Omega Force’s upcoming Wild Hearts seems like a deep game and if you have questions, the devs have answers! In a new Q&A with gamers, EA (the company publishing the game) revealed that Wild Hearts will feature offline play, won’t have microtransactions (?!), along with a lot more details.
The new Wild Hearts gameplay details were revealed on the game’s subreddit where Lewis Harvey, Executive Producer on Wild Hearts, and part of the EA Originals label that’s publishing the game answered fan questions in an AMA (Ask Me Anything) session.
Check out all of the questions that got answered which include confirmation of a Performance & Quality mode for consoles and more!
Q: Is the game running at a locked 60 fps on PS5 performance mode? in the preview demo that we have seen a few months back the game didn’t run so well. Will the game run better on PS5 on release?
A: For both PS5 and XSX WILD HEARTS offers a default performance mode 1080p at 60fps and optional picture quaity mode up to 4k and 30fps.\
Q: Hello there Lewis, I suppose one of the biggest questions outta the gate is what should we expect for the games monetization? Will there be microtransactions? If so what kind of items will be for sale?
A: All post launch contents will be free, including new Kemono and more! We don’t have any plans to feature MTX.
Q: How many Kemonos are in the game? Are there plans for adding more after launch?
A: Answering this in reverse order:
1/2 Yes! There are plans to add more Kemono after launch!
2/2 We’re a new IP and we’ll have over 20 Kemono in the game at launch as our focus has been on quality over quantity. We haven’t revealed all of them yet as we want to keep some as surprises, but we’re excited to see everyone’s reactions to our full collection of Kemono when the game launches on Feb 17.
Q: Any details for the endgame?
A: 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 😉 We are preparing a blog with more details about the endgame soon! The endgame systems and threats will continue to expand over the course of our free content updates.
Q: Will we get a demo for the game?
A: Players with a subscription to EA Play or GamePass Ultimate will be able to play a 10 hour trial of WILD HEARTS four days early starting on Feb 13th
Q: How is the team looking to balance aerial vs grounded combat? It appears right now aerial moves are generally dealing a lot more damage.
A: Great question! We feel all eight weapons in the game have been well balanced to be viable in all situations. Players skill and mastery of the weapon types will come into play here. In all our playtests, we’ve seen the most powerful attacks have come from some of the more grounded weapons. I’m all about the Maul personally!
Q: Will there be any type of NPC AI party members like in Toukiden? This was one of the main reasons I loved the game. Also will we be able to customize a Karakuri load out?
A: For starters, yes you can customize your base Karakuri loadout for combat 🙂
In terms of NPCs, you’ll meet the Tsukumo early in the game, who are little celestial Karakuri beings that can be collected all across the land of Azuma and you can choose one of them to follow you as an A.I. companion in solo play. The Tsukumo can also be upgraded at your camp to support you in different ways during your hunts!
Q: Will there be a pause button if you play single player and/or a group pause button for multiplayer?
A: Yes, the game will allow you to pause in solo play only. 🙂
Q: My question is regarding the endgame. Can you give us any idea of what to expect in terms of a grind or replayability? All the gameplay we’ve seen has been of kills, but are you able to capture them and if so, are there benefits to doing so?
A: You are not able capture the large Kemono, that concept doesn’t really line up with the story in the game. There are small creatures in the world that can be captured as pets and give you special rewards via Karakuri enclosures you can build for them.
Q: I’m curious to hear more about the background and inspiration for the games from the devs! Not really a specific question, but I’d love to give the devs an opportunity to share their perspective
A: When we partnered with Koei Tecmo on WILD HEARTS, we were blown away by the passion and innovation they are bringing to the hunting genre. In their own words, here’s how the game was first concepted.
This project began as an attempt to create a Japanese-style hunting game that a new generation of players around the world could have fun with. It was informed by our experience developing hunting games, specifically the Toukiden series.
Our goal of creating a Japanese-style hunting game for a new generation remained consistent from start to finish, but making this core idea a reality was not something that happened overnight. One challenge we faced was creating something unique with universal appeal that would be accepted by players around the world. To achieve this, we went through several prototypes and trial and error over a very long period of time.
The ideas that formed the core of the project were Kemono, a fusion of nature and animals; and Karakuri, a craft element that was added specifically to suit the hunting elements of this game. We believe that WILD HEARTS, born from these core ideas, is a hunting game that offers a new and innovative experience.”
Q: Will there be a way to modify your character’s appearance (body/face/hair/make up) after creating it ?
A: Yes, we have a Karakuri for that 🙂 You will be able to unlock and craft a unique Karakuri in the city of Minato that lets you do just that.
Q: Will we be able to carve most of the body?
A: I think you’re asking if we have breakable body parts of Kemono? 😛 If so, yes! All large Kemono have different breakable parts that can be carved separately from the Kemono. Happy hunting!
Q: But can you pet the dog?
A: You can pet… the rabbit! Don’t try to pet the ice dogs!
Q: How do the permissions in multiplayer hunts work. Can visitors interact with the host’s non combat karakuri? Can they destroy or add their own? How do the kemono scale in multiplayer hunts? Are the servers separated by continent/region or can we play with users across the world.
