As is expected with the series, Capcom is providing free updates forMonster Hunter Wildsafter its release, adding monsters, cosmetics, and mini-games as time goes by. Capcom showed off its first free title update for the game, releasing on April 4, and has already teased the second update coming in the summer, keeping people involved withMH Wildsuntil the expansion inevitably comes. With the free updates comes extra challenges, although not everything being added is new to the series and brings back some old features that help the new mechanics feel like they fit in better.
Monsters from other titles will be comingwith the Mizutsune in the first update, promising a challenge beyond tempered monsters, and theLagiacrus coming in the second update in the summer. Existing monsters are seeing some buffs, with the Rey Dau getting an Arch-Tempered version while the Zoh Shia gets a High-Rank hunt (as well as some armor, hopefully). Still, these changes won’t get players together more thanthe announced Gathering Hub, providing hunters a place to gather and interact with each otheroutside the base camps scattered around the world.
MH Wilds' First Free Update Will Add A Gathering Hub
A New Environment For Hunters To Hang About
Along with a bunch of challenges,Monster Hunter Wildswill add a Gathering Hub, which looks to be one of the series' largestaccording to Free Title Update 1 trailer onYouTube. The area is officially called the Grand Hub (although good luck to Capcom trying to get everyone to call it anything but the Gathering Hub) and looks to be near Suja, possibly on another mountain top. With the name of the Grand Hub, it makes sense that the area is bigger than Gathering Hubs seen before, and provides a space similar to an MMO hub.
The trailer showing the Grand Hub began with a Wyverian singer, someone from a race of humanoids with Wyvern ancestry that gives them longer life spans.
Gathering Hubs have always been a place where players gather before a hunt, since they were the only places in prior games where players could see each other outside a hunt. They include everything that the rest of the headquarters have, from smiths to canteens, and make everything convenient when preparing for a hunt. Given howMH Wildsencouraged players to come together in large numbers,it did feel odd that the game didn’t launch with a Gathering Hub of some kind, although it appears Capcom will fix this and then some with the Grand Hub.
Gathering Hubs are places that change as time goes on, and the hope is thatthe Grand Hub in the free updatewill be the same.Gathering Hubs are decorated in different ways depending on the seasonal event, having a spooky theme for Halloween, Chinese lanterns for the Lunar New Year, and so on, and while this might not happen with the Grand Hub, given its size, it does help the games feel constantly updated. WithMH Wilds' large lobbies, the Grand Hub will also help players interact with each other outside hunts, and give them a larger safe space to run around.
The Grand Hub Will Let More Hunters Interact With Each Other
Mini Games And More Help Hunters Feel Like They Aren’t Alone
Capcom showed off mini-games hunters can get involved with in the Grand Hub, with the most interesting being a form of explosive bowling. Players can also arm-wrestle with other hunters, and there appears to be a canteen for hunters to eat together. Palicoes probably aren’t involved with the cooking process, since the food looks the same as served in Suja, but at least they still have jobs inMonster Hunter’s restaurant industry by acting as waiters. These canteen tables are massive, allowing many hunters to sit together to drink, and this interactivity between players fixes an issue withWilds' lobbies.
The outpost in Suja was partly made to monitor monster activity in the Wounded Hollow and investigate its activity.
Players only really interact with each other during a hunt, whether starting a hunt with each other or responding to SOS alerts, but it wasn’t as though older games didn’t allow players to interact with random SOS messages.Since there isn’t a lot of player interaction in the base camps, other than admiring each other’s outfits, it did feel like the100-person lobbieswere somewhat of a gimmick, but the Grand Hub will fix this. It will provide a space where players interact and enjoy each other’s company outside hunts, possibly while waiting for friends to come online.
Everything Coming In Monster Hunter Wilds' Title Update 1
Everything coming to Monster Hunter Wilds in its first title update, including new monsters, a new gathering hub, and a returning quest type.
More importantly,the Grand Hub is big enough to act as an MMO-style hub space in a way that the base camps can’t. The base camps aren’t too large, and it can suddenly feel crowded if there are more than twenty people there at once. These camps feel like they aren’t able to support a bunch of players and the NPCs without being in everyone’s personal space, but the airy, spacious Grand Hub likely won’t have this issue. It is also large enough to be a proper base, likeMH World’s Astera, except everyone can see each other.
Free Updates Could Change MH Wilds In A Big Way
Adding The Grand Hub Might Only Be The Start
Considering how money-hungry Capcom can be, it wouldn’t have been surprising if it droppedMonster Hunter’s tradition of free updates, butwith a Grand Hub, a new monster, new armor, and some added challenges, there is quite a lot being given away for free. Of course, the update comes with purchasable cosmetics, as is expected with Capcom, but there are more free updates to come, and they could shape the game in interesting ways. With theLagiacrus coming next, and fans ofMH Trishedding tears of joy, adding to the monster roster is definitely on the menu.
I’ve Changed My Mind, Monster Hunter Wilds Not Having Elder Dragons Makes It Better
Initially, Monster Hunter Wilds' lack of elder dragons stood out as a major disappointment, but after playing Wilds further, the cut was worth it.
Events and collaborations could be added too, especially considering Capcom’s vast library of games.MH Worldlets players forge armor to look like Dante fromDevil May Cry, and Leon and Clair fromResident Evil,so an internal collaboration is likely at some point. Perhaps fightingThe Dragon fromDragon’s Dogma(AKA Grigori) could be on the cards, and that’s not including external collaborations, like with whatWorlddid withThe WitcherandFinal Fantasy. WithMonster Hunter’s size right now, there could be many other games champing at the bit to get a collaboration and more publicity.
The Grand Hub is already going to make a lot of changes toMonster Hunter Wilds, and if this update is just a taste of what’s to come, the game might be considerably different from its release version by the time the expansion comes out. IfMH Worldis anything to go by, there is still plenty to be added toWilds, at least in terms of monsters.Worldadded sieges like the Kulve Taroth, as well as fan favorites like the Deviljho, after its release, along with many others, so it reasons thatWildswill do something similar.
