Monster Hunter Wilds’ new cooking system is a win for balance, but there’s a Meowscular Chef-shaped hole in my heart
After approximately eight hours, I found myself pondering a question I was reluctant to hear the answer to: While these on-map base camps are convenient, does it mean there’s no centralized village in Wilds? That’s disappointing. The advantages of Wilds’ streamlining are evident, but it’s the smaller details—like World’s personality—that make up the series, and especially World, that seem to be sacrificed. Unlike previous games, my hunter doesn’t have a single place to call home in Wilds—no central hub for all questing, crafting, combining, farming, gathering, and cooking activities. It’s the lack of a cooking area that hurts the most.