, the next engine upgrade that's currently planned.

In our review of Monster Hunter Wilds, executive editor Jez Corden wrote that "As epic as the new monsters are, as awesome as the environment design is, and as fun as hunting with friends remains — the core Monster Hunter experience felt a bit degraded in Wilds. Without some balance tweaks, I'm not sure Monster Hunter Wilds will achieve the longevity of its predecessor, but new players may appreciate the gentler learning curve."

I'm definitely excited to hop in for myself and check Monster Hunter Wilds out soon, teaming up with some of my friends that I know are also interested in playing. I'm also trying to convince myself not to buy the gorgeous steelbook edition, but I think it's a losing battle at this point.

Monster Hunter World is the best-selling Capcom game of all time, with over 23 million copies sold as of 2024. It's an incredible achievement, largely attributable to the game being available on consoles and PC, as well as some streamlined elements that made different aspects of the experience more accessible.

I'm not sure if Monster Hunter Wilds — much less any other Capcom game in the future, honestly — can overcome that vast sales gulf, but it's certainly off to a fantastic start already, and will undoubtedly be one of the best-selling games of 2025.

Future updates (for content and performance) and the possibility of a paid expansion will be key, as Monster Hunter: World benefitted greatly from the launch of the 2019 expansion Iceborne, which essentially doubled the size of the game, adding new tundra-esque regions and creatures that thrived in a snowy climate.

Monster Hunter Wilds is currently available on Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC, and PlayStation 5.

Just a day before Monster Hunter Wilds launches, Capcom has decided to announce new details for the game's first Title Update, which is scheduled to add Mizutsune to its large roster of monsters.

These details include its release window and what kind of content the game will bring for its post-game/endgame.

Here's everything you need to know from this announcement.

For starters, Capcom has confirmed that Monster Hunter Wilds' 1st Title update will be dropping in around early April 2025, giving players plenty to finish the game before engaging in the Title Update's content.

The second announcement is that in addition to adding Mizutsune, this Title Update will bring with it two challenging monsters. According to Capcom, one of these unknown monsters is said to be stronger than the recently revealed Tempered Monsters.

Lastly, Capcom has stated Monster Hunter Wilds first Title Update will add in a special place where players can gather online to commune and eat meals together to gain passive buffs before a hunt.

Capcom notes that this area will only be accessible once players complete the game's main storyline.

It seems that Capcom's already looking to address some of our complaints with this update

In my editorial critiquing Monster Hunter Wilds' lackluster difficulty and in our Executive Editor, Jez Corden's review of the Xbox version, we both mentioned that some of the game's problems included a lack of a proper Gathering Hub and its currently light endgame content.

For those unaware, the Gathering Hub is a stable of the Monster Hunter series where players could gather together to form hunting parties and eat meals cooked by the iconic Palicos so your group can have passive buffs before starting a quest.

In these Gathering Hubs, players could also hang out with one another and have fun by performing emotes at each other or play arm-wrestling mini-games as the Gathering Hub in Monster Hunter World allowed you to do.

Granted, it's understandable why a Gathering Hub wasn't in Monster Hunter Wilds due to the nature of its story and setting. However, it was still disappointing to see the Gathering Hub gone in this game.

Hanging out in Base Camps didn't feel as inviting as Gathering Hubs, and having meals prepared by regular Villagers instead of Palicos just made the game feel generic and lacked Monster Hunter's signature goofy charm without them.

So it's nice to see that the Gathering Hub is being brought back in so quickly in the game's first Title Update, and we won't have to loiter in Base Camps for too long after the game launches.

As for the endgame content, I mentioned in my editorial that one of the game's biggest problems currently is the lack of things to do once you complete the game.

Once you get past the mainline Low Rank and High Rank questlines, there isn't much to do aside from collecting cosmetic Layered Armor, hunting a couple of new monsters not found in Low Rank quests, and hunting Tempered Monsters for stat-boosting Decorations and parts to create special 'Artian' Weapons.

So it is nice to see that Capcom is already taking steps to fill out its endgame content with multiple new monsters to hunt. While I'm not too thrilled to see Mizutsune again so soon after fighting three versions of it in Monster Hunter Rise, I'm interested in seeing what these unannounced monsters are.

Capcom's comment about adding in a monster stronger than Tempered Monsters in particular has my attention because it could be a hint of the return of Arch-Tempered Monsters from Monster Hunter World.

Arch-Tempered Monsters were some of the most brutal and challenging beasts ever added to Monster Hunter World. They had tons more health than Tempered Monsters, they were capable of killing players in one or two hits even with fully upgraded gear, and they gained new attacks that caught even veteran players off guard.

As a hardcore fan of Monster Hunter World, I would love to see Arch-Tempered Monsters make a comeback in Monster Hunter Wilds. It would certainly help address my complaints of Monster Hunter Wilds being too easy because, at the moment, only Tempered versions of Arkveld, Gore Magala, and Jin Dahaad scratch my itch for a true challenge.

On top of that, the possibility of Arch-Tempered Monsters added to Monster Hunter Wilds could give us new loot to hunt for in the endgame, as Arch-Tempered Monsters in Monster Hunter World had completely new armor sets with new passive skills separate from their regular counterparts.

Of course, my prediction about Arch-Tempered monsters making it to Monster Hunter Wilds could be wrong, and we might see a new, entirely original classification of powered-up versions of monsters to deal with instead.

However, we will have to wait and see what kind of new monsters Monster Hunter Wilds' 1st Title Update will have in store for us when it arrives in early April 2025.

I just hope that Monster Hunter Wilds' 1st Title Update will include a secret balance patch that will nerf the overpowered Focus Strike and Wounds mechanics.

Plus, I would like to see secret balance adjustments to make all the enemies stronger, even in Low Rank quests, so that players can truly feel challenged throughout the whole game, rather than at the end of the endgame.

Monster Hunter Wilds, the next-gen successor to one of Capcom's best Xbox games and best PC games, Monster Hunter World, is scheduled to launch on February 28, 2025, for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC via Steam.

Playing Monster Hunter Wilds should have been a huge moment for me, as anyone who reads my coverage here at Windows Central knows that Monster Hunter is one of my favorite videogame franchises of all time.

Ever since I played Monster Hunter World back in 2018, I've spent the last seven years becoming more obsessed with this series, tracking fantastical creatures and crafting the coolest gear from their hides with my friends alongside me.

Overall, I spent 2,000 hours on the Xbox version of Monster Hunter World alone before spending 300 hours on the PC version with mods. I accumulated 300 hours of Monster Hunter Rise and Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate gameplay and even played dozens of hours of the turn-based spin-off series Monster Hunter Stories, and I consider it a superior alternative to Pokémon on PC.

So when Monster Hunter Wilds was announced, I was ecstatic. Each reveal of a new monster and additional gameplay presentation had me hyped beyond belief to see what this next-gen follow-up to Monster Hunter World had in store — until I finally played it.

This editorial contains significant spoilers for the story, Low Rank, High Rank, and endgame content in Monster Hunter Wilds.

Opinion: Monster Hunter Wilds left this hardcore fan bored and disappointed

As I progressed through the game with Executive Editor Jez Corden to help test out the multiplayer features for his review of Monster Hunter Wilds, my heart sank. A good chunk of what made this series so enjoyable and unique to me from its preparation and difficulty was stripped away, leaving it as an average open-world RPG at best and a hollow clone of Monster Hunter World at worst.

At first, I wasn’t going to share my personal disappointment with the game, avoiding the labeling of a know-it-all "fanboy" who finds everything easy after defeating Fatalis in Monster Hunter World: Iceborne.

However, after seeing Monster Hunter Wilds accumulating near-perfect (and some perfect) review scores across the Internet, claiming it’s the "best game in the series," I can't hold my breath anymore.

As a fan of the series, I never wanted to write this kind of editorial because I wanted to like this game, and I generally hate writing all-negative articles. But its flaws are too glaring to ignore, and it’s time to show Capcom some tough love for the sake of the franchise’s future.

Here’s my story on why Monster Hunter Wilds disappointed me and how I believe it can be improved in the future.

All ease and no work makes me a dull hunter

Let’s cut to the chase, starting with the difficulty of Monster Hunter Wilds, or rather, the lack thereof.

The Monster Hunter series gameplay loop is about preparation to hunt vicious, challenging monsters capable of ending your life in a few claw swipes or fireballs.

This preparation would range from learning the nuances and move sets of the series’ 14 weapon types, gathering crafting materials to make traps, healing potions, and buff items, and hunting smaller monsters so you craft gear from their hides to help you survive battling bigger monsters.

Then, when the fights start, you will need to learn how to position yourself so your attacks don’t miss. After that, you can study the monster’s attack patterns to avoid being crushed into the dirt.

However, in Monster Hunter Wilds, there is little to no need for preparation because 75% of this game is simply too easy. Some of this ease comes from the game’s new mechanics like Focus Mode, Wounds, and the Seikret mount, while others come from the game’s poor balancing of the enemies you fight.

