Wild Hearts | A Critical Review 

Thanks for watching! Please consider liking, commenting, and subscribing!

funny feature about the Bath House. your armour can actually get dirty after going through an X amount of hunts. when you go to the bath house it will make your armour all shiny again

Honestly the karakuri system is my favorite gimmick in any game I’ve played. I personally main the maul and I use the spring attack at least 10 times a hunt to close gaps, and the stake attack is incredible for slamming flying kemono back into the ground. Don’t even get me started on how fun the fusion karakuri are. Is an enemy charging up a big attack? Hit it with a massive fucking hammer. Is there an attack coming you don’t think you can dodge? Put up a shield wall. It just feels so right and I adore it

Dude, honest to God, I would wait another year or perhaps even more if it meant a video game had a stable release. I bought the game, I'm playing it despite all the performance problems, and that's the only complaint I have, besides a minor (major to some) performance issue the game is just straight up, unfiltered FUN.

Not worth the price for me right now. It’s more expensive than other games for no good reason.

Excelent review! Well structured, easily comprehended and full of fact info. Thank you!

Great review. Thoroughly impressed with your parry skills at the beginning!!

I’ve been playing on the Series S and it’s a bit choppy at times and the environment textures are a bit blocky but the combat is awesome and the karakuri system is really fun. Once it gets the bugs patched I think more people will gravitate. I’m hoping we get to see more of the title wether through a sequel or expansions I’ve been having a lot of fun with it.

Thanks for the review--definitely a great, succinct overview.

29:40 They fixed it in the latest patch. You can now destroy all types of karakuri from the map screen. The dev team really are listening to feedback and it seems like they're still not done with new monster updates. The game today really feels like the one they wanted to release, and the fact they keep adding to it is awesome. Hope they do a full on expansion.

Personally I find the game really challenging, which is something I haven't heard before in video's/reviews. Kemono are super agressive, and they are much harder to dodge and counter than in Monster Hunter (world/rise). I will run through an average of 30 heals in 1 hunt if not more, just because I can't be as agressive or will get punished hard for trying to dps (with all weapons). Or alternatvely I am just bad...

I'm on series s had no issues at all yet, it's ran perfectly for me since trial and launch been playing from midnight on the 17th, it's amazing I really love it. Definitely alot of potential to do something great here, but we'll see in time.

Awesome review!

This is definitely a toukiden successor since the main box monster always show up in toukiden games on the tutorial part of the game!

I share the common opinion that it looks super fun and I'd deffo get it and give it a try, however $70 is absolutely nuts so I will ABSOLUTELY only buy this game on sale.

Wow I actually had no idea the bathhouse gave you a health increase, that explains alot

I love the game, but I definitely agree with your point on other people's kataguri. I hope they implement an option in the settings that still allows others to place kataguri, but after the hunt all kataguri placed by other hunters will be deleted. That way you can set up the map the way you like it and other people can place structures for one time uses. Other than that I really love this game and have been addicted.

I do also hope they add a feature to have "layered" weapons, I do like most of the weapon designs, but an example as why is I find myself upgrading a weapon and a better upgrade to ky weapon might change the way the weapon looks and i dont like the look of it

On point review. Game is fun. Loving it.

Wonderful and an balanced review, I really appreciated it. I’m not able to get into this game as of now, but will for sure jump into it next year with my friends. Would you concider to do in update down the line about the end game and eventual changes to the game once it arrives?

been waiting for this

Thanks! Now I can do the Hunter Arm job!

I’m a first fleet veteran, I held back on picking this up but wish I hadn’t. It’s got small faults you soon forget once you get into it. The art style doesn’t come across very well from trailers and from RU-vid but it’s breathtaking. Nice thorough review!

Thank you for the well crafted review and for not hammering the performance issues that most people already know about. It really cleared out some questions and doubts i had about the game

Thx for this review

Been a while since I’ve seen a superrad vid. Dis one seems good

I think the story of wild hearts is worth paying attention to. The characters and the social dynamic in Minato is very interesting if you take the time to listen to all the dialog in the side quests and the optional dialog (plain gold arrows). It doesn't push the story on you after the beginning so you can skip on through to get to the hunts, which is nice design for those that don't care, but if you like stories like I do you have to go find it, and I think it is worth your time.

