I Understand It’s Silly to Criticize a Monster Hunter Campaign, But Wild’s Story Feels Like a Major Step Back from World’s

When it comes to the Monster Hunter series, I’m relatively fresh to the scene. I hesitated for years, primarily because the earlier games were stuck on handheld consoles that never caught my interest. Plus, let’s be honest, they seemed to run pretty poorly.

My entry into this universe was through Monster Hunter World, and it hooked me instantly—I’ve been smitten ever since. As I write, I have logged over two dozen hours into Wilds. My strategy was to power through the main campaign before getting sidetracked by side quests. To my disappointment, though, this didn’t quite pan out as I had hoped.

In most Monster Hunter games, campaigns aren’t really about storytelling prowess or intricate plots. They’re primarily designed to guide you through the plethora of systems and mechanics that you’ll be engaging with over the next hundred hours. These campaigns function like a guided tour of the game’s unique ecosystem.

Here’s the familiar formula: your team is after an enigmatic creature that’s disrupting the balance of several regions. Invariably, you’ll face interference from other monsters along the way before uncovering the real cause behind your original target’s behavior. Eventually, you confront this colossal beast, and that’s a wrap on the campaign. This is when you’re ushered into High Rank and the real Monster Hunter experience begins.

If you compare Wilds with World on a broad level, there’s a similar narrative arc. But it’s in the details where a campaign can transcend into an engaging journey or barely leave a mark.

What really pulls you into World’s campaign is its ambitious scope. Zorah Magdaros was unlike anything seen before—a gigantic monster so massive that it required a whole village just to slow it down. You could fight several other monsters on its back with space to spare.

The developers crafted a unique encounter with Zorah Magdaros, hoping to introduce a fresh style of gameplay to the Monster Hunter universe. Even though many weren’t fans—since the gameplay differed significantly from typical Monster Hunter battles—I appreciated it for that reason. The segments with Zorah effectively broke the monotony, introducing variety just when you needed it. Its journey through various landscapes also helped move the story forward.

As Zorah migrated, new areas became available for exploration. Along the way, you could observe the significant impact its presence had on the local ecology. The campaign kept Zorah’s true motives concealed, creating a sense of urgency and a mystery that begged to be solved.

Now, let’s contrast that with the Wilds campaign. The absence of a looming threat like Zorah is palpable. The game’s lead monster, Arkveld, makes sporadic appearances—leaving the characters puzzled—only to vanish for long stretches. It’s not even the grand finale, which instead features an entirely different creature introduced just one mission beforehand.

There’s a noticeable lack of a unified front against a common enemy. It almost seems like some monster introductions were randomly inserted into missions because they couldn’t find another way to fit them in.

Sadly, it feels as though some threads connecting the various character factions might have existed but were cut. NPC dialogues and cinematic lines hint at a deeper story, but it never fully unfolds.

Even the backstory—featuring an ancient civilization using weather-controlling technology that ultimately leads to their downfall—falls flat. It’s dribbled through cutscenes as if it belongs in a supplementary lore book rather than the main narrative.

Wilds’ campaign mirrors some key issues of the primary game. In trying to make the game more palatable by smoothing out its quirks, it loses much of its charm. I’m skeptical these were the aspects needing refinement.

While we might soon overlook Wilds’ primary campaign, focusing instead on the game’s highs and lows, I can’t help but ponder what a true World sequel could have achieved.