Focus Mode allows you to redirect your melee attacks mid-animation so you don’t miss. Additionally, it lets you perform special Focus Strikes, which apply massive damage to a monster’s Wounds and special weak spots that appear frequently throughout a fight.

The problem, however, is that attacking Wounds with Focus Strikes completely trivializes most of the fights because they constantly knock down monsters and shave off a large portion of their health.

Plus, Wounds appear and refresh too rapidly, so you never run out of chances to stun-lock enemies.

Not to mention, there’s no risk in using Focus Strikes because it causes monsters to flinch, leaving players safe to use follow-up attacks if they land, unlike the Clutch Claw from Monster Hunter World: Iceborne, where the monsters could easily knock you off even if you latched onto them.

Even the insanely powerful Wirebugs from Monster Hunter Rise had limited numbers of uses before they started recharging with various cooldown timers, depending on their strength.

Another new mechanic that oversimplifies combat is the Seikret mount. This raptor-like creature will be able to pick you up after getting knocked down with excessive 'invincibility frames' that allow you to freely heal or sharpen your weapons while riding to avoid monster attacks without consequence.

Now, while the Seikret isn’t as overpowered as having two Palamutes in Monster Hunter Rise locking enemies with status effects, it’s still an extremely powerful feature that has no downside.

Thankfully, you can freely ignore using Seikret and Focus Mode, for the most part, as they are mostly optional game mechanics to help ease in newcomers.

However, even if you completely disregard these mechanics, the creatures of Monster Hunter Wilds still feel so weak and boring to fight, and I’m not just saying that because I’m a series veteran who tackled some of the hardest encounters in previous games.

I’m saying that because I have repeatedly been struck by monsters in this game, and they did little to no damage to me even when I was wearing Low Rank gear that I barely upgraded purely for fashion rather than function.

At best, the strongest attacks from most enemies did maybe 15% of my health.

For those who don’t know, quests in Monster Hunter games are divided into:

• Low Rank Quests – Easy quests which function as the game’s tutorial.
• High Rank Quests – The game kicks up a notch and starts throwing new challenging foes your way while upgrading the stats of monsters you fought in Low Rank to see if you have the skills to survive without training wheels.
• Master Rank Quests – Host the toughest monsters in the game, but they usually add Master Rank in a DLC expansion.

But, in Monster Hunters Wilds, the monsters have so little health and attack power, even by the standards of Low Rank enemies seen in modern games like Monster Hunter World and Monster Hunter Rise.

In those games, Low Rank enemies had way more HP and attack power, which necessitated upgrading your gear and mastering the gameplay mechanics so hunts wouldn’t take forever.

Monsters like Anjaneth and Nergigante in Monster Hunter World and Magnamalo in Monster Hunter Rise can give players a run for their money in Low Rank if they haven’t upgraded their gear or taken advantage of each game's mechanics, even for a series veteran like me. Sadly, it’s a situation that never happens in Monster Hunter Wilds.

The weakened monsters don’t just have reduced stats but also their hitboxes (the invisible aura on all characters that determines if an attack will affect them.)

Hitboxes of enemy attacks in Monster Hunter Wilds have been reduced so heavily compared to previous games that half the time, monsters will unintentionally miss you.

At first, I thought, “Oh, these are just Low Rank monsters I’m dealing with, and the semi-hard monsters will come later in High Rank.” Unfortunately, this non-existent difficulty pertained even in High Rank Quests.

I’m not exaggerating when I say that I was able to consistently slay over half of the monsters in High Rank in under 10 minutes per hunt with the same Low Rank gear I used to complete the Low Rank story quests.

To make sure I wasn’t going crazy, I intentionally took damage from monsters to see how much damage they dealt, seeing them barely make a dent in my health bar with Low Rank gear.

I felt so disheartened to see returning monsters like Blangonga and Gravios, who were a nightmare to fight in past games, be practically reduced to a joke in the latest entry because of their reduced stats in High Rank and this game's Focus Strike + Wound mechanic combo.

The only time I felt any modicum of challenge and compelled to upgrade my gear out of necessity was when I encountered the endgame Tempered monsters, which Capcom spoiled the surprise of at a PlayStation Presents: Play!Play!Play! event.

Tempered versions of Jin Dahaad, Arkveld, and Gore Magala hit fast and hard, equipped with twice as much health as 90% of the monster roster to survive more than ten minutes.

I felt that I’d finally found some semi-decent challenges to crave my satisfaction for the hunt — too bad I had to sit through over 40 hours of brain-dead battles to get to this point.

Not to mention that 50% of the danger these Tempered Monsters posed (and those of Monter Hunter Wilds’ entire monster roster) is tarnished by the game going out of its way to constantly hold the players' hands out of an assumed fear that it might scare away newcomers.

When your character is about to die, your health bar will flash red like an erratic heartbeat monitor, and your Palico companion will scream at you with giant subtitles constantly saying “Watch out!” alongside similar annoyances.

These warning signs exasperated just how weak a majority of the game’s enemies are because they rarely popped up, and they constantly spoil the surprise and fear of whether an enemy’s attack will kill you or not.

After all, what's the point of being afraid of a monster's attacks if it's not going to give warning signs in the UI? When you take away the fear, you take away the adrenaline. And when you take away adrenaline, you take away the thrill of the hunt, which is what Monster Hunter is supposed to be all about.

Additionally, these warning signs are so annoyingly distracting because they take up huge portions of the screen. Not only did they obscure my vision, they broke my immersion in the heat of battle.

Not to mention, these warnings felt so condescending, as though the game thinks its target audience can’t tell a giant beast the size of a semi-truck that breathes fire is dangerous, so it needs to constantly backseat us to make sure we don't get hurt.

Thankfully, I was able to dump my Palico companion back at the Base Camp so its subtitles warnings wouldn’t clutter the screen.

However, there is no option to stop the health bar from flashing without removing the health bar completely from the UI.

My takeaway is if I had to completely ignore nearly half of this game’s mechanics to feel any sort of risk, danger, and challenge for 75% of the game, then the developers have lost sight of what it means to create a compelling action game, let alone a Monster Hunter game.

High Rank and endgame woes

My grievances with Monster Hunter Wilds don’t stop at its main gameplay loop but also at its Endgame.

Past 'vanilla' versions of Monster Hunter games didn’t have much endgame content after beating the main High Rank questline and had to wait for title updates or Master Rank expansions via DLC (e.g., Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak) or definitive edition re-releases (Monster Hunter 3: Ultimate) to bring it in.

Monster Hunter Rise, in particular, infamously ended with a “To be continued…” where players didn’t get to slay the game’s endgame monsters, Narwa and Ibushi, until later through free title updates.

Monster Hunter Wilds takes it even further backward because it doesn’t even have a High Rank exclusive final boss.

Without giving too much away, there is a special unique monster you fight in Low Rank as its final story boss — and you never get to fight it again in High Rank.

Instead of a grand final battle against an epic, Elder Dragon-level threat you only see in High Rank like Xeno'jiiva in Monster Hunter World, Nakarkos in Monster Hunter Generations, or Dalamadur in Monster Hunter 4, you just fight Monster Hunter Wilds' flagship monster Arkveld again as its ‘final boss,’ and it’s such a letdown to end your base game’s High Rank questline on.

The endgame does have other things to do, like crafting unique weapons with parts found from killing Tempered and Layered Armor to satisfying your fashion.

Still, it’s not enough to cover up the fact that High Rank is bare-bones on content, as you'll be fighting the same monsters again with only a couple of new additions and no true final boss to speak of.

On top of that, you 'armor-build meta' chasers out there will be sad to know that the Equipment Skill system has regressively become quite restrictive.

In previous games like Monster Hunter World and Monster Hunter Rise, the endgame revolved around collecting Decorations you could slot onto your gear to make them powerful and grant you unique passive buffs for extra survivability.

In Monster Hunter Wilds, however, you are only allowed to fit half of the game’s Decorations onto weapons and the other half onto armor pieces. This is to accommodate the game’s weapon swap gimmick attached to the Seikret mount so you wouldn’t have to go back to Camp to change weapons.

However, thanks to a majority of this game’s enemies being so easy to defeat I never felt the need to swap my weapon and it made the equipment skills unintentionally come off creatively stifling as a result as we are no longer allowed to fit in any Decoration we want on anything armor piece or weapon.

Is Monster Hunter Wilds salvageable?

So, after all that I said, you might think I believe this is one of the worst games ever made, right? Well no.

As much as I hate this game’s flaws, it does have some great qualities and a lot of potential.

It has some of the craziest monsters I’ve ever seen in Monster Hunter, and I like that the story is finally exploring the Ancient Civilization, which has primarily been a background element in previous games, and a majority of the weapon types’ new moves that are not tied to the Focus Mode are fun to play with.