Definitely agree on the balance. This game goes back and forth from real easy to incredibly hard the further you get in the game. Definitely had some really unfair late game. Still loving this game even with the issues it presents. Iron sharpens iron and MH needed a competitor.

The nice thing about the skills in the weapons is that you never end up with skill for a weapon you’re not using, and thus “wasting” space. Also, if you think the hand cannon is cheesy, try the bow. Glider shot > unload charge volley > repeat. Fun way to play the cannon against monsters like the monkey or deathstalker if you (like I did) have a hard time finding time to charge the laser is just fire 2 shots off of a spring jump, then expel the heat off of a 3 box-stack jump attack. Not as much burst dmg as the laser, but higher consistent dmg than just shooting and never getting a laser cuz some wolf won’t stop jumping around 😤… oh, and one more thing I noticed, the jump shot fires you back a ton and uses no heat, so it’s a really useful back step similar to the lance’s back hops. Way more mobile than its rolls, that for certain. Speaking of destroying karakuri from the map, you can already upgrade dragon pits from the map once you find them, so it wouldn’t be hard to do.

I'm personally loving the game so far, I've had a couple technical issues and a crash or two but I'm having more fun than I've had in a long time.

Very good review. I would have bought it already if performance issues where not there. I'll buy it between 0 and 30 dollars now, even when performance gets fixed before a sale. I don't support unfinished stuff with 70 bucks ...

the umbrella deals super good damage though when i compared it to other melee weapons its just that the hand cannon is the outlier like every freaking monster hunter ranged weapons are the outliers is that some sort of hidden rule?

Clutch claw or hunters arm. It seems it's hard to program the player climbing on a monster skeleton without spasing out or weird things happening. It's worse here because I don't even get a weaken body part but i can spam more katakuri i guess.

This game is pretty good imo. The Bow really impressed me. And so did the claw weapon. My biggest issue is the inability to have all the karakuri tools at once. Having to choose which ones I need sucks

Won't be able to play it anytime soon as I'm still stuck with a ps4 and no pc. But I do plan on trying it at some point. Looks like a good time overall.

Been able to play the game just fine on console since launch, barely any issues

I am interested in it but I'll probably wait for a sale after performance has been stabilized and reviews improve. There are other games to play Octopath Traveler 2 just came out and I've been waiting for that for some time. Tears of the Kingdom releases in May, Baldur's Gate 3 in August, and we're finally getting a (non-mobile) sequel to Fantasy Life sometime this year, an all-time favorite game for me.

I've definitely felt the performance hits on PS5, especially during multiplayer where things basically turn into a nightmare of slow motion and animation snapping. Aside from the issues though I really am enjoying this game. The weapons feel unique and insanely satisfying to use, Claw Blade in particular is my favorite but everything else doesn't trail too far behind apart from the Umbrella maybe, and the game really hammers home how focused it is on the actual combat portion and I'm loving it for that. Hoping to find some form of transmog system waiting for me later down the road though since a lot of armors do look a bit goofy.

Amazing video

That first bit when you criticized EA, I don't disagree but it's funny to me. EA used to be like the standard for good games back in the day. Then again that was back before the online era of gaming.

I have the PS5 version and am in chapter 3. I have had no noticeable performance issues on PS5. I have seen 1 bug: I think I broke a fumebeak's AI with a big burst attack from the bow as it spent the rest of the mission just repeatedly flinching and no longer attacking. Otherwise it's been great. Easily exceeded my expectations. Not sure about longevity as I don't think there will be multiple builds for each weapon that changes gameplay style. Seems like a good start to a franchise.

Maybe someone can shed the light to me on this: I still don't understand the quest system. Sometimes when I decided to go hunt something (eg. Ragetail) and use the cell tower thing, there's no Ragetail to hunt? Sometimes I even make sure that there's a Ragetail on the map before and then its gone once I start the quest. Please help me understand.

