

You’ll be forging fast travel tents, upgrade stations, and points of attack, all of which can be enjoyed online with up to two other people. While normal Karakuri are often fleeting, the tier above (Dragon Karakuri) operates more like a base building simulator. The key is that you’re creating your own structures, both permanent and temporary.

While the PC version of the game is apparently having some issues with certain rigs, the PS5 edition didn’t give me any major technical trouble to speak of. One thing I really harped on in the review in progress was how stunning the setting was: and that feeling lingered throughout my entire experience with Wild Hearts. The flow of the game generally relies on hunting monster after monster (traversing new themed regions, which are like giant sandboxes in a semi-open world format) until the end, but those regions are a blast to walk, zip, and jump through. A few hours in though (or way sooner depending on your pacing), and Azuma is your oyster. The game’s tutorials are thorough, but woven throughout the storyline so that the onboarding isn’t tedious, even upfront. You mainly just need to learn a few terms (Azuma is the game world, Karakuri are basically magic structures/tools, and Kemono are big monsters) and you’re on your way. Wild Hearts doesn’t ask too much of the player outright, and is one of the more accessible hunters I’ve played to date.