I also enjoyed fighting the Tempered Jin Dahaad as it is one of the few giant ‘Siege’ type monsters in the series that’s actually a fun fight instead of a boring punch bag that doesn't fight back, like Lao Shan-Lung from Monster Hunter 1 or Zorah Magdaros from Monster Hunter World.

Also, a majority of this game’s issues can be solved through balance patches in future Title Updates, which I hope will arrive as soon as the first Title Update that will add Mizutsune in Spring 2025.

I can almost certainly predict that Capcom will add a High Rank version of the final boss from Low Rank’s story questline, much like Monster Hunter Rise added in Allmother Narwa in one of its Title Updates.

These balance patches could vastly increase the monster’s health so they would survive longer and increase their attack power so they would pose a threat to the point where they would kill players in a few hits, even in Low Rank Quests.

This difficulty buff would necessitate the use of the game’s unique mechanics and reward players for taking the time to constantly upgrade their gear and prepare items so they can survive, even hunting the most basic monsters.

In addition, Balance Patches could nerf the power of Focus Strikes, so while they would still deal heavy damage, they wouldn’t stun or flinch a monster and would be free to counterattack the player.

This would encourage players to be more careful with their Focus Strikes, learn when a monster has a safe opening to strike their Wounds without getting punished, and have the player feel accomplished for their patience.

Another balance adjustment Capcom could make is to make Wounds appear much less frequently and only after dealing a significant amount of damage to a monster without stopping. If a player stops attacking or doesn't destroy the Wound in time with a Focus Strike, then the Wound will heal up and the player will need to start opening it again.

Granted Tempered Monsters and certain 'special' monsters in the story have Wounds that already work like this, but I want this to apply all Wounds on all monsters.

That way when a Wound does appear, it will feel like a special event that rewards the player for being aggressive while risking their life to earn that special window to unleash their Focus Attack.

Balance patches could also add options to make the health bar remain normal even as a monster is about to kill you. They could also give us the option to remove subtitles from the Palico screaming warnings so we don’t have to leave it at camp.

Not knowing which attacks are lethal or not will encourage players to stay on their toes and incentivize them to learn the monster’s attack patterns so they will be able to survive and become better-skilled hunters for it.

Granted, some issues are highly unlikely to be fixed by Balance Patches, like the restrictive Equipment Skills system since it's tied to the Weapon Swap gimmick or Monster Hunter Wilds’ convoluted multiplayer system.

One can only hope, right?

Monster Hunter Wilds' is shackled by fear, but only through tough love can we set it free and fulfill its potential

I could go on with other aspects of the game I didn’t like, such as its bland/annoying cast of characters, forcing players to play solo, being allowed to join others in multiplayer, the lack of a proper Gathering Hub for players to convene online, the environments generally having a grey, muted color palette, and its underutilized open-world maps.

However, those were points already covered by Jez Cordon in his Monster Hunter Wilds review, and to me, they are small nit-picks in the grand scheme of things compared to Monster Hunter Wilds diluting the series' core gameplay experience because it's too afraid to let its players experience any real danger.

If a hunt has no risk, elements of the unknown, or danger involved, then your victories will mean nothing because you never had to work hard to earn them.

I’m not saying Monster Hunter Wilds should bring back artificial difficulty quirks from the older games, like having players standing still while drinking potions or giving monster attacks hitboxes the size of a football field.

Just having faith in the player’s skill to overcome adversity on their own terms, whether they’re a veteran or a newcomer, would be appreciated.

After all, if brutally challenging games from beginning to end like Elden Ring, Dark Souls, and Lies of P can find mainstream success without holding the player’s hand, why can’t Monster Hunter?

Then again, everything I said in my rant could be rendered irrelevant in the future if we indeed get balance patches that address these issues within Titles Updates or its inevitable DLC expansion.

Who knows? By the time this article is published, it might receive a day-one patch that fixes everything I've just complained about.

If that happens, I will gladly accept the ridicule and be proven wrong if it means it can make Monster Hunter Wilds a better product.

If you end up enjoying this game despite its flaws, then don’t let my opinions stop you because there are genuinely fun moments to be had (especially when playing with friends).

I’m just frustrated that this game could be so much more than the flawed, average one it is now.

This game has the ingredients to become one of the best Xbox games and best PC games of the entire Monster Hunter series and become a beast more distinguished than Monster Hunter World. However, it can only happen if we let Capcom know how we truly feel about it with construction criticism.

Only then will developers know how to improve this game and ensure its chances of enjoying long-term success for years to come from both hardcore and new fans alike.

Monster Hunter Wilds, the next-gen successor to one of Capcom's best Xbox games and best PC games, Monster Hunter World, is scheduled to launch on February 28, 2025, for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC via Steam.

Monster Hunter Wilds is finally here, ready to take players on an epic journey across uncharted lands and giant hunt monsters alongside their friends. However, Monster Hunter Wilds is jam-packed with all kinds of complex gameplay mechanics and concepts that will overwhelm new players who have never played Monster Hunter before. Worse yet, some features don’t even get explained and are hidden so deeply that you might miss them on your first playthrough.

Even we Monster Hunter veterans at Windows Central have gone through Monster Hunter Wilds and discovered seven helpful things we wished we had known in our first playthrough. So, we’re going to share them with you today to help newcomers not make the same mistakes we did and have your first playthrough more fun.

Please note that there are slight spoilers in this guide, so read at your own risk.

Multiplayer setup

The Monster Hunter franchise has featured infamously convoluted multiplayer systems in many of its games, and Monster Hunter Wilds is no different. If you wish to start hunting with your friends online, you’re going to have to set up several things to make it happen.

To start playing multiplayer with your friends, you need to start an Online Single Player Lobby, a regular Lobby, or a Private Lobby in the title screen menu where you select your save file.

Once that’s done and you get into the game, you can invite your friends into your Lobby directly via the “Invite a friend” option in the main menu. Alternatively, you can join a Lobby already made by players you become Hunter Friends with in-game by following them and sending them your Guild Profile, or just joining random players via Recommended Lobby.

If you don’t want random people to join your group's Lobby, you can create a Private Lobby where you hand out Private Lobby codes for players to join or you can create a Squad Lobby instead.

Squads and Squad Lobbys are created in-game by talking to Felicita at the Squad Information Counter in the Windward Plains Base Camp. Here, you can invite your friends to a Squad and have them create special Squad Lobbies where only members of the Squad can join without needing Private Lobby codes.

Things don’t end there because after all your friends are in your lobby, you will need to understand the concept of Link Parties and Environmental Link Parties.

Link Parties are where you form 4-player parties to join quests posted by the Handler, Alma in the base camp, or by a player in the Link Party. Environmental Link Parties, on the other hand, are for free-roaming the various hunting locales of Monster Hunter Wilds. You can’t be in Link Parties and Environmental Link Parties at the same time so you will need to choose which party type depending on your needs.

If you want to progress through the story quests or play regular quests, form Link parties. If you want to free-roam the locales to help your friends gather materials, look for Pop-up Camp locations, and hunt monsters in the field, then you will need to form Environmental Link Parties.

Speaking of story quests, it’s important to note the main campaign will force players to progress through sections of hunts solo before being allowed to join other players online. Thankfully, unlike Monster Hunter World, you can skip the cutscenes to get through these sections faster, and once you’re done, the game will send an automatic invitation link to all members of your Link Party so they can join your hunt immediately.

Focus Strikes are for more than just hitting monster wounds

One of the new gameplay mechanics of Monster Hunter Wilds is Focus Mode. By holding the Left trigger, you activate an aiming reticle that will allow you to redirect your attacks mid-combo so you can’t miss hitting a monster. Focus Mode also highlights special weak points on a monster’s body called Wounds which will inflict additional damage to them if a player manages to hit them.

Focus Mode also allows access to a special attack for each weapon type called the Focus Strike by pressing RB. If you hit a monster’s Wound with a Focus Strike, it will cause the monster to trip and destroy the wound dealing insane amounts of damage. Additionally, destroying wounds rewards the player with monster parts to craft gear with at the smithy back at the base camp.

However, Focus Strikes can also be used on a monster without Wounds on specific parts of their body after they unleash their ultimate attack (which will be highlighted in Focus Mode). This window of opportunity is pretty short, however, so you will need to fire off your Focus Strike quickly to take advantage of this exposed weak spot and deal massive damage to the enemy.

Don’t forget to customize your controls in the options menu

A lot of Monster Hunter Wilds’ default control may feel cumbersome to some players. I know I had a hard time trying to activate Focus Mode in the heat of battle using the default of holding the left trigger while trying to execute combos with melee weapons. Thankfully, Monster Hunter Wilds has a metric ton of ways you can customize the controls in the options menu to suit your personal preferences.

