Is Wild Hearts Really That Bad? – Game Review

Wild Hearts (WH) was penciled in by many as the Monster Hunter killer—or at the very least, its competitor. It was supposed to be the title that elevates the monster hunting games genre to the next level.  However, due to its poor launch plagued by performance issues, the title has quickly become an afterthought. The excitement and exhilaration of people towards the game vanished just as quickly as it appeared.

Was the game’s issues that damaging that the very same people who hyped the game up before its release are now the ones blasting it online with negativity? Did it fail to meet what it ultimately sought to do? Is Wild Hearts that bad to warrant everything it’s facing right now? Let us take a closer look at this game.

What is Wild Hearts?

Wild Hearts is a monster-hunting action RPG game from the creators of the Dynasty Warriors franchise, Omega Force. The game met high expectations right out of the gate. Not only is it supposed to start another hit franchise for the Japanese developers, but it was also supposed to compete with perhaps the genre’s progenitor, Monster Hunter. 

Omega Force’s new game was seen by many as Monster Hunter but in feudal Japan. Instead of your typical dragons, giant gorillas, and dinosaurs, WH tasks players to take down mythical Japanese beasts. Believe us, the concept alone hyped us for the game. Yet, Wild Heart’s potential was far greater than just that. You also get to enjoy exploring several Japanese-themed locations while wielding very inventive weapons. 

Moreover, WH also has a build-on-the-fly mechanic akin to Fornite’s trademark feature. Wild Hearts call it the Karakuri system. It allows you to build basic to complex constructs to help you slay monsters more effectively. This also makes encounters more dynamic as you can play with the game’s environments more freely. You can build high platforms, watch towers, and even catapults.

All these exciting additions to the formula Monster Hunter have since made popular served as Wild Hearts’ propellers. If executed properly, WH may just indeed beat Monster Hunter at its own game. Sadly, it failed to do just that. 

Why Many Turned Against WH Immediately?

Indeed, WH is pretty, unique, and truly engaging. However, it is also very infuriating, clunky, and annoying. On its launch, and even after a few patches already, you cannot go even for an hour without encountering some form of performance issues or bugs. If you aren’t clipping through the game’s gorgeous environments, you can experience serious frame drops that almost stop the whole game itself! Worse yet, these issues are present on all platforms.

Even computers that meet or even exceed the game’s system requirements are encountering PC performance issues left and right. It feels as if it’s impossible to get consistent frame rates even when playing at the lowest settings. That is never good, and nothing irks gamers more than poorly optimized games. Sadly for Wild Hearts, players labeled it as that.

Although the game looks fun, its issues are just so out there that it makes enjoying it hard. Nevertheless, the game received great reviews from critics. Most websites put it at about 7 or 8 out of 10. And in our honest opinion, Wild Hearts could easily get 9s or even perfect scores across the board…if everything was smooth right off the bat.

Is Wild Hearts a Bad Game?

Let’s get things straight, Wild Hearts isn’t a bad game. It just has several issues it needs to address ASAP for people to see it for what it is. In the rare sessions where everything worked just how it should, Wild Hearts is just as fun—or more—fun to play than Monster Hunter itself. Wild Hearts released last February 16, 2023, on next-generation consoles and PC via Steam.

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