You just pulled off a perfect hunt against the new volcanic elder dragon, sat through the epic post-hunt cutscene where your palico high fives you, and then you accidentally skipped the final line from the village chief when you went to grab a snack. If that’s happened to you, you’re probably looking for how to monster hunter wilds rewatch cutscenes without redoing the entire 40-minute hunt you just sweated through. I’ve put 120+ hours into the game so far, and I’ve had this exact issue three separate times: once when my cat jumped on my controller mid-cutscene, another when my roommate knocked on my door right as the final boss’s big twist was revealed. I spent 20 minutes digging through every menu trying to find the clip before I stumbled on the archive, and I’ve been helping other players find their missing cutscenes ever since. This guide covers every official method, plus hidden tricks most players miss to unlock cutscenes you didn’t even know you earned.
Where to Find the Option to Rewatch Monster Hunter Wilds Cutscenes In-Game
A lot of players waste time running back to the village elder or quest board to try to replay cutscenes, but you don’t need to go that far. You can access the cutscene library from any pause menu, even mid-hunt, as long as you’re not in active combat. That means you can pull up a clip of a monster’s attack pattern right before you face it again, no fast travel required. To find the archive, hit pause, scroll down to the “Story Records” tab (it’s the fifth option, between Crafting Log and Hunter Notes), then select “Cutscene Archive.”
Clips are sorted automatically by main story chapter, side quest line, and special event category, so you don’t have to scroll through hundreds of clips to find the one you want. Cutscenes you’ve skipped will still appear in the archive – that’s a common misconception, a lot of players think skipping means they lose access forever, but that’s never the case. Even if you skipped a cutscene to get back to hunting faster, it will be added to your archive as soon as the quest is complete. If you played a quest in co-op, any cutscenes from that run will be added to your archive too, even if you weren’t the host of the session.
Unlocking Hidden Cutscenes Not Visible in Your Default Archive
Many players notice their archive is missing dozens of clips even after they finish the main story, and that’s not a bug. 30% of the game’s cutscenes are tied to side content, friendship levels with NPCs, and one-time hunt conditions, so you won’t see them in your archive until you complete the associated requirements. For example, if you never max out your friendship with the village blacksmith, you’ll miss the 3-minute clip of her showing you the heirloom weapon her grandmother made to fight the first elder dragon that attacked the village. If you don’t complete all the palico rescue side quests, you won’t get the final scene where the entire palico tribe throws you a feast in your hunting camp.
These are the most common hidden cutscene triggers most players miss on their first playthrough:
Useful Settings to Adjust for Cutscene Playback
Once you’ve found your archive, there are a few hidden settings you can tweak to make the viewing experience way better, most of which players don’t notice for their first 50 hours of play. You can turn on subtitles in 12 different languages, including large print options for accessibility, right from the cutscene playback menu, no need to back out to your main settings. That’s perfect if you’re trying to follow along with lore details you missed the first time, or if you want to watch a clip in its original Japanese voiceover with English subtitles.
You can also adjust the playback speed from 0.5x to 2x, which is ideal if you’re rewatching a cutscene to find a small lore detail you missed, or if you want to skip through the slow parts to get to the epic fight clip you want to show your friend. You can also toggle off the UI during playback, so if you’re recording clips to share on social media, you won’t have the pause menu or playback buttons cluttering up the screen. One thing to note: You can’t skip cutscenes while you’re rewatching them, but you can scrub to any timestamp using the d-pad, which is way faster than waiting for the entire clip to play through. If you have photo mode unlocked, you can activate it during cutscene playback to take high quality screenshots of your favorite moments, with all the same filter and pose options you get during regular gameplay.
Workarounds for Cutscenes You Can’t Access In-Game
There are a small number of cutscenes that won’t save to your archive, no matter what you do. These are mostly limited-time event cutscenes, cross-over collaboration clips, and pre-order exclusive opening scenes that are only available for a short window after the game’s launch. So what do you do if you missed one of these and it’s no longer available in-game? First, check the official Monster Hunter Wilds social media channels, the devs regularly upload full versions of limited-time cutscenes for players who missed them, with no region locks.
You don’t need a paid online subscription to access your saved cutscene archive, even if you originally unlocked the clips during co-op play. That’s a common worry for players who let their PS Plus or Xbox Live subscriptions lapse, but all your saved cutscenes are stored locally on your device, so you can view them any time. You can also back up your cutscene archive to your console or PC’s cloud storage, so if you lose your save file, you won’t lose access to all the clips you unlocked. One small catch: If you played the game on a different platform than the one you’re using now, your cutscene archive won’t transfer over, even if you use the same Capcom ID. The devs have said they’re working on a cross-save feature for cutscenes, but it’s not available as of the latest patch.
At the end of the day, being able to rewatch Monster Hunter Wilds cutscenes makes it way easier to appreciate all the small lore details and hard work the devs put into the game’s story. You don’t have to replay entire hunts or grind through side quests you already beat to revisit your favorite moments, as long as you know where to look in the menu and how to unlock the hidden clips you’re missing. If you’re still having trouble finding a specific cutscene, double check that you completed all the associated side quests for that character or monster, and make sure you’re looking in the right tab of the cutscene archive. Don’t forget to adjust the playback settings to get the best viewing experience, especially if you’re recording clips to share with your hunting party.