These include but are not limited to:

• Being able to adjust Focus Mode so it can be activated by toggling it via pressing the Left Trigger instead of holding the trigger down. You can also adjust the activation method for melee weapons and ranged weapons separately so the melee weapons’ Focus Mode can be toggled and ranged weapons’ Focus Mode can be held down or vice versa.
• Adjusting the radial menu so items are used by pressing down on the analog stick instead of releasing it.
• Adjusting the Seikret so it doesn’t automatically go into Auto-explore Mode when you mount it.
• Adjusting the D-pad and face button configurations.
• And much more.

Set up Pop-up Camps in safe locations to avoid wasting Guild points

While exploring the regions of the Forbidden Lands, you may come across locations where you can set up Pop-up Camps. These will allow you to create camps where you can prepare your gear, heal up, eat food to gain buffs and open up fast-travel locations.

However, if a Pop-up tent is placed in a dangerous or insecure spot, then there's a risk it could get destroyed by monsters if they spot it. If a camp gets wrecked, you will have to spend precious Guild Points to fix it. Fortunately, some places are completely safe to put a Pop-Up Camp in so it doesn’t get destroyed by monsters.

You will know if it’s a safe spot if it is marked as such in the Pop-up Camp management menu when you speak to Tek, the Pop-up Camp Meowster in the Windward Plains base camp. I’d recommend putting your camps in Safe locations only because while they may be a bit further away from a monster’s usual stomping ground, they aren’t ‘that’ far way, and it will save you from wasting your resources to fix them.

Complete sidequests to unlock content

As you progress through Low Rank and High Rank quests, you will come across several sidequests handed by NPCs in both your base camp and in small villages scattered throughout the Forbidden Lands. It’s highly recommended you complete these side quests when you can because they can unlock gameplay mechanics and content.

For example, completing sidequests handed out by your Palico will upgrade its combat abilities. In addition, completing certain sidequests for various villagers will unlock feast invitations where you can eat food to gain many passive buffs for an hour, while other sidequests will unlock the ability to send villagers on errands to gather crafting materials for you.

Fight monsters with high Strength levels for better rewards

When you complete the Low-Rank main questline and get approved to do High-Rank quests, you will start to notice monsters having Strength levels on the map. These indicate how tough they are to fight and what bonus rewards they will give you when you slay them.

As your Hunter Rank increases while progressing in High Rank, you will encounter monsters with higher Strength levels and bonus rewards. If you’re looking for a challenge and extra materials to craft gear, upgrade your Hunter Rank by completing quests so you can start hunting these strong monsters.

Pass the time in your Camp

Monster Hunter Wilds features a dynamic day-and-night & seasonal cycle that rapidly changes the environment and affects what monsters and gathering points will show in each region of the Forbidden Lands. For example, when the Windward Plains is in an Inclemency period, the weather will become extremely volatile, and there's a chance that the region's apex predator, Rey Dau, will appear.

However, waiting for these changes in weather patterns and times of day to hunt a desired monster or find a specific gathering node can take a while. Thankfully, you can rest at your Base Camp or Pop-up Camps to pass the time until you get the weather pattern or time of day you want for a fee of 300 Guild Points.

Do note that resting is unavailable while on Quests and only available while free-roaming the maps.

Good luck on your wild journey into Monster Hunter Wilds

And there you have our seven beginner tips to make your first-time playthrough of Monster Hunter Wilds more enjoyable. Yet the greatest piece of advice we can offer to any new Monster Hunter player is to take their time and not rush the game, tempting as it may be to rush to the endgame content.

Spend time in the training room learning the intricacies of Monster Hunter Wilds' 14 weapon types. Explore the regions to uncover secrets even we might’ve missed, and learn the attack patterns of the monsters you will spend many hours hunting so you can farm their materials efficiently to craft the slickest-looking armor and show them off to your friends.

Monster Hunter Wilds, the next-gen successor to one of Capcom's best Xbox games and best PC games, Monster Hunter World, is scheduled to launch on February 28, 2025, for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC via Steam.

Monster Hunter Wilds features a staggering number of 14 weapon types to choose from, which can be overwhelming for newcomers. If you were to tell me which weapon type would be perfect for beginners, my vote would go to the Sword & Shield.

This weapon type has simple moves and combos that new players can easily understand how to use, and it sports a shield to protect from incoming attacks.

However, the Sword & Shield is also a deceptively versatile weapon type. It is packed with all kinds of advanced techniques, mechanics, and combo strings that could turn the tide of a hunt if you take the time to master them.

To help you learn this weapon faster, we have prepared a beginner’s guide on Monster Hunter Wilds’ Sword & Shield that will cover what moves you can do, what gear skills are best paired with it, and what kind of Sword & Shields you should make.

What is the Sword & Shield?

The Sword & Shield is a fast-hitting, light weapon type where you wield a small sword & shield.

The sword part of the weapon will allow you to deal cutting damage so you can cut off monster tails and clip wings. Meanwhile, the shield part of the weapon can block enemy attacks and deal KO damage to stun monsters by hitting them in the face with it.

The Sword & Shield is unique among the other weapon types because it can allow the player to use items while the weapon is still unsheathed, so they drink potions without putting the weapon away.

In previous Monster Hunter games, the Sword & Shield has always been a jack-of-all-trades weapon type that can do a little bit of everything from offensive, defense, and even support. In Monster Hunter Wilds, its versatility has been upgraded even further thanks to an assortment of new moves and the new Focus Mode mechanic at its disposal.

Moves and combos

The Sword & Shield features a wide range of attacks and combos that dish tons of damage or provide defensive maneuvers to protect the player while damaging enemies simultaneously. These moves include:

• Standard Attack: Pressing Y will perform a standard slash attack that can form a 4-hit combo when chained together. If you hold the left analog stick while pressing Y, you can do a side-step slash to reposition yourself in the direction you hold the stick towards while attacking the enemy.
• Special Attack: Pressing B will perform a heavy slash attack that can be chained into a 3-hit combo. If you hold the left analog stick forward while pressing B, you can do a shield bash attack that can stun enemies if you hit them in the head. This shield bash attack can also chain into a 3-hit combo.
• Advancing Slash: Pressing Y+B together will have your character run forward while slashing at a monster’s heels. If you perform this attack while on a sloping hill or a ledge, the Advancing Slash’s attack will change into a terrain-specific attack where you will slide down the hill to do a sliding attack or jump off a ledge to slash at an enemy.
• Roundslash: At any point during any combo, pressing Y+B will have you do a spinning slash attack. If you perform it at the end of a combo, the Roundslash will be upgraded into the more powerful Spinning Reaper.
• Charged Chop: Holding Y+B will have you perform a mighty lunge attack where you plunge your sword into a monster’s hide and rip it down its body to deal multiple ticks of damage. The power of the Charged Chop can be increased the longer you hold the buttons down and if you perform it at the end of combos.
• Backstep: Holding back on the left analog stick while pressing B during a combo will have you jump backward to avoid an incoming enemy attack and follow up with a regular slash. However, while doing the Backstep, you can perform one of two attacks – the Perfect Rush or the Charged Slash.
• Perfect Rush: Pressing Y while performing the Backstep will unleash a multi-hit attack that deals extra elemental damage or status-effect build-up. Press Y when your character flashes during the Perfect Rush animation to increase the damage output of this attack.
• Charged Slash: Holding down B when performing the Backstep will have you do a heavy jump attack that will launch you into the air if you hit an enemy with it. While in the air after landing the Charged Slash, you can follow up with either a Jumping Slash, Falling Bash, or Plunging Thrust.
• Jumping Slash: Pressing Y after jumping from a Charged Slash will do a midair chop attack that will enable you to mount a monster.
• Falling Bash: Pressing B after jumping from a Charged Slash will have you come crashing down a monster’s head with the shield, dealing stun damage.
• Plunging Thrust: Pressing Y+B after jumping from a Charged Slash will have you plunge your sword into a monster’s body dealing multiple ticks as you’re coming down.
• Guard: Pressing the right trigger will let you block with the shield. If you perform Guard at the last second before an attack hits you, you can perform a Stalwart Guard that will negate most of the damage and allow you to follow up with a Counter-Slash by pressing Y. If you block an attack enough times, you will enter a cinematic Power Clash with a monster where you will need to mash the attack buttons to overpower the monster.
• Sliding Swipe: Pressing the right trigger+Y will have your character slide on the ground while hacking away at a monster’s heel. This attack is mainly used as an evasive technique to slide out of the way of an incoming attack or to close the distance with a monster that’s far away.

When I use Sword & Shield, I mainly attack by using the Special attack combo, then use the Spinner Reaper and Charged Chop as combo enders as they deal a good chunk of damage in a short amount of time. Then, I use the Backstep technique to reset the combo and do it again.

If a monster is moving out of the way, I’ll use the Sliding Swipe to close the distance or the Standard Attack’s side-stepping to reposition myself to continue my assault without hitting a body part my sword will bounce on. If I am fighting a monster with hard body parts, I’ll use the shield bash variant of the Special Attack combo, as the shield doesn't bounce no matter how thick a monster’s hide is.

