Does Wild Heart Have An Open World, Or Zoned Areas?

Gamers hoping for a new experience to jump into while they await the next entry in their favorite monster-hunting franchise shouldn’t sleep on what Wild Hearts has to offer. Not only will gamers find something rather unique under the surface, but they may also find their newest obsession. There are a few things that gamers may be wondering about still, however.

The Monster Hunter franchise is known for having zones that players can explore, and while more recent entries such as Monster Hunter: World and Monster Hunter: Rise have done away with these small areas, and set up with loading screens, does Wild Hearts follow suit?

Is Wild Hearts Open World?

In a way, it is a slightly open world but does fall into the same category as its clear inspiration. Players can select one of the different areas to hunt in, all with their own unique Kemono that live within them. However, it isn’t a fully open-world experience, as players will still need to pop open their menu and select a new playground to jump into.

Thankfully, this process is rather streamlined and easy to accomplish. Opening up the menu screen, players will have the chance to pick and choose where they would like to go, rather than needing to return to a base and set out on a hunt. Players that are hoping to scavenge for some spare parts on these giant monsters can just jump into whichever world they want to, and start hunting.

However, some obstacles will keep players from hunting whatever monster whenever they want. As they progress through the story, players will begin unlocking new areas to roam in, so the map is slightly blocked off to start. While claiming the lives and the parts of these different creatures, they’ll start to unlock new hunting grounds that they can teleport to with the press of a button.

While it would have been interesting to have this title as a fully open-world playground, some caveats prevent this from happening. And while it would have been cool to jump right in and roam into whatever part of the world we would like, that is sadly not the case here. However, players that are looking for some adventure with friends can jump right into this one, no matter the platform that they’re playing on.

Wild Hearts is available now on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.