When Monster Hunter Wilds launched, we might’ve received it with rose-tinted glasses and had reasons to do so. The handler was great; the new combat additions were engaging, and, for once, the story was fantastic. On top of that, the monster lineup was pretty good, with many new mechanics that hunters needed to learn to take these foes down. However, something started to sink in quickly: Monster Hunter Wilds had a difficulty issue. Many say it needs its expansion to shine, just like Monster Hunter World did. However, World encouraged players to grind and learn the game. Conversely, Wilds is so easy that you can stick to your LR gear for many hours after beating the campaign.
Monster Hunter Wild’s Biggest Issue is Its Difficulty
Let me start by saying that I’m not completely undermining Monster Hunter Wilds. It has many great things that worked, and even almost half a year later, it remains one of my favorite games of 2025. However, as someone who spent hundreds of hours in Monster Hunter World, Wilds doesn’t have that hook. At least not yet.
When World was at its pinnacle, many people were grinding, teaming up to kill base World monsters, and just spending their time around Astera. Yet, Wilds has left these new lands as barren as we first found them. Naturally, I tried to analyze what Wilds was missing, and it hit me: the difficulty.
See, in Monster Hunter World, I needed to grind. It wasn’t an optional step or something you could ignore until High Rank. It was something you had to do, even between some LR missions. However, Wilds never encouraged me to do so. My carrot was the fashion, those cute new outfits for my characters. But if you ask me if I ever worried about stats or elemental resistances, my answer would be no. And I never thought I needed them, even during my first HR hunts.
We Should Not Have to Wait for the Expansion
Many veteran hunters justify the Monster Hunter Wilds’ difficulty by saying, “Just wait for this game’s version of Iceborne.” Sure, that’s a good point. An expansion always brings MR, and it certainly makes things better. But that should not be the case. And you know what? This is a pattern that Capcom has been doing. Do you know where we saw it even more? In Monster Hunter Rise.
Ask anyone about base Monster Hunter Rise, and they will say it was, in Gen-Z terms, “mid.” But if you ask anyone about Sunbreak, they will say it fixed every aspect of Rise, and I wholeheartedly agree. Yet, that doesn’t mean it is the right path. However, it is one road that Capcom has stuck to, and it is not consumer-friendly. It is not great for a game as big as Wilds, especially during its opening months, and it isn’t great for the franchise in the long run.
On the other hand, and allow me to become the devil’s advocate for a bit sure, Capcom has said it will support Wilds longer than it did World and Rise. But that’s such a poor mentality that many developers have. Nowadays, we can count the number of games that are polished at launch with one hand and not even raise all fingers. Sadly, Monster Hunter Wilds is the same. Leaving performance problems aside, the lack of difficulty is worrisome and just makes me wonder: is buying a Monster Hunter game at launch worth it, or should we just wait for the complete editions with all expansions?
