Call me impatient – please do, you are correct – but it's taken just weeks for Monster Hunter Wilds to worm its way straight into my brain like a Baldur's Gate 3 tadpole and install a countdown to Master Rank.
As I said in our Monster Hunter Wilds review, which had me playing this game back in February, what's already here is fabulous. The best-feeling combat in the series elevates a stellar roster of original monsters. I'm having a blast in High Rank, and I'm going to log some serious hours practicing weapons and screwing around with friends. But the whole time, I'm also going to be daydreaming about what we'll get in Wilds' Ultimate, Iceborne, and Sunbreak-style Master Rank expansion.
Masterfully ranked
Every new Monster Hunter game comes in parts. First, the opening act. New characters! New monsters! Oh no, a bad monster! No, not that one, that was just the flagship, you fool; this is the real bad monster. Bam, credits roll. Then it's time for part two: High Rank, baby, also known as The Real Game. Monsters are tougher and there's more of them, gear is much better and buildcrafting expands, and endgame systems add in more grinding than rails in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 + 4. This is it, right? We've made it?
Jokes on you, hunter, because here comes part three, approximately 18 months later: Master Rank, also known as The Real Game V2 Final FINAL. Monsters and gear go up another notch, endgame systems get overhauled or expanded, and some kind of gimmick might get chucked in depending on Capcom's mood. This is how it always goes, and with record-setting sales, a Wilds expansion is as inevitable as daylight. But Wilds has made some fundamental changes that make these familiar promises especially exciting.
Let's start with the monsters. I'm as hyped as anyone to see the April update for Monster Hunter Wilds adding Mizutsune, a recurring favorite going back to Monster Hunter Generations. Hell, I'm probably more hyped. I love Mizutsune; it's my favorite of the Fated Four. But what I really want to see is new monsters, because Wilds has made such enormous leaps in monster design – body types and bones and hitboxes and animations – that I just want to see Capcom cook in their new kitchen.
We just plain did not have monsters like Nu Udra and Xu Wu before – slippery, slimy, cephalopodic things with piercing eyes, brutal grab attacks, or mouths better off unseen. The face of Wilds, Arkveld, leverages similar tentacle technology to wield powerful chains that would be the envy of God of War's Kratos. Even local apexes like Uth Duna, which I'd describe as a water bed with legs, move with bizarre and distinct heft. Wilds doesn't have the most monsters, but for my money it does have the most unique ones, and I want to see what else Capcom has up its sleeve.
It's not just that I want more things to fight with the most satisfying weapons in Monster Hunter history, though that is a big part of it. I am inordinately hungry for new challenges to poke with a lance and cleave with a great sword if only for the kinetic thrill of it. But with the design floor that Wilds has set and the monster tech it's refined, there's no telling what a Master Rank-sized shot of new creatures would throw at us – far more than a blue Rathalos and pink Rathian, I'd wager – and that's the best part.
Hook me up, Gemma
With those new monsters will come new, stronger gear, and Wilds is also in particular need of this thanks to its new-fangled skill system. Skills are split between weapons and armor now, and while this has its benefits, it can also feel limiting in the endgame. There's still a lot of room for experimentation and your results will vary between weapons, but a few armor sets and weapon branches have quickly carved out a reputation as go-to picks.
The new skill divide has exacerbated the underwhelming nature of High Rank gear, which will unavoidably pale in comparison to the endgame sets from the previous Monster Hunter game, by making some decisions even easier. Lots of weapons are downright unusable because of the skills they come with, even if they may have solid stats and sharpness. The one-eyed man is king in the land of the blind, and the lance with Offensive Guard is king in the land of Crit Draw.
This new skill system ought to be a lot more interesting once we get weapons with more and better skills attached, to say nothing of armor, which is largely fashion-first in Wilds given the lackluster set of skills outside the highest-end picks. I really do like how much personality assigned skills can give a weapon. It's not just another vector for game balance; these skills are also another way to add flavor to a weapon by translating the traits of the monster whose scales and fangs were used to forge it. You're totally right, Capcom. This thing should have Focus or Master's Touch on it, because that's exactly how this monster hunted before I turned it into a hammer.
I'm also hoping to see more weapon customization building on the honing and specialization systems of previous games. Wilds has something similar in Artian weapons, but the iteration here is more about base stats. I want to see Capcom really lean into this skill system. Let us chop and change the skills we put on our weapons using some sort of resource budget that sits alongside decoration slots. Let me craft one weapon and sacrifice it to splice one of its compatible skills onto another weapon.
Whatever Wilds' Master Rank expansion ends up doing with gear, I hope it gives us more room to play with skills in a way that creates build variety and adds value to the full weapon roster – without spiraling into Iceborne power creep or linear 'just build for health' honing.
Having played every Monster Hunter since 4 Ultimate, I've never wanted Master Rank (or G Rank) so badly. Monster Hunter games are consistently at their best in the true endgame, and the series' combat is at its best in Wilds, so More Of This is extra tantalizing. That said, we're probably going to be waiting for Master Rank until mid to late 2026 at least, so for all my impatience and daydreaming, there's nothing to do but hunker down and wring every last drop out of High Rank. Oh, twist my arm.
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