Monster Hunter Wilds: Ascendance Might Be the Endgame I’ve Been Waiting For | IGN Preview
Key Preview Takeaways:
- Boost Drivers are a major new feature of this expansion.
- The new monsters present challenging battles, just as I’d wanted.
- Ascendance could be the endgame I’ve been wishing for after Wilds’s endgame was a bit too easy.
I liked Monster Hunter Wilds quite a bit at launch. The big open areas, the great visuals on the newest generation of consoles, and the cast of characters all made for an engaging adventure in the Forbidden Lands. But, like Tom so perfectly captured in his review, I felt let down by the challenge. The engaging loop of fighting tougher monsters to get better gear to fight tougher monsters, and so on, was missing that aspirational push that comes from difficult hunters demanding practice and gearing up, and it left me feeling a bit unsatisfied.
At Tokyo Game Show 2026 I went hands-on with Monster Hunter Wilds: Ascendance, the upcoming expansion, and holy smokes, what a difference two years makes. I took on a pair of monsters in some absolutely brutal fights, the sort that already have the build-crafting gears in my head turning. With the addition of new monsters, new areas, Master Rank hunts, and a dramatic expansion to the moveset of every weapon, this seems every bit the Monster Hunter World: Iceborne-style expansion I’d been hoping for.
My demo starts with no razzle-dazzle. I’m in the Grand Hub, with two missions to select. I start with the easier of the two, a hulking, winged Alpha Arakata. This fight takes place in the new Eyrie part of The Forbidden Lands, an area with strange flora reminiscent of Coral Highlands from Monster Hunter World. Floating layers of rock and interconnecting root systems forming bridges spiraling upwards add substantial vertically to the zone. As my trusty Seikret guides me to the monster, I take advantage of a series of updrafts to quickly climb to the upper layer, and I flock to Arakata, the noticeably larger and more dangerous looking alpha at the center.
This seems every bit the Monster Hunter World: Iceborne-style expansion I’d been hoping for.For this hunt I’ve selected the Dual Blades, my personal weapon of choice most of the time. I leap from the back of my mount, and catch the target monster with a slash that sends me spinning along the length of its spine like a beyblade. I get off to a fast start, hacking at it after a nearby paratoad gets struck, and temporarily paralyzes the monster in retaliation. Once it regains control, the Arakata flaps its wings to get briefly aloft, then dives straight toward me like a missile, but I have a new trick up my sleeve...
One of the major new additions coming in Ascendance is Boost Drivers. On your hunts you now have a Boost Gauge that charges over time and while you attack, accumulate up to three charges of Boost. If you have at least one charge, you can activate Boost, which enhances the actions and attacks of your weapons. The effect is different for every weapon, in the case of my Dual Blades it give me new, ultra-rapid attacks, turns every dodge into damage-dealing acrobatics and, to the chagrin of this dive bombing Arakata, gives Dual Blades their first offset, attacks that counter and stagger incoming attacks, fully neutralizing damage and opening up yet more space for dealing damage.
The Alpa Arakata is no pushover, however. This is an all-new monster in the series, which means I’m learning on the fly. On the ground, it’s aggressive about slamming its wings and head, each covered in thick bone, forward towards me. But it’s at its most dangerous when it takes flight. It circles out of range of my short blades, then with little warning launches headfirst towards me at remarkable speed. It can quickly flap its wings to get height then charge ahead at any moment, which means no distance is “safe,” making it hard to predict. When it engages, it starts chaining dives to gather, and finishes by calling its flock, who join it flying in formation for a massive aerial dive-bombing.
It’s a back and forth fight, and eventually the Arakata flees. I chase on my Seikret, and I’m surprised to see that my overgrown bird-like mount has some new tricks too, which help navigate the aerial spaces of the Eyrie. It can now flap its wings, extending the time you spend aloft and gaining additional elevation. Seikret could always glide, but now they can tuck their wings tight, and rapidly accelerate through the air. Using this I keep close to my quarry, and track the Araketa back to its nest. Here I activate my Boost once again, and unleash a massively enhanced version of the Dual Blades signature Demon Flurry combo, landing dozens of hits in a matter of seconds, and ending with a massive pair of vertical slashes. It doesn’t take much more for the monster to fall.
The second, harder hunt on the docket is Teostra. This lion-headed Elder Dragon is a series staple, and has killed countless hunters, myself among them many times over the years. I switch to the Sword and Shield for this hunt, the extra protection will certainly be needed here, and bring along the Bow and Arrow as a secondary option, if fighting close the the fiery-based creature proves too dangerous.
This hunt takes us back to the Oilwell Basin. It doesn’t take any time to find the Teostra, this sort of beast doesn’t need to hide from anyone. Flames pour out of the side of the monster as I begin hacking away at him, using side steps and sliding slashes to try and stay away from his fangs and claws. I manage to mount him, and take him down to the ground with a mounted finisher. The sheer fury of relentless attacks l puts me on my heels, and his ability to set me on fire, or inflict blastblight, which will cause me to explode if I don’t clear the condition, has me juggling a lot more than just slashes and blocks. This is tough.
This might be what Monster Hunter sickos are looking for.I activate my boost. My swordhand crackles with energy as I hold up my block and prepare a counterattack. I stave off two powerful swipes of Teostra’s tail and counter with an attack called a Spinning Reaper, a fast, backhand rotation with my blade for high damage. The Sword and Shield’s boost does a lot. Not only do I have new attacks, I also gain access to a ranged grapple move, similar to the Clutch Claw from Monster Hunter World: Iceborne. I also gain the ability to use items to coat my blade, allowing me to add new damage elements, or even a self-healing effect.
I knock Teostra down, activate my boost, and follow a three hit combo with a leap into the air, followed by a new version of the Falling Bash that sees me spiraling out of the air into the monster. Chaos of the fight aside, it’s easy to identify when your boost is ready, thanks to a distinctive locking-n-place sound effect, and boosted attacks are highlighted in a red font, with a boost icon next to the name of the move. But Teostra is relentless, and I lose too much potential offense to the time spent with my shield up. After 20 minutes, neither this monster nor I have fallen, but my time is up. Hunt failed.
The first taste of Monster Hunter Wilds: Ascendance already has me salivating. The new tricks, new (and returning) monsters, and brand new suite of boosts are going to significantly disrupt how I do my builds, and how I approach hunts. Just thinking about it now has my synapses firing, and there are still so many weapons who're boosted actions I have yet to try, and who knows what new armor set bonuses might be ahead of us. The endgame of Monster Hunter Wilds was too easy, but this might be what Monster Hunter sickos are looking for. We’ll know for sure when it launches sometimes in 2027.
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Justin Koreis is a contributor to IGN. Check out everything he's written via his IGN page.