Do you know what was the first thing that motivated me to write on 3DJuegos? The Monster Hunter saga. Many years have passed since then. So many that I will tell you that it was in the legendary forums of this website, talking about the already ancient Monster Hunter Tri. Yes, the one with a beautiful Lagiacrus on the cover motivated me to create a profile on 3DJuegos to express how much I liked that video game, ask questions to other users, and organize with other people to do the most epic hunts seen on Wii. Next year we will be able to enjoy Monster Hunter Wilds and I have high expectations for this Capcom video game. I have not been disappointed at all by their most recent releases, namely World and Rise, but if I have to make a few small wishes, they would be the following.
Underwater Experience
One of the great advances of Monster Hunter World was the transition to a more open and organic world, where the gigantic monsters we had to hunt interacted in a more natural way with their ecosystems alongside other monsters of different species (see the Deviljho that didn’t hesitate to throw bugs at your face like they were paper balls).
I know that swimming and diving were widely criticized in Monster Hunter Tri. Not everyone liked that we faced different aquatic monsters in a somewhat different way. For other fans, including myself, that idea was fantastic and provided an incredibly different biome than what we were used to. Are there not animals in the real world that live in environments that are not exactly terrestrial?
Although in World and in Rise I have loved hunting most of their main representative monsters, I have felt the lack of this aquatic environment. At this year’s Gamescom, I was excited like a child when I saw that, finally, we had a free diving section and that there would be the possibility to see good underwater battles after a long wait of over 10 years. Unfortunately, Capcom quickly confirmed that there would be no such disputes as they were overly complicated to execute.
I think it wouldn’t be crazy if we could experience the first encounters of underwater monsters in these biomes
That disappointed me greatly, but, refocusing that desire for underwater combat to one that, in the end, is more realistic, I think it wouldn’t be crazy if we could experience the first encounters of underwater monsters in these biomes. That is, that we have an introductory underwater sequence and then the combat takes place on land. I acknowledge that the experience would not be the same, but gradually it would demonstrate the eagerness of many fans to have this combat medium again and would open the possibility for old familiar faces to return without being exclusively limited by not appearing in a specific scenario. I remind you that monsters like the Royal Ludroth, the Lagiacrus along with its various subspecies, the Gobul, or the Dire Miralis can function in this way. The opportunity cost of not having a whole marine environment to explore can be annoying. It is, but giving up these charismatic beasts would seem like a worse idea to me.
A Middle Ground
I cannot criticize Capcom for the great creativity they have when presenting all their monsters. As is customary in this saga, I believe they will continue with the same guidelines of presenting us with many new beasts and, in the post-game of their main story, they will show us familiar old faces. It’s not a big deal.
However, I would like to find a middle ground that can bring together the new and the old. Thanks to the impressive sales of World, there are many newcomers to this saga who have not been able to meet previous creatures that appeared years ago and that have ended up being forgotten or condemned to ostracism. For example, I would love to see a Najarala, a Qurupeco, a Lao-Shang Lung, a Zamtrios, a Lagiacrus, and, of course, a Jhen Mohran that I will talk about in the next point of this article.
The Jhen
The grandeur of the Ancient Dragons of Monster Hunter is an impossible term to criticize. During the 20 years of this franchise, the greatness of these beasts has been a qualification that has been wanted to be gradually improved. They are the ultimate challenge to beat, the last step to overcome and represent the limit that the best hunters of each guild can reach.
However, I would like to find a middle ground that can bring together the new and the old
In the fifth generation, we have experienced unforgettable battles against Zorah Magdaros or against Gaismagorm, but I have missed a similar experience to what we could experience against the Jhen Mohran family (including both the Dah’ren Mohran and the Sacred variant of the Jhen Mohran). In these battles, we had a constant threat from these colossal desert beasts. The battles we fought against these dragons have very well-differentiated phases, but in all of them, perfect organization is necessary in multiplayer matches for the hunt to be efficient as well as effective. A wrong move by these monsters means irreparable damage to the vessel we are on, making their encounters unforgettable.
Anything But Pay-To-Win
Usually, the list of the wishes of the Magi is made with what you want and not with what you don’t want. To close this list of things that I would like to see in Monster Hunter Wilds, I am going to highlight something that I am sure you do not want to encounter: content focused on Pay-To-Win and taking the form of the much criticized DLCs. Luckily, Ryozo Tsujimoto, producer of the saga, has mentioned that we will not have any items that benefit us in hunts and that all additional content that is paid will only be focused on cosmetic changes.
It is true that in World and in Rise, this same direction has been maintained, but facing the overwhelming success of the 2018 video game, I do fear that this “aesthetic” part will be redirected to us having to pay exorbitant amounts of money if, for example, we want to wear a certain overlaid armor that pays homage to other video game sagas. Will we have sets of weapons and armor from The Witcher or Nintendo universes again? I keep my fingers crossed!
Ultimately, It All Comes Down to the Same Thing
I know the ideas I have told you are slightly superficial compared to the many proposals we can think of when analyzing the verticality of the fights, the presentation of each monster, the narrative improvement that Wilds can have compared to World or even compared to Rise, but in the end, being this Monster Hunter, all the ideas we can think of come down to the same thing: that the hunts are as spectacular as possible. That each fight feels unique and that each new monster has enough personality to be memorable. And all this without abandoning the inclusion of old friends returning with a slightly refreshing tone and without losing the great nostalgia that will surround their return (and I say friends using a euphemism because these creatures…literally try to end you!).
In 3DJuegos | Monster Hunter Wilds makes a great promise that has excited many fans. It will remain true to the essence of the saga by discarding ‘pay-to-win’ DLCs
In 3DJuegos | “It’s like making a whole game.” Monster Hunter Wilds won’t have a function that existed in the saga ten years ago, but there’s a good reason for it
