We're still just over a month away from the much-anticipated release of Monster Hunter: Wild. As is the case with most games as they get closer to their release date, we're starting to see more new things to get us excited about for Wilds.
The biggest attraction of the “Monster Hunter” game is of course the monsters. Thanks to IGN, January will give us a fresh look at the many handsome (and terrifying) guys we'll face throughout the game.
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January's cover story kicks off with two crisp 4K videos showing fights with Ajalakan and Lompopolo. The two of them inhabit the game's Oil Well Basin area, an area we haven't seen in previous footage.
It's unclear whether the gameplay was captured on PC or PS5/Pro, but performance Do Looks smoother than last year's beta. Still, considering how well the beta is running and the newly announced GPUs from Nvidia and AMD, upgrading your PC for Wilds doesn't seem like the worst idea in the world.
Ajarakan is the fire-loving monkey bar dweller you may have seen in some of the trailers for Brawl Stars. This video gives us a closer look at its lair, as well as some of the antics it gets up to when truly challenged. Hunters here have swords and shields.
Ajarakan begins the fight covered in scales and gradually sheds them to reveal his fiery nature. This is when things get more interesting, as its physical attacks fill up with lava and become more aggressive.
One of the arenas you can lure monsters into has a trap that you can activate, and if you manage to time it right, it can do some serious damage; a bit like a punch in the face. Hunters switch to bows mid-fight, which actually comes in handy when monsters start relying more on projectiles.
In the second video, a hunter pursues the dragon Popolo, a wyvern with visible pustules on its body. Luang Polo relies more on making the environment around you dangerous, as it seems to lack the power of more physical monsters. Poison is obviously the main element here.
While you're waiting for your chance, you might move around, even if it's a soft-looking monster, making you think it's going to be an easy monster to hunt. Again we start with the sword and shield before switching to the archer.
Since the two are in the same environment, Ajalakan showing his true face and duking it out with Rapopolo is always a joy to watch. Of course, the latter couldn't compete with the sheer power of the former, so it decided to book it.
In case you missed it, the Monster Hunter Wilds open beta is back for two more rounds in February. The next beta will contain all the content from the previous beta, plus at least one new monster. Unfortunately, the performance improvements and gameplay/animation tweaks made based on feedback from the first beta will not appear in next month's beta.
Monster Hunter Wilds will be released on February 28th for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.
