The Monster Hunter series is no stranger to evolution. 2018's Monster Hunter: World laid out a more realistic and naturalistic future for an action RPG franchise long characterized by anime extremes and irreverent quirkiness, while Monster Hunter Rise proved that Capcom is still willing to swing for the fences artistically and thematically. It looks like the two will come together in Monster Hunter Wilds, as we see the studio combining the best parts of its predecessors into a massive game that you'd be forgiven for calling Monster Hunter World 2.
A 30-minute hands-off Monster Hunter Wilds demo at Summer Game Fest showed me exactly what I was hoping to see: Monster Hunter World used as a launchpad for something bigger, more seamless, and more imaginative. Rough edges like Iceborne's cumbersome clutch claw – which some players grew to resent for how mandatory and limiting it could feel – have been cut, and in their place are features that I've wanted for years, and some that I never knew I wanted until now. After 500 hours of Monster Hunter World and about as much of Rise, here are the Monster Hunter Wilds details that jumped out to me.
