You Don't Need A Health Bar Mod For Monster Hunter Wilds
A health bar mod for Monster Hunter Wilds is gaining in popularity, despite being completely unnecessary. Developed by GreenComfyTea on Nexus Mods, who previously worked on a similar project for Monster Hunter Rise, the mod simply adds a series of HP bars along the bottom of the screen, representing every monster in the region's well-being as a percentage out of 100. At the time of writing, it has over 9,000 unique downloads - hardly making Nexus' front page, but still undeniably popular.
At the same time, the Health Bar mod has drawn the ire of longtime Monster Hunter fans. I wouldn't call it cheating outright, but it does detract from what's always been one of the more interesting aspects of Monster Hunter as a whole. Not only is the Health Bar mod for Monster Hunter Wilds completely unnecessary - I'd even argue you're better off without it.
Monster Hunter Wilds’ HP Bar Mod Is Controversial
Monster Hunter Has Never Used Health Bars
In a nutshell, the reason behind the controversy is that mainline Monster Hunter games have never relied on health bars to depict a monster's remaining HP - only the player's and their allies'. It's not a glaring omission, either; it's a deliberate choice made to increase immersion. You have to rely on your own eyes and ears (see below) to learn how your attacks are affecting a monster, instead of simply watching a number tick down each time you attack.
At the same time, though, the lack of HP bars can be daunting to new players. Monster Hunter has never been the most newcomer-friendly franchise: getting into it requires you to learn a lot of complicated mechanics very quickly, and that's not even to mention how difficult some of the High Rank hunts can get.
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The series has made an effort to change that recently, making hunting and crafting easier while including more extensive tutorials, like the ones that make up the majority of Monster Hunter Wilds' story. However, it's remained staunch on its "no health bars" stance.
It's just another manifestation of an age-old conflict: should difficult games make compromises to garner a wider player base, or stand firm to appeal to their longtime fans? There are merits to both approaches, and I can appreciate some of the changes made to the Monster Hunter formula. I bristled a bit when the series added damage numbers, but since they make it so much easier to find weaknesses, I've come to accept them. Even so, I find myself inclined to agree with the diehard fans here: Monster Hunter doesn't need health bars under any circumstances.
You Can Track Monster Health Without An HP Bar
How To Know When A Monster's HP Is Low
But what's ultimately missing from this conversation is that Monster Hunter Wilds gives you plenty of options to track monsters' HP as-is. The first, and perhaps easiest to notice, is related to the capture mechanic. As you wear down a monster's HP, you might notice a thin film of drool flying out of their mouth. That means the monster is weakened, and ready to trap and tranquilize if you so desire - but it also means they're almost dead.
Your Palico will typically give you a voiced/meowed shoutout when a monster is ready for capture, so keep an ear out for that, too.
In a similar vein, monsters change their body language and movesets when they're near death. Look out for slower movement, sluggish combos, and mistakes - if the monster staggers and falls while trying to land a big hit, they're probably struggling.
This is a little harder to notice if you're not already familiar with their attack patterns and animations, but it's a skill you can learn over time. Monsters may also start limping as their HP gets low, although this is a little harder to notice unless they happen to run away at the right moment.
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And in addition, some monsters (like Monster Hunter Wilds' final boss) have clearly delineated phases, similar to FromSoft bosses. These aren't always triggered by HP benchmarks, but they're often a good indicator. If the monster starts using new moves, coats itself in fire, or takes on a new elemental affinity, it's safe to assume you're making progress.
Finally - and I didn't even realize this until very recently - you can even track a monster's heart rate to see how they're faring, in terms of HP. Look for the icon depicting the monster in the lower-left-hand corner of your screen, right next to the minimap. There's a little heart rate meter that appears below it, and thumps at varying rates to indicate the monster's status. When you first encounter one, it'll have a steady heartbeat; when you start attacking, its heart rate will spike. But as you deplete its HP, its heart rate will slow noticeably.
Monster Hunter Is More Immersive With Less UI
Lack Of HP Bars Is A Deliberate Choice
Look, Capcom could announce that they're adding HP bars to Monster Hunter Wilds tomorrow, changing nothing else, and I'd still keep playing. It's not a dealbreaker, but it does undermine the central conceit of Monster Hunter Wilds.
Remember, the game's premise is that all these monsters are new to your character. The first time you face them, you don't know what their weaknesses are, what kinds of things they're capable of, how hard they are to kill. You find all that out as you hunt them, which is far more satisfying than attacking them until their health bars hit zero.
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And at the end of the day, these monsters aren't real - they're 3D models in a video game, of course they have health bars - it's just that, under ordinary circumstances, you and I can't see them. But at the same time, the lack of HP bars, and the mechanics Monster Hunter uses to compensate for it, helps make these species seem so real. Monsters respond to your attacks in real time, and in more ways than one: they change their location and strategies to give themselves the advantage, and, eventually, they get tired and lose strength.
So you can go ahead and download the Health Bars mod if you want - I won't call it cheating, but I will call it a cop-out. It's a refusal to engage with one of the core mechanics of Monster Hunter, thereby making the game easier and detracting from the story it's trying to tell. It's not the most egregious mod to come to Monster Hunter Wilds, but it's unnecessary and more than a little unfair.
Source: GreenComfyTea/NexusMods
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