No-Skin is an incredibly simple horror roguelike about the worst party ever, full of strong booze, bad conversation and eldritch violence - Related to we've, incredibly, conversation, roguelike, is

Monster Hunter Wilds review: just might rocket Capcom’s worst-kept Seikret into the mainstream

Do you have a favourite travel destination? Somewhere you just can’t stop going back to, even though you know there’s a whole world out there to see? That’s Monster Hunter, for me. It’s a holiday. A fantastical sabbatical from a real life that is often painful, exhausting, and overwhelming. Even though you’re carving up dragons, covering your ears from earth-rumbling roars, eating thunderbolts on the daily, and getting your nice new armour burned to a crisp with alarming regularity, Monster Hunter is a recess, a break, a sojourn.

But Monster Hunter Wilds is a bit different. It’s like going on holiday to your favourite country… but going to a new city. It’s familiar enough that you speak the language and recognise the cuisine, but the customs are a bit different. The people behave slightly differently. The shops are loaded with items you don’t remember. It’s deja vu, not muscle memory. It’s a feeling of familiarity, not complete comfort. And it’s the change you never knew you needed.

Capcom is clearly emboldened right now. It is so confident, in fact, it’s willing to tinker with its most reliable (and best-selling!) formula. Good. Monster Hunter is no stranger to innovation, just look at the last game’s DLC offering and you’ll see what I mean. But Wilds is the sequel to World, the most profitable Monster Hunter to date. Playing it safe, Capcom could have churned out more of the same and sat back, counting the pennies. But it chose not to rest on its laurels, and instead stuck its hand into the belly of the beast and started rearranging the innards. The result is a chimera that is smarter, stronger, faster, friendlier, but - curiously - more simplistic.

The most obvious change is in the story. Since Rise and Sunbreak, we’ve seen the series try and force more narrative around the skeletal ‘hunt, carve, craft, hunt’ structure it made its name on. In Wilds, the narrative is in your face. The old ‘post a quest, teleport into a zone, do a hunt’ rhythm is scuppered, replaced with a more fluid path. Wilds has a more open-ended set-up, allowing you to roam from hub world to play area on a whim. It means you get to see more of the world in its natural state, and feel way more immersed in the intricate eco-system Capcom has spent years layering up. There is a lot of focus on 'auto-riding' that robs you of agency to a degree, and there are periods where you can be completely hands-off for minutes at a time. A cardinal sin in a Monster Hunter game, if you ask me.

That also means you have to sit through a lot of idle chatter. How much tolerance you have for the paper-thin story will depend on your patience for anime tropes, fan service, and mediocre voice acting. It all looks absolutely stunning, though, so at least there’s that. I don’t find the story too egregious (you can always skip it) and I’m sure it’s a nice touch for people who want something a bit more arch to tie all their PETA-riling animal murders together. But it’s not for me. It’s too obvious, takes itself too seriously, and feels woven together with fibers made out of tropes, stereotypes, and cliches.

I don’t play Monster Hunter for the story. I never have, and never will. It’s set dressing, side salad, a cute enamel pin on an eye-catching outfit. The real meat of Monster Hunter is the gameplay, and let me tell you… when you are actually fighting (especially in the post-game HR portion), Wilds is the best Monster Hunter Capcom has ever cooked up.

All 14 weapons return from the previous games, but now you can carry two into battle with you. Want to use something that can slice off tails, and something that can shoot out eyeballs? Go ahead. Want to take two different gunlances in so you can poison a big lizard and then set it on fire? It’s your game. This alone would be enough of a change-up to keep the game fresh and entice old players back, but there’s more. There’s so much more.

Take wounds; gaping injuries on a monster’s body that can be exploited for huge damage, elemental or status build-up, and that provide more materials when you destroy them. It makes fights way more dynamic, and gives you more options in moment-to-moment fighting that pads out the macro experience to keep things engaging, back to front.

It used to be that a Monster Hunter fight had a strict rhythm; engage with a beast, fight it for a bit, pursue it to a new area, fight it for a bit, break a part of its body, pursue it again, and capture or kill it. That dance is still the same in Wilds, but now you can incorporate more fancy footwork in the middle. At any point, you can create a wound and start trying to rip it open. You get to dictate more of the combat flow. There are more choices per fight, and you’re always weighing up the most efficient next move. It’s moreish, succulent, a treat to the palate.

