We’re just two weeks away from the release of Wild Hearts, EA and Koei Tecmo’s upcoming Monster Hunter-like adventure. We’ve already got a pretty good idea of what to expect, from its Japanese folklore-inspired beasties to its magical trap-making artifacts, but thanks to a Reddit AMA with the game’s executive producer, we now know what to expect from Wild Hearts post-launch.
Executive producer Lewis Harvey told Redditors that fans can look forward to free content updates after Wild Hearts drops later this month (with thanks to VGC). You can also expect to unlock all the game's features without any microtransactions.
"All post-launch content will be free, including new Kemono and more," Harvey said. "We don’t have any plans to feature microtransactions."
Kemono is the name given to Wild Hearts' giant beasts that players will hunt throughout the course of the game. Wild Hearts will feature 20 Kemono at launch as the game's "focus has been on quality over quantity," but more are definitely planned later on. Not every Kemono has been revealed either, leaving some surprises in store.
Harvey also offered a host of tidbits for aspiring Kemono hunters. Wild Hearts peer-to-peer multiplayer will allow players to drop in and drop out at any time, although you'll definitely want to stick around for the kill. Players will be able to modify their experience through their Karakuri, which is the magical artifact that can transform into traps and tools to help hunt down Kemono. The game can be played entirely solo and you never need to go online if you don't want to, unlike some other games I could mention.
Players can expect the Wild Hearts endgame to be more than just waiting for the new Kemono to arrive. "After completing the campaign players will get a new quest to investigate a new highly dangerous variant of Kemono appearing in the world ‘Volatile Kemono.’ These powerful Kemono will lead the player to an even more difficult tier of Kemono that we won't spoil today," wrote Harvey. "We are preparing a blog with more details about the endgame soon!"
Finally, there is no dog to pet in Wild Hearts, but there will be a rabbit. Wild Hearts arrives February 16 on PC, Xbox Series X|S, and PlayStation 5.