In the windswept wilds of Azuma, nature isn’t just beautiful, it’s furious. WILD HEARTS S plunges you into a world where colossal beasts known as Kemono reshape the land with elemental rage, and only ancient Karakuri tech stands between survival and annihilation. This in-depth exploration of WILD HEARTS S reveals a hunting experience that fuses feudal fantasy with mechanical ingenuity, offering a fresh take on monster-slaying action for the Nintendo Switch 2 generation. Whether solo or in co-op, every encounter is a test of reflexes, strategy, and invention.

WILD HEARTS S Review Pros

• Beautiful graphics. 
• 33.4GB download size. 
• Includes the DLC – Decorative Tsukumo lantern, three emotes, and two cosmetic sets for the ninja and samurai. 
• FREE demo and progress transfers. 
• Graphics settings – brightness slider, and colour vision deficiency support. (pish way to say Colourblind support)
• Accessibility options – Colourblind support, subtitles, speaker names for subtitles, subtitles text colour, subtitles text size, subtitles speaker name colour, subtitles background opacity, facility menu subtitles, chat log display time, chat log size, tutorial text size, action guide text size, acquisition log text size, Karakuri stance, vibration, button hold time (normal/short/instant), player and other player voices, and forced Monophonic audio. 
• 3 save slots. 
• Multiplayer support is now 4 players, which is more than the console and PC versions. 
• Monster hunting adventure gameplay. 
• Tutorial pop-ups and a central menu, the game breaks you in slowly with tutorial-like missions. 
• A beautiful 3D game world, and you have 360-degree camera control. 
• Third-person view. 
• Multiplayer supports both online and local multiplayer consoles. 
• Controller settings – Invert axis and sensitivity sliders, reticule Invert axis and sensitivity sliders, and you can remap the controls. 
• A central dot choice can help battle motion sickness. 
• Button prompts show on interactive parts. 
• Hunter vision is a button you press to scan the immediate area and will show animals, monsters, and any resources for a short time. 
• Optional, but you can have the controls show on the screen at all times. 
• It’s a technical achievement having run as well as it does both docked and undocked. 
• Base camps can be found in the area, and then you can fully build and place the objects within them. 
• Mine resources from land by hacking down trees, picking up plants, hitting rocks, et,c and you don’t have to swap weapons and items to do it. 
• Save when you want. 
• A lot of verticality in the world, you can climb vines and certain rock faces. 
• Stamina-based system for running, climbing, and fighting. 
• The world is massive, and even early on, you can just go off on your own. You will hit roadblocks, but you can still explore and stock up on resources. 
• The map fills in as you explore and adds in points of interest as you discover them. 
• The Cyclopaedia fills in as you discover, fight, and collect the many monsters, animals, and creatures of the world. 
• Find lore notes, stories, books, etc. 
• Full emote and text radial menu that can be customised. 
• There are fast travel points, and you can easily and quickly jump back to camp. 
• Summoning help is quick and easy, and after the fight, the joined players will leave. 
• Boss fights are huge; they can run away, break parts of the world and get enraged. 
• I love that once you win a fight, you then approach the monster and deliver a final blow. 
• You get crafting materials from monsters instantly at the end. 
• End of fight breakdown with materials, rewards, and time taken. 
• Once you click with the combat, it is rather meaty, and each weapon style is unique and has special combos and unique attacks, and when the damage number pops, it’s so satisfying. 
• You can target the monster and have it show for players on the map. When the monster runs away, it leaves a trail you can follow with the Hunter vision. 
• Your character will say things in character automatically that help as the monster is enraged, or he’s weak, or he’s running away, etc. 
• In-game cutscenes, interactions, and some FMV monster intro movies. 
• Multiple choice conversations. 
• The compass at the top of the screen shows mission objectives. 
• You can call in help from the very first boss fight, which is tied to the tutorials. 
• Kemono orbs drop from the monsters, and you spend these on the Karakuri skill tree, like system that unlocks new features and ornaments, decorations, etc. As you unlock them, you also gain new abilities to use. 
• Placing new items and furniture, etc, in camp is a case of bringing up the hot air, selecting it (as long as you have the resources) and then placing it. 
• You can forge new weapons and armour, and to unlock new ones, you hunt the Kenemo (Monsters of the world) and then continue hunting them to get the unique crafting parts. 
• Menus will generally have quick select button prompts. 
• Stats and buffs are attached to weapons and gear. 
• You can transmog armour, meaning you have your armour that gives the stats and buffs, then another slot for other armour and armour sets and that’s what people see. 
• Each weapon has its own huge upgrade Web that you can work through, get the resources and choose your path through it. 
• Replenishing health is just up on the d-pad, which makes it so much easier when in battle. 
• Unlock, craft and place hunting towers that will constantly scan the surrounding area for Kenemo. 
• Meals and food types can give temporary buffs. 
• The fights are insane as you have a lot of health potions, the ability to restock in fight, the locations can get destroyed, you can cut pieces off monsters in real time, it’s just really bombastic and memorable. 
• Flying Vine is a Karakuri you can craft, creating zip lines for fast travel. The best part is you build one side and then aim and shoot the vine. You can also activate the structure again and refire it, and they all stay unless destroyed by a Kenemo. 
• Build many structures with Karakuri, like boxes to climb and do aerial attacks, zip lines, jumping stools, and so much more. 
• Tsukumo are small sphere creatures you can find and befriend, who will then help you. You can equip them with abilities and upgrades at the camp. You can also have them stay behind; they are like a collectable as there are 50 to get in each area and you can rename them. 
• Many weapon types were initially included, like the great sword, hunting bow, umbrella, and hammer. You can discover and unlock new weapon types as you play. 
• Rest at the camp fore and set who to go after using the map, and this can be done in solo and multiplayer. 
• Dragon Pits are all over the world, and you put resources into them so you can conjure up more Karakuri items in the area. 
• Day and night can play a part in what animals and creatures are about. Rest at camp to choose the time of day – morning, midday, evening, and nighttime. 
• Alignments play a huge part in the game, armour and upgrade choices can affect it, and you go. 
• Towns can be unlocked, and within a town, you get a room which allows you to do more, and you will have all the facilities nearby. 
• In a way you can forge your own world as you can build so many structures to make travel better it’s insane. 
• Being able to run around and pick up items and mine resources without breaking stride keeps the games pace up. 

WILD HEARTS S Review Cons

• Long initial load time each time. 
• Doesn’t have any mention of the DLC from what I can see. 
• No touchscreen support. 
• There is no cross-save function.
• Didn’t see any mention of crossplay.
• There is a lot to take on with many mechanics going on. 
• If you are a Monster Hunter player, it will have an adjustment period as it looks like Monster Hunter, but it’s a whole new beast, from controls to mechanics to abilities and farming. 
• You cannot pause the game even in solo offline. 
• The character creator wasn’t that in-depth, and it’s not until you get new armour that it feels like you are unique or different. 
• When you die on a boss, you have to respawn at any unlocked camps, which can be miles away. 
• Traversing the world without hunter vision is a real pain. 
• Choices in conversations have no real effect at all. 
• The initial inventory limits on resources are more annoying because they are so small. 
• It takes a fair while for the game to really open up to the point where you have a lot of freedom and choice. 

Related Post: Splitgate 2 Teleports the FPS Genre into the Future, And It’s Glorious?

WILD HEARTS S

Official Website:

Developer: Omega Force

Publisher: Koei Tecmo

Store Link:

Nintendo