I’ve been playing Monster Hunter since the Freedom Unite days on PSP. Back then, you bought a game and it felt complete. You had a huge roster of monsters, plenty of quests, and once you finished the story there was still a mountain of endgame content waiting. A year or two later, Capcom would drop an “Ultimate” or “G” version that doubled the content, added G-Rank, and gave you a reason to dive right back in. That cycle worked — it kept the games feeling full and rewarding from start to finish.
Fast forward to Monster Hunter Wilds, and it honestly feels like Capcom lost the plot.
A Half-Game at Launch
The first thing that hit me with Wilds was how barebones the launch roster felt. Only 29 large monsters at release, and no true Elder Dragons to chase. Compare that to the older games, where you’d get a full experience upfront, and it’s hard not to feel shortchanged. Instead of hunting through a varied lineup, we’re told to wait for Title Updates that drip-feed new monsters months down the line.
It’s the same live-service model we saw with World and Rise, but it’s even worse here. By the time you finish the story in Wilds, you’re basically left twiddling your thumbs waiting for Capcom to patch in more monsters. That’s not what Monster Hunter used to be about — it used to feel like you got everything on day one, and the expansion was the cherry on top.
Endgame That Goes Nowhere
And then there’s the endgame. Or should I say, the lack of it. Once you hit credits, the “loop” boils down to farming the same two monsters over and over because they drop the materials you need for the best talismans. That’s it. No variety, no higher difficulty quests, no real elder dragons to push you. Just spam the same hunts until you’re burned out.
In older games, the endgame always had direction. G-Rank quests, deviant monsters, elder dragons that kicked your teeth in — something to keep you motivated. Wilds? It leaves you wandering aimlessly. I can’t tell you how deflating it is to clear the story, get excited for the grind, and then realize the grind is just… fighting the same monsters endlessly.
Talismans, Decorations, and RNG Soup
One of the most confusing changes is how Wilds handles gear progression. In past games, Capcom picked one thing to randomize and left the other under player control:
- In the old days, talismans were random, but decorations were crafted.
- In World, it flipped — decorations became random, but charms were fixed.
- In Rise, it flipped again — random talismans, craftable decorations.
That balance kept things manageable. You had one layer of RNG to chase, but you always had some control over your build.
Wilds threw that philosophy out the window. At launch, it looked like they were trying to fix the problem — letting us craft key decorations so we didn’t get stuck waiting for random drops. Then, a few months in, they patched in a system for random talismans on top of everything. So now we’re grinding RNG charms and RNG decorations, while still juggling crafted ones. It feels messy and, honestly, directionless. Do they want us to have control, or do they want us stuck in an endless slot machine? Right now it’s both, and it’s exhausting.
The Lost Feeling of Hunting
What made me fall in love with Monster Hunter in the first place was the actual hunt. Tracking monsters, preparing carefully, fighting tough battles that demanded skill and patience. Wilds has stripped a lot of that away. With the new mount that autopilots you straight to the monster, tracking is gone. The wound system makes weak points obvious and speeds up fights. And the difficulty? Let’s just say I barely carted the entire story. For a series that built its name on hard, rewarding battles, Wilds feels strangely easy.
It’s like the game can’t decide if it wants to be a hardcore hunting sim or a streamlined action RPG. In trying to please both sides, it loses the soul that made Monster Hunter unique. The thrill of finally toppling a monster after hours of learning its patterns just isn’t there anymore.
Closing Thoughts
As a fan who’s been with this series since Freedom Unite, I can’t help but feel that Wilds is directionless. The base game is thin, the endgame is shallow, and the gear system is a confused mess of RNG. The old model — a full game at launch and a massive expansion later — worked so much better. It gave us purpose, it gave us clarity, and it gave us confidence that Capcom knew what they wanted Monster Hunter to be.
Wilds, by comparison, feels like a game still figuring itself out months after release. And that’s the most disappointing part. Monster Hunter has always been about the journey — from your first small hunt to your final Elder Dragon. With Wilds, that journey feels cut short, padded out with patches, and lacking the wild spirit that defined the series.
I want to love Wilds the way I loved Freedom Unite or Generations Ultimate. But until Capcom finds its footing again, it’s hard not to look back at those older games and wonder: when did Monster Hunter stop knowing what it wanted to be?