Can You Start Off with Matariki Park in Way of the Hunter?

With the release of the Matariki Park DLC for Way of the Hunter, gamers new to the series may be interested in exploring the hills and forests of New Zealand, but aren’t interested in going through all of the content leading up to it. This begs the question, do you really need to play the base game?

The answer to this is a resounding… yes, but no. Now, before you smash your device in disgust, let me explain! When you boot up the game for the first time, you will have a limited amount of options: free play, multiplayer, and the Stories menu will be either locked or restricted, forcing you to start your adventure in Nez Perce Valley. Luckily, this is only enforced until you finish the game's tutorial playing as River Knox, wherein you'll be introduced to travelling in the terrain, how to use your weapons scope, and how to hunt.

Look at that view!

While this section is relatively short, hunting your first deer may take some time, depending on how lucky and skilful you are. However, after completing your first proper hunt, you are free to switch over to any other DLC story you own! So, that should be it, and you can enjoy the rolling hills of Matariki without issue? The answer is yes, however it is followed by a semi-big asterisk.

Fun Fact: There are wild boar and wild pigs! Totally different, I promise.

While the DLC are now open, it is worth noting that the game has a shared inventory and skill system: regardless of who you play as or which story you are in, your character will have the same skills and equipment as you have in the base game and vice versa, meaning that going into Matariki Park with the guns and skills you start with may make the experience somewhat less enjoyable; some animals require better guns to take down reliably and some skills, like being able to keep your Hunter Sense on while walking, make playing much more enjoyable.

So, to summarise, you can start playing any DLC story as soon as you have finished the tutorial section! However, it may be worth your time playing the base game for a while until you have unlocked some better weapons, attachments, and tools while also unlocking some useful skills to make hunting the challenging DLC creatures more enjoyable. If you don’t mind grinding money for a while or want to start off with a challenge, however, going into Matariki Park or any other DLC is completely fine! If you want to have a firmer grasp of the mechanics and some better tools to succeed, stick with the base game for a while.