Wild Hearts improves Monster Hunter, and that’s great news for both

pcgamesn.com:

Monster Hunter rival Wild Hearts is almost here, and everything we’ve seen of the EA-published fantasy game from Koei Tecmo’s Omega Force division is shaping up to be a serious contender to Capcom’s crown. The idea of beating Monster Hunter at its own game with a first entry is perhaps a little bold, but Wild Hearts steps certain things forwards in ways that should make fans of Monster Hunter and the genre as a whole excited for the future.

I’ve played over 2,000 hours of Monster Hunter World. That’s a lot of time, and not something I say lightly – but I say it with confidence, because it’s a game that earns your attention. I didn’t play it for that long out of some weird obligation or because I was adamantly stuck in a grind, I was simply having fun. I’ve also put several hundred hours into Monster Hunter Rise, a game that’s even more impressive than World in some ways despite its intentionally smaller scope.

After all that time, you notice the small things – and Wild Hearts is set to make some key improvements that Monster Hunter would do well to learn from in the future. Among these is fully fledged crossplay for players on PC, PlayStation, and Xbox – including the option for in-game voice chat along with the text chat and emote options you’d expect in line with Monster Hunter’s stickers and shoutouts. That’s a very welcome change, especially as my gaming friends are somewhat spread out across platforms nowadays.

Hunts in Wild Hearts – much like their Monster Hunter equivalents – will fail after three faints. However, the ability to revive teammates and salvage yourself one of your three chances makes the appeal of tackling the hardest Wild Hearts monsters in a group much more enticing. Some of the toughest fights in