An explosive announcement has come out for members of Monster Hunter and Street Fighter communities: Palico will now be dressed in the suit of Blanka-chan from Street Fighter 6! The special collaboration between Monster Hunter Wilds and Street Fighter 6 will be launched on May 28, with the internet tearing itself halfway between hype and confusion.
Now about the skin: Blanka-chan is the cute yet slightly terrifying mascot version of Street Fighter’s wild man, Blanka, so it is basically a Palico outfit now. So, your cute little fuzzy battle buddy is free to parade about the world looking like an electrified green plush toy while you butcher colossal monsters. Adorable? Sure. Slightly weird? Somewhat. But this is Monster Hunter, after all: where else can one slay a dragon with a cat in fighting game attire?
Other players are calling this collab lazy since Kapcom keeps recycling in-house crossovers instead of branching out. Sweetpotatosaur went on to say, “Capcom x Capcom is lazy and they’ve done the same thing for the past 3/4 games.” So, John Derk had his response, all hyped up over the Akuma-themed moveset that the collab brings. Yeah, so the debate is very much alive.
Then comes gender representation. The coolest crossover costumes, say, for instance, the ones from Chun-Li and Cammy, are locked behind Alma so that female hunters are barred from wearing them. “Why not give female characters a female costume?” echoed Tom Wilson, and the sentiment has been brewing since the skins were revealed. And honestly? Fair point! If you are going to drop Street Fighter skins, why can’t everyone rock their favorite fighters?
Some still want those patch notes out, much like beexxxy on Twitter said, “Bro, we get it. SF6 collab yaaayyyy. Just give us patch notes already.” Can we really blame them? Monster Hunter Wilds is indeed very cryptic still, and while a Blanka-chan Palico is great, it almost makes a mockery of the kind of meaty content some had been hoping for.
Nevertheless, the charm of diving all Blanka in the middle of a hunt cannot be denied. You either love it or hate it; the collab is happening, and it is going to be a mess only Capcom could come up with. Mark May 28 on your calendar as the day monsters are startled at what in the world just happened because your cat has started sparking up like a living Tesla coil.
And who knows? Maybe this is just a warm-up since, with Capcom track record, you could well be staring down the barrel of a full roster of Street Fighter Palicos by the time Wilds officially drops. Ryu-chan, anyone?
