Wild Hearts Review

Just a quick glance at Wild Hearts will reveal how much it resembles Capcom’s Monster Hunter series. In both games, you must search for and kill enormous creatures by yourself or with other people before gathering their components to make better weapons and armor. The Toukiden series, which was developed by Omega Force, has previously dabbled in the monster-hunting subgenre, and those two titles may be the best examples outside of Capcom’s own notable top-sellers. Omega Force, however, didn’t intend for Wild Hearts to be merely a copycat. The novel Karakuri system gives the game a distinctive personality that makes it stand out from its contemporaries despite the fact that it contains a lot of recognizable components.

In the fictional world of Wild Hearts, hunters may create incredible technological marvels out of thin air via a technique called karakuri. It works as a quick-paced, multipurpose crafting system that expands your options for both fighting and non-fighting situations. You begin with what are referred to as Basic Karakuri, the first of which allows you to create a wooden crate that, when you step on top of it, shoots you into the air. Up to three of these crates can be stacked together to create extra height, which is helpful for navigating the area but especially handy while battling the Kemono, or other creatures, in Wild Hearts. You can launch from these boxes and switch to a powerful downward assault, or you can take use of the elevated position to rapidly evade an area-of-effect attack that spouts a lava lake or poisonous clouds. The majority of Karakuri have a dual use like this, whether it’s a glider that enables you to cross wide gaps and position yourself above monsters for an aerial assault or a springboard that helps you avoid attacks and move toward Kemono.

It doesn’t take long to start integrating the numerous Karakuri into each battle engagement because erecting them is quick and easy. It ultimately becomes second nature to build a crate, springboard, or torch in the heat of battle, and being able to do so is just as important to each battle as understanding how to utilize your particular weapon of choice. Later on, you can also find Fusion Karakuri, which combine multiple Basic Karakuri to build bigger, more complex devices. For example, placing nine crates in three rows creates a sturdy wall that can stop projectiles from coming at it or stop a charging Kemono in its tracks, sending the animal into the air before dropping it in a helpless heap on the ground. Moreover, you have the ability to call out enormous bouncing hammers, potent bombs, and blinding fireworks that can shoot down soaring foes.

Making an equipment out of nothing and using it to your advantage to defeat a 20-foot-tall monster is incredibly exciting, but the inclusion of these versatile tools doesn’t lessen the intensity that the genre demands. Celestial Thread, a particular resource, is needed to construct each one. If you run out, you can gain more by chopping down trees and rocks or by targeting weak points on a Kemono’s body and removing parts of it. Because you may combine all of your different resources, this forces you to think strategically and decide when and how to employ Karakuri. It also encourages you to play with others. You may construct a wall to shield a teammate who is shocked, leap from the same location at once to launch three consecutive aerial strikes, or assist someone who is still building a mechanism after they have used up all of their Celestial Thread.

Whether you want to party up with friends or join a couple of strangers, there are several methods to play collaboratively, and it’s a rather simple procedure. You can look for other sessions that are taking on particular hunts, join a fellow hunter who is in need, seek for help on your own, or construct your own party. Cross-play also makes it much simpler to form a group with other players. Because you can resuscitate each other, Wild Hearts’ multiplayer is more user-friendly than Monster Hunter’s. Everyone still has access to the same three lives, but the likelihood that you’ll pass away is reduced if someone is nearby to assist you in getting back up.

While it is possible to complete Wild Hearts by yourself, doing so can be risky due to a few sharp difficulty spikes. The first obstacle is a Kemono with the menacing name Deathstalker. I spent a couple of hours hunting other monsters so I could upgrade my equipment and concentrate on its elemental strengths and weaknesses after failing to make a dent in it more than a few times. Even with the greatest fire-tinged sword I could find and the best ice-resistant armor I could make, it took me a few tries to finally destroy the beast. This may have been simpler if I could have gotten assistance from other hunters, but that was not possible on this specific hunt before we launched, so I was left on my own. It’s difficult to recommend Wild Hearts to people who like to play alone because this abrupt difficulty jump may be too much if you don’t like playing with other people. Cooperative gaming is also simply more enjoyable, in part because there is a stronger sense of community than in other monster-hunting games.

The fun of cutting the Kemono down to size is mostly dependent on the Kemono themselves. Each one resembles a gigantic, deformed version of a common animal, such as rats, boars, gorillas, or crows. Moreover, these ferocious animals are also merged with nature, allowing them to attack you with foul fungal spores and twisting roots that forcefully protrude from the earth. Learning the right tactics to defeat each Kemono is a unique challenge, and doing so is a pleasant experience that motivates you to use all of your vast repertoire.

Although the rest of the game’s graphics aren’t consistently strong, the monster designs are. In the mythical nation of Azuma, which was modeled after feudal Japan, the novel Wild Hearts is set. Each place has its own unique character, varying from the lush, rolling hills of Harugasumi Way to the rugged, barnacle-covered beaches of Natsukodachi Isle and the fortified, previously impenetrable Fuyufusagi Fort, now lying in ruin in the middle of an endless winter. Although there are many low-resolution textures and general blurriness, there are also many views that are not as pleasing to the eye. I bring this up because, despite its outward appearances, Wild Hearts also has performance issues.

Despite the fact that my PC’s configuration exceeds the suggested minimum requirements, frame rate and stuttering problems kept me from enjoying my time playing. Fortunately, these glitches didn’t happen as frequently during fighting, but I did occasionally see brief freezes of the game. These technical flaws were also unaffected by lowering the graphics settings, as it performed identically at both the lowest and maximum presets. Some improvements have already been made as a result of a few updates, and Omega Force claims that additional adjustments are on the way, so there is optimism that these problems will soon be a thing of the past.

The basic gameplay loop in Wild Hearts doesn’t stray too far from Monster Hunter’s blueprint, but it was a brilliant move to base everything on a quick-paced building concept. The Wild Hearts system enhances each component separately. Its existence and the manner Karakuri is woven into each component improves combat, traversal, and co-op. Although it has some noticeable flaws that hinder it, particularly in terms of technical performance, Wild Hearts is a welcome addition to a genre that is typically controlled by a single series.

source: gamespot