Summary
- Shadow of the Erdtree was a challenging expansion for Elden Ring, offering players a new, difficult experience.
- Monster Hunter Wilds may need a similar challenging expansion to cater to series veterans and rebuild trust.
- Some criticize Monster Hunter Wilds for being too easy compared to past entries, needing more difficulty.
Elden Ring's Shadow of the Erdtree expansion is without a doubt one of the best video game DLCs ever made. In fact, it has gone down in history as the highest-rated DLC ever made, with an OpenCritic and Metacritic score of 94. Much of this is due to it feeling like a brand-new game entirely, with a new map, 70 weapons, 39 talismans, and numerous spells and armor sets. However, it accomplished something else for the legacy of Elden Ring that Capcom's Monster Hunter Wilds may want to consider incorporating in a future expansion.
While it has yet to be announced, Monster Hunter Wilds is expected to receive a full-size expansion at some point, just as Monster Hunter: World and Monster Hunter Rise did before it with Iceborne and Sunbreak, respectively. When that expansion does finally arrive, it would be remiss not to examine what made Shadow of the Erdtree so successful, in addition to what the DLC did to counter some initial criticisms of Elden Ring. Monster Hunter Wilds has been performing admirably since its release, but it hasn't been able to escape one of the same criticisms that Elden Ring received at launch that its own Shadow of the Erdtree moment could remedy.
Monster Hunter Wilds Makes MH: World's Most Helpful Tool Indispensable
Monster Hunter Wilds brings back one of Monster Hunter: World's most helpful tools and makes it so that players really can't succeed without it.
Monster Hunter Wilds May Need Its Own Shadow of the Erdtree Expansion
Shadow of the Erdtree Was Known for Being Far More Difficult Than Elden Ring
Elden Ring is certainly an excellent game, and its enduring appeal has proven that. Since Elden Ring's release, FromSoftware has invested even more in the IP, including the Shadow of the Erdtree expansion and the upcoming spin-off, Elden Ring Nightreign, which is even more telling of the base game's popularity. Despite its success, however, Elden Ring was unable to avoid controversy, as it seemed to cater more to newcomers than FromSoftware veterans by offering a more accessible experience than the developer was known for.
While it has yet to be announced, Monster Hunter Wilds is expected to receive a full-size expansion at some point, just as Monster Hunter: World and Monster Hunter Rise did before it with Iceborne and Sunbreak, respectively.
Shadow of the Erdtree then came along a little over two years later with a solution: offer players a far more challenging experience than Elden Ring was known for, and perhaps that controversy would fade away. As it turned out, Shadow of the Erdtree was so arduous that it simultaneously stirred another controversy regarding its difficulty, with some players claiming it was far too hard. That being said, it was still proof that FromSoftware had been listening to feedback and chose to respond accordingly.
Monster Hunter Wilds' Difficulty Criticisms Might Be Quelled With a Challenging Expansion
Now, Monster Hunter Wilds has found itself in a similar position to Elden Ring at launch, offering up what is arguably the most accessible Monster Hunter experience to date, and, like Elden Ring did before it, stirring up discourse between longtime fans of the series and newcomers. The Monster Hunter franchise has always been known for its challenging gameplay, as it has long refrained from including difficulty sliders and instead integrates its difficulty directly into the monsters themselves. As such, only players who are committed enough to learning the behaviors of monsters and doing what it takes to survive have been able to get the most out of the series' gameplay.
At the end of the day, difficulty is subjective, but there are clear features in Monster Hunter Wilds that do objectively make the game easier than past entries.
Monster Hunter Wilds, on the other hand, is even more accessible than Monster Hunter: World was at launch, which was also met with controversy for the same reason. In light of all this, Monster Hunter Wilds might need its own Shadow of the Erdtree moment to rebuild trust with series veterans. This would mean offering players an expansion that is as challenging as a traditional Monster Hunter game, and perhaps one that is even as substantial in what it adds to the base game as Shadow of the Erdtree was for Elden Ring. While time will tell whether Monster Hunter Wilds moves in this direction with its expansion, it is at least almost guaranteed that an expansion of some kind will eventually arrive.
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 89 /100 Critics Rec: 95%