And when you start to realise there is more depth than ever to how the world works, you see all the options on the flowchart expand again. The entire Monster Hunter Wilds experience is like opening up a skill tree in a game and zooming out, and zooming out, and zooming out. More and more stuff starts to become visible, and it’s overwhelming and fascinating and exciting.

One of my favourite moments in the game was fighting a Rey Dau - a thunder dragon, basically - in the starting area. It’s a ‘boss fight’, if you like, a threshold to harder content. During the fight, a herd of p**sed-off buffalo-like monsters (Doshaguma) stormed into the melee. They were panicked, and the alpha monster started butting heads with the Rey Dau. The dragon was screeching and flinging lighting everywhere. The herd was conducting electricity, getting agitated, and causing a rumpus. It was carnage, and me and my fellow hunters were in the middle of it, trying to make sense of everything. Eventually, the herd departed, the Rey Dau had been stunned and knocked to the ground, and there were bits of monster everywhere.

It was totally unscripted, and I have done the same fight at least six times since and the same thing has never happened again. The ecosystem and the living world that Capcom has alchemized is so complicated and intricate that I am still left gob-smacked, long after the credits have rolled (both times). I won’t spoil things here, but there are so many variations of monsters - and ways in which monsters that live somewhere else can appear in new environments - that I truly don’t think one player will ever see absolutely everything this game has to offer. It’s staggering. And, in my opinion, more than makes up for the smaller monster roster than World.

Monster Hunter Wilds isn’t quite open world. It’s a series of huge areas knitted together with elaborate pathways and multi-layered environments. You can be careering over the canopies of a forest one minute, and exploring the dank, subterranean depths of a hollowed-out oil well the next. You can be blinded in a snowstorm, or buffeted by rain. You can be hopping away from lightning, or basking in the sun on the open plains. RE Engine is a magical piece of tech, and it feels like Capcom is juicing it on all cylinders in Wilds.

You can see it in the animations, too. There is so much subtlety to how monsters behave, it’s mind-blowing. The marionette spider, Lala Barina, moves like a stop-motion puppet. The [redacted] versions of returning monsters tremble with rage and shiver with raw power. The hunters, too, handling their weapons, just look right. I have no idea what it would be like to wield a gun that’s also a lance in real life, but Wilds sure makes me believe Capcom has figured it out.

But, as compelling as the gameplay is, you've got to contend with Wilds' pacing. Story aside, some essential bits of gameplay - like capturing monsters, rather than killing them - are kicked to the post-credits portion of the title. Odd. Why am I still on-boarding after I have finished the game?

It’s part of a wider issue in how complicated Wilds is to play. Whilst the formula has been simplified a lot in Wilds, there’s still a lot of icon salad on screen at once, and if you don’t dig into the menus to really learn how to use your favourite weapon, chances are you’re never going to see it shine. You get back what you put in, though, and for those willing to dig, there are veins and veins of gold to strike.

But, for every overly-complicated feature, there's something that's also a bit too simple to match. Auto-riding on your mount to locate every monster sounds good in theory, right? In actuality, it puts you on a converyor belt so you ignore so much of the world Capcom spent crafting. The lowered requirements for crafting makes earning powerful gear way easier than in previous games. Tempered monsters don't have their own reward pool, so the number of weapons and armour feels scant in comparison to other titles.

This stuff doesn't bug me, so much. I play Monster Hunter because the High Rank content - the stuff you see after the credits roll - is the real meat of the game. I concede that it's frustrating so many of the good armour sets, the most thrilling fights, and the chunkiest bits of the game are hiding some 18+ hours into the experience. But that's Monster Hunter, baby! It feels like Capcom is making you earn the right to take the training wheels off, as illogical as it can sometimes feel.

