Wild Hearts S Review (Switch 2)

Capcom effectively created a new genre with its famed Monster Hunter series back in the sixth generation of game consoles, and though many challengers over the years (such as Dauntless and God Eater) have since tried to get a piece of its pie, nobody has quite managed to recreate its distinct magic. Koei Tecmo's Omega Force (of Dynasty Warriors fame) then decided to try its hand in 2023 with the release of Wild Hearts, but the game never really got too far off the ground despite positive reception from both fans and critics.

Now that the Switch 2 has come out, KT has decided to try giving its latest monster hunting foray another shot at success with Wild Hearts S, a modest revisit that’s taking advantage of the distinct Monster Hunter-shaped hole in the Switch 2’s launch window library. Though it isn’t the roaring revival that some may have hoped it to be, Wild Hearts S still proves to be an enjoyable and engaging monster-hunting action game and one that I’d suggest newcomers look into.

The narrative in Wild Hearts places you in the role of a travelling hunter who comes to the land of Azuma in search of work and meaning after experiencing diminished demand for your services back home. Your services, of course, are hunting and killing Kemono, which are gigantic nature-themed monsters that threaten villages and their surrounding environment.

After getting absolutely rolled by a Deathstalker (basically a huge ice-themed wolf), your hunter meets a mysterious figure who grants him the power of Karakuri, which enables him to utilise spiritual energy threads in the land to create powerful constructs. Armed with this ability, you then head for the nearby town of Minato to help them out with their ongoing Kemono problem. It’s not all that gripping of a story, but there’s just enough here to keep you invested in the town and focused on protecting it from the endemic threats to its ecosystem.

Gameplay in Wild Hearts adheres pretty closely to the systems that Monster Hunter popularised, focusing much of the experience on the simple, grindy loop of battling the gigantic Kemono monsters. Across four seasonally themed biomes, there are over 20 full-size Kemono species to take on here, and each brings with it a wealth of elemental attacks and tricks to keep you on your toes as you learn its moveset.

An initial battle against a Kemono can be a little rough as you get repeatedly blasted and beaten by its powerful blows, but experience and careful study soon teach you when to press the attack and when to run for cover or dodge. After killing one, it drops an assortment of unique items which you can then use to upgrade existing weapons and armour sets or build new ones that make it easier to take down even harder monsters.

Capcom got the progression system right with Monster Hunter and Omega Force was wise not to try reinventing the wheel with Wild Hearts—it's just as compelling here as it was there. Not only is there a clear sense of empowerment that comes from gaining actual stat buffs from getting better equipment, but you also just get better with practice as you learn each Kemono’s tells and become more efficient in dodging its attacks and exploiting its weaknesses. Plus, given the largely random nature of the rewards from felling yet another massive beast, there’s a strong ‘just one more’ element as you come up a bit short on materials needed for that next equipment upgrade you’ve been eyeing.

So far, so similar, but the main gimmick that sets Wild Hearts apart is the flexible Karakuri system, which adds some dynamic tools to your hunter’s arsenal. With this, you can summon various constructs, such as boxes or springs, into the field to give you an edge and support you in some way or throw off the Kemono’s assault. If you recognise a Kemono is about to charge, you can quickly build a wall of crates that’ll both block the charge and stun it. If you need a boost to your dwindling health and can’t get a moment to breathe and drink a healing potion, you can drop a healing mist that delivers an AoE effect to anyone in its radius.

The Karakuri system feels like it adds a much-needed ‘X factor’ to the fights to keep them feeling distinct, as they give you something else than just waling away at a Kemono for 10 minutes until it dies. Not only will different people favour different constructs, thus furthering player expression, but continuously unlocking new ones via an extensive skill tree means that there’s always something else to work towards beyond simply more weapons and armour. I really appreciated the various mobility and support options they offer, and hope to see more of this kind of thing in the genre as it evolves further.

I’d be remiss not to also mention the extensive selection of weapons on offer, which can really change up your combat approach and give you a lot more replayability to take the edge off of things feeling repetitive as you grind Kemono for rare drops. You can go with more traditional approaches, like the katana or bow, or more unconventional things like the Wagasa, which is a bladed umbrella that uniquely allows you to parry many Kemono attacks.

Each weapon has its own playstyle and quirks, and taking the time to explore them all really goes to show how much depth there is to the combat here, especially when paired with possibilities opened up by the Karakuri constructs.

It's tempting to hope that the ‘S’ in this release’s title indicates some sort of expansion content, perhaps akin to the ‘G rank’ quests that Capcom is keen to later include in its Monster Hunter games. Unfortunately, that’s not the case, and this Nintendo debut for Wild Hearts is more of a modest balance patch than anything else.

The main feature here is that you can now play co-op with four people (up from three in the original release), while monster behaviours and the stats of some weapons have been adjusted to make the experience a bit more enjoyable. If you already put a lot of time into Wild Hearts on other platforms anytime since it released in 2023, there’s not a lot you’re missing out on with the Switch 2 port besides the option to play it on the go.

And though it’s a lovely convenience that Wild Hearts is now playable on a portable console, it’s a bit disappointing that this release isn’t terribly well optimised. The original had its own share of performance issues and that’s clearly been carried over to the Switch 2; frame rates are all over the place and the visuals themselves are a little middling between the somewhat fuzzy resolution and flat textures.

It’s not a mess by any means, but seeing the visual hiccups—especially when the frame rate takes a sharp dive—can take you out of the experience a bit. This one might have benefited from a bit more time in the oven.