Key Preview Takeaways:
- Enhance Drivers are a serious new characteristic of this growth.
- The brand new monsters current difficult battles, simply as I’d wished.
- Ascendance might be the endgame I’ve been wishing for after Wilds’s endgame was a bit too straightforward.
I preferred Monster Hunter Wilds fairly a bit at launch. The large open areas, the nice visuals on the latest technology of consoles, and the solid of characters all made for an enticing journey in the Forbidden Lands. However, like Tom so completely captured in his evaluate, I felt let down by the problem. The participating loop of preventing harder monsters to get higher gear to battle harder monsters, and so forth, was lacking that aspirational push that comes from tough hunters demanding apply and gearing up, and it left me feeling a bit unhappy.
At Tokyo Recreation Present 2026 I went hands-on with Monster Hunter Wilds: Ascendance, the upcoming growth, and holy smokes, what a distinction two years makes. I took on a pair of monsters in some completely brutal fights, the kind that have already got the build-crafting gears in my head turning. With the addition of recent monsters, new areas, Grasp Rank hunts, and a dramatic growth to the moveset of each weapon, this appears each bit the Monster Hunter World: Iceborne-style growth I’d been hoping for.
My demo begins with no razzle-dazzle. I’m in the Grand Hub, with two missions to pick. I begin with the simpler of the two, a hulking, winged Alpha Arakata. This battle takes place in the new Eyrie a part of The Forbidden Lands, an space with unusual flora paying homage to Coral Highlands from Monster Hunter World. Floating layers of rock and interconnecting root techniques forming bridges spiraling upwards add substantial vertically to the zone. As my trusty Seikret guides me to the monster, I reap the benefits of a collection of updrafts to rapidly climb to the higher layer, and I flock to Arakata, the noticeably bigger and extra harmful trying alpha at the heart.
For this hunt I’ve chosen the Twin Blades, my private weapon of alternative most of the time. I leap from the again of my mount, and catch the goal monster with a slash that sends me spinning alongside the size of its backbone like a beyblade. I get off to a quick begin, hacking at it after a close-by paratoad will get struck, and quickly paralyzes the monster in retaliation. As soon as it regains management, the Arakata flaps its wings to get briefly aloft, then dives straight towards me like a missile, however I’ve a brand new trick up my sleeve…
Considered one of the main new additions coming in Ascendance is Enhance Drivers. In your hunts you now have a Enhance Gauge that prices over time and when you assault, accumulate as much as three prices of Enhance. When you have not less than one cost, you may activate Enhance, which boosts the actions and assaults of your weapons. The impact is completely different for each weapon, in the case of my Twin Blades it give me new, ultra-rapid assaults, turns each dodge into damage-dealing acrobatics and, to the chagrin of this dive bombing Arakata, provides Twin Blades their first offset, assaults that counter and stagger incoming assaults, totally neutralizing injury and opening up but extra space for dealing injury.
The Alpa Arakata isn’t any pushover, nevertheless. That is an all-new monster in the collection, which suggests I’m studying on the fly. On the floor, it’s aggressive about slamming its wings and head, every lined in thick bone, ahead in direction of me. But it surely’s at its most harmful when it takes flight. It circles out of vary of my brief blades, then with little warning launches headfirst in direction of me at exceptional pace. It may possibly rapidly flap its wings to get peak then cost forward at any second, which suggests no distance is “protected,” making it laborious to foretell. When it engages, it begins chaining dives to assemble, and finishes by calling its flock, who be part of it flying in formation for an enormous aerial dive-bombing.
It’s a forwards and backwards battle, and ultimately the Arakata flees. I chase on my Seikret, and I’m shocked to see that my overgrown bird-like mount has some new methods too, which assist navigate the aerial areas of the Eyrie. It may possibly now flap its wings, extending the time you spend aloft and gaining further elevation. Seikret might all the time glide, however now they will tuck their wings tight, and quickly speed up by the air. Utilizing this I maintain near my quarry, and monitor the Araketa again to its nest. Right here I activate my Enhance as soon as once more, and unleash a massively enhanced model of the Twin Blades signature Demon Flurry combo, touchdown dozens of hits in a matter of seconds, and ending with an enormous pair of vertical slashes. It doesn’t take rather more for the monster to fall.
The second, more durable hunt on the docket is Teostra. This lion-headed Elder Dragon is a collection staple, and has killed numerous hunters, myself amongst them many instances over the years. I swap to the Sword and Defend for this hunt, the further safety will definitely be wanted right here, and produce alongside the Bow and Arrow as a secondary possibility, if preventing shut the the fiery-based creature proves too harmful.
This hunt takes us again to the Oilwell Basin. It doesn’t take any time to search out the Teostra, this type of beast doesn’t want to cover from anybody. Flames pour out of the facet of the monster as I start hacking away at him, utilizing facet steps and sliding slashes to attempt to avoid his fangs and claws. I handle to mount him, and take him right down to the floor with a mounted finisher. The sheer fury of relentless assaults l places me on my heels, and his potential to set me on hearth, or inflict blastblight, which is able to trigger me to blow up if I don’t clear the situation, has me juggling much more than simply slashes and blocks. That is powerful.
I activate my increase. My swordhand crackles with power as I maintain up my block and put together a counterattack. I stave off two highly effective swipes of Teostra’s tail and counter with an assault referred to as a Spinning Reaper, a quick, backhand rotation with my blade for prime injury. The Sword and Defend’s increase does loads. Not solely do I’ve new assaults, I additionally acquire entry to a ranged grapple transfer, just like the Clutch Claw from Monster Hunter World: Iceborne. I additionally acquire the potential to make use of objects to coat my blade, permitting me so as to add new injury parts, or perhaps a self-healing impact.
I knock Teostra down, activate my increase, and comply with a 3 hit combo with a leap into the air, adopted by a brand new model of the Falling Bash that sees me spiraling out of the air into the monster. Chaos of the battle apart, it’s straightforward to determine when your increase is prepared, due to a particular locking-n-place sound impact, and boosted assaults are highlighted in a crimson font, with a lift icon subsequent to the title of the transfer. However Teostra is relentless, and I lose an excessive amount of potential offense to the time spent with my defend up. After 20 minutes, neither this monster nor I’ve fallen, however my time is up. Hunt failed.
The primary style of Monster Hunter Wilds: Ascendance already has me salivating. The brand new methods, new (and returning) monsters, and model new suite of boosts are going to considerably disrupt how I do my builds, and the way I method hunts. Simply desirous about it now has my synapses firing, and there are nonetheless so many weapons who’re boosted actions I’ve but to strive, and who is aware of what new armor set bonuses is likely to be forward of us. The endgame of Monster Hunter Wilds was too straightforward, however this is likely to be what Monster Hunter sickos are in search of. We’ll know for certain when it launches generally in 2027.
When you’re right here, take a look at these latest previews of different huge upcoming video games we have checked out just lately!
Justin Koreis is a contributor to IGN. Take a look at every little thing he is written by way of his IGN web page.