The Monster Hunter franchise is no stranger to collaborative events, with the latest Monster Hunter Wilds being no exception to the rule. Although Wilds didn't launch with any crossover content, unlike its predecessor, Monster Hunter World, Capcom has already announced that its first collaboration is already on the way. While there's still no news on which series Wilds will ultimately collaborate with first, there are bound to be plenty of incredibly unique additions from iconic franchises.

In the two decades since Monster Hunter's first iteration of the franchise, the series has received countless collaborations that range greatly in size and quality. Now that most players have already beaten Wilds' main story and accessed its interesting post-game content, Capcom has more chances to deliver new content that would have broken immersion if released too early. While it remains to be seen if Wilds will ever achieve the same heights as Monster Hunter World's expansive collaborations, there's still plenty to look forward to when it comes to topping the best collaboration events the series has to offer.

10 Unleashing Link's Master Sword From The Legend of Zelda

Plenty Of Customization Options For The Hero Of Time

The Legend of Zelda is a unique case for Monster Hunter's collaborations, as it is one of the only franchises to receive multiple collaborations across several iterations of the series, featuring four separate inclusions in total. Although Monster Hunter Stories and Generations Ultimate had great additions that were well-themed to each game, it's hard to beat how purely iconic Link's appearance was in Monster Hunter 4.

Link's weapons already fit perfectly into Monster Hunter, with the ever-iconic Master Sword and Hylian Shield translating fantastically as an addition to the Sword and Shield, with the Hero's Bow being a reliable backup tool for the hero of time. The best part about this collaboration is the ability to customize the armor with different pigments, letting players theme their hero after different iterations of the character or his equipment. While the lack of an Ocarina-themed Hunting Horn was somewhat disappointing, it's hard to go wrong with introducing a character as iconic as Link to the world of monster hunting.

9 Capcom's Very Own Resident Evil 2 Crossover

Sometimes The Simplest Collaborations Work The Best

Monster Hunter World's in-studio collaboration with the Resident Evil franchise still stands out as one of the best cosmetic additions to the game. Introduced as a free collaborative event with Resident Evil 2, completing specific event quests offers rewards that can be exchanged for layered armor to look like Leon and Claire from the Resident Evil 2 Remake, alongside a variety of room decorations and pendants.

There's nothing like returning to camp to a hearty meal made by your ever-faithful Bioweapon.

One of the more unique aspects of this update was also how it changed the Affluvium build-up status during the event, or when using the zombification emote. By using the emote, you can turn yourself into a zombified hunter that walks around like RE2's undead, healing more quickly over time and even being able to do a small amount of damage through biting monsters. On top of these features, my favorite addition to this update was easily the Tyrant-layered skin DLC for the Handler, as there's nothing like returning to camp to a hearty meal made by your ever-faithful Bioweapon.

8 Taking On Otherworldy Threats With Metroid Prime's Samus

Adding A Welcome Touch Of Sci-Fi Style To The Series

Monster Hunter had a plethora of collaborations with Nintendo during Monster Hunter 4, with one of the best easily being Metroid Prime's Samus making her way to the monster-infested landscapes of the franchise. While it didn't include many additions on its own, Metroid brought the Arm Cannon-themed Light Bowgun and two armor sets themed after Samus Aran's Varia Suit and Zero Suit, respectively.

The Light Bowgun's transformative nature made it an easy choice for Samus's iconic Arm Cannon, making for an incredibly deadly weapon to take down any monsters in her path. Despite being a relatively straightforward event set, the sci-fi aesthetic and classic sound effects of Metroid's collaboration are easily one of the series' most stand-out crossovers to date, with a spiritual successor following years later.

7 Metal Gear Solid Is Still One Of The Series' Most Creative Endeavors

A Collaboration That Deserves A Future Sequel

While the collaboration, unfortunately, didn't add any new weapons, being able to play as Snake or The Boss in Monster Hunter was a welcome treat, especially when combined with the incredibly thematic Palico Armor. Despite the simplistic designs, the best part about this crossover was the in-game voice lines and animations that activated depending on certain actions, with new voice lines recorded by the original actors from the Japanese edition of Peace Walker.

