Although Capcom has been known to make demos before a new MH release, new features shined in this beta, including weapon switching, pop-up camps, Seikret riding, and a following Handler who is both useful and isn't incredibly annoying, unlike a certain character from MH World.
Still, not everything in the beta was an objective improvement. Like with any series that has as strong a formula and identity as the Monster Hunter franchise, Wilds' changes have been met with some controversy and skepticism. Not everyone is a fan of a Palico that can speak a human language, although this can be changed should players wish, but this is perhaps the least of most players' worries. Poor optimization has a lot of PC players worried in particular and there is good reason for this given the recent history of the gaming industry.
Why People Are Worried About Monster Hunter Wilds
PC Ports Have Been Suffering For A While Now
Optimization for PCs closer to the minimum and recommended specs for MH Wilds left much to be desired in the beta. Some who were closer to the lower end of the required specs reported issues with rendering, with characters looking low poly and poorly textured as if they came straight from the PlayStation 1 era. It even became a bit of a meme in the community, especially with how comical some of the monsters look with single digit polygons, but this isn't what a game looking at a 2025 release date is supposed to look like.
Monster Hunter Wilds is going to release on February 28, 2025.
This is more worrying considering that Capcom has had a history of some poor PC ports in the past. Monster Hunter World had some notorious issues on PC, especially with its Iceborne expansion, which grew infamous for deleting save files after being installed. Dragon's Dogma 2 suffered from optimization issues as well and many were unable to run the game on PC without constant crashes despite having very few issues with other titles made with the RE Engine, like the new batch of Resident Evil games.
Monster Hunter Wilds Brings Highly Requested Features Like Crossplay & More
Crossplay is just one of the quality-of-life improvements being introduced in Monster Hunter Wilds, but don't expect to find new weapons.
One thing that should be noted is that Capcom isn't the only developer who was unable to make consistently good PC Ports. For instance, the otherwise great Star Wars: Jedi Survivor still has major issues with its PC port more than a year later and NieR: Automata was notorious for its issues on PCs. Both are great games, and Monster Hunter Wilds looks like its shaping up to be an awesome title too, but it shouldn't be forgotten that the version shown off is still a beta. There is still time for the game to be better optimized before its full launch.
MH Wilds' Beta Performed Well On High-End PCs
It Gives Hopes For Optimization At Launch
The Monster Hunter Wilds beta did play reasonably well on higher end PCs that are head and shoulders above the recommended stats on Steam. Although this sounds like something that is obvious, some PC Ports struggle to run on PCs seemingly at random. The Dragon's Dogma 2 port is a good example of this, since many players who had PCs better than the recommended specs still reported constant crashes and major frame rate drops. This doesn't seem to be the case for MH Wilds, which hopefully bodes quite well for its future.
Dragon's Dogma 2 has a demo where players can try the character creator which was released before the game. It is free and currently still available.
Plenty of players got to experience MH Wilds as it was intended on both PC and consoles, and it should be noted that the version seen is still a beta version. The optimization will likely improve going forward, and other early access titles can be pointed to as good examples of this. The early access for Game of the Year Baldur's Gate 3 had performance issues, which were greatly improved upon after both its launch and subsequent patches. An optimist would say that the same could apply to Monster Hunter Wilds and its beta.
Monster Hunter Wilds introduces crossplay between PC and consoles for the first time in the series.
Unlike with the past two Monster Hunter titles, Wilds will launch on PC and consoles simultaneously. This is quite big news that has been swept under the rug, since many Capcom games are seeing simultaneous PC and console releases, but it hopefully shows confidence that the Monster Hunter team can get the port right this time around. Although it was a long wait and the game isn't as graphically as intensive as Wilds and World, the Monster Hunter Rise PC port was solid, running as smooth as butter for anyone with the right specs.
Judgments Of MH Wilds' Performance Should Be Saved Until Launch
There Is Still Time To Improve Wilds' Optimization
The optimization of Monster Hunter Wilds' beta has rubbed a lot of people the wrong way for good reason. A lot of people are excited about this game, with the beta reaching a peak of 463,798 players on Steam (according to SteamDB charts) and that isn't even ing for the PlayStation and Xbox players. For context, MH Wilds' beta overtook Helldivers 2's all-time peak of 458,709 players on Steam (again, according to SteamDB), so its poor optimization is annoying for a lot of people who don't have high-end PCs.
This outrage has been expressed a lot online through forums and social media, but it is somewhat overblown. The game is still in beta. What players experienced wasn't the final product, and the purpose of it was to test the game. Optimization might have been one of the things that Capcom was keen to test, although the 100-player lobbies and servers were likely a main priority for the developer. Now that optimization issues have been reported, the Monster Hunter team can work on it before the game's launch in February.
Until the launch, the pitchforks and torches should be stowed away. If MH Wilds has a bad PC port at launch or with its potential demo, then it will receive deserving hate, especially because these issues were already reported beforehand. Yes, it is annoying that many could not get the proper Monster Hunter Wilds experience with the beta, but that is the nature of beta testing. Hopefully, the future versions of the title will let those closer to the minimum and recommended specs of the game experience it in its full glory.
Monster Hunter Wilds
- Released
- February 28, 2025
- ESRB
- T For Teen // Violence, Blood, Crude Humor
- Developer(s)
- Capcom
- Publisher(s)
- Capcom
- Engine
- RE Engine
- Multiplayer
- Online Multiplayer, Online Co-Op
- Cross-Platform Play
- Yes, all platforms
- Cross Save
- No
- Franchise
- Monster Hunter
- Platform(s)
- PC
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