Or, stack them in order to take defensive maneuvers against an attack. Players can, for example, stack a maximum of three to gain height, then launch a powerful downward strike at a foe while leaping off them. Something as simple as a crafted box has quite a few possibilities. Players begin with only a few things they can craft on the fly in the middle of battle, placing them in the world itself to impact the fight. It's when using Karakuri crafting to tackle these Kemono (monsters) that Wild Hearts really begins to separate itself from the pack. How the weapons synergize with the Karakuri system, though, is one area where Wild Hearts dramatically stands out from other games. It's fun, barring some camera woes at times.

The idea is to chop up monsters in real time by removing weak parts for them while learning a distinct attack pattern to avoid before the target becomes enraged. Players use one of eight weapons to hunt monsters, from unwieldy, powerful swords to hand cannons. On the surface, gameplay seems simple enough. And some of the most unique are unforgettable, like the Lavaback-a giant molten-rock-slinging gorilla.

But again, a catch-players encounter so many different monsters so quickly that it's a wonder they're all unique. Some are awesome folklore beings pulled from Japanese mythos. Monster design leaves a little something to be desired, though. But it helps that sound design is so good, with weapon attacks carrying good sound feedback, as do the monsters themselves. Graphical downturns won't majorly harm a player's enjoyment regardless given the scope of things. The game engine and hardware resources of various game systems allocated its energy toward scale of levels players can modify, never mind places big enough to house these towering, five-story-tall monstrosities. Muddy textures don't help, instead making things feel rather bland at times, though it's one of those games where it's clear that is just a tradeoff. The world towers around the player, be it in verticality or draw distance that players can eventually reach.Īnd while some areas seem to offer high-fidelity graphics with immense detail, others-especially when weather effects like snow come into play-lack all of that fidelity, to the point of looking like a last-generation game. The colorful, varied world features biomes of absolutely shocking scale. Visually, Wild Hearts has the ability to stun and disgust in a manner of minutes.

Wild hearts game