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After the Monster Hunter Wilds open beta, a lot of you were unhappy with the hitstop and weapon changes, but a new pre-launch community update reveals things are back on track.
One of the biggest complaints following the open beta was the lack of proper hitstop. This is a common mechanic in fighting games where an attack animation will pause for a fraction of a second when you land a hit on an enemy. When done right, it creates a satisfying visual feedback. It's often paired with a sound so that you really know you've landed a strike.
I've never played Monster Hunter myself, but I watched my housemate play it for hours on his Switch, and I was always impressed by how viscerally kinetic the fights looked because of hitstop, so I understand why you were all upset it seemed so bad in the beta.
Thankfully, a new pre-launch community update video shows that it's back with a vengeance, alongside many weapon improvements.
Game director Yuya Tokuda says (via translator Patrick): "It's something we were aware of with the OBT [open beta test] build. When it comes to making those weapons feel more weighty and impactful in terms of hitstop and sound effects we are planning to make further adjustments in the full version of the game."
During our own preview of the game in Osaka earlier this month, Austin noted that the hitstop "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."
A short clip shows off the hitstop in action with the Great Sword's Charge Attacks, and you can really feel the heft of each impact.
"Even for moves where I haven't changed the damage output, I've heard you guys on things like hitstop, on sound effects, how the moves feel to actually use," Tokuda continues. "Those kinds of adjustments are being made not just on the Great Sword but across all weapon types."
It turns out Tokuda greatly appreciated all the feedback following the beta, and it turns out it was mostly players outside of Japan who influenced the original shift away from hitstop.
"Thinking back to Monster Hunter World, which I also worked on, back then there was a lot of player feedback, especially outside Japan, where players felt that the game was actually too weighty, the animations were too slow," he says. "That's completely the opposite of what we heard this time. I'm taking that as a positive where I feel like in the years between Monster Hunter World coming out and Monster Hunter Wilds OBT players around the world have gotten used to that meaty, weighty hitstop action that is one of the hallmarks of Monster Hunter. So knowing that they've accepted that and they wanted it back based on the OBT is something that's really interesting and really nice for me to hear."
We often don't realize how much we need something until it's gone. People in the comments are very happy with the communication and changes. "I think I'm gonna pre launch," jokes Darkfreed0m, and MelissaWhite-q2w writes, "This degree of openness is astounding. We appreciate your responses to all of our questions. I can't wait for Hitstop to be released and am thrilled to have it back!"
There are also a whole host of other weapon changes, such as damage buffs and systems that should make attacking much more fluid. The Vaulting Dance is back for the Insect Glaive, so all of you who main it should be happy to have such an iconic attack back. It does look spectacular seeing it in action.
While you wait for Wilds, you should return to some of the best Monster Hunter games of all time.
