15 hours in, Monster Hunter Wilds has relieved my anxiety from Rise – this really is my Monster Hunter World 2

I'll admit I was a little bit anxious about Monster Hunter Wilds. I honestly wasn't sure for a while if I would even play it. I've always been curious about Monster Hunter, and put about as much time into Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate as I could bear with the New Nintendo 3DS' second analogue nub. There's always been a mysterious appeal to the series that's gone alongside an intimidating reputation – big, tough boss battles, hardcore online players, and arcane menus.

But it didn't really click for me until Monster Hunter: World, with its seamless maps and ease-of-navigation – not to mention, it solidified my love of the hammer. I was excited to move onto Monster Hunter Rise, but it just wasn't for me. Had I bounced off the series completely? Thankfully not – after banging through most of the campaign, Monster Hunter Wilds really does feel like the Monster Hunter: World 2 I've been craving for so long. Hammer in hand – or perhaps even two – I'm pleased to report: I'm back on the hunt.

Rise above

I'm not quite sure what happened that turned me away from Monster Hunter Rise. I've watched people play a lot of it and I can see it's definitely a good game. But for the hours I played myself it made me feel anxious – like there was just something I was missing. I'm not sure if it was because I waited for the PlayStation port so I ended up feeling well behind the curve of Nintendo Switch players? Or maybe that it still felt like a Nintendo Switch port somehow? Perhaps it was too many new mechanics like the Palamutes and Wirebugs that overwhelmed me? The more vertical maps? The (once again) confusing menus back at base? The ill-judged tower defense sections? It just made me feel very stressed out.

It might have been a me problem – again, I've seen friends play and absolutely rock it, but it just didn't feel like it was for me. Before that game, Monster Hunter: World stunned me, with the jump from Nintendo 3DS to PlayStation 4 feeling positively luxurious, all the quality-of-life improvements egging me on. Not to mention it had a great story that really got its hooks in me, while simultaneously walking me through the steps to going from hunter rookie to someone sort of decent.

While Monster Hunter Wilds might not be as revolutionary as Monster Hunter: World was at the time, the opening hours still manage to achieve something crucial – inspiring me with a real sense of wonder and awe. The maps here are massive, and the visual design is gorgeous. Having gotten used to the rhythm of going from base camp to expedition in prior games, I wasn't sure how having the camps present in each region would feel, but it really does add to the sense that these regions are dynamic spaces where monsters always exist and roam, rather than just sort of appearing when you set out on a mission.

Yet, despite the changing seasons and weather across each map's many sprawling zones, Monster Hunter Wilds manages to avoid feeling overwhelming. That's in large part thanks to the Seikret, raptor-like mounts that get around quickly, can use special routes as shortcuts, and can even automate travel towards a target (or circle around it while trying to avoid damage). You can always whistle to have your pal come scoop you up, which means you can never feel too lost, and if you need to quickly retreat from combat to quickly sharpen your weapon or chug a health drink you're not completely opening yourself up to get squashed. There's many helping hands, as NPC Hunters also join the mix – an option to simulate multiplayer with story characters who can also fill gaps in a party when searching for players online.

But perhaps most importantly, I also love how combat has been tweaked. Here more than ever I find it easy to get to grips with any of the 14 Monster Hunter Wilds weapons I try, and easier than ever to get used to the many different combo chains they all offer. Not only is it clear what buttons to press and when to pull off moves, but it's easy to switch between different chains when you feel like you need to adjust a plan of attack – animations smoothly move from one series of bashes to another without skipping a beat.

Several great moments have me barely letting up smashes, except to initiate the new focus mode and target a 'wound'. This new feature is a fantastic addition. In short, spots that have taken high damage on a monster will eventually glow, meaning that a special targeted attack will get an extra boost of damage and often send the monster tumbling. Monster Hunter creatures never have health bars, so seeing how beat up they look has always been crucial to seeing how far through a tussle you are. These wounds allow for little milestone moments in a longer scrap, full-stops on chains of attacks that you can hammer home with style, grounding a party of hunters in the action.

Monster Hunter Wilds feels like a smart evolution, returning to the foundations of Monster Hunter: World to build on what came before, each quiet yet clever change substantially improving what came before – this is the new normal for Monster Hunter. Like a hunter stalking its prey, Capcom has learned more about what they want to achieve, and Monster Hunter Wilds is the cleanest the studio has killed it to date.

Did these improvements result in the game being overly simple? Monster Hunter fans are in pieces over reviews saying Monster Hunter Wilds is too easy, but after playing almost 50 hours myself I don't think it's that serious.