Tokyo Game Show 2024 - Monster Hunter Wilds Hands-on

You can find all of my Tokyo Game Show 2024 coverage here

Upon checking in for the Tokyo Game Show 2024 Monster Hunter Wilds demo, I was asked by the booth attendant whether I preferred to hunt alone or in multiplayer. Being that I hadn't played Monster Hunter since the initial release of Rise in 2021, I decided I'd be better off figuring things out on my own. 

Given my clumsy performance in the first half of the 30-minute demo, I think I made the right decision.

The demo opened with a limited version of the character creation tool, which I rushed through. Past experience has taught me that a show demo is not the place to spend time and effort trying to recreate Silvio off The Sopranos. I skipped through the intro movie, because it was a demo, and gained control of my hunter, who was loitering in camp. I instinctively headed to my tent and made sure I had a full selection of items. Going through my inventory, I was recognising familiar icons and starting to compile a list in my head of things I might need in the field. It was all coming back to me.

With my cat attendant (Palico) in tow, I headed for the exit, which is where I found my not-Chocobo steed, and remembered that walking is for losers. The ostrich-like Seikret allows for smooth traversal of the varied terrain found in Wilds, and made short work of the slope down to the desert valley below, a journey that was free of loading screens. Wilds' hunter might not be as mobile as Rise's Wirebug-wielding protagonists, but the Seikret provides a nice middle-ground between that and the slow-ramblers of World.

My first mission was to hunt an Alpha Doshaguma, a shaggy, ugly-looking beast, part Mammoth, part Highland Cattle; part angry bastard. There was a pack of them a short ride away and they were running wild. I had no shot at bringing down the alpha while the rest of the pack was present, though I stubbornly gave it a shot. Having been knocked on my arse several times, it dawned on me that I had a dung slingshot that would scatter the pack. It worked a treat. Isolate and then destroy! I know what I'm doing.

With the Alpha Doshaguma now on its own, I got to work. I stuck with the Great Sword, with its slow wind-ups and powerful blows, and was relearning how to switch through items, which potions to quaff, and how to pick opportune moments to sharpen my sword. And even inopportune ones, which was when I fell victim to Doshaguma blunt trauma, and was carted back to camp.

At this point, I was really starting to feel nostalgic.

A Palico at Capcom's TGS booth

Following the encouragement of a Capcom employee, I called in three NPC teammates using the SOS flare. It took a minute for my support to arrive, but once they did, everything started to fall into place and I was reminded of the thrill of hunting as a group. The SOS system is a perfect solution for when you can't get your crew together, don't fancy playing with strangers, or just prefer to enjoy hunting without another human player. My ranks bolstered, I could really get to grips with the combat, without worrying about being my foe's one and only target.

Combat is what you'd expect from MH, with a few welcome additions. The Wound System causes injured areas to ever so slightly glow, providing a clearer target. A Focus Mode makes these areas far easier to spot and exploit; Focus Strikes seem to maximise the damage you can do to these areas, often leading to broken parts.

After a while, the Doshaguma decided it'd had enough and tried to make good its escape. I immediately gave chase, using my mount. The Seikret proved very handy in and out of battle, and not just for speeding up travel. Plenty of tasks can be carried out in the saddle, such as sharpening blades, and they can also carry a second weapon. Mid-battle, they can also serve as a useful platform for over-enthusiastic leaps into the fray. Having finally caught up with our mark, and still travelling at full speed, I leapt off my steed in the direction of the Alpha's massive noggin. Sword cocked back, primed for the blessed crunch of blade on bone, I sailed past my mark and into some shrubbery! The single player demo was definitely the right choice.

The beast fell a few minutes later, and I instinctively began to carve up the corpse. Skin flaps, horn shards and still-warm organs to be repurposed as hideous materials for a new set of armour. Gross, but you gotta look sharp.

And with that, I moved on to my next target. I was able to transition immediately to the next mission, without having to return to camp or sit through load screens. I just selected another monster on the map, tracked it, initiated battle, and once again sent up my SOS flare. The next unfortunate creature was a Chatacabra, which is basically just a very large and angry toad. Once that was fully dead, I took a second to survey my surroundings and take stock of what I had just experienced. Wilds looks and feels just as I remember World looking and feeling, with a few tweaks. I may be underselling Wilds, and perhaps misremembering World, but it didn't feel like a massive improvement in any one area. Rather, it's more of the same with some small but important adjustments, and slightly prettier visuals.

I had just enough time to trigger a third battle with a large serpent that was tunnelling through the desert. Not bad for just thirty minutes of hunting. Wilds didn't strike me as being quite as fast-paced as Rise, but battles certainly seemed to be significantly shorter than they were in MH World. Perhaps it will find a happy medium between the two?

All in all, I really enjoyed my thirty minutes with Wilds. With each hunt, more of my Monster Hunter instincts returned, and my enthusiasm for a new Monster Hunter grew. I expect I'll be rejoining the hunt in February 2025.