Highlights

  • Monster Hunter Wilds will be a major milestone for the franchise as the first game on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series, and the first generational leap since Monster Hunter World.
  • The fan base for Monster Hunter World has been growing, leading to an official "Return to World" event. It would be great for Monster Hunter Wilds to acknowledge this by bringing back one of World's biggest monsters.
  • Zorah Magdaros, the titanic Elder Dragon from Monster Hunter World, would be a great addition to Monster Hunter Wilds, fitting its large open-world and potentially being part of siege missions.

Although it's still a while off, the excitement for Monster Hunter Wilds is building. This game will represent a major milestone for the franchise, being the first title natively released on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series, as well as the first generational leap since Monster Hunter World achieved mainstream success. The fifth generation has spread Monster Hunter to plenty of new fans, but after six years, those fans are ready to see Monster Hunter Wilds try something new.

Of course, that doesn't mean they've fallen out of love with the older titles. In fact, Monster Hunter World's player population started climbing before the Wilds news dropped, and its post-announcement explosion even brought Capcom on board with an official “Return to World” event. MH World and its Iceborne expansion are thriving again, and it would be a class act for Monster Hunter Wilds to acknowledge this by bringing one of World's biggest monsters back in an equally big way.

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Monster Hunter Wilds: Every Iconic Monster That Should Return

The reveal of Monster Hunter Wilds included confirmation of at least one legacy monster, but there are plenty more that should join the roster.

Plenty of Monster Hunter World Beasts Deserve To Be In Wilds

Monster Hunter World: 7 Hardest Monsters in the Game

The obvious Monster Hunter World creature to bring back for Wilds is the flagship Nergigante, a non-elemental Elder Dragon focused on hunting others who have stepped out of line. Given the escalation of hunt targets in every Monster Hunter, it's an easy return to justify, but it's not the only monster that could be reprized from World. Plenty of fan favorites were produced in the 2018 game and its expansion, including:

  • Great Jagras
  • Anjanath
  • Pukei-Pukei
  • Tobi Kadachi
  • Bazelgeuse
  • Kulve Taroth
  • Velkhana

These are just a sample of World’s notable newcomers, but one literally stands head-and-shoulders above the rest.

A major story figure in Monster Hunter World, to the point of technically being the first monster players see, is the titanic Elder Dragon, Zorah Magdaros. It dominates a significant amount of the storyline, with its mysterious migration into the New World risking an environmental disaster. Zorah Magdaros' presence ultimately proves to be a symptom of greater threats, but the player still needs to fight it a couple of times to keep the beast at bay. Unfortunately, Monster Hunter World’s community has a hard time appreciating Zorah Magdaros' boring hunts, with the Arch-Tempered variant often regarded as its only acceptable version. However, Zorah Magdaros could finally shine with a change of scenery.

Zorah Magdaros Would Be Great In Monster Hunter Wilds

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Monster Hunter Wilds hasn't clarified what sort of level design it will have yet, but its teaser trailer makes an open-world look feasible. Visibly traversable area extends into the final shot's distance, and MH Wilds' new mount will make navigating its diverse terrain a breeze. It only makes sense for such a large play area to host equally large monsters, and that's where Zorah Magdaros comes in. There could be siege missions in Monster Hunter Wilds, not unlike those for Kulve Taroth, where players need to team up with NPCs or a human raiding party to repel an especially large target. Given its size, Zorah Magdaros fits the bill.

How Zorah Magdaros Hunts Could Merge Monster Hunter World and Wilds

In fact, Zorah Magdaros might go better with Monster Hunter Wilds’ open air than World’s constricted arenas. Zorah Magdaros could walk through a specific map region, with players able to quickly move around it with their multipurpose mounts. It's not inconceivable that Zorah Magdaros could engage in a more traditional Monster Hunter fight at points rather than its original equipment-heavy bouts, but they could still be referenced by another Nergigante being fought on its back.

Finally, Zorah Magdaros synergizes naturally with Monster Hunter Wilds’ stampedes and implied weather effects. Its nature as a mobile erupting volcano essentially combines the two, and basing an entire “weather” condition around a single Elder Dragon’s presence would be cool. Monster Hunter Wilds should have plenty of room for Zorah Magdaros, and the more it makes players think of Monster Hunter World in the process, the better.