Monster Hunter Wilds is by far the most accessible entry in the franchise, with plenty of reworked mechanics to make it a worthy successor to the series, but some aspects seemed to have gotten lost along the way. While Wilds might not be the same experience the franchise offered over two decades ago, there have been countless welcome additions to the gameplay loop. Aside from graphics and overall quality of life features, there are more ways to experience what makes Monster Hunter great in Wilds, even if it came at the cost of losing some of its identity.
From removing lower-level quest objectives to restructuring the difficulty of its story mode, not every change made to Monster Hunter Wilds has been as well-received as the rest. Thankfully, Monster Hunter‘s collaboration event tradition is carrying on in the latest entry, even if a few others have been abandoned, as Wilds is already receiving its first crossover content, being added near the end of May. While I can’t wait to see what Capcom has in store for the future of Wilds, there’s still one feature I sorely miss from the original series, even months after release.
I Still Miss The Monster Hunter Language In Wilds
Helping To Build Immersion In Wilds’ Unique Game World
The Monster Hunter franchise has always offered a unique middle ground when it comes to its fantastical setting, with most of the creatures inhabiting its world being somewhat grounded and boasting an incredible attention to detail. While it has little to no bearing on the actual gameplay itself, the unique language made for the Monster Hunter series helps to make the game world stand out with its own unique identity. I was hoping the Monster Hunter language would return in a future update for Wilds, but there hasn’t been any mention of its inclusion yet.
Capcom is taking steps to make Monster Hunter Wilds Challenge Quests more fair to players by eliminating exploiters and leaderboard requirements.
While my gameplay experience hasn’t been negatively impacted by Monster Hunter‘s unique language being absent, it felt especially strange given just how heavily inspired Wilds is by previous entries in the franchise. Unlike Monster Hunter World, which attempted to stand on its own as a way to introduce the series to modern audiences, Wilds openly features several characters like Genma the Smithee, whose origins can be traced back over a decade. With how many callbacks and monsters are ripped straight from fan-favorite entries in the series, like Monster Hunter 4, suddenly removing the long-lived feature is a massive missed opportunity.
Cutting The Monster Hunter Language Wasn’t Necessary
A Strange Choice For A Game With So Much Player Freedom
According to Wilds developers in an interview with PC Gamer, the decision to remove the original language was made out of a perceived necessity for the much greater focus on storytelling and dialogue for Monster Hunter Wilds. After hearing Capcom’s reasoning, it’s easy to understand why the change was made, but that doesn’t mean I’m thrilled about the lack of choice. Most new players or those who care more about the story will likely gravitate to their preferred language of choice already, with the in-game Monster Hunter language more likely to be picked by long-time fans of the series.
The unfamiliarity and strange cadence of character dialogue were all a part of the series’ charm.
Even though the Monster Hunter language was primarily made up of simple sounds and phrases in the past, this changed most prominently with Monster Hunter World, as it featured fully fleshed-out cutscenes and long segments of dialogue. Rewatching cutscenes from World, it’s true that the pieced-together Monster Hunter language makes it harder to sell a nuanced performance, but the unfamiliarity and strange cadence of character dialogue were all a part of the series’ charm.
Even if the focus on Wilds’ improved storyline had the benefit of creating one of Monster Hunter‘s best protagonists,it still feels like an unnecessary change to completely remove it from the game, especially when it can be even more immersive than the default languages to some players. Given how much fan-service exists in Wilds already, it would have been great to see the language still playable in the game, but with a warning tag saying it’s not the intended way to experience Wilds‘ story.
Even Gibberish Can Mean A Lot
NPC Dialogue Has Left Me Wanting More From Wilds’ Language Options
Thankfully, Monster Hunter Wilds hasn’t completely abandoned the Monster Hunter language just yet, instead sidelining it to solely existing in background conversations. When interacting with certain NPCs or listening to background characters talk among themselves in base camps, the classic language can be heard as clearly as day. I have to admit it’s even stranger for the Monster Hunter language to exist in background form given its removal from the sound settings, but I’ll happily take what I can get for now.
Monster Hunter Wilds is already off to a great start with its upcoming additions, but there’s one monster that desperately deserves a second chance.
I’m still holding out hope that Monster Hunter Wilds will add the language as an optional download in the future, as Capcom has already started including old themes and decorations from past entries in the form of DLC. While I wouldn’t pay to experience Monster Hunter Wilds in a more classic fashion myself, it would be nice to have the option available for hunters that desperately want to relive the series’ glory days.
Olympian Trinity Rodman was boyfriend Ben Shelton’s No. 1 fan and cheerleader during the BMW Open tennis tournament. Rodman, 22, stepped out in Munich on Saturday, April 19, for Shelton’s semifinal match against Argentine athlete Francisco Cerundolo, sitting in a private box. The soccer player, for her part, dressed sporty [...]
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