Review | Wild Hearts

A short and wild review

How often do you have a chance to try a new Monster Hunter game? Well, this is your chance—but first things first!

Wild Hearts is a 2023 action role-playing video game developed by Koei Tecmo under their Omega Force label and published by Electronic Arts. It was released for PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S on February 17. It was also released for the Nintendo Switch 2 as Wild Hearts S, published by Koei Tecmo, on July 25, 2025. According to game director Kotaro Hirata, the team learned from their experience developing the Toukiden series (which I've never played, and that should change in the future) and intended to create a modern Japanese monster-hunting game that supplements combat with build mechanics.

All of that sounds great, but is it worth it? This came out 2 years ago—is it fixed? Should it be fixed? If you ask me, the game is still buggy, unresponsive at times, with weird camera issues and crashes here and there. I was playing on my PS5 Pro, and Performance mode works great, but the resolution is not good at times, often blurring and degrading the graphics. My actual issue is not that, but the fact that it still feels a bit stiff, frustratingly hard, and unpolished (at least not polished to the level I wanted and needed it to be). Even with all that, Wild Hearts is a successful take on copying (and I mean copying) Monster Hunter to its core, with a pinch of Fortnite and maybe the best exploration since MH World and Rise (if I were to compare this one, it would be MH Rise).

So many great ideas, but underutilized and really grindy.

The beginning feels so stiff, weird, and uninteresting, but as you progress and discover areas, explore, and dive in—it grips and holds you for some time.

Story and the characters

If you remember the storytelling in Monster Hunter, this is exactly the same. You are the chosen hunter who will save the village that is under constant attack by nearby Kemono (monsters that you hunt), so you will embark on missions, locate, and defeat monsters. As you progress, more NPCs will talk to you, request things from you, and reveal more lore.

It all feels… cringe. The English dub is not bad, but they talk like they want to emphasize the Japanese-English accent—badly. It feels just weird, and due to the game’s nature of telling the story just so you have one, it doesn’t really stand out in any way. If you add that you can choose your pronouns and have an NPC that is probably not a he or a she, it feels like they wanted to include some of that in the game, but neither that nor the story really works.

I also don't like a mute protagonist, so I was mostly waiting for scenes to pass. I think, in general, the story is better than in MH games, and the locations in this game are where it shines the most, alongside exploration, build mechanics, and just due to its fresh take on combat while including different monsters you've seen only here, not in earlier games like in MH nowadays.

Prepare to grind—a lot. But also prepare to enjoy the scenery and exploration; it’s just that good.

Game design, exploration

Watch some scenes, accept missions and side missions, embark on them. Craft weapons and armor, and gather ingredients. Fight, and repeat.

I love the Monster Hunter series, World being one of the best games of that year and in general. I wasn’t expecting much out of this one, but it turned out to be a solid clone of MH—so similar, in fact, that I wondered how Capcom didn’t sue them. The whole game structure is almost exactly the same, the weapon and armor systems as well. The hub and activities are different, but the idea is the same…

The only real difference is the fast-paced combat (which I love) and the construction system—called Karakuri. You can build different objects for reaching different parts of each map where you hunt, create a camp, a tower to scan for monsters, or you can use fight Karakuri to fend off monster attacks. For example, combining 6 jump bricks will create a wall that you can use to fend off attacks while you heal, and even stagger enemies if you use the correct combination for the correct monster attack. I love this—it makes everything so much more than it really is. Especially when you learn patterns and start using appropriate counterattacks, it feels so good when you start owning battles.

Another big win for me is exploration and the main 4 areas. They are excellent. Their design is not packed with an endless supply of items; instead, all these items can either be used for eating to buff for a fight, to level up your companion, or to find hidden areas and collectibles where other companions are. I enjoyed this so much—at times, I was just exploring and relaxing. Because of the construction system, it’s like in MH Rise—you can reach many areas and find a lot of stuff.

Unlocking more points to build is how you can create shortcuts and easier navigation through maps. You can even dry food or build cages to get the most out of collected flora. All great systems that are heavily constrained by the amount of grind you need to do to progress and survive later on. I also hate the variation of monsters; I would rather want new and interesting monsters than just fighting ice or violent variations of the same ones.

Whoever designed the maps where you hunt is a genius. They are so interesting—they never get dull.

Combat

Ah, the star of the evening. Imagine new weapons and different fast-paced movesets when compared to MH. I was playing the Long Sword, of course, but some other weapons are also cool (like the Parasol). It’s a bit basic—you can chain normal and heavy combos with special moves that drain stamina. Not a lot going on here, but it’s all about using the correct attacks to position yourself away from monster attacks or simply knowing when to dodge.

The best thing here is the Fortnite-like construction system, where you can build a torch and use it to imbue your sword with flame. Or you can build 4 crates to initiate a heavy jump attack that demolishes monster parts. Or you can fly and spin… So many combinations, plus different monsters, plus beautiful areas—and it just works. Of course, you can’t just spam constructions, but you can reveal monsters’ weak points and drain more points to build and heal. The system is awesome, and for the most part, the combat was great… and that’s when it hits the negative side.

The problem is that you can’t dodge effectively at times. The camera just doesn’t work for some combos. You can’t see a thing, and monsters are ferocious. They often one-hit you at later stages, so you need to spend a couple of hours grinding just so you can reach even harder monsters, for which you again need to grind. They’ve completely killed the fun out of the game. The endgame content is all about killing X monsters to kill even harder variations, just so you can grind for hours and have stronger equipment. I mean, I like that, but it feels unnecessary with not enough variation to get past all that. It just feels overly frustrating on too many occasions, and that just killed it for me.

Multiplayer works good, so team up and that is the easiest and probably the most fun way to hunt!

The biggest awe for me was when one of the maps got a winter cape. It was so good and felt fresh. 

Side Content

Side content is just additional hunts and missions. It’s more of the same, and the rewards are not so great.

You can develop different baths (that raise max HP) and do some construction repair work to repair the town. I love when missions progress the population and give you more hub options, so that is good. But there is not much going on apart from what I’ve mentioned, so it’s mostly just more hunting. Nevertheless, I’ve finished all missions in the game, and due to how fun the combat was, they never felt boring—apart from the endgame, where I was getting my ass kicked by the same, just more deadly variations of the same monster I’ve hunted 10+ times already.

I would advise you to explore and find all 200 Tsukomo (your companion in fights). Not only do they level up that way, but exploring and finding them is the most fun I’ve had in a long time due to impressive map design. It’s also cool to build what you need on maps so you can travel and find monsters fast.

At times everything looks stiff and ugly, but at other times it’s stunning. The rain and snow are bad; something weird was going on with the graphics when that occurred..

Conclusion

Wild Hearts is a game full of great ideas, impressive map design, and a genuinely fun combat system that shines when everything clicks. It really heavily borrows Monster Hunter ideas to a point that it feels like a spin-off, but unfortunately, technical issues, stiffness, and an overly grind-heavy middle and endgame hold it back from reaching its full potential. If you’re a fan of Monster Hunter and can tolerate some frustration, there’s a lot to enjoy here—especially in exploration and combat. Just don’t expect a fully polished experience, even years after release.