Wild Hearts (PS5) Review – Game News

The nascent monster-hunting genre doesn’t have many entries outside of Monster Hunter, but developer Omega Force aims to change that with its new IP, wild hearts. Omega Force is perhaps best known for its accessible, albeit repetitive, action game play Dynasty Warriors, and some hope has emerged not just for a contender in this near-exclusive space, but for one trying something in out of the test and true formula. of Capcom’s venerable franchise.

Where is a Kemono wearing a kimono?

The monsters in Wild Hearts are called Kemono, a fauna that you must eliminate using the various weapons and tools at your disposal. They are not so much fantastic beasts as large animals combined with the ability to alter their local environment. So while you won’t see any dragons or dinosaurs, what you will see is the scariest chicken gracing your screen since those grumpy chickens from the Legend of Zelda series. Each of these beasts has a dedicated entry in the game’s encyclopedia, which can reveal which elements each Kemono is strong or weak against.

Combat in Wild Hearts is faster than what Monster Hunters players will be used to. Your character has unlimited stamina, so running across an entire map is an option. Attacks also don’t consume energy, so as long as you can keep an enemy stunned or on your back, you can keep hitting them until they run away or are defeated. There is a version of energy that is used when the player rolls or climbs over a surface or monster in the style of Shadow of the Colossus, only with enemies slightly smaller than those infamous colossus.

Melee combat is fast and furious, but what really sets Wild Hearts apart is its Karakuri, an ancient technology used by your hunter. By using magic thread, various wood-based structures can be built or fused into larger units. As long as the player has enough threads, these can be built anytime and almost anywhere.

Basic Karakuri starts out simple, with things like boxes and springs to help the player reach higher ground or quickly jump out of harm’s way. But stacking these elements together can result in fusion, where the parts combine to produce something much bigger or more useful than the constituent parts alone.

For example, stacking six boxes will result in the construction of a large wall in just one second, which can act as a shield against any incoming attack and almost guarantees a Kemono stun if charged. Meanwhile, stacking three more expensive springs will result in the creation of a large hammer, which immediately hits the ground, dealing heavy damage to any unfortunate enemies caught below, while destroying itself in the process.

Leave some Karakuri to your friends

Outside of combat, there’s also Dragon Karakuri, which are utilitarian structures like a tent for resting, a campfire for planning your next hunt, a forge for crafting and upgrading gear, a tower for pinging and finding the Kemono target, and even decorative units. what do you look like

Each of these Dragon Karakuri costs a certain amount of resources to craft, and the total amount of those resources is determined by the number of Dragon Pits the player has awakened and/or upgraded. Of course, materials have to be delivered to upgrade these pits, but luckily awakening them isn’t usually too expensive, so when you arrive at a new location you should at least be able to set up camp and tent. These tents are crucial as they also serve as fast travel locations.

In the case of non-offensive Karakuri, their incorporation into the world is permanent, unless destroyed by a Kemono. This also applies to other player worlds you visit, meaning you can leave a useful Karakuri, like a zipline, where you think your partner might benefit. You can also unlock a placeable message. Dropping useful items sets up Death Stranding vibes, and it’s great to see other players leaving their mark on your own world.

As hinted, online play is available at Wild Hearts. It also supports cross-platform play, so hopefully that means finding or providing support is always a quick affair. Whenever you start a hunt against a big Kemono, all it takes to submit an online support request is a quick tap on the d-pad. Then, any player who visits a Hunter Gate found around the world will be able to answer its call. It’s simple and easy to use, and once the hunt is over, players split up, with all loot being delivered to each player, regardless of damage dealt or any other metric.

Eight main weapons to use

There are eight different types of weapons available to earn or craft, which is far fewer than in other hunting games. However, Omega Force chose to incorporate over 200 variations of these eight weapons, each of their own weapons being upgradable. This is done in any forge, and each weapon has an unlock tree to choose from. Some are only available for crafting once certain hidden conditions are met, which encourages actual use of what you’ve built to familiarize yourself with it. Some of these unlocks lower the weapon’s stats leading to another unlock below which increases those same stats by a much greater amount.

While Monster Hunter gives the player pet cats (and now dogs), Wild Hearts has Tsukumo. They are small, self-contained Karakuri-powered bullets that behave like robots, but whatever they are, they help the player in battle by attacking Kemono, causing aggro to repel the player’s attacks, healing, and others support actions. You can befriend dozens of them to collect gears, which can be used at any campfire to upgrade your main companion, Tsukumo. They’re kinda cute in a little companionship sense, even though they don’t really have a face that you can see.

Not the prettiest monster hunt.

Wild Hearts is designed to be useful, and it’s not the prettiest game out there. On PS5, there are two graphics modes as usual, and the player can decide if they want to prioritize resolution or frame rate. The result is a pretty smooth experience, with only occasional slowdowns.

Load times are fast here on the PS5 – its SSD has of course been a boon to games this generation simply by being so fast at carrying electrons. However, while most of the time things are quick, returning to Minato (the player’s main city which they unlock early) sometimes takes much longer than usual. Compared to the near-instant fast travel option when not switching maps, that odd longer loading screen indicates there’s still room for improvement. The DualSense controller is also used a bit beyond vibration, as adaptive triggers are used lightly with certain weapons, and a slightly slow feel is applied to the L2 button when landing a final hit on the target/boss. Kemono.

Wild Hearts: The Final Verdict

Wild Hearts has basically ticked all the boxes when it comes to monster hunting games. It may be too Monster Hunter-like to stand out on its own, and that problem lies in its presentation. Omega Force has a series of action games with a much sleeker look, like Samurai Warriors, and borrowing from that can help elevate this new franchise to even greater heights.

Wild Hearts seems to have the right ideas of what a modern monster hunting game needs. If it could inject some of the flashier parts from its other games, then Omega Force would definitely have a fierce competitor on its hands in the monster hunting game genre. Right now, of course, it’s in Capcom’s shadow, but suddenly this subgenre started to heat up. Competition breeds innovation, and it’s exciting to wonder what we’ll see next.