Monster Hunter Wilds’ true difficulty isn’t the battles: it’s navigating the horrible menus

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Instead of focusing on whether Monster Hunter Worlds is “too hard” or if it’s made the series “too streamlined,” let’s shift our conversation towards the actual challenge in this game, which isn’t primarily about battling large reptiles (that may become tougher as you progress), but rather navigating its intricate and cumbersome user interface.

Without beating around the bush: Monster Hunter Wilds‘ menus are a mess. They’re confusing, overlapping, and poorly named. While the campaign essentially serves as an extended tutorial for understanding the intricacies of hunting, the vast array of options and additional systems receive minimal explanation. It seems as if Capcom built a menu maze so complex that even their own developers couldn’t find a clear path to explain it.

Using the bag item during a monster battle feels incredibly frustrating because it requires coordinating three distinct button inputs – holding down the left bumper, pressing a certain direction on the D-pad for quick-use items, and then manipulating the right stick to select the desired status effect item.

Using something becomes much more hassle-free when I’ve personalized my bag and attached items to it. It would be quite inconvenient to go through the whole bag, item by item, especially while a Congalala is flying overhead.

As an enthusiast, I’ve found myself growing increasingly frustrated with this map. By default, it’s a whirlwind of monsters, small creatures, endemic life, resource collection nodes, and more – all crammed together in vibrant colors. But then my buddy enlightened me, “You can filter the map icons.” I was puzzled about how to do that. As it turns out, you have to press an unmarked button on the map menu (the D-pad), dig into a submenu, and there you’ll find the option to filter the map icons!

As a passionate player, I often find myself struggling to navigate the map and locate only the main huntable monsters. However, it turns out there’s a solution! By clicking on the filter menu and selecting “hide,” I can effortlessly conceal all the unnecessary elements, revealing only the monsters I’m after – exactly what I needed for an enjoyable gaming experience!

As a dedicated fan of Monster Hunter World, I must confess that I’m yet to grasp how the layered armor system operates within the game. Is it perhaps because I haven’t unlocked this feature yet, or could it be that I’ve overlooked the specific option in the sub-menu that allows me to customize the appearance of my armor? Frankly, I’m not entirely sure.

In the photo mode, you’ll find a distinct “edit menu” for modifying your character’s pose, which is separate from another menu that allows you to conceal the user interface or set a timer. Meanwhile, within the armor crafting screen, there’s a submenu for including items on your wishlist. Interestingly, this ‘wishlist’ option can be found in yet another distinct section of the forge as well.

It appears that many actions I wish to perform in Monster Hunter are hidden multiple levels within the submenus, yet the screen is consistently overflowing with information. It’s puzzling how there can still be so much visual congestion despite this. The game menu itself includes a “favorites” and “recently viewed” section, which suggests that the developers acknowledge the menus might be somewhat complex to navigate.

Riding on my secret steed displays a comprehensive set of both mount controls and mounted attack options simultaneously, making it seem like these should not be shown all the time but rather when relevant to the situation.

What truly intrigues me is that Monster Hunter seems no more complicated than other RPGs I play, but it audaciously boasts an inferior user experience compared to some others. Diablo 4 has the same level of numerical complexity, yet its navigation feels much more intuitive and streamlined. Even FromSoftware games appear less problematic in this regard.

Monster Hunter Wilds seems to combine the most frustrating aspects of an MMO (excessive interface congestion), a JRPG (deeply embedded menus that can be confusing), and a 20-year-old game series (outdated user experience that long-time players adapt to easily but newcomers struggle with).

Eventually, I’ll get accustomed to navigating this complex Rube Goldberg-like menu for this game. It’s important to note that this intricate interface presents one of the challenging aspects when starting out. In contrast, Arkveld seems almost effortless.

1. Monster Hunter Wilds Handbook: Gathering All Our Tips in One Spot

2. Collaborative Hunting in Monster Hunter Wilds Multiplayer

3. A Variety of Weapons for Monster Hunter Wilds: Custom Builds

4. Protect Yourself with the Best Armor in Monster Hunter Wilds

5. Advanced Equipment from Artian Weapons, Monster Hunter Wilds: Endgame Gear

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2025-03-07 01:30