Wild Hearts Critic Reviews

Perhaps my biggest takeaway from Wild Hearts is that I didn’t once find myself lamenting for Monster Hunter. Wild Hearts was perhaps a risky endeavour, but it’s one that’s paid off with impressive results. While genre newcomers can treat the land of Azuma as a gateway to monster hunting, long-standing genre fans will find plenty here to keep them happy until the next Monster Hunter adventure arrives.

Wild Hearts has so much to offer. From the striking monster designs, distinct weapon variety, and engaging combat, hunters will have a new favorite game to join up with friends and take down enormous foes. Outside of some dips in pacing in the later hours, and a few repetitive encounters, there is little holding this game back from becoming a new name in the genre.

Wild Hearts is a class act and an impressive first step at a franchise that feels entirely original.

Wild Hearts is a massive single-player and co-op hunting game with an RPG backbone supporting it. The mixture of story, creative mechanics, thick strategy, and beautiful visuals makes this a top-tier hunting experience. If the controls could be improved a bit and break from traditional stuck-in-the-action sequences, it would be nearly perfect. Overall, it’s a great first go at a genre that is severely lacking in competition.

More than a Monster Hunter clone, Wild Hearts managed to be a worthy competitor to the Capcom series, thanks to its original ideas and handling of well-known concepts. Omega Force has delivered a new series that could well become a mainstay for the Japanese studio.

After spending most of the last year on Sunbreak which I loved across platforms, Omega Force and EA's Wild Hearts is a perfect complement for Monster Hunter fans looking to play another great game in the genre. While it is unfortunately held back by technical issues, Wild Hearts does a lot that takes the genre forward, and I can't wait to keep playing the postgame through the coming months while we hopefully get more updates.

Wild Hearts takes the hunting action to the next level with vicious beasts, a vast world to explore, and an array of powerful weapons. But that's not all—the magical Karakuri crafting system seamlessly blends with combat and exploration to offer an awe-inspiring experience. It's so fluently integrated into the game that you'll be amazed at how much it advances combat, exploration, and the engaging gameplay loop. Still, the adventure suffers from visual issues and a waning grind. Even so, Wild Hearts is my new monster-hunting addiction.

Wild Hearts is not only a great exponent of the genre, it can also be a highly recommended entry point.

Wild Hearts is packed with creative mechanics and delightful flourishes that make it a welcome and exciting addition to the monster hunting genre.

Still, that Wild Hearts gets so much right on its first tentative step into the arena is bloody impressive. Omega Force has created the first title I’ve played that is a genuine contender in the space and they’ve done more than enough to justify Wild Hearts’ place in it. The result is something meaningfully different in a genre no one else has been able to touch. It’s kind of like if someone made a Souls-like on par with an actual Souls.

Wild Hearts is a more than solid proposal that manages to come out well from its comparison with Monster Hunter. Its distinctive points are clear and give the game a style of its own. The Japanese design and setting is convincing and although it is far from being a round IP, Wild Hearts could have a great future as a saga.

WILD HEARTS is a pretty fun monster hunter-like game that stands out for its use of tools called Karakuri. The gameplay is very fast, intuitive but simplified in a good way. However, at the graphic level I found some mix ups and downs but I enjoyed it a lot.

Wild Hearts couldn't have been a better start for a new IP. While the experience shares more than a few similarities with that of the Monster Hunter series, the unique monster design, the great weapon variety and the Karakuri crafting mechanics give the game a unique flavor that makes it stand out easily among similar games. Performance issues, sadly, impact the experience considerably on all formats, preventing it from reaching greater heights, but even in its current state, the game is a more than worthy purchase for fans of the genre.

Wild Hearts improves on all existing aspects of it's main competitor, Monster Hunter. The game adds a touch of originality with surprising and functional mechanics. Fun and challenging, the game is a visual spectacle that excites and also delivers unique rewards for the players.

Wild Hearts does not invent the black thread at the time in hunting games, but it does offer some attractive game mechanics thanks to the Karakuri system, which dramatically changes the way you face giant monsters. Omega Force proves again that it is a versatile game studio with many talents and the ability to do different games. The result is a very entertaining title that will depend on its community to keep going.

As a new IP, destined to be compared to one of the world's most beloved hunting action franchises inevitably, 'Wild Hearts' seems to have successfully secured its own identity by composing an original system and open world. Although the button arrangement for the console version is somewhat sloppy, It will most likely be a great option if you are looking for a new hunting action game.

If the developers were hoping to launch an IP that could stand side-by-side with other monster-hunting games, they can rest easy. Wild Hearts shares some mechanics with other titles in the genre, but it’s best when staking out unique territory. Hunting Kemono alone and with others, using the Karakuri, and just enjoying the game’s satisfying loop are all a lot of fun. Best of all, Wild Hearts has the mechanical foundation and potential for endless DLC and sequels. If they can live with its slightly disappointing visuals, fans of that “other” monster-hunting game have a viable and addictive alternative in Wild Hearts.

While the game stumbles here and there regarding camera issues, story, and a lack of enemy variety at launch, Koei Tecmo's Omega Force and EA's latest game still manages to land on its own two feet. A brilliant crafting system makes Wild Hearts unique and a lovely addition to the hunting subgenre.

From the story and the karakuri to the kemono monsters themselves, Wild Hearts has some world-class mechanics and writing behind it. It falters in a few important places as well, especially regarding performance, but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth your time and money. If you love taking down fantastical beasts of every shape and size, this time in a world inspired by feudal Japan, there’s no substitute.

The team at Omega Force have done a commendable job with Wild Hearts, as it does just enough to stand out from the Monster Hunter games that Capcom has created. This ambitious project boasts a beautiful high fantasy feudal Japan setting and an intuitive and game-changing Karakuri building mechanic. However, the high cost of entry and performance issues hold it back from being truly captivating.