After having been away from Monster Hunter Wilds since defeating Mizutsune in the game's first major update, I returned to the latest entry in the series this week with Update 1.041.00.00, finding a very different experience. While the performance improvements introduced in the last couple of patches have made the game run significantly better on my PC, it's the staggering amount of new content that impressed me the most. With a new endgame grind for Talismans and a host of new monsters, I expect to continue playing until the launch of the Master Rank expansion.
While I looked at the mountain ahead of me, represented by the ultra-difficult Proof of a Hero quest, which involves defeating all four Arch-tempered variants of the Apex monsters, however, I didn't expect to discover that even more challenges could be on the way.
Over on the Monster Hunter Leaks subreddit, user Lener30 posted findings after digging into the update's files. Interestingly, Tempered variants of Gogmazios and Zo Shia appear to be in the works. For the former, a LegendaryParam file has been added, strongly hinting that this variant of the monster is indeed coming. For Zo Shia, while the update does not mention the monster by name, plenty of its moves have seen changes in its own LegendaryParam file, which will likely make this new variant of the base game’s final boss significantly more challenging.
Besides the upcoming content, the latest update adds more fuel to the fire regarding a Monster Hunter Wilds Nintendo Switch 2 port. While text references to the system have been scrubbed, the update files still hide a tutorial image for Local Communication play that clearly depicts Nintendo Switch 2 systems. At this point, it seems a matter of when, not if, the game is announced for Nintendo's next-gen hardware. Launching in a complete state with proper optimization will definitely help the game's popularity, which was initially hindered by technical and low challenge issues.
Will the updates released so far be enough to bring back lapsed players to Monster Hunter Wilds, as Game Director Yuya Tokuda pleaded last year? I believe they will. This isn't just an opinion based on my positive experience since yesterday: hard facts support it. The game's latest reviews on Steam are now Mostly Positive (72%), a considerable improvement over the Mixed status they held for a long time.
About the author: Francesco De Meo has been covering video games and technology since 2012, starting his career at small outlets like Gamersyndrome and GeekSnack. After joining Wccftech gaming section in 2015, he quickly expanded his video gaming coverage with in-depth reporting, interviews with iconic industry figures such as Grasshopper Manufacture founder and No More Heroes creator Goichi "Suda51" Suda, Resident Evil series creator Shinji Mikami, Team NINJA's president and Nioh series director Fumihiko Yasuda, and Silent Hill creator Keiichiro Toyama, reviews and on-the-ground coverage of major industry events such as Gamescom and E3. When he's not reporting or reviewing, Francesco can be found playing the genres he loves most, spending time with his six cats, reading, writing music, playing guitar and drumming for his progressive rock band.
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