The official account of Monster Hunter has unveiled a new monster for the upcoming game Monster Hunter Wilds, announcing the Guardian Rathalos. The gaming community actively engaged in the discussion of this revelation on the social media platform using the hashtag #MHWilds. It was an instant and passionate debate; players were expressing their emotions that ranged from happiness to asking for weapon balance changes. The announcement underscores the ongoing process of development and the excitement surrounding Capcom‘s next major triple-A title in the already-very-popular hunting game franchise.
In a way, the Monster Hunter team has shown us a not-so-new beast in Monster Hunter Wilds, it is none other than Rathalos. But wait, this is not just any Rathalos; this one is the Guardian Rathalos. The demigod Rajang, as they say, goes through the whole process of conception to incarnating itself. The visual displayed is depicting the sleekest and almost armored version of the classic King of the Skies; all white with shining spots. Honestly, it looks really cool. But what we have always known is that the Monster Hunter community will never just say “cool” and that is it. No. The replies are not just a mere collection of comments; they are an entire ecosystem of chaos, and we are glad to be part of it.
Not to mention, there are the players’ factions where some of them are pretty vocal about their happiness. Online presence, Brandon Tansey, has devoted himself to writing an entire love letter to the new creature where he repeats, “I love Guardian Rathalos, and how different a fight he is from regular Rath.” Nevertheless, he wishes it were an Azure Rathalos because he thinks the combination of blue and white would be “sick.” This is a typical move of a gamer – first, a compliment is given and then a color request is demanded. Another player, Solus, is actually more fond of the white look than the one with glowing wings. After all, fashion hunting is the true endgame.
But, as soon as you keep scrolling the comments, the salt mines have opened up pretty wide. The account of the Charge Blade user, ‘fixchargeblage’, is very straightforward. Their comment is basically a demand: “fix the charge blade, the weapon is a savage axe spamming machine while SAED is clunky and slow and sword mode, charged sword and the whole counter aspect of the weapon are dead.” You can feel the years of frustration coming out through that single, unpunctuated, sentence. And they are not alone! The hammer users are also inciting the revolution. One user, Trezor, just says, “NERF HAMMER PLEASE,” while another, Obivi09, adds, “BUFF HAMMER PLEASE.” Which side are you on, people?? Is the hammer too strong or too weak? The duality of man is here right in time in the replies to Monster Hunter.
Then there are the… imaginative proposals. One user, Horacio, shares a picture of a Qurupeco and remarks, “Guardian Qurupeco will be amazing…” The transformation of the pest of a bird calling in other monsters into a Guardian version is enough to send chills down the spine. Anderson Bezerra was on the same wavelength with whoever suggested calling for a Guardian Rajang, to which he simply replied, “That would be terrifying.” Yes, that’s exactly what would happen. An overpowered, glowing, armored monkey that zaps lightning? Not me, thank you.
And of course, there is the mix-up of characters. Momonk panicked for a second, yelling, “FOR A SECOND I THOUGHT THAT WAS GUARDIAN SEREGIOS!” It is an easy mistake; they are both flying wyverns that have a certain… aesthetic. On the other hand, Schneeregen_ was so deep into lore that he wanted it “to take some design aspects and moves from Rathian as well, given that it is a sexless member of their species.” That’s a deep cut! Such a level of monster biology headcanon is next-level.
Nevertheless, not everyone is in a mood to compliment. User Nin, with all the malice of a Great Sword true charge, declares, “guardians are grotesque and tedious. let them die.” No mercy at all. Besides that, there are random, out-of-left-field stuff. User janejp3 starts going on and on about #MHWilds and “Gog elemental weapons” and rerolling for skills in a tweet that looks like it was composed by an AI that’s going through a meltdown. Someone, XThijsBos, just replies, “So? What’s the point now?” which is pretty much everybody’s thoughts as they try to make sense of that word salad. And Daily Beans questions the “let me layer over akuma guy,” asking if the game developers have done something on PlayStation and Xbox.
