There's little over a month to go now until the release of Monster Hunter Wilds, and it sounds like making use of certain new mechanics wisely will be key to dealing with the action RPG's beefed-up monsters.
In Monster Hunter Wilds, hunters will be able to use Focus Mode to aim their attacks and guards, as well as unleash powerful Focus Strikes, which deal catastrophic damage to any wounds inflicted upon monsters (formed after they've been repeatedly attacked in the same spots). However, with this new inclusion, those looking for a challenge might be concerned that it'll be too easy to quickly burn through monsters' health bars, but it sounds like this won't be a problem. In an interview with IGN, director Yuya Tokuda confirms that – comparatively to World – monsters will have have more health.
"It's not as if that was our intention from the start, but health did end up being a little bit higher than World once we thought about maintaining appropriate playtimes and player satisfaction, compared to past titles," the director explains, adding that "elements like flinch resistance are also higher, but this doesn't mean that hunts will be tedious."
- Monster Hunter Wilds' endgame bosses may be a lot tougher than you're used to since the devs don't want you to "breeze through" just because you have the right gear
- Monster Hunter Wilds director thinks the weapon balance is much closer this time: "They're all hopefully nearly as viable as each other," but he's "confident, not cocky"
It sounds like all these changes will ultimately balance out overall, as Tokuda explains: "Part of the purpose of Focus Mode is to allow players to feel more accomplished through shorter loops. We tried to design it so that the time they spend hunting is even more concentrated than before."
Otherwise, Monster Hunter: World veterans will be pleased to know that the notorious decoration system has been reworked – instead of relying on RNG, you'll be able to craft the ones you want to complete your perfect build without being let down by stingy drops.
Be sure to check out our Monster Hunter Wilds big preview hub to see more about the upcoming action RPG from our hands-on preview.
