Koei Tecmo's first trailer for Wild Hearts has big Monster Hunter energy

rockpapershotgun.com:

EA and Koei Tecmo's co-op beastie-botherer Wild Hearts will mix katanas, massive animals, and wacky crafted weapons when it launches in February. The Dynasty Warriors studio revealed their collaboration as part of the EA Originals label today, and it’s certainly channelling some of that there Monster Hunter energy. Watch the first trailer below and tell me you don’t want a handheld helicopter.

Wild Hearts is set in a fantasy-tinged version of feudal Japan. Your samurai-ish character can team up with two others for three-player co-op. They’ll need to use a crafting technology called Karakuri to thwack monsters that resemble colossal versions of regular animals, such as warthogs, birds, and wolves. These cheeky overgrown scamps have been infused with the power of nature to become beasts known as Kemono, and you don’t want to mess with that unless you've got some handy ancient tech up your sleeve. Good job there’s all sorts of wooden doohickeys kicking about that can help, such as one-person helicopters, giant comedy hammers, and rope traps.

Koei Tecmo directors Kotaro Hirata and Takuto Edagawa told IGN that Wild Hearts isn’t an open-world game per se, but has a similar zoning system to Capcom’s Monster Hunter series. Some Karakuri tech can be built instantly during battle, according to the directors, while others can be combined to create new Karakuri. They can also be used to build entire hunting grounds if you've got enough materials. Combat in Wild Hearts won’t be like Omega Force’s Dynasty Warriors series or Monster Hunter, though, they said, but will feature jumping, grappling, sliding and other "highly flexible actions," Hirata told IGN.

We first reported on Wild Hearts a few weeks ago when EA and Koei Tecmo