Focus Mode

By holding the Left trigger (or toggling it depending on your controller) settings, you can activate Monster Hunter Wilds’ unique Focus Mode mechanic which is available to all weapon types.

The Sword & Shield’s Focus Mode will allow you to strafe and redirect attacks mid-combo. Focus Mode can also perform unique moves called Focus Strikes (by pressing the right bumper while in Focus Mode,) which can pop a monster’s Wounds for insane amounts of damage.

The Focus Strike of Sword & Shield will let you latch onto a monster and do one of two attacks: the plunge sword attack, where you a monster apart as you’re coming down, or a jumping uppercut with the shield that can be followed with the same attacks available a Backhop jump attack.

Another cool tip: you can fire Slinger Ammo while your weapon is unsheathed by pressing the left analog stick while in Focus Mode. Another tip we wished we had known before playing Monster Hunter Wilds is that Focus Strikes can be used on a special weak spot that appears after a monster uses its ultimate attack

Hitting this special weak spot will cause the monster to fall and leave it briefly vulnerable to your attacks.

Best Equipment Skills to synergize with

While the Sword & Shield weapon type can dish out fast attacks but it doesn’t do big damage in single hits like the Greatsword or Hammer. To help you compensate for the lack of pure raw damage, it’s recommended you forge elemental Sword & Shields so you can benefit from the bonus elemental damage that targets a monster’s elemental weakness.

Sword & Shields with status ailment properties are also a solid option as the Sword & Shield’s fast attacks will have a higher chance of inflicting status effects on monsters compared to the slower weapon types.

As for the equipment skills to help you maximize its damage output while increasing your survivability in battle. Here are some skills I highly recommend to keep in mind when making your builds:

Offensive Equipment Skills

• Attack Boost: Increases the raw attack power of your weapon.
• ‘Insert element here’ Attack: Skills like Fire Attack, Water Attack, Thunder Attack, Ice Attack, and Dragon Attack will increase the bonus damage you inflict with a Sword & Shield’s elemental property.
• ‘Insert status effect here’ Attack: Skills like Paralysis Attack, Sleep Attack, Poison Attack, and Blast Attack increase the amount of status effect build-up a Sword & Shield with status ailment properties inflicts.
• Critical Eye: Increases your weapon’s affinity. The higher your affinity, the higher the chances you will inflict Critical hits on enemies and deal more damage.
• Weakness Exploit: This skill will grant you an affinity boost when striking at a monster’s weak spots. Weakness Exploit will also give you a bigger affinity boost when striking at a monster’s exposed Wounds.
• Maximum Might: Increases your weapon’s affinity so long as your Stamina gauge is full.
• Critical Boost: Increases the damage you deal when you make critical hits.
• Critical Element: Increases the bonus elemental damage you deal when achieving Critical hits.
• Critical Status: Increases the amount of status effect build-up you inflict on monsters when landing critical hits.
• Master’s Touch: This skill prevents your weapon from losing sharpness when you inflict Critical hits. This skill is best paired with Sword & Shields that have low Sharpness levels so you can keep it sharper for longer before needing to repair with Whetstones.
• Razer Sharp: This skill has a chance of decreasing the amount of Sharpness your weapon loses when attacking a monster so it can stay sharp for longer before needing a Whetstone.
• Handicraft: Increases your Sharpness gauge but not beyond its maximum limit.
• Speed Sharpening: Increases the speed at which you sharpen your weapon using a Whetstone.
• Burst: This skill grants you a buff to your raw and elemental attack power after hitting an enemy enough times, and the buff’s duration will refresh so long as you keep hitting a monster. Do note the attack boost you get differs depending on what weapon type you use it with.
• Flayer: This skill makes it easier to open up Wounds on a monster and allows you to cause a small non-elemental explosion upon inflicting enough damage to an enemy.
• Adrenaline Rush: Increases your attack power after dodging an enemy’s attack at the last second.
• Peak Performance: Increases attack power when your Health gauge is full.
• Agitator: Increases attack power and affinity when a large enemy monster becomes enraged.
• Partbreaker: This skill makes it easier to break a monster’s body parts and increases the damage you deal when destroying a monster’s Wound with a Focus Strike.
• Foray: Increases attack power and affinity against monsters suffering from the Poison or Paralysis status effects.

Defensive Equipment Skills

• Guard: This increases the guarding capabilities of the shield so it reduces knockback and stamina depletion when the player is blocking attacks.
• Offensive Guard: This skill grants the user a huge damage boost for a when blocking an enemy’s attack at the last second.
• Guard Up: This skill will grant you the ability to block enemy attacks that are normally unblockable without it. Although there are very few attacks in this game can’t be blocked so it’s a very situational skill at the moment.
• Evade Extender: This will increase the distance of your dodge rolls so you can out of the way of incoming attacks more easily or close the distance with a monster that runs away a lot.
• Evade Window: This skill will increase the amount of invincibility frames your dodge rolls so you can be briefly invulnerable to attacks while dodging. Although you will still need to time your dodges carefully and there are certain attacks that linger forever that invincibility frames can’t help you through.
• Earplugs: This skill will prevent a monster’s roar from stunning you. Not will this skill protect you from vulnerable to a follow attack after a roar, it can grant you a free window to hit a monster while its busy roaring since you’re now immune to roars.
• Speed Eating: Increases the speed which you use items and eat meat.
• Wide-Range: Allows you to pass on the effects of items like healing potions or stat boosting potions to nearby party members.
• Free Meal: This skill grants you a passive buff that will randomly prevent items being consumed upon use so you can use it again for free.

Jack-of-all-trades, master of hunts

And that concludes our beginner’s guide on how to use the Sword & Shield in Monster Hunter Wilds. With this primer, you will now have a better grasp on this deceptively complex weapon type and hunt all the horrifying monsters of Monster Hunter Wilds with greater ease.

Monster Hunter Wilds, the next-gen successor to one of Capcom's best Xbox games and best PC games, Monster Hunter World, is scheduled to launch on February 28, 2025, for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC via Steam.

If you want to learn more about the game itself, check out our review for Monster Hunter Wilds on Xbox.

We’re on the cusp of the release of my most anticipated game of the year, Monster Hunter Wilds. For years, I’ve been waiting for this follow-up to one of my favorite games. To give some context, I poured over 300 hours into Monster Hunter World.

With reviews now live, Monster Hunter Wilds has garnered mostly positive reception. However, our own Wilds review here at Windows Central criticized the game’s lack of difficulty—something at odds with the premise of the franchise for many long-time fans. Having had the privilege of playing the game early, I wanted to share my own thoughts, particularly some counterpoints.

While I agree that the reduced difficulty might feel like a departure for veteran players, I see it as an overall positive. It makes the game more accessible to newcomers and casual fans, something that may lead to more mainstream success for the franchise than ever before. That said, I have my own major frustration with Wilds.

The multiplayer experience, which is my main way of playing this series, remains as convoluted and clunky as ever. In 2025, I have far less patience for these outdated systems than I did in 2018 when Monster Hunter World launched. As a result, I don’t see myself dedicating nearly as much time to Wilds, and that’s a real downer for a game I’ve been so excited about.

I had higher hopes for the co-op experience

I've been playing—well attempting to play—Monster Hunter Wilds with my partner, who also has early access. We’ve played previous games in the series together, and I had high hopes that the co-op experience in Wilds would be more streamlined. There are some improvements, like the game now automatically sending an invite to your 'link party' once you're done with a cutscene in campaign mode, eliminating the need to fumble with controls yourself. However, the experience as the invitee is far less intuitive.

For instance, when we both met a monster for the first time, we watched its cutscene separately (the monster reveals are still incredible, by the way). Once the cutscene ended, I was thrown into battle while waiting for my partner to join my game.

Meanwhile, they had to navigate the menus to accept the invite, all while the monster continued attacking them, potentially knocking them out of the process. As soon as they accepted, they were forced to leave their quest and be transported back to camp, then run back to rejoin me in my instance.

This process is frustrating, especially early in the game when fast travel points are limited. Why can’t we simply experience the story together in a shared instance? Why can’t we walk to the quest location and watch the cutscene side by side? Instead, we’ve spent more time sitting through cutscenes or fiddling with settings than actually fighting monsters together. While cutscenes are now skippable and auto-invites have been added, the process remains overly complicated and disjointed.

Here’s a tighter summary of how it plays out:

• Party up.
• Start a mission.
• The game splits you and your partner into separate instances, though you remain in the same party.
• Each player finds the monster and watches the cutscene.
• Once the cutscene ends, an invite is automatically sent to party members.
• The invitee accepts and loads into the host's instance, starting from camp.
• Any progress made fighting the monster in separate instances is lost.
• Even worse, you can be interrupted by the monster while attempting to accept an invite.