I had so much fun playing with my friends, some of the kemono are tough and that scratched the "mh became a tad too broken" for me, but yeah i do agree with some ppl about the kemono design, while not bad at all i feel like they are a bit blend in some cases and im not fan of them using color swap THAT early. But to be frank it's still an amazing game and like maybe the start of something that could be an equal to MH if given proper care.

I just noticed the talisman icon are the same icons from nioh's talisman spells

Finally a non-sponsored Video to safe the day!

gotta say it is a fuckin masterpiece, i literally stopped going to work so i could play more. between the massive weapon trees, the little cog bots, amazing armors, and cranking 90s on massive monsters there is nothing ide rather play

On ps5 I haven't had much in the way of technical issues, I've really only had one situation where it popped up and it's possible that it was connected to my internet connection more than anything because I was in a friend's world Overall I've had a blast with the game and hope that the rest of the hunting community embraces it so we get more quality games in the genre.

I think this game is a blast. It is also fine that there is a lot to explore and find out , people skipping dialog and tutorials will miss out and this is very much O.K. Chiil out and read what they have spend time into making , like the food system and auto gathering shrines. Placing a windvent next to a tent and scanning tower in the center of a map will let you fly almost everywhere with the chopper karakuri.

Yeup same here game runs great on my series X. only problem i experienced was Npc dialog would sometimes spill out all at once during cutscnes.

The hunters arm was explained in the tutorial? I don't even remember get taught about it

Ngl, when I subscribed, I really didn't check upload history, I didn't realize this was a monster hunter channel with the vids I'd watch from him xD

As aMH: World veteran, this game looked so interesting to me that it made me start MH:Rise on game pass xD I'll come back to it in like 6 months when it will be fixed, patched, updated amd maybe even included in said pass!

On PS5 performance is pretty solid most drops are during multiplayer when everyone is spamming high intensity attacks

I find using the Wagasa to be faster then Hand Cannon but only when you make sure to abuse the right moves like red spindance umbrella toss, my record with Goldshard is 2-3 mins with the first Dreadclaw Wagasa (if I can get it not to run away ffs)

I think the issue people have with the designs of the kemonos is that they're not that memorable, if you look at them, they're not significantly different from a rather generic "big animal with stuff around it" Even if they're meant to be "just animals with magical stuff" and they don't necessarily look bad, they could have a more unique and memorable design as I would not run out to buy merchandise from these monsters the way I do with the MH ones

best deep dive ive watched. im a big fan of toukiden, so i do want to get this game, but will be waiting for it to be patched and go on sale

Improving the town rewards you with increased bag size to hold consumables.

I’ve not played a monster Hunter style game since 4 ultimate, and I absolutely loved it. I haven’t had the chance to play the more recent entires due to not having a powerful enough pc, or the new 3ds, or a switch etc. So I’ve been missing a good monster Hunter style experience for a long time. I had no idea this game was a thing until it came out. I got it, and I honestly really enjoy it. It’s very bug free, which people don’t seem to mention but is a step above most AAA titles these days. I could easily see myself playing it as it reignites that spark that got me into Mh in the first place. Although I did end up refunding it for the performance issues, I don’t mind waiting a bit but as it stands it’s clear it needs a little clean up.

I only run into technical issues if I'm using the bow. I haven't played every weapon yet but the bow seems to bring the game to a slowdown for some reason.

I'm ready to jump on, just need it to be better optimised first

Homie gunna change his tune about the hurtboxes and tracking when he finally hits the Golden Tempest.

Oh right. Hunter's Arm. Thanks for reminding me LOL

I play on PS five and I love the game, but the input lag is crazy for me. I could move my character to the right, and it takes two or three seconds for them to actually move.

Do review codes give them the full game or a limited version, and is their a time limit on them? Does he have to but wild hearts if he wants to play it after the review?

The performance issues really rear their heads during online play. For me on my PS5, it’s generally fine until I coop. Then I’m literally playing on the moon.

Are you going to talk about the game again once youve grinded the endgame for a bit? just wondering since in mh getting to the endgame can feel pretty different from progression like 4u gq trading and grinding

Monster hunter not just popularize the gamestyle but they also perfecting and defining it

this would be the best game for me without those bugs and performance issues. hope they fix it soon. and i hate that blank loading screen while waiting.

