While Monster Hunter Wilds has found near universal praise for its gameplay, being arguably the best in the series, many returning players have taken issue with the title’s lack of difficulty. While the game is still challenging by modern standards for newcomers, it seems that Capcom has sacrificed a little of the series’ traditional challenge in favor of making the game more approachable to appeal to as many people as possible. This has clearly worked too, considering MH Wilds‘ record-breaking sales numbers for Capcom shortly after its release and the impact it has had on the gaming industry.

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With a stronger focus on the story, more helpful companions (particularly the Palico and Alma), and help in the form of Support Hunters, it is clear that approachability is the name of the game for MH Wilds. Capcom has seen a focus on making its games appeal more globally ever since its dark ages during the early 2010s, and this has done wonders for the studio in terms of sales. This approach applies to Monster Hunter as well, a series that was historically massive in Japan but struggled to travel abroad until MH World.

Monster Hunter Wilds Isn’t As Difficult As Prior Titles

And This Is Both Intentional And Unintentional

Mechanically, the Hunter in Wilds has a lot more tools to help them than prior Hunters in other games. For one, they can ride a Seikret to get them out of trouble, jump attack for mounts, and carry a second weapon. Then, there’s the Focus Mode, a brilliant addition that helps the Hunter attack specific wounds, although this helps them surpass the damage output of the Hunters of old by quite some margin. Palicoes are also better equipped than ever, allowing them to heal, set traps, plunder, remove status effects, deal damage, and buff the Hunter all at once.

Palicoes have High Rank side quests in MH Wilds, and will have more options in battle when completed.

Features like the Palico have been streamlined to make things easier to understand for new players, and returning players might not realize how confusing Monster Hunter can be. The smithing menu takes some time to get used to and there can be a lot to keep an eye on at once, so streamlining was always going to be vital to appeal to a larger audience, which MH World began and Wilds continued. Still, while the difficulty has been tuned down intentionally in places, there are some ways in which MH Wilds is easier than prior entries by proxy.

Monster Hunter Wilds benefits from the best technology available to Capcom, and while this hasn’t resulted in a great PC port, it does mean that many features have been refined. Hitboxes are more accurate than ever but many of the monsters have remained vaguely the same sized, meaning that it is technically easier to dodge attacks in Wilds compared to something like MH Generations. Generally, improving the smoothness of combat works in the Hunter’s favor too, and while the monsters have also seen changes, very little has been adapted to make the fights tougher.

Iceborne’s Alatreon Caused Backlash Because Of Its Difficulty

Sometimes, Sheer Difficulty Isn’t What The Community Wants

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While many complaints have been levied about how easy MH Wilds is, there are also plenty about how hard Iceborne was, specifically the Alatreon. The difficulty made sense for this hunt, considering that the Alatreon is one of the legendary Black Dragons, held in a similar, if slightly lower regard to the Fatalis, but many were unhappy with the fight. It had a damage-check mechanic where the monster would one-shot Hunters if they didn’t do enough elemental damage within a certain time period. This damage-checking mechanic ruffled a lot of feathers, so much so, that the expansion still sits on mixed reviews on Steam.

This is also due to Iceborne deleting saves on PC, but this has been fixed for a while. Iceborne takes Hunters to Master Rank, where the monsters are truly tough, but this difficulty was a lot for new fans of MH World. The Alatreon proved to be too much for veterans too, and many got stuck here, but interestingly, Iceborne does give players everything they need to face the Black Dragon. While it is nonsensically available at a low Master Rank 24, it should be one of the final fights in Iceborne, after the Kulve Taroth and Safi’Jiiva.

The Safi’Jiiva is the grown-up version of the Xeno’jiiva. Its less otherworldly design follows the Monster Hunter rule of, “the closer a monster is to a traditional dragon, the more deadly it is.”

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Both of these monsters provide the parts for some of the best elemental damage weapons in the game, so with a good build the Alatreon is technically manageable, but it is still very difficult. That is the point of the fight, and while the damage-check mechanic has divided fans about whether it is fair or not, the negative feedback from it might stop Capcom from making Wilds anywhere near as hard for its expansion. The difficulty will probably increase for Master Rank, but just not as high as Iceborne managed.

Capcom Might Not Benefit From Bringing Back The Alatreon’s Difficulty

Ultimately, It’s All About Money

Custom Image by Steven Garrard

While the Fatalis is beloved in Iceborne, probably because of its legacy and that it required players to beat the Alatreon to get to, Capcom might look at the negative feedback from the expansion and decide against making a monster that hard again. There isn’t a benefit to making Monster Hunter as tricky as possible if the goal is to appeal to the masses, and with all the sales that MH Wilds managed, there is a huge market for an expansion. Making monsters as hard as the Alatreon will satisfy a small minority, but turn off many others.

Capcom already has proof of this with the Steam reviews for Iceborne, and while the game has sold well despite PC port issues, it probably doesn’t want more bad PR with its best-selling game if it can avoid it. While the studio could simply not have a damage-check mechanic for its monsters again, it might not see the Alatreon that way and just avoid making a fight that difficult again in general. It isn’t as though the rest of Iceborne‘s Master Rank wouldn’t be more than tricky enough for most people that play Monster Hunter Wilds.

If making the expansion easier will help it sell more copies, as was the case with Monster Hunter Wilds being more accessible and selling extremely well, then Capcom will probably do that. It is a company known for putting microtransactions in almost all its games, and with the backlash it received for Alatreon, there isn’t much of a reason to take the difficulty that high again from a financial point of view. Still, a challenge like the Black Dragons will be missed if they aren’t included in Monster Hunter Wilds‘ expansion and the hope is there are more challenges to come.