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People say it’s boring to talk about the weather, but did you see that real-time sandstorm in the Monster Hunter Wilds trailer just now? Did you catch the bit near the end where lightning strikes the fins of some dinosaur-like creature roaming the desert? Forget boring—I have a feeling the weather’s practically all we’re going to be able to talk about when Monster Hunter Wilds arrives next year.

More than any other game in the series so far, Wilds looks like it’s focusing on making the environments a major player in the hunting experience, with natural phenomena like sandstorms, quicksand, and lightning storms all coming into play. We’ve still seen far too little to know how deep these systems will go, but it’s exactly what I was hoping for from the next Monster Hunter—while many longtime players like our own Rich Stanton loved Rise, I found it a bit too streamlined for my taste, without much actual “hunting” involved. I want to see Capcom go deeper on the interplay between different monsters and with their environments, and that seems to be exactly what Wilds is going for.

At one point in the trailer we see a big monster grappling with several smaller beasties who’ve leapt onto its back and locked their jaws, while in another a whole herd seem to be ganging up on our hunter. This behavior is almost as exciting as the final moment of the trailer, when he seemingly pries a charging beast’s mouth open with his greatsword. That’s pretty sick.

The official website has a smattering of new info that expands on what I spotted in the trailer: 

• “The Seikret is an animal mount whose exceptional agility will provide the hunter with critical support out on hunts. Its well-developed sense of smell allows it to guide you automatically to your current objective, or any location you select on the map.”
• “Your Seikret isn’t just for travel, though—you can also stash an extra weapon in its sling, allowing you to switch between two weapons of your choice while out on hunts.”
• “Each hunting locale features an environment with two dynamically changing identities: one in which the region is harsh and unforgiving where ravenous monsters fight for limited resources—and another in which the region is vibrant and brimming with life. Changes in the environment also means changes for the monsters and wildlife that live there, so you’ll be running into new surprises around every corner.”
• “You’ll encounter not only herds of small monsters—some of the large monsters of the region may also form packs. Each group has its own place in the ecosystem, with its own unique movements and behaviors.”
• New monsters include Doshaguma, a “rugged, territorial fanged beast that exhibits an aggressive disposition and inhabits a large range” and Chatacabra, “a large species of amphibians that use the adhesive quality of their saliva to affix stones to their forelimbs in order to power up their attacks.”
• “The hook slinger is the newest evolution of the slinger, allowing you to gather all types of materials from a distance. It can be used while mounted on a Seikret, and can even be used to interact with certain environmental objects to trigger traps.”

Wilds is due out sometime in 2025.