For almost two decades the monster-hunting genre has been dominated by one franchise: Monster Hunter. Deservingly the benchmark, Monster Hunter has long held a near monopoly on this niche genre. Now Omega Force, the developers behind the Dynasty Warriors games as well as the short-lived monster-hunting series Toukiden, has teamed up with EA under its EA Originals label, which boasts titles like Unravel, Knockout City and It Takes Two, to try and provide this audience with an alternative.
All the Koalaty Critics agree that Wild Hearts is a good game, with scores ranging from 8 to 9. While the story may be a bare bit, the gameplay more than makes up for it, playing like a mash-up of Monster Hunter with Fortnite’s building mechanics. You play as a hunter who has the ability to harness Karakuri, an ancient technology that you can use to create structures or traverse the world.
Wild Hearts is available now on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and PC.
Here’s what Australian critics are saying about the game.
KOALATY CRITICS — AUSTRALIAN CRITICS
Checkpoint Gaming — 8.5/10 (Omi Koulas)
Wild Hearts boasts action-packed gameplay that will feel familiar to anyone who has a history of monster hunting. Taking down the towering Kemono beasts across four different regions, and an additional end-game zone, in both solo and co-op play is seriously fun. Throwing in crafting and base-building elements with the power of Karakuri make this game special.
Maxi-Geek — 8/10 (Luke Henderson)
Wild Hearts is a solid take on the monster hunting genre and while comparisons to the king of the space are always going to happen, the inclusion of the Karakuri system gives this a step up. The game’s biggest issue is that there is no way of knowing how ready you are for a fight and given that some of them can run you up 30 minutes of time, getting destroyed and losing all progress is a big setback. The other issue is that the grind to ensure all your weapons are ready for you, or even just helping people out, can make the game feel like it’s light on content.
MKAU Gaming — 9/10 (Shane Walsh)
Visually, Wild Hearts is amazing to behold. With the use of bright-coloured palettes and iconic Japanese buildings and structures, it is easy to get lost looking at the environment and the small details of wildlife and flowers that can be seen. The audio tracking is also another great addition to the game with each Kemono clearly having a unique roar or battle cry. Also, just the background music takes a lot of inspiration from Japanese traditional music setting the mood of the era is so well done.
Press Start — 8.5/10 (James Berich)
Wild Hearts‘ unique Karakuri mechanics and skill systems do just enough to offer a new take on the tried-and-true monster-hunting genre. While there is some inconsistent performance across all platforms, Wild Hearts’ bewildering bestiary of unique creatures more than makes it worth a look.
Stevivor — 8.5/10 (Ethan Dean)
With its escalating tiers of difficulty, a comprehensive end-game and planned (free) monthly content updates, I can easily see myself spending over 100 hours in Azuma. Fans of hunting-action titles should enjoy the familiarity of Wild Hearts while still being surprised at the nuances that set it apart and newcomers to the niche will find its more open ended style easier to approach. I would recommend it to both.
WellPlayed — 8.5/10 (James Wood)
Aesthetically gorgeous, mechanically varied and just outright fun, the Kemono fights never ceased to give me something to smile about, be that in frustrated bemusement or sheer wonder. Equally though, Wild Hearts engages with violence as player language in a way I wish more games would attempt to—especially in this genre. While the big fights are unavoidable, most other Kemono can be treated peacefully. The joy I felt in sneaking up to a rather nasty looking toxic owl and being able to give him a little scratch behind the ear before he flew away, dropping his crafting materials, was tremendous.
Aggregator Score
