Games

How Monster Hunter Wilds' Weather System Affects Gameplay

Published

3 weeks ago

December 5, 2024

scarlet forest water in monster hunter wilds

Dynamic weather events in games are undeniably cool. Huge storms, sprawling droughts, and other dramatic shifts in the weather can do more than make a world more immersive, they can add new challenges to gameplay. Monster Hunter Wilds is aiming for a weather system that will lean very hard on the aspect of gameplay advantages and disadvantages, and this means players should be wary of Monsters in the upcoming Capcom title.

Game Rant recently spoke with Capcom and Monster Hunter Wilds director Yuya Tokuda about the effects of its weather and its three stages: Fallow, Inclemency, and Plenty. While there’s more to the overall enivronment than just the season or weather, the role these three play in the game is undeniable.

10 Games With The Best Weather Effects

Good weather effects can really make a game’s environment feel real. These games really immerse you with their weather effects.

The Weather Forecast in Monster Hunter Wilds

Generally speaking, the weather in Monster Hunter Wilds falls into one of three categories: Fallow, Inclemency, and Plenty. This does largely track with real weather patterns in certain climates, where extreme weather brings rejuvenation to an area after its been drained. Each of these phases comes with their own gameplay impact, as well.

Tokuda went into explaining, broadly, the way the weather will open up strategies and challenges other weather patterns won’t provide.

During the Fallow there isn’t much to eat, so the monsters will act more aggressively. They tend to move in packs. And during the Inclemency, the apex monster appears. Gameplay wise, you can choose to go out during the Inclemency if you want to hunt the Apex Monster, but also you can lead other monsters to take it to the Apex Monster to deal more damage…During the Plenty, the monsters tend to act alone – they don’t move in packs that much. And on top of that, there’s a lot of options to replenish your health using endemic life and other plants that are growing.

Hunters can check the current weather conditions in the main menu. It’s displayed, along with how long it will last, in the details of the area. The minimap also displays the current weather. That will help hunters strategize around their expeditions; whether to sic monsters against one another to aid in the attack, use flora to conduct a longer adventure, or prepare for a tough encounter against an Apex Monster.

If you want to have a steady hunt experience, you can go out to look out during the Plenty. And if not, if you want to be more challenging, you can go out during the inclemency and really get a high risk, high return experience.

Players will get to weather the extremes of Inclemancy, enjoy the boons of Plenty, and strive through the Fallow times when Monster Hunter Wilds releases February 28, 2025.