Monster Hunter Wilds' Insect Glaive gameplay trailer reveals some huge quality of life changes

One of Monster Hunter’s most technical and acrobatic weapons, the Insect Glaive, returns to let players chase after flying monsters in Monster Hunter Wilds

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What you need to know

What you need to know

Monster Hunter Wilds, the next upcoming entry of Capcom’s best-sellingMonster Hunterseries, has just received the third in a series of trailers spotlighting the game’s fourteen weapon types. So far we’ve had trailers for theGreat SwordandHeavy Bowgun, and the latest trailer gives us a glimpse of the Insect Glaive.

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The Insect Glaive is a technical weapon type with a unique playstyle that allows the player to perform fast, acrobatic attacks on the ground and jump in the air to unleash airborne special moves. Additionally, the Insect Glaive lets players control a small pet insect creature called a Kinsect in the battle.

The Kinsect’s main gimmick is to attack an enemy monster while the player is fighting and drain special ‘extracts’ from the monster’s body. These extracts can then be passed onto the player to give them major power-ups. These power-ups include increased defense stats (Orange extracts), performing air dashes mid-air for extra mobility (White extracts), and powering-up attacks (Red extracts).

Judging from the trailer, it seems that Monster Hunter Wilds' take on Insect Glaive’s move-set seems to be an evolution of how it played in Monster Hunter World, with a high emphasis on aerial combat and using the Kinsect as a secondary projectile weapon.

The new moves for Insect Glaive inMonster Hunter Wildsso far include a combo finisher where you fire the Kinsect at an enemy like an arm cannon (which is mostly the weapon’s Focus Strike attack) and a grab attack where you jump into the air and latch onto a monster’s body to start stabbing them.

There’s also a new stylish attack where you skewer a monster’s body part after divebombing from high in the sky, and spin dancing to drill the Insect Glaive into the monster’s hide to deal extra damage.

On top of that, Insect Glaive in Monster Hunter Wilds has a quality-of-life improvement where the aiming reticule you use to aim and fire your Kinsect will now display the extract types on an enemy monster’s body. This will help players remember which body parts to aim for when gathering extracts to power up themselves so they don’t have to waste time guessing which body part to aim for any more like in previous games.

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Three weapon overview trailers down, eleven more to go

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With every new weapon overview trailer released showcasing all the brand-new moves and mechanical improvements from previous games, my excitement for Monster Hunter Wilds grows. It makes me wonder what kind of other awesomenew techniques and tricks will Monster Hunter Wilds introduce for the rest of the weapon types.

Thankfully, we don’t have to wait long to find out asCapcom has confirmed they will be releasing a new weapon overview trailer every dayin the lead-up toGamescom 2024, where they will showcase an epic trailer for the event. So tune in every day here on Windows Central as we will provide detailed analyses of all the new mechanics and moves that will help you succeed in hunting downMonster Hunter Wilds' gigantic roster of vicious monsters.

Monster Hunter Wilds, the next-gen successor to one of Capcom’sbest Xbox gamesandbest PC games, Monster Hunter World, is scheduled to launch on February 28, 2025 forXbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC via Steam.

Monster Hunter Wilds

Explore the uncharted Forbidden Lands to discover long-lost secrets and hunt monsters to protect the balance of nature in Monster Hunter Wilds. Hunt the vicious beasts of the Forbidden Lands alone or with your friends in 4-player online co-op.

Pre-order at:Amazon|Best Buy|GreenManGaming (Steam)

Alexander Cope is a gaming veteran of 30-plus years, primarily covering PC and Xbox games here on Windows Central. Gaming since the 8-bit era, Alexander’s expertise revolves around gaming guides and news, with a particular focus on Japanese titles from the likes of Elden Ring to Final Fantasy. Alexander is always on deck to help our readers conquer the industry’s most difficult games — when he can pry himself away from Monster Hunter that is!