Highlights

  • Monster Hunter Wilds could borrow the innovative research task feature from Pokemon Legends: Arceus for a new gameplay experience.
  • Monster Hunter Wilds may take a more open-world approach like Arceus, offering a wilder monster hunting experience for players.
  • Incorporating research tasks in Monster Hunter Wilds could enhance player strategy and offer a fresh challenge in building diverse hunting approaches.

Monster Hunter Wilds may be in the perfect position to inherit an interesting feature that was used in Pokemon Legends: Arceus. While the two series may not have much in common outside of both starring impressive monsters, there are some things that they could share. Pokemon Legends: Arceus took a drastically new approach to its home series, and there's some indication that Monster Hunter Wilds is also looking to experiment. With Legends: Arceus being the most Monster Hunter-like Pokemon game, it's fitting that it introduced an idea that could cross over very well into an actual Monster Hunter title.

When it was released, Pokemon Legends: Arceus' spin on the series led it to innovate a new style of Pokemon adventure. Instead of having players traverse the region collecting gym badges, they braved the wilderness of Hisui, facing wild Pokemon that were more unpredictable and aggressive than in previous titles. While the Monster Hunter series has always been wild, Monster Hunter Wilds looks like it will delve even further in that direction than usual for the series. That's not to say that it will be as big of a departure from the norm as Legends: Arceus was. However, it is a good opportunity to try something new.

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Monster Hunter Wilds' speculated move towards a more open-world design might lead to several town hub features being cut, but one could be enhanced.

Monster Hunter Wilds Could Make Use of Pokemon Legends: Arceus' Research Tasks

Pokemon Legends: Arceus' Research Tasks Changed the Pokedex

A unique aspect of filling the Pokedex in Pokemon Legends: Arceus is that encountering and catching Pokemon isn't enough to complete an entry. Instead, the player needs to perform various tasks to fully research the Pokemon. These challenges include such tasks as:

  • Catching the Pokemon
  • Seeing the Pokemon use a certain move
  • Defeating the Pokemon
  • Defeating the Pokemon with a certain type of move
  • Evolving the Pokemon

This approach to the Pokedex added an extra layer of strategy for players. While they could simply keep catching or defeating the Pokemon, remembering the other tasks could let them fill the Pokedex far quicker.

Research Tasks Could Translate Well to Monster Hunter Wilds

Pokemon Legends; Arceus' Pokedex would be an amazing inspiration for a new gimmick in Monster Hunter Wilds. After all, since the player is often gathering info on these monsters at the same time they're fighting them, then a more experimental approach wouldn't be too far-fetched. Similar to how Pokemon Legends: Arceus did it, each monster could have a list of research tasks laid out for the player. These could range from defeating the monster with a certain weapon to breaking certain parts, and more. There are so many ways to approach hunts in Monster Hunter that there would be more than enough potential tasks.

Monster Hunter's Design Is Well-Suited to Replicate Pokemon Legends: Arcues' Pokedex

Research tasks in this style could be a perfect fit for Monster Hunter's style of gameplay. Between Monster Hunter's selection of weapons, the many available items, and the elements players can employ, players have a lot of options for each hunt. In fact, the series outright encourages players to switch up their builds between hunts to best suit the monster they're about to face. Adding research tasks to Monster Hunter Wilds would simply take this gameplay design to the next level. With such a wealth of possibilities to explore, research tasks could be even better suited to Monster Hunter than Pokemon.

Pokemon Legends: Arceus has its own sequel on the way, but it could also be an inspiration for Monster Hunter Wilds. If handled well, it could be a game-changing feature for Monster Hunter Wilds, encouraging players to get more creative with their builds. Instead of just using one build per monster, research tasks could challenge players to create several different approaches for each hunt. It would add a lot of excitement while also getting players to expand their horizons. Monster Hunter Wilds could benefit greatly thanks to one of Pokemon Legends: Arceus' most interesting ideas.