The Monster Hunter Series Could Work Wonders With…

Monster Hunter still sits as a rather unique monster-based RPG in the gaming world over 20 years since its first installment. Its gameplay loop is addictive to those who adore the series, most famously known for how the choice of armor a player selects can make or break a run, and the series is set to take a new open-world approach with the release of Monster Hunter Wilds coming up soon. There's quite a lot for Monster Hunter fans to look forward to with the new game, with many new features included to help immerse players in Wilds' seamless world.

As Monster Hunte r tries to evolve with every major installment, Capcom should keep a close eye on other monster-centric titles such as Pocketpair's Palworld, as there may be some lessons to learn from their success. Monster Hunter may be fairly successful these days, but there's no harm in adding something fresh to keep players interested. Palworld in particular might already have a few secrets to its formula that Monster Hunter may want to take on for future installments. Those secrets could lead Monster Hunter's bigger beasts to help out the player in more ways than just dropping items needed for crafting.

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By Josh Cotts

Monster Hunter's Titular Creatures Should Be Able to Be Tamed Like Palworld's Pals

Why Palworld's Approach to Creatures Would Be Interesting in Monster Hunter

Palworld may have found itself in a bit of controversy regarding the inspiration it takes from Pokemon, but Pocketpair's survival game is doing well in its early access period thanks to how it offers unique interactions with its critters. While fans do catch these monsters in balls, these creatures do more than fight. They serve unique roles at players' home bases, helping with construction, defensive measures, and even allowing fans to interact with them through petting them.

These features not only differentiate Palworld from Pokemon, but also leave it in an interesting place compared to Monster Hunter as well in terms of the creature collecting games that are currently out there. Monster Hunter is unique on that list in that, while players do sometimes catch the monsters, it's mostly through trapping them for resources rather than befriending them. The Monster Hunter series does have Palicoes and Palamutes that assist the player, but outside the Monster Hunter Stories spin-off games, that's as far as the idea of domesticating the creatures in Capcom's RPG goes.

Monster Hunter Has All the Makings For Beasts Taming

The Palamutes, Palicoes, and the Monsties of the Stories sub-series show that there's potential in the idea of players bonding with Monster Hunter creatures, especially when the lore of the Palamutes is taken into account. While Palicoes are Felynes that enter human society out of their own curiosity, Kamura Village from Monster Hunter Rise specifically trains Canynes to become Palamutes. With Monster Hunter Wilds' open-world introducing harsh new environments, it's not a stretch to say a future installment could feature a village or tribe somewhere that's worked in tandem with different monsters to survive. There could be a game where the player gets exiled from a village, and only by befriending and domesticating monsters do they survive.

Why Interacting With Monster Hunter's Creatures Would Be a Welcome Change

Even though the mainline Monster Hunter games have always been a series about either trapping or slaying the monsters more or less, there's still plenty of room for the beasts to be made into something more; after all, almost every MH fan has at least one creature that's their favorite. Those fans deserve a chance to ride and pet a Rathalos, and having powerful monsters like Magnamalo at the player's beck and call could be an interesting way to fight back other, stronger beasts. Of course, this potential game or feature might come with big implications for the part of the game about slaying monsters, but it's an avenue of inspiration that's filled with potential.

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OpenCritic Reviews: Top Critic Avg: 89 /100 Critics Rec: 95%

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Released: February 28, 2025
ESRB: T For Teen // Violence, Blood, Crude Humor
Developer(s): Capcom
Publisher(s): Capcom

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The unbridled force of nature runs wild and relentless, with environments transforming drastically from one moment to the next. This is a story of monsters and humans and their struggles to live in harmony in a world of duality.

Fulfill your duty as a Hunter by tracking and defeating powerful monsters and forging strong new weapons and armor from the materials you harvest from your hunt as you uncover the connection between the people of the Forbidden Lands and the locales they inhabit.

The ultimate hunting experience awaits you in Monster Hunter Wilds.