Monster Hunter Wilds was a surprise during Sony PlayStation’s State of Play presentation, but you’ll be glad to know it’s headed to PC at the same time. What you won’t be happy with is its system requirements, which make upscaling and frame generation mandatory for a smooth experience.
Scheduled for February 28, 2025, Monster Hunter Wilds is Capcoms latest addition to the series, launching on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. To run it on Windows, you’ll need a beefy rig.
| Minimum | Recommended | |
|---|---|---|
| Target fps | 30fps | 60fps |
| CPU | Intel Core i5-10600 Intel Core i3-12100F AMD Ryzen 5 3600 | Intel Core i5-11600K Intel Core i5-12400 AMD Ryzen 5 3600X AMD Ryzen 5 5500 |
| RAM | 16GB | 16GB |
| GPU | Nvidia GTX 1660 Super AMD RX 5600 XT | Nvidia RTX 2070 Super Nvidia RTX 4060 AMD RX 6700 XT |
| VRAM | 6GB | 8GB |
| Storage | 140GB | 140GB |
| Note | The game is expected to run at 1080p (upscaled from 720 native resolution) / 30 fps under the “Lowest” graphics setting. | The game is expected to run at 1080p / 60 fps (with Frame Generation enabled) under the “Medium” graphics setting. |
As you can see, you’ll need at least a Ryzen 5 3600X and either an RTX 4060 or RX 6700 XT to run the game at 1080p. Suffice to bump the graphics to Medium, and you’ll have to enable frame generation to hit 60fps. Needless to say, maxing graphics at 1440p or 4K will require at least two tiers higher GPUs, such as RTX 4080 or RX 7900 XTX.
Looking at the game trailer, which should show it in the best light, the graphics are a bit of eye candy but don’t seem worth this much hardware. Enabling frame generation at 1080p seems a bit too much, at least from my perspective. At least the game will feature cross-play, which is greatly appreciated.
Keep in mind that while frame generation is a nice option to have, you better reach around 60fps base before enabling it, otherwise you will notice more artefacts. Since the feature is a frame smoothing technique, you’ll still end up feeling the input lag of your original fps, if not more.
It seems that even high-end PCs from three years ago no longer make the cut for modern games. Many players have already started sharing their concerns, claiming developers are choosing the easy route using upscaling and frame generation instead of optimising their titles. Things may not get better as even Sony has announced that it’s integrating its own PSSR upscaler with the upcoming PlayStation 5 Pro consoles.
While these technologies are necessary when it comes to high-fidelity titles such as Black Myth: Wukong, I find it annoying when it’s seemingly coming at the expense of optimisation. For instance, Frostpunk 2, a game that I greatly appreciate, requires upscaling or frame generation to run correctly at max settings on my RX 7900 XT. Though beautiful, we are still talking about a city-builder that shouldn’t demand more hardware than a 128-player Battlefield match.
There’s also a wider conversation we could have about continuously chasing photorealism over a defined art style, given the latter ages far better and often lowers system requirements. Just look at the original Wind Waker, which is now over 21 years old, and its HD remaster has eclipsed 11 years of age. There’s only so much upgrading one can do before they’ll inevitably opt out of playing the latest games.