Monster Hunter Wilds is the most sophisticated Monster Hunter game, ever. It is absolutely teeming with stuff to do, it has been streamlined in a smart, player-friendly way, and it layers on so many little boons and boosts compared to Worlds that it’s impossible to see where Capcom could possibly go next. You could argue that Capcom has sanded down all the rough edges and erased the personality of the series in the process, but I think that's uncharitable: I think this is a more accessible game, with as much depth as World, but it's just tucked away in the folds of the post-game. And that will turn people off.

But the new monsters are fun, ferocious, and weird. The nudges and nuances to the weapons are fascinating and make you feel overpowered, without trivialising the fighting. The crafting process feels quicker than it used to, but you can still grind for the perfect set if you want. The drop-in, drop-out online multiplayer is seamless and succinct, and the netcode (on PS5 Pro, with crossplay on) has never failed me. Putting aside some stale story and a few odd choices regarding pacing and player autonomy, this game is exactly what I wanted from the PS5/Xbox Series era of Monster Hunter.

I am already 50 hours in, and I can’t wait to double - triple, quadruple! - that number in the coming weeks and months. This one’s a classic, as far as I'm concerned.

Monster Hunter Wilds launches for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC on February 28. This review was written thanks to code provided by the publisher, and tested on both PS5 and PS5 Pro.

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No-Skin is an incredibly simple horror roguelike about the worst party ever, full of strong booze, bad conversation and eldritch violence

NO-SKIN Release Date Trailer - YouTube Watch On.

Most of us have been to a bad party or two where nothing quite feels right. No-Skin, a lately-released minimalist horror roguelike, reveals you what it's like when the night's vibes are cataclysmically rancid. The souring conversation with your friends seems like a minor concern, at least, compared to being accosted by an angry, faceless, skinless man while looking for the fridge. That's just the start of a deeply cursed evening. At least the moon is smiling upon me, and gives me a knife and a gun. Thank you, moon.

No-Skin is one of the simplest roguelikes I've played. I pick from one of three locations in the building to stumble into in an intoxicated haze, each stating a percentage chance of finding something good, something mystifying, or ending up in a fight. Once in a fight, I take turns to attack with a knife or gun, use items I've collected, or just try to skew the (almost always stated) odds in my favour. Sometimes the moon blesses me. Sometimes the No-Skin man's curse worsens. Sometimes I'll meet a fish walking on long gills that wants to trade some items, or something stranger still.

As the night drags on, I get the option to wander further out into the apartment complex. I can talk with my friends in between stabbing or shooting them. I can ask them for things, even in the middle of battles. But as the actions available to choose from become more lucid, the world gets more abstract. My friends become increasingly warped and dangerous. The rooms become more surreal. The curse grows stronger. Everything becomes more sickly and I become increasingly reliant on cigarettes to get out of fights, on drugs to keep me going, and on increasingly tenuous luck.

It might be a simple game, but from what I've played, that works in No-Skin's favor. I weigh up the odds, you make my choices and roll the dice. If I don't make it, I can spend currency at the end of a run to unlock more characters, more events, more items. Chances to skew the odds a little further in my favour next time, or just investigate esoteric new plot threads. The simplicity means I don't have to dedicate too much mental energy to the math, and can just stew in the horrible, queasy atmosphere.

This game does a lot with very little. A fascinating interplay between the mundane and the nightmarish. Asking a pal for a smoke before shooting them in the face, then seeing them again in the next room. Evocative static sprites against low-fi photos-sourced backdrops. Brooding, unsettling ambient droning in the background. Sharp writing heavy with both eldritch weirdness and unsettling feelings about both the protagonist, their relationships to their friends and their interactions with both the people and monsters at the party. Although, the game seems loath to draw much differentiation between the two.

My first few unsuccessful runs through the game left me comfortable, anxious and tense, but it has its hooks into me. I need to dig deeper, and see just what moon-touched mysteries lie at the bottom of it all.

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What we've been playing - old favourites and modern classics

Hello and welcome back to our regular feature where we write a little bit about some of the games we've been playing. This week, Bertie slips back into the warm bath that is Diablo 4, Tom P realises why everyone praises Balatro, and Tom O goes back to Halo.

Catch up with the older editions of this column in our What We've Been Playing archive.

