The game currently making waves in the gaming community is Monster Hunter Wild. It cannot be denied that it has achieved a significant milestone with over 1.3 million players at the same time, yet its ratings on Steam are surprisingly low.
Specifically, very few players have given favorable reviews for Monster Hunter Wild, resulting in only a 45% positive rating on Steam. Alongside performance issues, the game’s current state is quite disappointing, especially compared to its two previous versions, which truly deserves attention.
This development appears to be a strategic decision from the Capcom development team, but it has caused significant division among the gaming community.
Moreover, many players have expressed frustration over the introduction of certain gameplay mechanics. One such feature is the SOS Flare system, which allows players to summon help during monster hunts in Monster Hunter Wild. In the previous two versions, SOS Flare was akin to a double-edged sword, heavily reliant on the luck of the bot that players summoned. However, with Monster Hunter Wild, this feature provides excessive assistance, making it easier for players to succeed without much effort.
In fact, this mechanic in Monster Hunter Wild is called Support Hunter. The biggest drawback is that it can prevent players from experiencing failure and learning from their mistakes. While players can participate, NPCs can instantly respond and ensure that the hunt progresses smoothly, taking advantage of items, retreating when necessary, and only performing actions that benefit the player. Monster Hunter has a notoriously difficult gameplay structure: monsters become more powerful depending on the number of players in the group. However, if there are only three hunters in the hunt, players still have to face the challenge that the group may encounter. With the introduction of Support Hunters, players can avoid the risk of losing a hunt due to an unexpected player joining.
Initially, Support Hunters seemed overwhelmingly powerful. If you attempt a few hunts alone in the game, you will quickly notice a difference – every support becomes faster and more effective than many. Monster Hunter Wild has been fine-tuned to be more approachable compared to previous versions, and when playing with bots, players often feel as if they are carrying out the actual work themselves. Although Support Hunters cannot complete the entire hunt instead of players, they can still contribute up to 99% of the work. Specifically, they can bring a monster down to just 1% health, and the only thing the player needs to do is deliver the finishing blow – something the NPCs will not do. Nonetheless, not every game is eager to make it easy by reducing challenges like this.
