Highlights

  • Monster Hunter Wilds, set to launch in 2025, builds on the environmental focus of the franchise's fifth generation, with dynamic environments that transform and impact gameplay.
  • The game's weather systems and terraforming aspects could cause monsters to behave differently, creating new strategic opportunities for players to use the environment to their advantage.
  • While the extent of terraforming may be limited, understanding how spaces can be manipulated will likely be rewarded in combat, especially if Monster Hunter Wilds adopts an open-world format.

Monster Hunter Wilds was recently announced at The Game Awards for a 2025 launch. Monster Hunter World, which kicked off the franchise's fifth generation of games, was the series' most significant leap forward, and Wilds seems to be taking the changes made in World to a whole new level. The game's reveal trailer unveiled a new mount, part of the game's world, and a plethora of other details despite its brief runtime. The incredible density of small monsters is the most immediately noticeable change shown off in the trailer, but Monster Hunter Wilds' new dynamic environments and weather systems are the most exciting new features; for the first time, MH's environments might be just as formidable as its monsters.

Monster Hunter World's biggest contribution to the franchise was its re-invention of the series' environments. Previous entries had maps made of multiple zones with paths moving between them. Traveling down paths would trigger a loading screen between each zone. Older Monster Hunter games were often released on portable systems, so this choice made sense, but MH World and Rise were able to move away from this. This change and the move to more powerful systems made Monster Hunter World's environments more dense and lifelike. Cutting down loading screens also totally transformed the pacing of the game. Monster Hunter Rise for the Switch may have been a step back graphically, but its zones were still wide open, and it improved on player movement.

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Monster Hunter Wilds Looks to Take Full Advantage of the PS5 and Xbox Series X

Capcom has officially revealed Monster Hunter Wilds and it looks to be a full step into the current generation through some impressive innovations.

Environments Will be the Star of Monster Hunter Wilds

Monster Hunter Wilds is kicking off the series' sixth generation, but the reveal trailer has shown that it will build on the environmental focus that began in the fifth generation of the series. The reveal trailer for Monster Hunter Wilds was set in one location but featured three distinct states. The space transformed from a desert into a prairie following a massive lightning storm. This move to dynamic environments will not only make the game more immersive, it will also alter gameplay. Like with Pokemon, elemental types in Monster Hunter are a big deal, and an ever-changing environment could play into them.

Monsters Could Behave Differently Based on Weather

In the Monster Hunter Wilds reveal trailer, the player dodges lightning bolts and moves between lighting rods for protection. This shows that the terraforming from weather and attacks impact gameplay. Because of Monster Hunter's elements system, this could mean that players will be able to use the environment to their advantage, or that monsters could alter the world in a way that serves them. Since monsters will sometimes fight one another, players could intentionally lure two creatures into conflict in order to manipulate the environment to their advantage. Transforming biomes could also impact monster behavior, such as certain monsters hiding from rain while others thrive in it.

How Far Will Terraforming Impact Combat in Monster Hunter Wilds?

flying in MH Wilds

Terraforming in Monster Hunter Wilds is unlikely to totally transform a space or let players carve away at land directly, but it will almost certainly impact combat. Seeing electric monsters become more threatening in a flooded area would be unsurprising, as would monsters with an ice elemental type becoming weaker in hot environments. Monster Hunter World rewarded players for environmental awareness by letting them topple rocks from ceilings onto monsters, so understanding of how spaces can be manipulated to impact monsters will likely be rewarded in this new game as well. If Monster Hunter Wilds is open-world, the possibilities could be exceptionally vast.

Between its new mount, incredible visuals, and the lasting goodwill generated by MH World and MHRise, Monster Hunter Wilds is already one of 2025's most anticipated games. Features like its dynamic environments and creature density set it apart as a game that is only possible thanks to the benefits of current-generation hardware. Fans of the series may have a long wait ahead of them for this next entry, but the changes it will bring should be worth the wait.