Monster Hunter Wilds

Monster Hunter Wilds is a 2025 action role-playing game developed and published by Capcom. A successor to Monster Hunter: World (2018), the game was released worldwide for Windows, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and Series S, with support for cross-platform play, on February 28, 2025.

As with other Monster Hunter games, Wilds has the player control a hunter that is part of a guild assigned to explore the Forbidden Lands, a nearly uninhabitable area with multiple biomes and dangerous storms. During their exploration, the hunters are assigned quests to fight large monsters that threaten their group, either by killing or capturing them. The hunter can then collect resources from their victories, as well as from gathering in the field, to synthesize new weapons and armor with better attributes that allow the hunter to fight stronger monsters. The player has an option of using fourteen different weapon types in combat, each with different combat maneuvers. New to Wilds is the ability to carry up to two weapons into the field using their mounted bird-like Seikrets to swap gear, the ability to set up pop-up camps within the game's open world to create a more seamless hunting experience, and a wound system that allows the player to target weak points on a monster to inflict more damage. The game can be played as a single player experience, or online with up to three additional players during quests. Wilds is the first in the series to support cross-platform play between all versions.

Within three days of release, Wilds sold more than 8 million copies, making it Capcom's fastest-selling game to date. It received generally positive reviews, with praise towards the stronger focus on story and updates to the open world, though the technical aspects of the game received criticism, especially on Windows.

Similar to its predecessor, Wilds is an action role-playing video game played from a third-person perspective. In Wilds, players take on the role of a custom hunter character who travels to the "Forbidden Lands", a landmass filled with monsters, in order to locate a missing expedition party. As with previous games in the series, the player's hunter tracks and fights monsters, either capturing or slaying them, from which they gain rewards in the form of monster parts and other resources. Along with other resources collected in the game world, the player can then craft new armor, weapons, consumables, and other gear, which allow them to fight more difficult monsters.

The game world features several biomes, each of which is a large open world for players to freely explore. In Wilds, players can seamlessly move between the larger world and their hunter village where they can cook food, replenish their supplies, and craft new gear. Quests can also be started whenever players locate their targets in the wilds. The game introduces a type of mount called a Seikret which aids player exploration and directs them towards their current objective, and can also be ridden while in combat. The Seikret allows the player character to carry two distinct weapons while hunting monsters, though armor can only be changed in the village.

All 14 types of weapons from World return in Wilds, though new moves and actions have been introduced. The Slinger also returns in Wilds with new features added, allowing players to grab items from afar and trigger environmental hazards. The game features a "focus mode", enabling players to launch targeted attacks against specific body parts of a monster. Wounds on a monster can be further exploited to deal extra damage. Monsters in the game will interact with each other, with predators hunting prey and certain monsters exhibiting herd behaviors to better protect themselves. Environmental factors such as weather and time of day influence monster behavior, with certain species appearing only under specific conditions.

The game supports four-player cooperative multiplayer, though players who prefer to play solo can enlist the help of three support hunters controlled by artificial intelligence to aid them. As with World, a player can launch an SOS flare to bring either these live or computer-controlled allies to aid in the middle of a hunt. In a first for the series, the game supports cross platform play between the console and computer versions, allowing players on disparate gaming system to hunt together. The game includes an option for players with arachnophobia by replacing models of spider-like creatures with amorphous blobs, though this does not apply to large monsters, such as Nerscylla.

A group of explorers led by former hunter Fabius finds a boy named Nata in the wasteland. Nata claims to hail from the Forbidden Lands, a harsh, uncharted region of the Old World that has been isolated for over two thousand years and presumed to be uninhabited. Nata claims that his people, the Keepers, were attacked by the "White Wraith", a monster previously thought to be extinct. Fabius summons a recently promoted hunter and their palico to investigate the White Wraith and escort Nata back to his home, despite there being no information about the Keepers. The hunter, palico, and Nata are joined by Alma, a guild handler, and Gemma, a blacksmith, forming the Avis Unit. Also on the expedition are the Astrum Unit: Olivia, a veteran hunter, Athos, Olivia’s palico, Erik, a botanist, and Werner, a guild engineer.

The Guild gradually explores the Forbidden Lands, finding and assisting the native people against aggressive monsters, and abnormal weather conditions. Along their travels, they have several encounters with White Wraith, revealed to be an albino wyvern with chain-like appendages that is killing apex predators by absorbing their life energy.

The Guild eventually discovers that the lands are connected by a mysterious structure called the Landspine, damaged and leaking a white crystalline substance known as wyvern milk or "wylk", all of which appears tied to the weather conditions in each biome. The Landspine leads them to the ruins of Wyveria, the former capital of an ancient civilization, where Nata is reunited with the Keepers. There, they learn that Wyveria created the Dragontorch, a powerful source of infinite energy which was distributed across the lands via the Landspine, and Guardian Monsters, artificial monsters meant to defend Wyveria. The White Wraith, known as Arkveld, is also a Guardian, but has become out of control due to absorbing the traits of other monsters, and now attacks local fauna and threatens the ecosystem. The hunter is forced to kill Guardian Arkveld. The group eventually locates the Dragontorch in the ruins, but discovers a draconic Guardian, Zoh Shia feeding directly from the torch. Zoh Shia was the secret weapon of Wyveria, created to defend the empire against an unknown threat, but turned on them, causing the fall of the civilization.

After consulting the Keepers and the Allharken, a Wyverian sage, Avis Unit confronts Zoh Shia, with the hunter slaying it to protect the ecosystem. Afterwards, Nata becomes an apprentice hunter, with the Avis Unit later discovering an Arkveld egg, showing that the species has been reborn.

As Avis Unit continues to research the Forbidden Lands, they soon discover that Gore Magala, the Demi-Elder Dragon that carries the Frenzy Virus (introduced in Monster Hunter 4) has arrived in the lands, spreading the virus to other monsters, causing them to go berserk. Avis Unit is tasked with stemming the spread of the Frenzy virus alongside the other monsters in the area. Gore Magala is also able to infect the Dragontorch, showing that the artifact is actually a living being. The virus makes the climate unstable and makes the apex predators of all biomes go mad. The hunter helps Fabius kill Gore Magala. Werner and Erik manage to treat the Dragontorch, but are too late to stop Arkveld from being infected. After seeing Arkveld slaughter multiple monsters, Nata begs the hunter to kill it, possibly extincting the species again. After doing so, the hunter suggests that the new Arkveld may have had time to lay an egg before dying, and agrees to look for it with Nata.

Later, Zoh Shia is found to have mysteriously returned. The hunter is sent to slay it once again, after which the Guild theorizes that Zoh Shia is capable of fully reviving itself from even a fragment with a suitable energy source present. The Guild decides that while shutting down the Dragontorch will prevent the return of Zoh Shia, it will cause more problems for the region. Instead, the hunter is assigned to watch over Zoh Shia's nest and slay the monster whenever it returns, while the Guild continues to study the Dragontorch.