Monster Hunter Wilds almost ruined Palicoes by letting them speak English, but thankfully you can revert them to meows
The Monster Hunter Wilds beta went live on PlayStation 5 last night (three days ahead of Thursday's PC beta), and it's already putting a big ol' grin on my face. The map is huge and beautiful. Riding a Seikret is a blast. My cat speaks English. Carrying two weapo—wait hey now, my cat speaks perfect English? Whaaaaaaat?
The first time my fluffy long-haired Felyne companion piped up during a cutscene to give his opinion on our current situation I honestly thought it was a gag. Surely there was another off-screen human character doing the actual speaking who Capcom was about to unveil, but nope. By default, the cats talk in this one, and I just don't like it. Don't get me wrong: I'm pro-Felyne agency, but the voice Capcom gave my companion Himbo (a family name) is kind of making me hate him. He's a bit snarky and, even when he's trying to be helpful by calling out some nearby herbs, comes off as sarcastic and borderline punchable.
There's probably at least one other Felyne voice option that I'd like better, but more to the point, giving Palicoes the gift of human language in Wilds comes at the cost of their cute meows. Technically Palicoes have always been able to talk, but they traditionally speak "Felyne," a language of adorable meows and growls that translate to entire sentences.
It's clear that Capcom wants to expand your Palico's role in this Monster Hunter story—part of a larger trend of Wilds being more cinematic and story-focused than World—by making them a proper character, but I wonder if Capcom is walking into a Meowth situation. In the Pokémon anime, all Pokémon are treated like pets. All except for Meowth, the member of Team Rocket whose unique command of human language elevates him to the status of a partner, or at least subordinate coworker. I feel a similar inclination to not treat my talking Palico like a pet or servant, even though their function in Monster Hunter is more-or-less to follow me 24 hours a day, do whatever I say, and risk life and limb to make my hunts easier.
It's not a serious hurdle—Monster Hunter already asks me to suspend some discomfort around the sport of hunting to enjoy it—but I'd prefer the old ways for this one. Thankfully, that's an option.
Don't worry, you can go back to meows
Don't be like me and play the Monster Hunter Wilds beta for five hours before realizing you can change your Palico's speaking language. You'll find the option in the Palico creation screen (not Audio settings like I'd previously tried). There you'll find a "Felyne Language" toggle that determines whether they speak with meows or whatever language everybody else uses. Simple.
If you sped through the Palico creation screen the first time, you can return to the edit screen from the main menu, toggle on Felyne language, then enjoy quieter hunts and cuter communications. I'm interested to see how cutscenes are affected by the change, though: will Himbo's lines of dialogue just be strung-together growls? I hope so.