Welcome to Azuma, a fantastical spin on feudal Japan where cherry blossoms dance playfully across shimmering waters beneath mountains of gold, where Kemono – behemoth creatures fused with very essence of nature – roam free, and where anyone that’s ever played a Monster Hunter game will feel immediately at home.
It never feels quite right to start a review by talking about another game, but in Wild Hearts’ case it’s pretty much unavoidable. It cribs so thoroughly from Capcom’s long-running Monster Hunter series, it isn’t just indebted to it, it simply wouldn’t exist without it. But while the sense of déjà vu is strong at times, particularly early on, developer Omega Force’s smart reimagining of a familiar formula propels Wild Hearts way past competent clone to become a wonderful experience in its own right.
Wild Hearts’ core, though, will be immediately familiar to students of Capcom’s series – or indeed any of its occasional imitators, including Omega Force’s own Toukiden games – serving up a progression loop built around hunting ferocious hunting mega-fauna again and again and again. Essentially, downed monsters drop parts used to craft stronger weapons and gear, and those in turn make it easier to bring down far more powerful foes, and on it goes. It’s a system of more-ish acquisition – here loosely held together by a tale of ecological disruption more notable for its cast of surprisingly well-drawn characters than any particularly original plot beats – that’s as compelling in Wild Hearts as it is anywhere else.
