Another lull has come to the Monster Hunter series. Monster Hunter Rise just released its final major update, bringing Primordial Malzeno into the game as its final monster. Between Monster Hunter Rise, the Sunbreak expansion, and their gradual rollout onto every platform, the most recent generation of Monster Hunter has been a rousing success. Even if it didn't reach the heights of fame that Monster Hunter World did, it's hard to match the entry that propelled the franchise to worldwide recognition.
However, that still comes with a problem. Now that Monster Hunter Rise has wrapped development, fans were expecting to hear something about what was coming next. The timing of the final update seemed like a perfect baton pass to the Summer Game Fest, but no Monster Hunter appeared during any of its events. Even the upcoming mobile title Monster Hunter Now was only seen for a moment and was otherwise found at the physical Niantic booth. The franchise could go anywhere at this point, and it's not clear how long it will take to get there.
Another Monster Hunter World Could Be Enough
The most obvious direction for Monster Hunter is Monster Hunter World 2. As the original World has become synonymous with the franchise, it would be best to carry on its name, or at least its spirit, in the next title. For all the experimental features Monster Hunter Rise tried, such as monster riding and the Wirebug movement system, World represents a return to Monster Hunter's basics with modern polish. It was a true reset point, bringing MH to PS4 and Xbox One with conveniences that endeared it to mainstream audiences. Monster Hunter World became the new baseline for the franchise, and it's impossible to go wrong with more of that.
What a Monster Hunter World 2 could introduce isn't certain, but it could once again raise the franchise's standard. Like MH World, it would make the generational leap to the PS5 and Xbox Series consoles, and the in-universe jump to a new location with several new monsters. Unlike its predecessor, Monster Hunter World 2 would benefit from the assets built up across prior games and their expansions to quickly build a large monster pool. It could also cherry-pick the best mechanics and abilities from Monster Hunter World and Rise, integrating them into core gameplay while introducing something new or refurbishing an old feature like Monster Hunter Tri's swimming.
The Monster Hunter Franchise Could Go In Many Directions
The next mainline Monster Hunter would be a safe direction to take the franchise, and other features like cross-play and cross-progression, a true open-world map, or using certain monsters as allies could be introduced. However, Monster Hunter is more than just its hunting games, and a spin-off could give the next traditional MH some extra development time. The Monster Hunter Stories subseries has found surprising success as a distinct Pokemon clone. A third entry could truly make a name for itself in the JRPG space and could even focus more on how mundane life looks when actual monster hunters aren't around.
Room for other projects also exists, including another attempt at a Monster Hunter movie or a smaller spin-off title. With the popularity of the canteen cutscenes, Monster Hunter is ripe for a cooking game featuring the Meowscular Chef and the Palicoes. Remastering old Monster Hunter titles in a collection would also be appreciated, especially if they get modern online systems in the process. There's a lot that Capcom could do with Monster Hunter now, though fans probably can't expect to see anything with it until either the 2023 Game Awards or 2024's Summer Game Fest. Whatever happens, now is a great time to catch up on existing Monster Hunter titles and their expansions while waiting for the franchise's next chapter.