WILD HEARTS™ Review Summary

Enjoyable core gameplay experience: The game delivers enjoyable combat, satisfying progression, and appealing visuals. Many reviewers found the gameplay loop addictive, praising the weapon variety, monster designs, and overall aesthetic. These elements contribute to a positive and engaging experience.

Innovative Karakuri building system: The Karakuri system allows players to construct various structures for combat and traversal. This mechanic is praised for adding depth, versatility, and a unique strategic element to hunts, differentiating the game from others in the genre.

Challenging and unique monster designs: The game features well-designed and challenging monsters inspired by Asian folklore. These creatures have unique abilities and can transform the environment during battle, creating visually impressive and strategic combat experiences.

Unique and varied weapon designs: The game features a diverse array of weapons inspired by Japanese folklore, each offering unique combat styles and upgrade paths. Reviewers appreciate the weapon customization system and the ability to experiment with different skills and playstyles.

Beautiful maps, customizable traversal: The game features beautifully designed maps with vibrant colors and variations, encouraging exploration. Players can customize these maps by building camps and ziplines, creating fast travel points and shortcuts.

Severe, unaddressed optimization issues: The game suffers from severe and persistent optimization issues, leading to low frame rates, stuttering, crashes, and freezes, even on high-end PCs. Many reviewers found the game unplayable, even after attempting various fixes and lowering graphics settings. The issues have persisted since launch and were never adequately addressed by the developers.

Limited monster variety, unfair attacks: The game features limited monster variety, with many being reskins of existing monsters. Monster attacks are often frustrating due to large hitboxes, excessive AOE, relentless combos, and high damage output. The camera system also contributes to the difficulty, often clipping through walls and making it hard to track monsters.

Abandoned; no updates or fixes: The game was abandoned by the developers and EA shortly after release, with no further updates or bug fixes. This has left the game in an unoptimized and unstable state, with frequent crashes and save data corruption issues. Many reviewers express disappointment and frustration over the lack of support.

Unpolished, lacks depth and feedback: The game feels unpolished and lacks depth compared to similar titles like Monster Hunter. Reviewers criticize the clunky combat, poor camera controls, limited weapon combos, and lack of satisfying feedback. The game also suffers from graphical issues and a general lack of polish.

Karakuri system is clunky: The Karakuri system, while unique, is often clunky and disrupts combat flow. Building structures can be cumbersome and unreliable, with button presses sometimes not registering. The game also lacks guidance on essential Karakuri techniques, leading to a lack of understanding of the game's mechanics.

Karakuri: core strategic mechanic: The Karakuri system is a core mechanic, allowing players to construct various structures and devices during hunts for traversal, offense, defense, and support. Mastering Karakuri is essential for creating openings, customizing hunting grounds, and enhancing combat effectiveness, differentiating the game from others in the genre.

Deep weapon and armor progression: The game features a progression system centered around hunting monsters, gathering resources, and crafting/upgrading weapons and armor. Weapons have unique movesets and elemental customization, while armor can be upgraded along human or monster paths, offering diverse build options and endgame content.

Similar to Monster Hunter, but unique: The game shares similarities with Monster Hunter but introduces unique elements like the Karakuri system and a more action-oriented combat style. The focus is more strategic and the hunting experience feels lighter compared to Monster Hunter.

Aggressive monsters, tricky camera: Monsters often attack with continuous, wide-ranging attacks, sometimes from blind spots, demanding precise dodging and awareness. Some reviews mention the camera can struggle to keep up, requiring reliance on lock-on.

Feudal Japan setting, good story: The game is set in a world inspired by feudal Japan, incorporating historical and mythological elements. The story is well-executed and the monsters have great designs.

DLSS: performance boost, instability: Some players report that enabling DLSS can improve frame rates, but it may also introduce memory issues. These memory issues can sometimes be resolved by restarting the game periodically. The stability and effectiveness of DLSS seem to vary.

Game crashes frequently: Several reviewers have reported experiencing game crashes, sometimes frequently. These crashes can occur at various points in the game, including during loading, gameplay, and even after the ending credits, potentially leading to lost progress. In some cases, crashes have resulted in blue screens and save file corruption.

Laggy menus, long loading: Some players have reported laggy menus and long loading times. These issues can make navigating the game's interface and starting the game a frustrating experience.

Multiplayer suffers network issues: Multiplayer experiences are negatively impacted by network fluctuations, causing slowdowns for all players. Additionally, monsters in multiplayer often teleport or rotate erratically, making it difficult to track their aggro and affecting dodge timing.

Buy only on deep sale: Many reviewers suggest only buying the game on sale due to performance issues and concerns about whether the full price reflects the game's quality and content. Some suggest specific discounted prices that would make the game a worthwhile purchase. The game's value is perceived to be much higher when heavily discounted.

Compared to Monster Hunter series: Many reviewers compare the game to the Monster Hunter series, with some recommending it as a substitute or a game to play while waiting for the next Monster Hunter release. However, some reviewers suggest that existing Monster Hunter games are better options due to superior performance and content. Some reviewers feel that this game cannot replace Monster Hunter.

Game has unrealized potential: Many reviewers express disappointment with the game's current state, citing technical issues and a lack of polish that undermine its potential. Some reviewers express hope for future improvements or a sequel that addresses these shortcomings. Some reviewers feel that the game is incomplete or rushed.

Try via subscription service: Some reviewers suggest trying the game through EA Play or other subscription services to mitigate the risk of purchasing a flawed product. This allows players to experience the game without committing to the full price, especially given concerns about ongoing support and updates.

Mixed feelings about sequel: Some reviewers express interest in a sequel, while others are skeptical due to concerns about the developers or publisher. The desire for a sequel often hinges on the potential for improvements and the resolution of existing issues.

Monster Hunter-like, but different: The game is seen as EA's attempt at the Monster Hunter formula, with some reviewers noting similarities and differences. While it expands on the formula in unique ways, it lacks a sense of ecosystem compared to Monster Hunter. Some reviewers feel it could have been a viable alternative to Monster Hunter.

Unique Japanese-inspired aesthetic: The game features a distinct visual aesthetic inspired by Japanese/oriental themes. The creatures, called Kemono, are unique mashups of animals and nature. The soundtrack complements the art direction, creating an otherworldly Japanese atmosphere.

Available on Game Pass; cross-play: The game is available on Xbox Game Pass and via EA Launcher with cross-play functionality. This provides players with multiple options for accessing and playing the game with friends on different platforms.

High PC spec requirements: The game requires a high-spec PC and a significant amount of storage space (80GB). This can be a barrier to entry for some players.

Easy character re-customization: Players can easily edit their character's appearance later in the game using an unlockable mirror. This allows for experimentation with character creation without permanent consequences.