Monster Hunter Wilds has had a rough time of it since launch. From day one, players on PC in particular have been criticising the game’s performance (though that was recently addressed, to some degree, with a much-needed patch that took aim at stuttering and shaders). But aside from the complaints about performance, faithful hunters have also been knocking the game’s approach to difficulty and content variation, bemoaning the easy hunts and comparative lack of end-game content.
Today, in a post over on X (formerly Twitter), Capcom has released a surprising statement that notes the developer will actually move various items up the roadmap to better placate players that have issues with the game.
In a post that addressed the release date and content of update Ver.1.021, Capcom notes:
“The expansion of endgame content which was originally planned as part of Title Update 3 in late September will now be released ahead of schedule as part of the Ver.1.021 update.”
As such, the update (which was initially planned to launch ‘early August’) will now drop closer to mid-August, and is currently being readied for deployment on 13th August.
The main content added to the game in this update will include: a sew level of quest difficulty (hopefully making things just that little bit tougher for series veterans), a new rewards system for these end-game quests (this will be realised in the form of Talismans that players can equip, which will carry random skill combinations – ideal for depth and variety in build-crafting), weapon balance adjustments (that will cover more weapons than originally planned for this update), and other improvements and adjustments (dare we say: better performance?)
It’s nice to see the developer responding to the criticism about the game in this manner. I spoke recently about the impact the game’s negative reviews have been having on the title, and it seems Capcom is keen to demonstrate that it’s listening to fans by being fluid with its development pipeline in this way. As for what this increased difficulty is, though, we’ve no idea at the time of writing. Will it just be harder versions of the Apex monsters, the Gore Magalas, and boss-monster Arkveld, with higher damage output and more tanky HP? Or will it be something a little more meaningful?
I, personally, am hoping for more stagger resistance for lower-tier monsters, since the weaker monsters seem to be incapable of getting out of stunlock if seasoned players pepper them with the right attacks in the right places. A smart move would be to provide 8* versions of the overall monster roster, bringing the ‘chaff’ monsters up to par with some of the super-powered end-game beasts that have been added to the title post-launch. I think this would efficiently nail both content variation and difficulty concerns in one fell swoop.
As the game continues to help Capcom meet various sales targets (and perform incredibly well in its own right), the optics of the developer listening to fan feedback and attempt to rectify launch window wobbles is certainly welcomed. The rest of the roadmap – which, currently, runs until ‘this winter’ – promises more monsters and even more ‘challenging hunts’, something that the community has been gnashing for since it put Seregios and Lagiacrus to bed at the beginning of July.
