Monster Hunter Wilds regions are twice as big as World’s, with no loading screens

This story is part of our Summer Gaming Marathon series.

Monster Hunter Wilds is shaping up to be a major upgrade from Monster Hunter World. I have learned that the maps players will explore in Monster Hunter Wilds are going to be twice as big as the ones in Monster Hunter World — and they won’t even feature loading screens while accomplishing that. I saw a hands-off preview of the game at Summer Game Fest Play Days and could instantly recognize the greater scope of Monster Hunter Wilds.

The game looks beautiful and the desert world Capcom showed was lively, with small birds living in trees to herds of monsters roaming the landscape. Quests could be started by just attacking monsters, and completing a quest didn’t kick the hunter back to base or force any sort of loading screen. I spoke to some of the developers behind it and was left stunned by what could be one of the most impressive games to release during this console generation.

A seamless hunt

“Seamlessness” is a big keyword at the center of both Monster Hunter World and Monster Hunter Wilds, according to Capcom.

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“The seamlessness of Monster Hunter World was hugely revolutionary for the series and also very well-received by players,” Executive Director Kaname Fujioka told Digital Trends in a behind-closed-doors interview. “We wanted to go even further and remove those loading moments from the game completely. You can run right out of a base into a map, choose a monster to make your target, and start a quest without having to go to a quest board or wait for it to load. We’ve taken down all those little time gaps and barriers to make the game even more immersive.”

I saw all this in action during a live hands-off demo where one of the game’s developers hunted a Doshaguna. After exploring some of the sandy dunes of