One of the first things I noticed in the updated build I played at Capcom's Osaka headquarters for our big Monster Hunter Wilds hands-on preview, having sunk 15 hours into the game's open beta last month, was the attack hitstop. It is, simply put, back. Weapons cleave through weak spots with greater exaggeration and palpable impact, just as many fans wanted them to after the beta felt comparatively limp-wristed. Director Yuya Tokuda, it seems, was all too happy to restore the hitstop, as he said (via interpreter) in a group interview I attended.
My colleague Lincoln Carpenter from PC Gamer beat me to the question and asked why the hitstop was toned down in the Monster Hunter Wilds beta. Tokuda explained that "some of the changes in the hitstop were obviously intentional, and some were not implemented due to the settings of the game. When Monster Hunter World was released, many of the users from overseas commented that the hitstop was way too hard and it made it difficult for them to play. So it's very positive feedback seeing the users who experienced the [Wilds open beta test] this time saying that they missed the hitstop that they were experiencing in past titles.