Multiplayer Monster Hunter has gone backwards

What's most baffling to me, is that prior titles like Monster Hunter Rise and Generations Ultimate handled co-op much better. In Generations, cutscenes integrated your party members into the action, avoiding these interruptions altogether.

It’s frustrating that Wilds seems to carry over the co-op system from World rather than taking cues from its handheld-focused titles, despite years of player feedback asking for improvements.

The World and Wilds entries admittedly have a sharper focus on "cinematic storytelling," which feels even more ambitious in Wilds. However, this focus feels misplaced in a franchise traditionally celebrated for its gameplay. I don’t want the multiplayer experience to suffer as a result of the storytelling.

It’s as if the portable team behind Rise has prioritized fun and accessibility, while the mainline team remains fixated on cinematic realism—which while admirable leads to unnecessary complexity in the gameplay systems.

Departing from tradition to welcome new hunters

On a positive note, while I agree with our review that the game is easier than World, it's undeniably fun and packed with jaw dropping moments. The shift in difficulty will likely bring many new players into the hunter ranks, which is a fantastic thing for the series.

As a bow main, I love the new focus mode and the ability to zero in on clearly marked monster injuries. These new elements make hunts more manageable, and I’ don't particularly mind a little bit of hand-holding—especially in a year packed with so many other exciting releases. Streamlined mechanics like focus mode abilities and less grind-heavy gear progression may make the game feel less challenging for veteran players, but they do serve a purpose in bringing more players into the fold at least at launch. These difficulty grumbles can easily be fixed too with some beefy DLC later on down the line.

Despite my frustrations with multiplayer, I do genuinely believe Monster Hunter Wilds has the potential to surpass World’s popularity, thanks to its accessibility, at least from a solo gameplay perspective. Overall I’m excited to see more people pick this up as their first Monster Hunter experience and dive into the franchise.

However, nothing kills that excitement faster than telling someone they can’t just jump into the game with their friends from the start. Instead, they have to navigate an endless set of menus and sit through cutscenes, before they can actually play together. This, to me, feels like the franchise's biggest stumbling block and I feel as fans we should be lobbying for better systems.

Monster Hunter World was the first break for series into mainstream appeal. Wilds feels like a step backward when all you want is a straightforward co-op experience from start to finish.

Maybe this will be addressed in future updates or DLC, but it’s frustrating that multiplayer accessibility isn’t already a higher priority, especially when the game is at its absolute best experienced with friends.

Monster Hunter Wilds makes an admirable attempt to strike a balance that welcomes new players into the fold, but the convoluted co-op system still has a long way to go. Because of this, I’m not sure I’ll be sinking the same amount of (wo)man hours into this title as I did with its predecessors.

It's a big day for Hunters and Palicos alike, as reviews arrived for Capcom's Monster Hunter Wilds, the latest entry in the long-running beast-slaying series.

The majority of critics are thrilled with the game, praising the gameplay mechanics and overall experience, with some outliers raising issues with the early game story and pacing.

At the time I'm writing this, Monster Hunter Wilds achieved a 90 on Metacritic from 70 reviews, with an 89 on Opencritic derived from 91 reviews. By far most of the reviews are scored at 10 or 9, but there's a smaller number of lower scores bringing down the overall average. I've linked a few reviews with standout quotes below:

• Eurogamer Portugal (10/10): "With Monster Hunter Wilds, Capcom managed to refine the formula in a way that simplifies several processes to make the experience more dynamic, without compromising depth. By removing the loadings between camp and map, the immersion increases as you are constantly playing, immersed in the hunt from the first moment without interruptions, something that becomes especially satisfying when you have an interesting campaign, which is also a huge 14-hour tutorial."
• Destructoid (9.5/10): "So, whether you’re eager to dive into the Monster Hunter universe for the first time or you’re a long-time fan seeking a new adventure, Monster Hunter Wilds offers everything you need for an unforgettable experience. Capcom has truly outdone itself with yet another exceptional game that you won’t want to miss. I enjoyed every minute of my playthrough from start to finish, and there’s even more stuff to discover with its fun-filled end-game content."
• TechRadar Gaming (4.5/5): "Monster Hunter Wilds is the most accessible, most user-friendly game in the series yet. It still has some incredibly obtuse systems, but the campaign acts as a great tutorial to cover the main systems and combat options. By allowing you to switch between two weapons, it’s also easier than ever to get to grips with the game’s diverse array of swords, axes, and bowguns."
• IGN (8/10): "Monster Hunter Wilds continues to smooth off the traditionally rough edges of the series in smart ways, reducing as much friction as possible that could get in the way of you grabbing any of its exceptionally fun weapons and planting them firmly in a monster’s hide. But in that quest to make Monster Hunter more approachable, Wilds has carved a little too close to the bone in some places, trimming its challenge back so much that I barely needed to dig into its in-depth equipment system at all this time to become an apex predator. Its more flexible combat is some of the most fun I’ve had with the series, but like the blustering lighting storms of its gorgeous desert, it'll burns brightly but briefly until Capcom unleashes some real endgame beasts to challenge us."
• Digital Trends (8/10): "Your most powerful asset in Monster Hunter Wilds isn’t a Gunlance; it’s routine. The developers at Capcom understand that “repetitive” doesn’t have to be a dirty word in games. The joy of Monster Hunter comes when all that complexity becomes second nature. It’s that moment when a once challenging hunt turns into a daily expedition that you talk over with your friends. Once I reached that state of Zen during the endgame, I no longer felt like a small visitor trying to survive a brutal world. I had become an average animal in a wider ecosystem, carrying out my daily tasks on instinct just like any Doshaguma."

Monster Hunter Wilds is set to continue Capcom's hot streak

Of course, many members of the team here at Windows Central are longtime Monster Hunter players, and in our review of Monster Hunter Wilds, executive editor Jez Corden explains that "Hunting down monsters in 4-player co-op is still fun. Discovering new creatures and seeing returning favorites remains exciting. The improved online systems are a welcome upgrade. And the art direction is absolutely fantastic. Monster Hunter World, with all of its post-launch content, was always going to be a tough act to follow."

I personally didn't play Monster Hunter until 2018's Monster Hunter World, but I absolutely loved that game, pouring hundreds of hours into it and the huge Iceborne expansion. I'm looking forward to checking out Wilds soon enough.

I might even have to track down one of those steelbook editions.

Monster Hunter Wilds is slated to launch on Feb. 28, 2025 across Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC, and PlayStation 5.

Monster Hunter is a franchise that is near and dear to my heart. When I first moved country fully several years ago, it was right around the time Monster Hunter World launched for Xbox One. I had always been aware of the franchise, but never had a system upon which to play it, but with Capcom bringing the franchise to Xbox for the first time, I was immediately and irrevocably hooked.

It became the primary way me and my friends and family back home socialized. The sheer difficulty of the game and overcoming that challenge created epic multiplayer moments that I hadn't felt since the early World of Warcraft days. Defeating Arch Tempered Nergigante for the first time, raiding Kulve Taroth with the squad, and exploring the massive expansion of Iceborne all represent incredibly fond gaming memories.

It's against this high bar that Monster Hunter Wilds arrives in 2025, launching February 28 for Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC via Steam, and PlayStation 5. The various open beta tests were incredibly promising. Wilds' new open-world format, complete with the new Seikret mounts, dynamic weather events, and all-new combos and abilities, represent a ton of reasons to be excited for Wilds. Over the past week, I've been playing the game for review, and after felling every monster the game has to offer, I can't help but admit I feel somewhat dejected.

Monster Hunter Wilds is an amazing basis for something that could evolve to be a franchise high point, but I can't help but feel that the game is shipping without proper testing. Despite having amazing new monsters, incredible environmental design, and fun new weapon abilities — it's simply far too easy, even for casual players. It's a particular problem in a game like Monster Hunter because it undermines aspects of the game's premise, core systems, and long-term potential.

Monster Hunter Wilds: Graphics and Sound

If there's one aspect of Monster Hunter Wilds that sets a high bar, it's in the visuals department, at least on Xbox Series X. The open beta had created some jitters about performance, but I'm happy to report the game offers a good and stable experience across all graphics settings. You can sacrifice visual fidelity for 60 FPS, use a "balanced mode" to hit 40 FPS on FreeSync monitors, or gun for a resolution-first 30 FPS mode. I played the game primarily at 40 FPS, although 30 FPS offers a really impressive cinematic experience that really showcases the game's weather effects.

Indeed, one of Wilds' big new signature features is dynamic, evolving weather effects. It's incredibly exciting and epic when a Mad Maxian wall of sand rolls towards you in the desert, transporting you into another dimension, wracked by gigantic lightning bolts and bristling static. The forest region transforms from a stagnant, static swamp to a fresh water flood when the rains come, and then a colorful, blooming garden when the deluge subsides.

I do think that perhaps texture compression is ramped up a bit in Wilds to accommodate the game's lighting effects and generous draw distance, but it'll be up to you to decide if the trade-off is worth it. I will say that on Xbox Series X, texture popping remains an issue when turning the camera. Hopefully further optimizations can improve the experience there.