Being able to play as Snake or The Boss in Monster Hunter was a welcome treat.

While the actual Monster Hunter side of this collaboration was somewhat standard for the series, its real creativity came from Metal Gear Solid's implementation of the event. In Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, Snake could face off against Rathalos, Tigrex, and even a monsterized version of the titular Metal Gear Rex itself. With Metal Gear Solid: Delta releasing in only a few months, it's the perfect opportunity to bring back this dual-franchise crossover, adding the monster form of the legendary Metal Gear Rex to Monster Hunter Wilds.

6 Street Fighter's Crossover Brought Unarmed Combat To The Fifth Generation

A High-Quality Addition Worthy Of The Fighting Game's Notoriety

While the Monster Hunter Rise collaboration with Street Fighter wasn't a first for the series, Monster Hunter's implementation of Stree Fighter into the series with Rise was an incredibly faithful recreation of the fighting game's legacy. The best part about Street Fighter's crossover with Rise is that the Akuma outfit was entirely free, letting players unleash the power of the legendary antagonist at no extra cost outside of completing a few event quests.

Monster Hunter World's Street Fighter event also included armor and layered armor based on Ryu and Sakura, on top of paid DLC for iconic gestures, stickers, and even a handler outfit dressing her up like Chun-Li.

Letting you change your hunter's appearance to the buff Akuma from Street Fighter, the outfit also unlocks special moves, new quest animations, and voice lines, although its best features are reserved for the Sword and Shield. When utilizing the Sword and Shield with Akuma equipped, both weapons will entirely disappear, giving the illusion that you're fighting the monster with nothing but your bear hands. On top of the simple model swap, the skin also changes several animations for the weapons to be themed after Akuma's in-game attacks, leaving incredibly satisfying animations and visual effects in their wake.

5 Attack On Titan's Crossover Was A Perfect Fit For The Series

The Levi Comparisons Go Back To The Roots Of The Franchise

Monster Hunter's Dual Blades haven't been able to escape their association with Attack on Titan, the comparison goes much deeper than simple visual similarities. Being a collaboration with Monster Hunter 3, the Attack On Titan crossover brought with it a set of Training Corps armor, alongside two sets of Dual Blades and another two for the Sword and Shield based on its iconic weapons. While the Sword and Shield looked a little goofy in comparison to the dual blades, the latter was an incredibly thematic choice, being a fantastic fit with the weapon's aggressive playstyle when taking down gigantic monsters.

Unfortunately, the Attack on Titan-themed Deviljho was only included in the mobile game entry of Monster Hunter Explore, which would have been a great addition to include as a huntable variant in Monster Hunter 3. Regardless of the missing potential, the Aberrant Deviljho was somehow even more intimidating than its already terrifying base version, with a body entirely lacking in skin, just like the Colossal Titan. When attacked, the Aberrant Deviljho would even unleash large jets of steam from its body, although they were ultimately harmless to any players hit by them.

4 Horizon Zero Dawn's Collaboration Was Surprisingly In-Depth

Continuously Updating With Worthwhile Content Additions

While Monster Hunter World's pre-launch collaboration with Horizon Zero Dawn faced plenty of controversy for being a PlayStation exclusive, it was the first sign of the high-quality crossovers that would arrive in the future. Setting the bar high for cosmetics right off the bat, Aloy's weapons and her Palico's sci-fi armor were incredibly detailed additions that contrasted perfectly with the fantastical world around them. Given Aloy's experience fighting similarly sized robotic monsters in her own universe, the transition to the world of Monster Hunter isn't too difficult to imagine.

The first sign of the high-quality crossovers that would arrive in the future.

What made Horizon Zero Dawn's collaboration even better is that it wasn't just a one-off event, with several quests and new rewards being added in future updates, most notably to celebrate the launch of its Iceborne expansion. Although I would have loved to see one of the intricate robotic beasts from Horizon make its way to Monster Hunter, her weapons and cosmetics were still a great addition to the game. Given Horizon Zero Dawn's multiplayer project cancelation, World to this day is, ironically, still one of the only ways to hunt down monsters as Aloy alongside a group of friends.

