As promised, Wild Hearts has released its first gameplay trailer revealing a world where traversal seems effortless. Thanks to the Karakuri, players can create a rotary-winged glider, a zipline-firing harpoon, and all manner of spring-loaded platforms to jump in many directions.
Like Monster Hunter, the first task of hunting monsters is actually finding them. Kingtusk, as the giant boar creature is called, can apparently be found grazing atop a mountain. Getting there involves taking your zipline harpoon up to the top of a mesa where our solo player faces off against the enormous beast solo.
Despite some fancy swordplay that interweaves Karakuri construction between blows, our intrepid hero is unable to take down the boar alone. It seems like Kingtusk’s charge can be especially deadly if you’re caught flat-footed.
Thankfully, Wild Hearts is a game that allows up to three players to combine forces. Player two’s arrival brings an umbrella-armed ally to chase down Kingtusk, who has fled through a bamboo thicket to a deeper part of the forest. Tracking Kingtusk is made easier thanks to ethereal white wisps that seem to take the place of Scoutflies from Monster Hunter. Several smaller beasts along the way also provide the player with materials that presumably can be used for crafting better gear.
The final encounter with Kingtusk involves an impressive display of coordinated attacks and the timely arrival of player three, who seems armed with a transforming staff that can alternate between twin blades or a giant shuriken. The Karakuri also plays a huge role in taking down Kingtusk, turning it into a giant bomb or a hammer-armed tower to knock Kingtusk down.
All in all, Wild Hearts certainly seems to draw heavily from Monster Hunter, but perhaps features faster, more fluid combat than Capcom’s franchise. We’ll hopefully find out more as EA and Koei Tecmo release more info prior to Wild Hearts’ release on February 17.