Some technical issues aside, the art direction is absolutely on point in Wilds, where the environmental design well and truly showcases the best of what Capcom has to offer.

Where Wilds' art direction continues to shine is in monster designs. Rey Dau's alarmingly alien cries and lightning railgun face is an exciting example of Monster Hunter's ecological realism that blends the fantastical in an uncannily believable way.

Nu Udra is a jaw-dropping animation triumph, with its deadly undulating tentacles plucked straight out of a Cthonic nightmare. There are tons of returning classic monsters, too, that I naturally won't spoil here, but it's exciting seeing certain critters return after not being seen for generations, recreated with modern visuals and flair.

Monster Hunter Wilds also takes a step up in the cinematics department, too. The game offers a more intimate story experience than some of its predecessors, and the expressive facial motion capture does help make the characters more memorable and fun to engage with. How engaging is the story overall, though?

Monster Hunter Wilds: Story

"Story" has never really truly been the focus of Monster Hunter games, but it does feel like Capcom is exploring building upon the game's back story and lore to add further depth as the franchise grows. Looking at the pre-orders on Steam, there's every reason to think Monster Hunter Wilds could end up being the biggest opening for the franchise so far and will also most likely be the first game in the franchise for many players.

Monster Hunter Wilds takes place in a new Eastern region called The Forbidden Lands, where a new guild commission has arrived to survey and research the area. The guild had assumed for years that the land was uninhabitable, dominated by insanely dangerous monsters, and opted instead to survey the area more safely from the air.

However, upon arriving, the commission spots a young boy who has become lost in the dunes, which throws what the Guild thought they knew about the region into question. After saving the disoriented lad, Nata, the guild discovers there's far more to The Forbidden Lands than they realized. Nata has no idea which direction he entered the desert from, and helping him find his way back home forms a large part of the story.

I'm sure some fans will find Nata's childish frustrations at times a bit grating at times, but he does evolve as a character throughout the story, and exploring his origins reveals intriguing new lore with broad implications for the entire Monster Hunter universe.

Indeed, the inclusion of returning characters like Gemma (formally known as 'Little Miss Forge' from Monster Hunter 4), now all grown up, suggests to me that Capcom is exploring adding deeper narrative depth to the franchise, and for the most part it works quite well in Monster Hunter Wilds. It is still relatively "soft" and arguably forgettable as a plot, but as I mentioned earlier, "story" has never typically been the focus of these games. The lore implications are perhaps the most interesting aspect of the game's story, but I'll leave those out for fear of spoilers.

What the story does do well is flesh out The Forbidden Lands' new areas, monsters, and characters, giving it a good foundation upon which to build. The guild doesn't have a strong foothold in the area, and what human tribes do exist are small in size and scattered in number.

The constant monster attacks and erratic weather have stifled technological advancement, but the locals know the land extremely well and form a symbiotic relationship with various creatures for mounts, food, and protection. The player can take advantage of some of these story elements in a gameplay context, trading for ingredients and acquiring Seikret mounts to traverse the game's large world.

The remoteness of the region and its story setting, unfortunately, means that the guild's resources are incredibly limited. I was saddened to find that there's no canteen facility in Wilds, for example. There's no botanical research farm for growing crops and materials either. The lack of a main "central hub" detracts from the charm, I would argue, with villages feeling small and anemic in flavor compared to World. Perhaps it fits the story and setting, but it's disappointing in practice.

"Disappointing in practice" also sadly describes Monster Hunter Wilds gameplay, as painful as it is to admit as a fan. The foundation is absolutely there, but some poor design decisions and, possibly, poor High Rank testing puts Wilds on the backfoot out of the gate.

Monster Hunter Wilds: Gameplay

Monster Hunter is a long and storied franchise, meaning different things to lots of different people. I came in at Monster Hunter World, which friends who are fans of the classic games often described as being "too casual" and "too easy." I certainly never felt that way about it when I was playing it for the first time, and I appreciated it for onboarding me gently into the franchise — but therein lies the challenge of developing games that have such a long legacy.

How do you satisfy existing fans' expectations while also delivering something new, while also keeping things accessible to potential new customers? I'm not sure Monster Hunter Wilds threads that needle well, and its seeming pursuit of "more accessible" gameplay undermines many other aspects of the game and could harm its staying power. Foundationally, though, Wilds is perhaps the most technically impressive canvas the franchise has seen yet and could easily evolve into something truly spectacular with some relatively easy tweaks.

For those who don't know, Monster Hunter games are generally combat-first titles that feature complex mechanics that reward players willing to learn through the nuances. They're almost analogous to fighting games in some ways, as Monster Hunter Wilds' 14 weapon types often feature complex combos to learn that force players to think tactically about whether to deploy them — lest you get punished heavily by those angry monsters.

Going for a slow, heavy combo as a monster is winding up its own attacks is liable to get you stunned, knocked over, and potentially killed. Learning when to weave your attacks in between monster's lunges, utilizing counters, guarding abilities, and invincibility frame dodges form the basis of play. Building gear sets to exploit monster weaknesses or behaviors, utilizing tools like traps, or special environmental interactions were the main things standing between you and victory. Or at least, they used to be.

Monster Hunter Wilds is generally too easy in every regard, and in any other type of game, that might not be a particularly big problem. In Monster Hunter, though, it deals cascading harm to the gameplay loop's ecosystem, much like the invasive predators the Guild asks you to hunt down.

Let's talk about the good stuff first, though. For Monster Hunter Wilds, Capcom built a massive, continuous open world that you can, theoretically, walk through from one end to the other without loading screens. It's a strong endorsement of the RE Engine how well this actually functions, and although it seems like there are some trade offs to speak of with regards to texture compression and the like, as I noted above.

But the cinematic opportunities from battling monsters in epic, dynamic weather systems, cut with dynamic lighting atop epic set-piece arenas, make the trade-offs worth it in my view. I won't spoil some of these moments, but they perhaps wouldn't be possible without the draw distances and environmental visuals Monster Hunter Wilds opted for here.

The environments are bristling with life, and even between hunts, simply exploring the game's world and watching critters of all shapes and sizes interact is almost a game unto itself. Wilds is the best kind of digital safari, where you can easily immerse yourself into the role of fantasy David Attenborough if you fancy, albeit with a giant sword on your back. I already praised the environmental design from an art perspective, but from a gameplay perspective, too, it's just utterly enchanting. It's worth it to put your Gunlance down every now and then and just soak in the atmosphere.

More good stuff, at least foundationally so, revolves around new weapon abilities. Every weapon got new features in Wilds, in some cases to address inefficiencies from World and Rise alike. Gunlance got impressive new combos that almost feel like you're wielding a flame thrower at times, especially with Normal shelling for extra magazine charges. The new power clash system for performing a perfect guard is a rewarding mechanic for skillful play with weapons like the Heavy Bowgun or Lance kit.

The Hunting Horn picked up its echo bubbles from Monster Hunter Rise, boosting both your offensive and supportive capabilities in interesting ways. I think, for the most part, the weapons changes and upgrades will be well received in Wilds, although they don't reach their true potential owing to some odd design decisions revolving around the monsters themselves and even the UI in some cases. Just writing this paragraph makes me jittery to jump back in and hunt down some more beasties for the sake of it. I wish, though, it wasn't just for the sake of it sometimes.

As I mentioned, Monster Hunter Wilds feels potentially too easy, even as a casual player. The game goes out of its way to protect you from one-shot attacks, giving you a huge red warning across your health bar if an incoming ability might kill you.

As such, instead of looking at the amazing monster designs, the game draws your attention to a wobbling red line, which, to me, felt not only a bit patronizing but distracting. And yes, you can't turn it off. It's a minor gripe, though there's worse to come.

The monsters often felt like they didn't have enough HP to offset the powerful new attacks most of the weapons now have. In addition, the game's new wound-targeting Focus Mode can, in some cases, stun and trip monsters far too frequently, trivializing fights. Other abilities of this nature, like Flash Pods, generally have diminishing returns.

I'm not sure if Focus Mode is bugged or not, but it felt quite unfair when a colleague and I were basically able to keep many High Rank endgame monsters frequently stunned, tripped, and knocked out simply by spamming Focus Mode attacks over and over. There are a couple of very high-end spoilery exceptions here, though, which do seem to have some stronger protections against Focus spam. I just wish there were perhaps a few more exceptions to that rule.

For the most part, when you combine these Focus Mode abilities with the various other powerful abilities you get, the powerful power-up mantles, and the Seikret mount's ability to whisk you off the floor and out of harm's way — hunting those epic, giant monsters starts feeling trivial. And sure, you do control the buttons you press, to quote DOOM.

