Reacting to the monster hunter wilds showcase: quick take #12
On February 4th, Capcom held a Monster Hunter Wilds showcase as part of their annual spotlight event. The showcase highlighted the game’s suite of new monsters, a new look at one of the main base camps, a deeper look into the story, and details on the combat system. In addition to these core elements, Capcom also highlighted details surrounding pre-order and deluxe edition bonuses. All in all, whether this was your first or tenth look at the game, I felt this showcase was well timed, well detailed, and did well to add even more hype to an already hotly anticipated game.
I’m a newcomer to this franchise, so taking in all of the information from the trailers, showcases, betas, and everything in between has been a bit overwhelming. I don’t see this as a bad thing though, because after all, Monster Hunter is a deep game rich with features that take time to grapple with. In the showcase, we got a brief look at a combination of monsters that have either already appeared in the betas, or those that will appear later. Enter Arkveld: a high level beast serving as one of the game’s flagship monsters made available for the second round of beta tests. Capcom has explained that this is an advanced beast and recommends only experienced players take it on – I would know…because he took me out before I could ready my weapon.
Speaking of the open betas, Capcom also announced two new rounds of tests – one of which was this past weekend and the other which will take place from 2/13 to 2/16. However, they’ve announced that due to the PSN outage that impacted players trying to access the beta over the weekend that they would extend the second beta session by one day – a solid move on their part. I took part in the first session over the weekend and had a fantastic time! Stay tuned for my full impressions article which will be published on 2/13.
Towards the end of the showcase, Capcom detailed some new information about the game’s cosmetic related features. They showed off the many ways in which you can customize your character to match your personality, as well as a wealth of ways that you can spruce up your seikreit. Capcom have explained that changing the appearance of your character won’t have an impact on your armor stats, a welcome feature in my opinion. Diving even further into the idea of letting your personality show in-game, Capcom has introduced hunter profiles – customizable cards you can use to introduce yourself to other hunters. I’m not usually one for deep character customization, but I’ll admit that Capcom may have convinced me to deck my hunter out when I get my hands on the game!
What does waiting for a new game and waiting for Christmas have in common? The anticipation – and Capcom have created quite the hype train for Monster Hunter Wilds. As I said in the beginning, whether this showcase was your first or tenth time seeing the game, there’s no denying that Capcom did a great job pumping the hype train for launch. It struck what I felt was a perfect balance between big and small feature reveals – as well as that can be done this close to launch. If you have any interest in the game, I would highly recommend checking out the showcase and jumping into the open beta if you have the means to – you won’t regret it!