Monster Hunter Wilds fans are so eager to play that Capcom's 60-second weapon videos are racking in millions of views

Last night, I was up until 2 am when I came across a video that made me grin ear-to-ear: a 66 second video showing the hunting horn from Monster Hunter Wilds. I watched it twice, then showed my partner. "Oh, that's sick," she murmured half-asleep while the horn player played a melody which created a area-of-effect buff in the battlefield.

The Hunting Horn video is part of a series showcasing the new features of each weapon type in Wilds. It's so short, Capcom could have published it as a YouTube Short, or even a TikTok. But I think they bet that Monster Hunter fans would devour any Wilds-related gameplay, and they were right. These overview videos have been viewed millions of times since Capcom began publishing them on YouTube just four days ago. I'm sure that any doubts you may have had about Wilds being the biggest Monster Hunter game to date are now gone.

To be fair, I could represent about half of these views. I keep watching the overview of the gunlance, my favorite weapon. The video focuses on the basic moves, which have been a mainstay of the weapon in several games. However, there are also some new moves which look sinister. Wilds' Focus Strikes, which also has an accompanying video explanation, allows gunlancers to charge at a monster and drill continuously into it like a carnivorous dig dug. I also noticed a new full-burst combo which fires the lance shells in a vertical arch. This should be useful for targeting out of reach monster parts.

The overview videos of the insect glaive, and heavy bowgun, are also very informative. Focus Skill lets you spin the glaive around a monster like Spider-Man, while the heavy bowgun's "Ignition mode" lets you fire the weapon like a machine gun. I'm going assume that this is new territory for the heavy bowgun. However, I have always overlooked Monster Hunter's ranged weapons.

Focus Strikes and Focus Mode are both exciting. The new mechanic appears to replace the Switch Skills in Monster Hunter Rise and they appear to be toned down. Rise's main theme was mobility. Everyone had wirebugs and special skills to get airborne at any time. It was fun but took away from the "heft" that I associate with this series.

Focus Mode allows for more precise attacks in Wilds. In this new stance a reticle appears in the screen, which allows you to "aim" your attacks at specific body portions. Focus Mode highlights the wounds that you create on monsters. This makes it easier to target these spots and deal more damage. You can trigger a new, particularly nasty great sword move by targeting weak spots and wounds. The hunter digs into the wound with the sword and drags it across the body of the monster. Ouch.

Capcom will probably continue to show off Wilds weapons for another week or so. Fans can expect to see the dual blades and hunting hammer. The bow will also be included.