Maybe it's a regional thing, but can anyone tell me about marketing of this game? I heard about it only from few monster hunter twitter profiles and reddit posts Asking because i'm interested in whether monster hunter would have growing competition (since i'm in love with this kind of games), and it would be sad if this kind of competition wouldn't happen because of lack of a marketing making a game into a lesser than expected success.

Are all monsters just animalrock or animalplant? Like, no dragons or giants or anything else?

I was totally skeptical about the Karakuri, I can't stand gimmicky universal mechanics like that, but they NAILED IT. I feel like they are an extension of the weapon I play, and make me relate to the hunt in totally new, interesting and fluid ways. Side note: this game is gorgeous. The map design is incredible. I can't believe I am saying it, but they look and feel better than most of the maps in world.

Hope they release a performance patch

Update: They are never fixing the performance issues. EA abandoned it

I won't be playing this game for quite a while, maybe a year or more because my gaming backlog is large at the moment. One thing I hope is that this game is successful enough to stay and push monster hunter for the better. Imagine if this genre had two juggernauts for once. That would be so god damn amazing.

I love the game I think my main issue is not being able to leave immediately after completing a hunt. Also, the hunt modifiers are not clear on what they do. Like I have to figure it out on my own.

I'm very happy this game is good! It'll force the MH team to really work on making Mon Hun better, not that they have been lazy but you get what I mean

Yep. I'm gonna play the 10 hour trial. If I like the game, I'll wait for some patches and a sale.

Wait till this man figures out the actual combo of the bow, he will never return to hand canon lol.

How were you able to play the game at 144 fps. I have an rtx 4080 and an Intel i7-12700kf and play at 1440p. I get about 80-100 fps.

My main issue with the game is the camera distance and collision with environment ( specially when knocked down or grabbing the monster ) beside that it's a really nice surprise and enjoyment.

Dunno if it's worth the price until I get more info on endgame

Considering that I’m playing this game off of game pass and it’s been out for almost a year this games a blast

As soon as you put this game on 4k it becomes a slide show while at the same time running at 60fps. When in 4k render latency goes over 20ms and becomes a mess.

Claw blade is the absolute funnest weapon. It is so hard to play anything else

I will be waiting for Wild Hearts 2.

When Wild Hearts first came out, I brushed it off as a Great Value Monster Hunter. And since EA was attached to it, I didn't have any interest. So I never looked into it. But now, actually watching a video on the game, it looks interesting and this video convinced me to think about getting Wild Hearts.

Looks cool, but my bud just got into Rise, so I had to restart on Xbox for multiplayer. Guess I'm waiting for a sale.

Its expensive but dlc will be free, so on long term i think is good. Counter to a monster/ boss feels so good.

It's crazy and somehow unexpected how Karakuri turns this game into a mix of 2 of my favorite games of all time, Monster Hunter and Death Strading. There are only two games that I remember that you can build stuff like a zip line network to optimize traversal. DS and WH. As for weapon movesets.. I mean people either forget or haven't played MH before World but it took a bit more than 10 years of expertise for MH to add depth to their weapons. Until 4 Ultimate the weapons had actually less depth than Wild Hearts. Which to me is not a problem, since the more moves they add the more MH turns into Devil May Cry. I'm seeing a lot of "standard neutral takes" like "yea it's a good foundation/base for a new franchise", but honestly? It's already a very good hunting game. They learned from MH and executed very well (except for performance) to the point of leap frogging every other hunting game not called MH in the market... and I played A LOT of them. God Eater, Freedom Wars, Soul Sacrifice, Dauntless, Toukiden (same devs as WH), Phantasy Star Portable 1 and 2 and probably a few more I'm forgetting. Soul Sacrifice is the best of the bunch but it distanciates itself from MH too much to overtake WH.

