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.

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