Wild Hearts shows off 7 minutes of monster huntin’ gameplay

EA and Koei Tecmo’s first foray into the “hunting” subgenre of action RPGs, Wild Hearts, just got a new trailer that shows 7 minutes of gameplay.

To say that Wild Hearts resembles Capcom’s Monster Hunter series would be a massive understatement. There’s a giant monster that require a lot of whacks to take down, co-op gameplay, a variety of weapons, and resource gathering. When the monster gets spooked, it even runs away to a new zone of the map. Dynasty Warriors studio Omega Force makes it very clear where it’s getting its inspiration for Wild Hearts.

Still, several features make Wild Hearts stand apart, especially its co-op. From the gameplay video, co-op appears to be drop-in/drop-out, as opposed to Monster Hunter’s more involved partying-up process. However, Wild Hearts only offers three-player co-op, where recent Monster Hunters let four players team up to take down their larger-than-life beasts.

Wild Hearts‘ karakuri gadgets also set the game apart from Monster Hunter by giving players a ton of different tactical options. Some of the karakuri launch players into the air so they can get an aerial attack, while others act as barriers or traps. It also looks like players can take the time to build more powerful and complex gadgets, though doing so leaves them open to attacks. More recent Monster Hunter games added a grappling hook, but Wild Hearts‘ karakuri takes that concept to the next level.

Then there’s the setting, Azuma, which takes its inspiration from feudal Japan. We also see that inspiration in Wild Hearts‘ weaponry. In the trailer, players wield a katana, an umbrella, and some kind of staff that turns into a giant shuriken. It appears players can even use weapons in conjunction with certain karakuri, like a massive bomb.

Wild Hearts launches February 17th, 2023, on Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, and PC.