Diablo 4 For Dummies: Terms, Keywords, & Basics You Need To Know A lot has changed in the year since Diablo 4 launched. The loot has been completely overhauled, new tiers of item have been added. It's a better [website] on YouTube.

My affection for this game keeps growing. I played it over Christmas but dropped it early this year, because of various review commitments, and only the other day went back, and my immediate reaction was of a blissful kind of calm. There's a breeziness to this game that makes it so easy to get back into, and it doesn't take long before you remember exactly what your character does again, although I appreciate it takes longer to wrap your head around your equipment build - the real strategy of the game.

It's like slipping back into a bath after you get out to go to the toilet (you do get out to go to the toilet, don't you?) - there's such a warm, comforting sense of submersion in the game. A zone-out flow. Diablo 4 doesn't demand too much of you - you mash some buttons and enemies with it and romp around the land. And this looks great and it feels great, with colour and lots of energy. It's like a pinball game where you never lose the pinball.

And look, I know that's a criticism often levelled against the game, that it's too approachable, too forgiving, but I'm starting to see that less as a drawback and more as a strength. I think of Diablo 4 and it feels in my mind like someone waiting there with a hug, not with a confrontation of some kind, and I find that appealing - very appealing - when I'm tired and ready to mentally check out.

I have a feeling I may come back to this game for many years to come.

Balatro - Game Pass Announcement Trailer I wonder how many people will now instantly recognise so much of this [website] on YouTube.

I can't say I wasn't warned. All last year, everyone was joking about how compulsive this hot new card game was. You may have heard about it. Balatro was - and is - a pretty big deal.

I didn't bite. I've played a lot of deck-builders and card games in general. I'd been through my phase where I thought poker was cool. I was sure I wasn't missing much. But now it's got me too. This week's launch of Balatro on Game Pass finally tipped me over into giving it a go. I mean, I should try it, right? It was huge last year! (And now it has Assassin's Creed cards!) The universe and all its Jokers were calling to me.

The first evening I played Balatro I was still playing at 3am. I have now gotten to the Boss Blind on the game's eighth and final ante multiple times, but I have not yet beaten a run yet and know this weekend I have to. So, techniques? After chasing flushes and straights, I've been advised to focus on pairs and high cards. Synergies? I'm rizzing my lower-hand scores with Planet Cards and praying to Mercury that's enough. I'm comboing Ride the Bus and using Splash, obviously, ensuring I get the most out of what I have. But then it's ante eight and I literally hit The Wall, the dreaded Boss Blind with an extra large total. And then I'm toast and it's [website] again?

Sigh. Maybe tomorrow. I can't say I wasn't warned.

I got a bit bored of The Stanley Parable, which maybe isn't the wisest thing to say on a video game website home to readers who probably love The Stanley Parable, but it is what it is. I'm not sorry. Anyway, I was about to boot up Avowed for the first time when I remembered that I told my son that I'd have a think about if he is allowed to play Halo. He's 11 and to be honest I couldn't remember how violent the game is, so Avowed had to wait and I stuck on the Master Chief Collection.

First things first, is Halo suitable for an eleven-year-old? Not sure to be honest. The opening level has a significant amount of blood (more in the visually revamped version than the original), but it's not violent in the same way something like Call of Duty is. I'm on the fence, but leaning towards it being OK as I want him to play Halo.

But, and this is the most surprising part of my little gaming detour, is Halo actually still worth playing? As someone who adored Halo on its release and has played it through countless times (but not for some years), it shocked me that I really don't like the opening levels, at all. The first is mostly dull corridors and the second a large level that is so sparse by today's standards that it felt dangerously close to running around an empty Team Deathmatch map. While I remember the opening level, Pillar of Autumn, my memory of Halo, the second level, has been mostly wiped. Strange, as wandering around an open for the first time is what wowed me when I played it on the original Xbox over 20 years ago. Amazing how games have evolved over the years, really. I do hope I start to enjoy this a bit more, though, as I want to hold onto the belief that Halo is a wonderful game.

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is the deputy editor of service, and has written guides for Monster Hunter, Pokémon Go, Destiny 2, and Fortnite. He previously worked at Eurogamer.

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