For a few days, Electronic Arts has picked up the slack and is actively communicating about the next games in its catalog, some of which Wild Heartsa AAA action RPG developped by Omega Force and published within the label EA Originals. Directly dated following its revelation at the turn of a first trailer which set the tone, it was then entitled last week to a trailer of gameplay for 7 minutes, showing us in particular the hunt for Kingtusk. On our side, we were able to attend a presentation of the game and we try it (our impressions will come later), the opportunity to glean some additional information that we will list here.
Producer Yosuke Hayashi of Koei-Tecmo first reminded us that the Japanese publisher was born from the merger of these two entities, having respectively at their disposal Omega Force for Koei and Team Ninja for Techmo. The purpose of the developers behind Wild Hearts is therefore in line with what is proposed in particular with the Dynasty Warriorsto know provide action games that can be enjoyed by allunderstand by this that we should be on a broad accessibility level rather than a title masocore as can be Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty. Our friend of the day also recalled that the studio is behind the Toukidenalso to be classified in the category of hunting gamesbut Wild Hearts is a new unrelated license. In development for 4 years, Wild Hearts is therefore part of this lineage with the pillars of hunting and crafting, and already sees itself as a new reference of the genre. And although he didn’t go into detail, this partnership with EA Originals is there to fill in the gaps Koei-Tecmo in terms of global and especially Western experience. We later learned thata dubbing in several languages will be proposedin addition to the translation, which is undoubtedly part of the said expertise.
One of the attractions of Wild Heartsis that’it can be played with several people by everyone in a team of three players, from start to finish, whether it is the scenario or the additional contentat least 30 hours of main plot being promised with surprises and a “beautiful story”. Party size will influence difficulty with automatic scaling, but no storyline requirements will limit co-op play. Moreover, the developers have tried for a time to offer a group of four players, but it did not work, in addition to the fact that it is easier to bring together two other people. We will therefore be able to join a friend’s world via a portal, at any time, in order to take part in hunts or simply explore Azuma. Rest assured, the loot will not be instantiated, but distributed to each player independently.
The karakuris manufactured items that do not disappear (a bench for example), we will therefore be able to discover the creations of other players during our visits. For example, it will be possible to create an automaton to fish and others will help in the collection of resources. Some will be used to move more easily such as the glider, the zip line or the springboard, in addition to the possibility of climbing the walls, an endurance gauge being all the same there to limit us, in the manner of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (the game has been quoted).
A city called Minato will act as a hub and provide access to side quests to help its citizens, but will in no way be an obligatory passage point to progress, unlike for example the Round of Destiny 2. Our avatar, basically a simple boar hunter, will be fully customizable in the manner of Nioh 2 and a system of transmog will allow us to keep our look while being well equipped. On this subject, we will have access to 8 types of weapons including katanas, mallets, bows and staves, with combos depending on the karakuris used and all having finishers. As to kemonosthey will be able to come back stronger and even interact with each other, probably like a Monster Hunter: World. Finally, a post-launch follow-up is plannedbut no details were given, which should happen in due course, and from cross play will be integrated.
Wild Hearts is expected on February 17, 2023 on PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC (Steam, EGS, Origin). You can already pre-order it on consoles via Amazon at the price of 79.99 €.
| Alexandre SAMSON (Omega Law) Responsible Corrector – Editor | ||
| Addicted to Assassin’s Creed and Destiny, great fan of RPGs and passionate about video game experiences in general. Reader of comics (DC) and various manga (One Piece!). Chemist by training and Whovian at heart. | ||
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