3 Devil May Cry Is Easily One Of Monster Hunter's Coolest Crossovers

Unleashing Electrifying One Stylish Combo At A Time

Aside from being the crossover that made me first discover my love for the Charge Blade, Devil May Cry's collaboration with Monster Hunter World was dripping with style from start to finish. First revealed in a comedically stylized trailer, the crossover event brought a standard layered armor set of Dante for both gender styles, alongside a Charge Blade themed after one of his iconic weapons. The most notable part about the Change Blade itself is that the shield was replaced with a small glowing circle, while the sword itself elongated once transformed.

Offering the appearance of a one-handed swordsman wielding magic in their offhand, Dante's Charge Blade stood out from the rest of the options in World, while being incredibly powerful when updated. On top of the free additions, World also included a paid gesture that allowed Dante to fire handguns to either side of him, although this only dealt minuscule damage. To add to the crossover's thematic nature, during the event's quest to unlock Dante's iconic gear by slaying an Anjanath Odagaron, Rathalos, and Teostra, various songs from the Devil May Cry series will play depending on which weapon you're using.

2 Taking On The New World As Geralt From The Witcher

An Immersive Collaboration Not For The Faint Of Heart

Being the second large-scale collaboration for Monster Hunter World, The Witcher 3 collaboration thankfully didn't disappoint. Not only did this free story expansion feature two sets of layered armor that transform your hunter into Geralt or Ciri alongside grotesque yet strangely cute Palico armor, but it also offered an entirely new questline with dialogue and a level of writing quality that felt right out of The Witcher 3 itself. Being transported to another world in the search for Ciri, the story eventually culminates in a climactic fight with the Ancient Leshen that makes use of Geralt's unique innate magical abilities.

Aside from the weapon and armor sets available, the event also offered players the ability to utilize Geralt's Igni spell outside the quest through the use of a runestone or gesture. The biggest issue that arises with the event's content is how frustrating the Ancient Leshen becomes after its initial hunt, becoming borderline infuriating for solo players given its inconsistent health scaling. Regardless of its issues, this crossover was an incredibly memorable and high-quality experience from start to finish that combined the best features of both franchises into one coherent experience, potentially even inspiring the newly voiced protagonist in Wilds.

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1 Crossing Dimensions With World's Final Fantasy 14 Collaboration

Offering A Unique Challenge That Encourages Team-Based Coordination

While the Behemoth fight isn't the most fondly ed due to its incredible difficulty at the time, the Final Fantasy 14 collaboration is undoubtedly one of the best crossovers the franchise has ever seen from a pure gameplay standpoint. Even without the gripping story or gameplay mechanics of The Witcher 4's crossover, the Behemoth fight is leagues more engaging than the Ancient Leshen. Forcing players to use MMO-style team-based tactics to take aggro while avoiding certain AoE attacks using the environment, the questline wasn't for the faint of heart.

Thankfully, the rewards of FF14's crossover were more than worth the effort, as the dragoon armor is one of the coolest-looking sets in the game by far, especially when combined with its gorgeous dragon-summoning Insect Glaive. On top of the armor, completing the quest offers a leaping emote that provides a small period of invulnerability when successfully timed, alongside an adorably themed Poogie outfit and an equally cute moogle skin for your Palico.

The rewards of FF14's crossover were more than worth the effort.

Aside from the Behemoth event quest itself, the collaboration included a new storyline with several cutscenes that start by chasing down a Kulu Ya Ku who stole an Aetherite Crystal that crashed into your dimension, while coming across Cactaurs that act as natural traps in the environment. While there may be some wait before a large-scale crossover like this makes its way to Wilds, rumors of another follow-up event with Final Fantasy could be a great sign of what's to come for the future of Monster Hunter Wilds and its crossover events.

Source: Nintendo of America/YouTube, PlayStation/YouTube