With the maximum three hunters, the kemono have to split their attention and teammates can revive each other when they go down. While you can play the game solo with a robot 'tsukumo' companion, the game shines in online play. But fear not rookie hunters: Wild Hearts has a linear difficulty ramp that eases you into the mechanics. You'll quickly switch between oversized weapons and karakuri to slice, parry, and outmaneuver the kemono. The monsters of Wild Hearts ('kemono') are stunning and enormous animals superpowered by primal nature. Over time, you'll add more and more infrastructure to make traversing the giant maps a breeze. In one area, I encamped by a river with a fishing karakuri to gather fish, a tower to search for nearby monsters, and a zipline to quickly get over the water. Outside of combat, you can build special 'Dragon Karakuri' to tame the wilderness. At times, I felt like I was playing Killer Instinct as a I desperately rushed a karakuri combo to throw a barricade up between me and a charging monstrosity.

You'll learn these recipes spontaneously in battle when the game decides the situation calls for them, demonstrating the power of a well-timed build. You can also combine basic karakuri to make larger structures like bulwarks and traps. Like in Fortnite, crafting them is nearly instantaneous and soon becomes second-nature. Wild Hearts distinguishes itself with magical karakuri, six simple wooden contraptions that range from crates to torches to springs. Their new game, Wild Hearts, succeeds with a leaner formula ripe for newcomers that's almost - but not quite - as satisfying for veteran hunters. This year, Koei Tecmo and Electronic Arts teamed up to try to take down Capcom's juggernaut franchise. Rivals have struggled to put their own spin on the genre's bombastic combat and obsessively-customizable gear. If you've yearned to explore a rugged wilderness and battle beasts many times your size with a ridiculously big sword, the Monster Hunter series was pretty much the only game in town. Use ridiculously huge weapons to hunt even more fantastically scaled monsters in Wild Hearts.

Is wild hearts a monster hunter game