Monster Hunter: World just celebrated its si𒁏xth anniversary this past weekend, and it’s seeing a massive resurgence in players. Bolstered by the Monster Hunter Wilds announcement, the 2018 game has seen more concurrent players on Steam over the last month than it has at any point over the last four years. I’ve been diving back into the hunt myself, and I’m loving it just as much as I did six years ago.
It’s fascinating to see the ways it runs circles around many modern games. It’s a multiplayer-focused game meant to be played online, but unlike Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, you’re allowed to play in offline mode too. When I saw going viral last week, I couldn’t help but think about how much better Monster Hunter handles creatures of epic scale like this. Most impressive o﷽f all though, is the way Monster Hu𒅌nter: World did crossovers. In a sea of lazy, microtransaction-filled IP swaps, Monster Hunter: World went all in on impressive, high-budget crossovers that showed reverence for their partners and a deep understanding of what made each crossover character cool.
Monster Hunter's Weird 20th Anniversary Crossovers Aren't Hitting
With no new Monster Hunter game for🌳 the 20th Anniversary, I'm hopingᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚ Capcom can find other ways to celebrate.
There were eight different video game crossover events (plus one for Universal Studios Japan 🍨and the Monster Hunter movie), they were all free, and an incredible amount of work went into each of them. Some were more elaborate than others, but even the most basic ones still brought a lot of the game being referenced into them. For the Devil May Cry event, players could earn Dante’s armor set and deck themselves out with his signature red leather outfit, as well as a charge blade modeled after his Devil Sword. The quest, which tasked you to 𝓡hunt four ferocious monsters, featured music tracks from Devil May Cry - a different song for each weapon type you have equipped - and rewarded Red Orbs, the currency from DMC, which were used to craft Dante’s gear. That was the most basic type of crossover in MHW, and they only got more elaborate from there.
The most impressive of the bunch is the Witcher quest line, which brings a fully modeled and voiced Geralt to the New World through a portal. You play as Geralt during the quest, which has the Witcher hunting a Leshen in the Ancient Forest. What’s remarkable about the mission is how successful it uses the framework of Monster Hunter to create an authentic Witcher experience. Not only does it feature characters, monsters, and even spells from The Witcher, it’s structured just like a monster hunt side quest in The Witcher. You have to interview people, follow clues, learn the monster’s weakness, and prepare for the fight just as you would in a Witcher game. There’s a lot of overlap between The Witcher and Monster Hunter, which is a big part of what makes this crossover s𓆏o successful, but Capcom put an incredible amount of effort into this free event, and it makes a big difference.
The other headliner is the Final Fantasy 14 event, which is arguably an even bigger ordeal than The Witcher one. It brought a variety of Final Fantasy creatures like 💝Cactuars and Moogles into the main game and introduced new armor sets and cosmetics, but the real draw is the Behemoth hunt. Like The Witcher event, Capcom was able to blend Monster Hunter with Final Fantasy so seamlessly that hunting the Behemoth feels just l൲ike fighting a raid boss in FF14. Everything from the music to the visual effects to even the damage numbers flying off the monster as you chip away at its health makes it feel like an authentic MMO battle. Monster Hunter: World’s crossovers were so much more than cross-marketing - they were opportunities to stretch the game in new ways and develop it as a platform for unique, completely free experiences.
You just don’t see these kinds of crossovers in other games. When Street Fighter 6 had its TMNT crossover or when Destiny 2 did its Witcher crossover, it just felt like a way to sell more cosmetics. Apex Legends’ Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth takeover at least gave us a Buster Sword and Materia Hop-Ups to play with, but it was still🔯 in service of a heinously expensive collection event. Every new crossover is just another type of Fortnite collab, and none of them demonstrate nearly as much effort as what Monster Hunter: World accomplished.
Monster Hunter Rise had some fun crossovers too. I’m particularly fond of turning my Palico into Sonic and my Palimute into Rush from Mega Man, but Rise never did anything on the level of The Witche✨r or FF14 events. Here’s hoping Wilds can pull out all the stops for crossover events once again. I’d love to hunt Rathalos in Night City or take down Zinogre in a turn-based battle outside of Baldur’s Gate. I wouldn’t say no to Pikachu armor for my Palico either. World set an extraordinarily high bar for crossovers and I’m excit🔯ed to see if Wilds can clear it.
