Monster Hunter Wilds

Monster Hunter Wilds, released in 2025, is the series' latest mainline entry and its most technically ambitious release to date. Capcom built it on the same engine (RE Engine) that powers its modern action games, delivering vast, interconnected areas that change over the course of play according to the season and weather - meaning the same location can look and play differently depending on when the player visits it. The graphical and technical leap over previous entries is apparent at first glance, placing Wilds among the most visually ambitious action RPGs of today.

Compared to older entries in the series, Wilds places much greater emphasis on flow and cinematic presentation - loading transitions between zones are gone, missions frequently tie directly into the story without the traditional return to the village between hunts, and the player can track and follow monsters through an open, continuous environment. There are also animal companions that help the player with tracking and getting around the map, further reinforcing the feeling of a continuous, living world rather than a series of separate arenas. This entry launched simultaneously on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series and PC in essentially identical form, so no platform offers different content or gameplay - it's simply a matter of which one the player prefers to play on. Cross-platform crossplay support is also maintained across all platforms, so a group of friends can hunt together regardless of what device each of them owns.

Why play it: Wilds is the best choice for anyone who wants to experience the series in its currently most refined and graphically most advanced form, with a world that feels more alive than ever before. Thanks to its smoother pacing and better player guidance, it's also a decent entry point for complete newcomers who were put off by older entries' austerity and technical clunkiness. And since this isn't some stripped-down version but a full-fledged mainline entry, players don't have to worry about missing out compared to another platform.