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EA’s Wild Hearts takes a stab at Monster Hunter in February

George Yang
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Publisher Electronic Arts and developer Omega Force revealed new details and the debut trailer for Wild Hearts, a new monster-hunting game that will release on February 17, 2023, for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S.

WILD HEARTS Official Reveal Trailer

The game takes place in the land of Azuma. It has been overrun with a type of yokai based on Japanese folklore, called Kemono, which has evolved along with their surrounding environments. There are different creatures ranging from plant-infused squirrels to massive beasts like the frozen Deathstalker.

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There were other massive creatures mentioned as well, including the Kingtusk, Lavaback, and Earthbreaker. What separates Wild Hearts from other games in the monster-hunting genre is that players can build giant stationary weapons to place on the battlefield by utilizing karakuri technology. Players will need to lure monsters toward such contraptions as giant hammers and harpoons.

Wild Hearts will also support crossplay and up to three player co-op. Omega Force explains that it originally considered four player co-op, but capped it at three due to balance issues concerning the karakuri.

As Wild Hearts is not coming to the previous generation of consoles, Omega Force also says that it embraced the challenge of using new technology and maximizing the game’s performance. Koei Tecmo director Takuto Edagawa explains: “Specifically, we have improved the atmosphere by incorporating more accurate indirect light and increased density by placing higher-resolution fields, Kemono, and objects in the game.”

Wild Hearts joins an increasingly stacked February 2023 game release schedule. The month ALSI includes games like Dead Island 2, Hogwarts Legacy, Octopath Traveler II, Destiny 2: Lightfall, and Like a Dragon: Ishin!

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