Omega Force and Electronic Arts’ EA Originals label are hard at work on Wild Hearts, an upcoming action role-playing video game. As the player, you are tasked with exploring the fictional realm of Azuma, which takes inspiration from medieval Japan, to track down and kill enormous creatures. The release date, 17 February 2023, will see the game hit PS5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S.
Wild Hearts Gameplay: Where the Brave and Bold Thrive
In Azuma, players take on the role of an anonymous hunter on missions to track down and kill gigantic monsters called Kemono. While not an open world per se, Azuma does feature several sizable regions that can be explored at will. Wagasa and katana are just two of the eight weapons available in the game.
Players can use weapons to kill Enemies, but the Karakuri system also allows them to craft items to help them in battle. For instance, players can construct crates to jump off, dealing tremendous damage to Enemies or a torch to set them on fire.
However, these components can be assembled into more complex mechanisms, such as a bulwark that stands in the way of an oncoming threat. Before Kemono destroyed them, the created things would have lasted forever.
Karakuri can also be constructed by players to aid in the traversal. Thread is required to complete Karakuri, which can be obtained by combat. Players can hunt more brutal enemies by acquiring better gear as they advance through the game.
They calculated that players would need around 30 hours to complete the story mode. Players can join forces with a second and third-party member as the game progresses.
The cunning Sapscourge: Keep your wits about you, or you may find yourself in a sticky situation. 🦝 #PlayWildHearts
Pre-orders available: https://t.co/zcd3cYWppa pic.twitter.com/VH7xq7TTpB
— WILD HEARTS (@playWildHearts) January 13, 2023
Beyond the Usual: ‘Wild Hearts’ Reimagines Monster Hunting
Omega Force, owned by Koei Tecmo, is most known for its Warriors series (Dynasty Warriors, Hyrule Warriors, etc.). Still, the studio’s upcoming project, Monster Hunter, sees it return to a genre it dabbled in half a decade ago with Toukiden.
Electronic Arts’ Wild Hearts is a spinoff of the Monster Hunter genre that adds tower defense elements and pits players against monstrous animals their natural habitats have altered. More of the kemono, or monsters, that will be included in Wild Hearts were shown off Thursday at The Game Awards by developers Omega Force and EA.
Deathstalker, the wolf, is infected with frost; Amaterasu, the hawk, is infected with maple trees and sunlight; and Golden Tempest, the tiger, is contaminated with roots and gold dust. In an interview with Polygon published earlier this week, Wild Hearts Gameplay‘ developers said that the game’s kemono creatures were created to be both credible (despite their allegedly magical nature) and frightening (in terms of their aggression and drive to survive).
The boar creature, a monster with huge tusks and many eyes infused with the trees of its environment, served as the inspiration for the design of kemono. Using a translator, Wild Hearts art director Yu Oboshi said that the environment affects the animals, and the animals, in turn, impact their surroundings.
Marina Ayano, one of the game’s art directors, has remarked, “The boar was the first kemono that we designed.” In developing the boar, we considered numerous possibilities, such as a yokai style or a fantasy-oriented style, because “[Wild Hearts] contains several elements, like the threat of nature and animals, how they fuse [together]. We weren’t about to cook the hog and lose any of its untamed, natural flavors.
When first created, kemono are timid but develop an aggressive nature through mutations. After settling on the boar, other kemono preserved the original animal’s and nature’s characteristics. Ayano said ukiyo-e paintings, hanafuda cards, and religious buildings inspired the team’s unique enemies.
Wild Hearts director Takuto Edagawa has stated that the game’s setting features naturally occurring kemono. “There’s something that’s allowed them to evolve and become intertwined with nature,” Edagawa added.
According to the designers, “this is how life is usually in their world. In the game, they’re your opponent, but they’re not always the bad guy. They’re fighting for their lives, too, but their goals are at odds with the players.
According to Edagawa, “there was the question of ‘What is nature to us?'” in Wild Hearts, but the film does not have an ecological or environmental message. Nothing we do to the natural world will be noticed by nature. Animals are unaware of whether or not we are having a good or bad impact on them. The natural world is cyclical, and so are the events that make up our narrative.
To succeed in their fight against kemono, players must pay great attention to their surroundings. The optimal time for a single battle in Wild Hearts Release date is 15. However, it can go anywhere from 10 to 20 minutes. A monster whose blood is infused with local tree growth can appear peaceful and green like its verdant surroundings before changing to red like fall leaves as it becomes enraged and nears its end.
Gather your allies, your new hunting grounds are nearly ready! 🐗 What are you most excited to see in the world of Azuma?
Pre-order here: https://t.co/zcd3cYWppa #PlayWildHearts pic.twitter.com/4RQLbiiSG9
— WILD HEARTS (@playWildHearts) January 17, 2023
Some kemono, like those infused with ice and snow, may react differently in battle than others of the same species when exposed to different climates. However, those who are afraid of spiders need not be concerned.
Developers have stated that players will not encounter monstrous insects or bugs in Wild Hearts. Instead, when Wild Hearts releases in February for PlayStation 5 Exclusive, Windows PC, and Xbox Series X, players can anticipate a cast of anthropomorphic apes, porcupines, rats, wolves, and boars that have been imbued with fierce anger inspired by the natural world.
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