You can turn off the Palico, who automatically drops traps flash pods and other gadgets for you. And you can simply opt-in to not using the Seikret, but it seems odd that the game wasn't designed around some of this stuff. The Seikret is a new gameplay feature that I would ultimately want to use for the sake of flavor. I just think it would've been better if it was woven into the game's balance rather than dropped on top of it.

Throughout the entire game, all the way to the final endgame monsters of High Rank's post-story content, I upgraded my gear maybe 3 or 4 times, and I did that primarily for the armor's looks rather than their stats and build opportunities. I never truly felt an impetus to upgrade and build specifically to counter a monster in Wilds this time around.

There weren't many times when I felt like a fight was so hard that I needed to ensure I had a full compliment of potions and food buffs in order to give myself an edge in combat. As such, all of the game's systems felt like incidental flavor rather than a necessary part of the "hunt." Although, that's not necessarily a universally bad thing. It depends on your perspective at the end of the day.

Furthermore, perhaps this design is well-intended. As I noted above, Monster Hunter Wilds is likely going to be the biggest opening for the franchise in history, flooding the game with new players. I suspect that Capcom will want to give new players a relatively easy onboarding experience before hitting them with more difficult, granular challenges later on with post-launch content.

But we're not discussing the future of the game here right now. This is a review designed to give feedback, share my personal opinion, and give you a glimpse at what to expect, whether you're a vet or a newcomer.

My criticisms of the difficulty aren't about gatekeeping the game for newcomers by any means. I'm all for making games more accessible to more people, but for a game like Monster Hunter, which revolves entirely around hunting monsters, the fact that Wilds doesn't really ask you to learn any of the fights or gear specifically for monster's weaknesses undermines many of the game's core features.

I think it's a bigger issue here than it would be in other games, potentially. I couldn't help but feel a twinge of disappointment, even if hunting monsters with friends provides some good fun. That doesn't mean you'll feel disappointed, though. I'm interested to find out what the consensus will be on some of these things once the full game is accessible to more people. Because, like I said, the core loop remains intact. The environments and monsters are incredible, and the canvas here has so much raw potential.

Monster Hunter Wilds: Conclusion

For sure, the good news for Monster Hunter Wilds is that there is an incredibly strong foundation here. The game doesn't really utilize its continuous open world for any real purpose right now. But, it's easy to imagine how, one day, perhaps they could add an epic giant-scale battle that takes place across the entire map, forcing players to constantly give chase.

The Focus Mode attacks feel a bit too powerful and spammy right now, but what if they had unique interactions with specific monsters, or perhaps, were even required to weaken a particularly dangerous attack? The Seikret also just feels like it was added on top of what is otherwise a typical Monster Hunter, with little thought given to how its speed and agility might trivialize hunts in an imbalanced way.

It does feel like different parts of the Monster Hunter team weren't communicating very well about how their respective additions to the game might impact the whole, which is potentially an indictment of the overall game's direction.

Even beyond difficulty, I found myself missing things like a personal dwelling, a centralized city hub, and even the Palico canteen. Either way, Monster Hunter Wilds provides a fantastic and fun foundation, even if the difficulty curve does harm its longer-term viability.

Focus Mode could be given diminishing returns or stronger punishments for misuse. The death warning bar could be given a toggle or reduced (or removed) monster damage, and hit points can be buffed, at least in High Rank. If enough people feel, as I do, that the monsters need to be buffed a bit, it shouldn't be particularly difficult for Capcom to pull some levers to reinject more challenge into proceedings, at least in High Rank.

I'm just one reviewer offering one opinion that could very well fall outside the consensus, but I just feel like I should want and need to chase specific gear sets to really give the game that meaty feeling that Monster Hunter predecessors had. I should need to consider my positioning and consumables to counter more of what the game has to offer.

If I were Capcom, I would've thought they'd want people to have reasons to play the game for a long period of time, with more road bumps and difficult monsters along the way.

But perhaps the idea is that Wilds gets new people in the door and potentially hooked on the game for future updates and content drops. I suspect Wilds may be the best and most accessible way for new players to learn the game's core concepts, with more challenging content coming later for veterans and hardcore players. I would have thought that at least High Rank could deliver some of that, but at least this time, it was not meant to be.

Hunting down monsters in 4-player co-op is still fun. Discovering new creatures and seeing returning favorites remains exciting. The improved online systems are a welcome upgrade. And the art direction is absolutely fantastic. Monster Hunter World, with all of its post-launch content, was always going to be a tough act to follow.

I'm still excited and intrigued to see where Capcom takes Monster Hunter Wilds. The post-launch support of Monster Hunter World was essentially legendary, and as I said, it's hardly unsalvageable for those who may find themselves craving a deeper challenge.

Capcom has recently hosted a Monster Hunter Wilds Special Event showcase at PlayStation Presents: Play!Play!Play!. During this event, the developers revealed that the game will be bringing back 'Tempered' Monsters from Monster Hunter World as part of its endgame content.

The developers demonstrate this by hunting a 'Tempered Rathian' in a new Arena map and showing off slide shows rewards you can get from slaying Tempered Monsters late in the game.

Additionally, this event also reveals gameplay of Blangonga, a white baboon-like ice-based Fanged Beast that was last seen in 2017's Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate.

Tempered Monsters were special versions of regular monsters from Monster Hunter World that formed the bulk of that game's endgame content. They had shiny hides, massive amounts of health, and hit like trucks. The reward for hunting Tempered Monsters in Monster Hunter World was Decorations, which were special gems that players slotted into their gear to gain powerful passive abilities.

Judging from this gameplay showcase, Monster Hunter Wilds' iteration of Tempered Monsters seems to function almost identically as they did in Monster Hunter World, albeit with a couple of differences.

Instead of a shiny body, Tempered Monsters now have massive scars on their bodies, which the player can break to open a wound and deal extra damage to the target by using the new Focus Attack mechanic.

Confirmed Wilds Endgame Grinding from r/MHWilds

In addition, killing Tempered Monsters in Monster Hunter Wilds will not only reward players with Decorations again but also other special crafting materials. According to a translation by @FishermanWest9113 on Reddit, these materials can be used to craft special 'Artis' weapons with differing stats and properties depending on the parts you forge them with.

Plus, if you find a Tempered Monster out in the open-world regions, you can register it as an Investigation and use Guild Points to save it in your Investigation History and hunt it later. Commenters on Reddit speculate that 'Artis' may refer to 'Artian', a series of ancient weapons and armor that's been featured numerous times in previous Monster Hunter games.

Are you ready to grind for Decorations again in Monster Hunter Wilds?

While I am disappointed that Capcom has spoiled the endgame content surprise for Monster Hunter Wilds instead of letting people discover it on their own, I am happy to see Tempered Monsters again join the game's stacked roster of monsters. These beasts provided some of the most satisfying challenges in Monster Hunter World for hardcore players, and yielded some insanely powerful and fun Decorations for beating them.

As for these 'Artis' weapons, I'm curious to see how they'll work in-game and, more importantly, if they look cool to use in battle when the full game comes out.

Fortunately, we won't have to wait long to hunt Tempered Monsters because Monster Hunter Wilds, one of the biggest upcoming Xbox titles / upcoming PC titles of 2025 will be released in a few days on February 28, 2025, for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC via Steam.

Monster Hunter Wilds, the next-gen successor to one of Capcom's best Xbox games and best PC games, Monster Hunter World, is scheduled to launch on February 28, 2025, for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC via Steam.

You can't play Monster Hunter Wilds early, but you won't have to wait long

One of the most anticipated upcoming Xbox titles / upcoming PC titles is without a doubt Monster Hunter Wilds, which is set to launch on February 28, 2025, on Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, or PC via Steam.

This newest entry in Capcom's best-selling Monster Hunter franchise has fans shivering with excitement for its cool-looking weapons, gigantic open-world hunting grounds dripping with secrets, the long-awaited inclusion of crossplay online multiplayer, and its host of bizarre, enormous, and terrifying roster of monsters.

Fans are so hungry for this game to come out that they're wondering if Monster Hunter Wilds has an Early Access period that requires pre-ordering it's Deluxe or Premium. Unfortunately, Monster Hunter Wilds does not have an Early Access period for its Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, or Steam versions.

The closest you get to playing Monster Hunter Wilds early on Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, or PC via Steam is by living in Los Angeles or Mexico. This is because according to Monster Hunter Wilds' global launch windows, the game will launch a day early on February 27, 2025, at the following regions and times due to timezone differences:

The good news is that you won't have to wait long as Monster Hunter Wilds will be launching just under a week from now at the time of this writing. So you will have to be patient just a little longer.

In the meantime, you can check our pre-order Monster Hunter Wilds guide on how to secure your copy of the base game or its shiny Deluxe and Premium Editions which include extra cosmetic outfits and items for your character, your Palico companion, and the Seikret mount.

Monster Hunter Wilds, the next-gen successor to one of Capcom's best Xbox games and best PC games, Monster Hunter World, is scheduled to launch on February 28, 2025, for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC via Steam.