At PlayStation’s State of Play showcase on May 30, 2024, the first gameplay trailer for Monster Hunter Wilds was finally revealed. The trailer shows beautiful scenery and a whole bunch of new monsters we’ve come to know and love from new entries in the series. It also greatly introduces the montage system of the completely open world in Monster Hunter Wilds.
One hinted detail from the trailer was new weapon interaction that had never been seen before. Around the two-minute mark of the trailer, the player, known as a hunter, escapes from a monster on foot while wielding a sword. After climbing to the top of their feathered mountain with a quick whistle, the hunter swaps seamlessly from his sword to a long-range gun. They use this new gun to shoot at the monster while still riding their steed.
Neither swords nor guns are new to the Monster Hunter franchise, but something in this series of events certainly is. For starters, attacking from the back of a mountain was limited to specific items in previous entries, and did not include your own weapon. It is possible that this shows that while riding your steed in Wilds, you will have a unique rifle-like gun to continue your attack on the monster as you run. That would be some heavy firepower to run away from though.
The sword used in the sequence bears similarities to the series-favorite Greatsword weapon type. The gun that is used after it could easily be a light bow gun, a weapon type that often appeared in the series with rifle-like characteristics. This could indicate that hunters are allowed to bring two separate weapons to the field and swap between them in a brand new feature for modern Monster Hunter. The game has always depended heavily on the preparation aspect of a hunt, and choosing the best weapon for the job is part of that preparation.
Most exciting is the possibility that this is a showcase of a brand new weapon. Monster Hunter has multiple weapons that change between two modes at the user’s will, such as the charging blade and switchaxe. Switching your weapon between a mid-sized sword and a long-range gun would provide a versatility rarely seen in other weapon types that tend to be quite strict in their outlines as melee or ranged. Even the armor sets for the two types of weapons were completely separate sets until Monster Hunter World removed the difference as a quality of life upgrade.
The last new weapon type was introduced to the series in 2013 with Monster Hunter 4’s insect sword, a high-flying, bug-adaptive weapon, and the aforementioned mode-swapping charge blade. With the comparatively recent shift to armor types, Monster Hunter Wilds would be the perfect time to introduce a mixed weapon that can switch between melee and ranged combat to best suit the hunt.
For more Monster Hunter, check out Monster Hunter World – Best weapon for solo play in Pro Game Guides.
