Monster Hunter Wilds is a massive success and it introduces some of the most unique creatures in the series. But Capcom has left one monster in particular, in the dust. As the only other tentacled monster besides Nu Udra, the Xu Wu is a terrifying new monster that has a lot of potential that could’ve made it even better.
Unlike the average Monster Hunter enemy, the Xu Wu displayed signs of intelligence and adaptability, even attacking a villager due to its ability to recognize Guardian fibers as food. There’s a lot of room for a solid side quest to explore this new monster but it seems like Capcom has other plans.
Monster Hunter Wilds really should’ve had a Xu Wu side quest
Xu Wu is an eight-limbed cephalopod with a dark, gnarled body covered in golden and teal veins. Unlike the octopuses that we usually see, it has a unique ability to secrete a golden mucus that hardens into deadly blades, which it uses to slice enemies apart. It moves with surprising agility and can catch your surprise before attacking.
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Xu Wu’s behavior makes it clear that it is not just another mindless predator. It primarily feeds on Guardian creatures but has shown the ability to recognize and track food sources outside its usual hunting grounds. The side quest involving the consumed villager is a rare instance where we get to actually debate a monster’s intelligence.
The biggest reason why we think that there’s an unused potential here is because Xu Wu introduced a scenario rarely seen in the Monster Hunter franchise. In the side quest, we have to save an NPC, but by the time we arrive, it’s too late. This is one of the first times a monster kills an NPC in the present timeline. This was a surprise for a lot of us and it adds a sense of realism to the world. That is while we’re not staring at our glowing bodies.
It would’ve been really cool to see this aspect expanded upon. But instead, Capcom simply left Xu Wu as another target for hunters to take down. It’s a bummer because we had the chance for a truly memorable quest line.
There’s a lot more content coming and we can still hope
From a gameplay perspective, Xu Wu is already one of the more unique monsters in Monster Hunter Wilds. Its golden mucus hardens into razor-sharp blades, which it uses for both melee and ranged attacks. It has good range because it can extend its tentacles, and its high agility makes it difficult to pin down.
This is a level of adaptability that could have been expanded upon with a quest. Instead of just hunting Guardians, imagine if Xu Wu had started evolving to track down and target hunters more aggressively after its first human kill. That kind of escalation would have made for an incredible quest chain. We hope to see it in the future, as unlikely as it is.
Monster Hunter Wilds has already proven to be one of Capcom’s biggest successes, and there is a lot more coming. The game already has a post-launch roadmap and we can expect things to remain in high gear for a while. So we at least hope that underdeveloped monsters like Xu Wu might get more attention.
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire
