While there's still some time before the massive second title update drops for Monster Hunter Wilds, Capcom has delivered one of its most unique updates to tide you over in the meantime. While there was plenty of speculation about what crossover would be revealed first for Monster Hunter Wilds, the official s already heavily hinted that it would be another Street Fighter collaboration. Despite being disappointed by the lack of a brand-new prospect for the series, the gameplay additions alongside it have already hooked me by replicating one of Wild's highly requested features.

Although I was taken aback by how complex and intense the Street Fighter collaboration was in Wilds​​​​, the Monster Hunter franchise has offered plenty of excellent crossovers over the years. From collaborations with legendary franchises like Metal Gear and Final Fantasy to unique quests and hilarious gimmicks, crossovers have been a core part of Monster Hunter's DNA since its very inception. While I'm incredibly excited to see what the future holds for Monster Hunter Wilds with its title updates and future collaborations, the recent additions might be the closest we'll ever get to a brand-new weapon to hunt with.

Wilds' Street Fighter Collab Introduces A Whole New Moveset To Hunt With

Blowing Away Expectations For What Could Have Been Simple Cosmetics

The previous Akuma crossover for Monster Hunter Rise added a handful of reskinned moves and weapon combos that offered the experience of a Street Fighter character facing off against deadly monsters, being taken to the next level in Wilds. Rather than relying on a reskinned weapon to function, the Akuma armor unlocks a brand new moveset of attacks and combos that appear nowhere else in Wilds. On top of offering a new way to hunt your favorite monsters, the combo system of Street Fighter has been replicated excellently, requiring certain button inputs and radial moves to achieve its full effectiveness.

While a part of me would still have loved to see a brand-new franchise kick off Wilds' first collaboration and save Street Fighter for the future, Akuma brings with it a concept I never thought I would ever see in the mainline franchise. Rather than simply building upon previous weapons with minor additions, playing as Akuma gives the same feeling as using an excitingly new weapon, all without any of the hassle that a full inclusion would entail.

Additional Weapons Have Been A Highly Requested Feature For Years

A Tall Order For Such A Long-Running Franchise

One of the more common questions about Monster Hunter Wilds before its release was whether the next generation entry in the series would finally introduce additional weapons to the roster. While it seems like a tall order at first, Capcom has already experimented with options like the Prowler Mode, letting you hunt monsters as a feline, offering a brand-new way to experience the game. Unfortunately for fans hoping for the inclusion, Wilds' developers have stated they would rather direct their resources to providing more weapon depth and moves to each entry, rather than adding an entirely new weapon.

Wilds' developers have stated they would rather direct their resources to providing more weapon depth and moves to each entry.

Compared to the massive scale of a game like Monster Hunter Wilds, it's much easier to imagine an actual 15th weapon being introduced in one of the franchise's many mobile spin-offs. While they have been a source of much discussion in the community over the possibility of being implemented, the Tonfas and Magnet Spike from Monster Hunter Frontier are two weapons that instantly come to mind for new weapons. Unfortunately, the balancing issues and similarities to existing weapons make these inclusions unlikely to see the light of day in a mainline entry.

While I would absolutely love to see how Capcom would tackle unique weapons like a switch spear or anything that lets me beat a monster up with my fists, adding a new weapon to the roster would be an understandably massive feat. From finding a unique enough niche, building a combat system from the ground up, and all the weapon trees and balancing issues it would bring, it's unlikely we'll see an official 15th weapon being added to the series anytime soon.

With The Right Mods, Akuma Could Easily Replace The 15th Weapon

Taking Full Advantage Of The Brand New Moveset's Capabilities

With Akuma introducing a whole new moveset and status gauge, it's little surprise that the collaboration quickly became compared to being a replacement for the heavily requested 15th weapon for the series, with plenty of s like Suprage_ on Reddit sharing jokes about the topic. Although Akuma does lack the depth and weapon upgrading that is so essential in the Monster Hunter franchise, these kinds of limited-scope collaborations are still an excellent way to explore interesting new gameplay concepts without committing to a permanent change to the franchise.

The only major downside to Akuma in Monster Hunter Wilds is that you have to have either the base armor or layered armor variants equipped to gain access to the full moveset. While the problem of full-layered armor sets for collabs has been a longstanding issue for the series, it feels even more prevalent when such a unique gameplay concept is locked behind a single aesthetic. Thankfully, this problem could be easily remedied through fan-made mods, allowing you to unleash the fury of Akuma's devastating moveset as a regular old hunter, wearing whatever layered armor you want.

Akuma Isn't Likely To Be The Last Specialized Moveset Coming To Monster Hunter Wilds

Future Crossovers Are Likely To Include New Gameplay Mechanics

While Akuma is easily the boldest example of a collaborative moveset from the fifth generation of the series, it's far from the first. Several crossovers, like the Witcher 3 collaboration, not only introduce fully layered armor but also new spells and tracking abilities that were faithfully recreated from the RPG series. While many of the spells and abilities weren't very useful in regular gameplay outside of their introduction, some of them had niche capabilities to make hunts easier, from stunning small monsters to weakening Lavasioth's armor with Igni.

Setting the stage for what's to come from Monster Hunter Wilds​​​.

It's also hard to talk about Monster Hunter collaborations and not mention the infamous Final Fantasy crossover, bringing with it a brand new and incredibly deadly monster with the Behemoth, and an invulnerability-granting emote for doing certain attacks. Out of all the features I miss from World, the fantastic backlog of collaborative content always provides a great incentive to return, setting the stage for what's to come from Monster Hunter Wilds​​​​.

With Monster Hunter Wilds setting the start of a new era for Capcom after blowing past sales numbers out of the water, I don't doubt that there will be plenty of resources to spare for future collaborative content and exciting title updates to come. Thankfully, if Monster Hunter Wilds' Akuma crossover is anything to go by we've only scratched the surface of what could come in the future, offering plenty of unique gameplay experiences that rival introducing a brand-new weapon.

Source: Suprage_/Reddit