Monster Hunter rival Wild Hearts might have been left to die, yet I can't help but love it

Over the past few weeks, I've finally been playing Wild Hearts. Built by Koei Tecmo's Omega Force (the team behind the Warriors series) and published by EA, it showed a lot of promise as a contender to the might of Monster Hunter. Its launch in February 2023, however, was plagued with performance woes eclipsing even the early problems faced by Monster Hunter Wilds. Three years on, I'm giving it a proper chance, and while I would recommend it to hunting enthusiasts, the whole experience has only made me more sad about the way it was seemingly left adrift.

Wild Hearts has some really strong ideas. Its weapons are simpler in execution than Monster Hunter's offerings, but boast some great tricks. The hammer extends in length with well-timed button presses during your combo. The claw blade latches a grappling line into your target while you fly through the air, darting circles around it to deliver an assault of blows from all directions like a veritable Super Saiyan. I still haven't wrapped my head around its Karakuri Staff, which transforms between several entirely different states including a bo staff, a throwing weapon, and a vastly oversized great sword.

Then you factor in the RPG's trump card, the Karakuri system. Imbued with control over this mysterious, ancient technology, your hunter has the ability to summon buildings at will as though they'd smuggled a bag of Fortnite tricks into the world. Conjure a heli-glider to soar across the map, or to gain brief height and deliver plunging attacks at will. Spawn a giant hammer to bonk your foes, or a wall to block their charge. You're even free to plaster the map with ziplines that can go almost anywhere you like, turning an arduous trek up a mountain into an effortless five seconds. Learning ways to use and abuse these to make your attacks even more effective is essential with how fast-moving the Wild Hearts monster roster is.

For as much as I love the weapons and Karakuri, the creatures of Wild Hearts may be my favorite part. There are some gorgeous fantasy designs in here, often blending animals and nature in unsettling ways. The Sporetail is a giant rat whose body plays home to a fungus, while the beaver-like Gritdog drags you in with a belly drum that creates a whirling vortex of suction. I laughed at the person who named a giant, colorful cockerel the 'Dreadclaw' until I experienced its relentless slide tackles first hand. Monster Hunter's Seregios would be proud of this killer chicken.

At launch, Dave handed Wilds Hearts a reluctant 7/10, writing, "technical issues on PC continue to mar what should have been a slam-dunk hit". In July 2025, Wild Hearts came to the Nintendo Switch 2, giving me fresh hope that it was going to get some attention on other platforms. If it did, there's nothing to report. It still doesn't run as well as I'd like, which is particularly frustrating given that it's a game so fundamentally built on fluid movement. Head over to Steam and you'll find that just 55% of players have given it a thumbs up.

In my heart, Wild Hearts deserves better than that, but I'd struggle to recommend it when it still doesn't run all that well and there appears to be no intent from the developers to make any further changes. Despite that, it might be just what you're after to help tide you over until the Monster Hunter Wilds expansion. If you have access to EA Play (or Game Pass, which includes an EA subscription), or can grab it the next time it's going for 90% off as it has done several times in recent months, I really do think there's a lot to love. I just wish it had been given a proper chance to thrive, instead of being forever consigned to the performance-problems bin.