A: Hello! Yes, visitors to your world can interact with your Karakuri and build their own in your world. Only the world host has the permissions to proactively destroy Karakuri. It has been designed specifically to avoid that kind of potential toxic behavior in multiplayer.
The game difficulty will dynamically scale up and down depending on how many hunters are present. If someone joins, the challenge bumps up, if someone drops, it goes down!
Our multiplayer infrastructure is peer to peer based, you can play with players all over the world 🙂
Q: I know not all games are fully optimistic for Steam Deck, but is Wild Hearts playable on Steam Deck?
A: The game won’t be supported on the Steam Deck at launch. I have one though and want this as much as you! Hopefully we can get to this in the future.
Q: Hi, could you please please please confirm whether the game has female design options for all the armor sets? (like how Monster Hunter has dedicated male & female designs for every monster) or does all the gear only have one male design? I’m a HUGE fashion hunter so I am absolutely desperate to know!!
Are armor pieces mix & match & customizable with different colors/pigments?
Finally – is the game online only & needs an internet connection to be played, or is it possible to play solo offline?
A: Unfortunately we do not have separate female armor sets at this time 🙁 sorry! But, you will be able to mix and match armor pieces and some of our armor allows you to alter the look to be more human focused or Kemono focused. The stats will change with these transformations too. We also have cosmetic ornaments that can be crafted and equipped to your armor for extra personalization.
Yes, you can play solo completely offline!
Thank you so much for the questions, we will take your feedback on the female armour sets back to the team.
Q: What’s your favorite weapon and why?
A: Right now I’m loving the Maul! It’s incredibly over the top and powerful but also requires precise timing to then extend the hilt and deal massive damage at longer ranges! BONK!
Q: I’m curious if multiple Kemono will be spotted on the map at once and if they’ll interact with each other. Like how Monsters in Monster Hunter World can call each other or get into turf wars will there be similar interactions?
The other thing I’m curious about are the maps, mainly how large they will be and how many different locales we can expect to see.
A: Yes, it is a rare occurrence [sic] but players will see Kemono battling each other throughout the game.
Azuma is made up of 4 large explorable areas that all represent a different season. We also have the hub city of Minato and some other places we are keeping a secret 😉
Q: Pretty small question: What does the Final Blow do besides play a animation? Do you get extra rewards if you do the Final? Is it nesscary to beat a Hunt?
A: No question is too small here!
The final blow is essentially just a super cool animation that caps off the hunt in a way that feels rewarding after a big fight. It does not change the outcome of the hunt and is required to finish. The final blow will trigger the results and rewards screen for the hunt and let you know how fast you were 🙂
Q: Are there any status effects and or ailments that can be inflicted on Kemono or to our Hunter?
A: Absolutely. Elements play a huge role in WILD HEARTS, players and Kemono can be set alight, poisoned, slowed by ice etc, it will be important to defend yourself against a Kemono’s core element with your armour and target thier weaknesses with your weapon choice.
Q: Will there be a guild feature where we make our own guilds or nah?
A: Currently we have no plans for official in-game clans or guilds. However you can set a multiplayer session ‘tag’ and share this with your wider group of friends. They will then be able to find each other more easily online to hunt together if some of them are not direct connections in real life.
Q: Hello! Thanks for coming to Reddit to answer questions. I have one regarding support classes. I love to play the role of support in games, be that a straight up healer or, more team support like the hunting horn in MH. Will any weapons or abilities lean into this play style? I don’t expect spoilers, just generalisation really.
A: Hey! Thanks for coming and I’m so glad you’re looking forward to the game!
Your weapon choice and your actions with Karakuri sort of define your role in WILD HEARTS. We have the Bladed Wagasa umbrella which is more of a ‘tank’ based parry weapon but when it comes to healing and buffs this is all baked into our Karakuri and food systems. If you want to support your team with heals you can absolutely task yourself with conjuring healing, defense buff and even bubble shield Karakuri whilst your team use their resources to focus on damage!
Q: How many weapons are there going to be, and is there going to be a level akin to low and high in MH
A: We have eight different weapons in the game that we’re planning to provide more details on later this week. Stay tuned to our social channels for more info soon.
In WILD HEARTS players will start to encounter “Mighty Kemono” mid way through the campaign. These are sort of our ‘high rank’ versions of the early Kemono. Players can switch back to the previous world state at any time from the map if they wish to fight the early game Kemono again.
Q: Will Wild Hearts have a content plan for post release?
Were there any challenges with localizing such a strongly themed game as Wild Hearts for the west? I imagine it would be an undertaking!
I saw the an EA account is required. Does this mean the game will have cross saves as well as cross play?
A: Hi!
We have provided some info on post launch plans HERE, more to come on that soon.
Localization for the west was a huge undertaking and one of the many ways in which EA has been able to support Koei Tecmo and build a higher quality experience. We have the full experience of EA helping support with text translation and bringing in great voice actors for the english version.
We do support full cross play but not cross progression/saves at this time.
End of Q&A
Whew! That’s a lot of info to take in! You can check out the latest gameplay trailer right here to see how it’s shaping up.
Wild Hearts lands on the PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC this February 17, 2023, and can be pre-ordered now.
