If you've spent a lot of time with past Monster Hunter titles, then you'll probably agree that Monster Hunter Wilds feels a bit... off. At least, it did in the open beta, which was live across the weekend on PS5 and PC.
Almost straight away, experienced players noticed that the series' trademark combat — unapologetically hefty and deeply satisfying — wasn't hitting in quite the same way. Attacks felt comparatively weightless, and there was a general lack of oomph. The kind of thing that's hard to explain.
Thankfully, fans seem to have got to the bottom of this potential problem. As detailed in a great little video from @Axelayer, Wilds seems to have all but abandoned 'hitstop' — an animation technique that tends to emphasise attack impact.
Hitstop is used across all kinds of games, but it's always been especially prevalent in Monster Hunter, adding a satisfyingly weighty feel to your heaviest blows. But for whatever reason, it's been massively toned down in Wilds, which explains why veteran players are experiencing a discrepancy.
Having spent hundreds of hours in Monster Hunter World, we noticed the difference as well. There's no doubt that Wilds is missing something within its core gameplay — and this apparent lack of hitstop is probably a big part of it.
Here's hoping that Capcom adjusts things ahead of the game's February 2025 release date.
Did you play the Monster Hunter Wilds beta? Demand the return of hitstop in the comments section below.
[source x.com]
Comments 22
The lack of hit stop is definitely part of it. The visual hit effects also seemed to be very weak. As someone who prefers to disable damage numbers, without the numbers there's little feedback in the beta to demonstrate your attacks are actually connecting.
Yeah I noticed this as well, and thank goodness someone finally gives an explanation for it as I was confused on Wilds felt so very off.
Now that I know it, Hitstop is absolutely crucial in titles like these. As a longsword main, those impact should've stayed so so it doesn't feel like I was hitting the monster with wet noodles.
I didn't really think the beta was all that personally. Very ugly visuals IMO and gameplay didn't feel that great.
Obviously I understand it's unfinished code etc etc I'm not making my final judgment based on this. But not the best first impression really.
Agreed that the combat is too floaty and the visuals looked not great on PS5 once you see it on a good PC.
Another problem they have to solve is the f'd up animation interactions when you destroy a wound with a focus strike combo. On SA your hunter does this long combo, but the monster keeps moving, so you smack the air while damage numbers rack up. Looks dumb.
Still very excited and expect this to be GOTY '25.
@get2sammyb I agree. I actively disliked the beta. This year my gaming spending has been down and I have nothing preordered for next year (very unusual for me, though I’m ready for the Death Stranding and Ghost of Yotei preorders the day Sony feels like putting them out), so I was like, “Ok, Monster Hunter doesn’t usually click for me, but I think this is the one…” And nope. I thought it performed worse than Dragon’s Dogma 2 and played worse than the Switch beta I played for Rise. The visuals didn’t feel up to snuff either, irregardless of the other technical issues. Very baffling beta if they’re trying to drum up interest in the game with uninitiated.
I was wondering why it felt like the hits had no weight behind the swings, I guess that explains it.
I had the game hard crash twice for me during the beta, both while fighting monsters. I know it's a beta but hopefully it's ironed out.
I love MH and i wasnt blown away by the beta. Itleast i didnt come to the comments expecting PS5 pro to be mentioned anywhere 🤔🤣
Oh my god that explains so much. Just felt completely off. I know it’s a beta but I came away feeling rather let down.
@get2sammyb I only needed one thing out of the beta and that was to gauge how well it ran on my PC, I'd prefer just straight up playing on PS5 but the PS+ requirement keeps MH firmly on PC. It worked well enough but yeah after how clean Rise was the grunginess of Wilds was a bit... meh... But I do wonder if its just something that needs getting used to.
@Glens0n Please rephrase that 💀
I really hope it’s all just a matter of final polish but I dunno, after the state of DD2 at launch, I’m worried. Whenever a AAA company garners too much unchecked consumer praise (ie. all the CAPGOD fandom), they inevitably squander it and start coasting on their success (looking at you, SONY).
Once again I'm so confused 😭. Well not as much, it did feel different but I wouldn't say it felt off. It was slightly noticeable with the LS but very noticeable with the bow. But I wouldn't say it was ruining my experience or that it's somehow worse. It was absolutely still the same exhilarating combat I've been experiencing from 3U to Sunbreak
The visuals are drab and the gameplay is weightless. I can't say for certain but if feels like increasing the scope and making the game open world gave less time for the developers to polish the game.
I won't be surprised if it's a disappointment when it releases.
@Pat_trick The whole point of public beta versions is to gather data and feedback, and to test servers etc. So I'd imagine they will focus on things that people found problematic, like the lack of hitstop.
@KoopaTheGamer True and I hope they fix it. But I think it's a bit too late in the development cycle to make the game look appealing.
With the exception of the floatiness, the demo was excellent to play on my PC (5800x3d+3080ti). I'm bummed I can't keep playing it today!
well I already thought previous MH games felt terrible to play so this does not bode well for getting me interested in the new one lol
I played about 12hrs and the hitstop adjustment are a IMPROVEMENT not negative. Makes the combat quicker. I much prefer it to World (went back to fight Furious Rajan right after the Beta ended so the changes were obvious) but its a good mix of World and Rise.
EDIT: Judging by the 21 other comments thus far we did not play the same beta. My experience seems to have been magnitudes better than most here. I loved it, changes and all. To each their own 🤷🏾♂️
What has happened to Capcom? It seems like they went from unstoppable to gutter trash back to glimmers of unstoppable and now back to gutter trash. How could they mess up monhun of all things?
I thought it felt fine, but I haven’t played tons of MH, so…
@3Above I enjoyed it a lot too. It looked nice (although admittedly a desert wasn't the most exciting place visually) and played like a Monster Hunter game. But there are still things to be improved. First and foremost, the performance. But also minor little tweaks like adding the hitstop to make the combat juicier.
Like Devil May Cry V, which feels like you're always slashing through paper. Awful.
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