I loved the locale, monsters, and how the game looked overall as well, but the technical issues are what killed it for me and I refunded the game in the end The only way I could play this game was on my steam deck, I couldn't even get it to launch on windows(Ryzen 9 3900X + 5700XT) even after they pushed out the launch fix patch. If it did allow me to play on windows, I would have waited for a patch while streaming it to my steam deck just like I did with Dead Space when it first launched, but it also got to the point where it kept crashing while trying to launch the game on my steam deck and because they tied launching the game to the ea play app, it eventually locked me out from playing it(Your account has accessed this game too many times error). I had played about 4 hours according to steam around the time that I dropped a review on their steam page + refunded it I'm just going to stick to MH in the future

Wait, people think it looks ONLY a BIT better than Rise??? The game looks pretty freaking amazing. I play Rise on the PS5 with max settings, and it's not half as good looking (and no, I'm not hating on Rise, it's one of my favorite games). I feel like the artstyle carries both games, but you can't really compare a switch game to a next-gen console and PC game. Oh yeah, uhhhh price, performance, did I mention everything?

I’ve enjoyed this game. I’ve been an mh fan since 3rd grade. Rise kinda took the spirit of enjoying the series out of me then this game dropped. I’ve never enjoyed a game so much since world

The game start to finish is alright. Gameplay is mighty fun. All weapons are unique and give you that anime power feels while still grounding the weapon. Karakuri changes your gameplay quite a bit offering you different ways to approach monsters with each person running different karakuri set ups for different combos. Monsters do get a bit easy with multiplayer hunts cause everyone just spams karakiri that locks kemonos in place so basically damage sponges. Story is a bit bare bones with it feeling a bit rushed near the end, a bit anticlimactic if you will. Dont trust me too much on story cause me and my friends just skimmed through the dialogue while somewhat getting the gist of what happens. Grinding is same old grinding, I say its even more rough than monster hunter cause you need parts from every single creature to make armor and weapons so you truly do feel like a monster hunter using parts from all kinds of animals to make your armory. I kinda like that aspect. Main real issue is optimization, the state the game released in and how much this game cost. $70 is way too much for a game to be released in this sorry state. My pc set up is pretty much whats reccomended, but even my friends with higher end pc's were having issues. Constant stuttering, crashes, save issues when in multiplayer, etc. $70 game shouldn't be running like complete doodoo. Its also asking a lot for players to wait 1 week for a patch that didn't fix everything. And EA launcher isn't helping this situation as well. I think console side is pretty alright. My lil bro with the ps5 didnt have much issues, but this just him. All in all, I had a fun and annoying experience with this game. The game is a fun alternative to monster hunter and is good filler if your waiting for a mainline monster hunter game. It does suck that EA is in charge of this game,, but i have faith that the devs can turn things around. I'd recommend if people want to play this game to wait for a discount, wait for the issues to be fixed, or if you really don't give a damn and just wanna hunt monster then go ahead and buy it cause its really fun when it's working properly. But do try to wait for a discount

Definitely sounds like something I’d enjoy on sale after a little waiting. Would also be nice to have a hunting game other than MH to play as well. Especially since the little that I’ve tried of PSO2 never really hooked me.

I know I sounds dumb, but I love this game as a off season Monster Hunter game. I’m just salivating thinking how I’m going to ping pong between these two series

I haven't tried it after the patch yet, but I love love loved the hunting I was able to do prior. It's clearly not the best game of all time, but I can see myself sinking dozens of hours into this. The karakuri system is absolutely ingenious and adds such an interesting layer of depth to combat. Ngl I was hooked from the moment I heard karakuri solely because I have nostalgia for the deck in yugioh lmaooo

It’s Kemono like a pun on 化け物(bakemono). 30fps cap on Xbox S permanently blinded me so I may be a character off.

Yeah, I absolutely agree the game is well worth it. I've gone out of my way to play every monsters hunter "clones" to the point of being a Dauntless alpha backer, and not a single one of them come close to being as great as wild hearts is. And when it comes to maps, I don't think any monster hunter games come close to as great as those in wild hearts. Of course, there's many factors to consider each games doing some things better than others at times but wild hearts shouldn't be dismissed. (Also this game's Katana scratches an itch 5th gen long sword left me with)

My biggest issue with this game is the camera angle sucks and the monsters moves arent telegraphed well enough for you to know where something hits or starts

I'm surprised to hear I'm further than you are!