Monster Hunter Wilds crashed onto the gaming landscape on February 28, 2025, shattering expectations with over 8 million copies sold in three days and a peak of 1.3 million concurrent Steam players. Capcom’s latest opus in its flagship series has been hailed as a technical marvel—an open-world leap forward with dynamic weather, intricate ecosystems, and monsters that feel alive in ways their predecessors never did. From the flamboyant Lala Barina’s dance-like attacks to the slithering menace of Nu Udra, every beast is a spectacle. Yet, as I’ve carved my way through the Forbidden Lands, a nagging detail keeps surfacing: the large monster roster isn’t as sprawling as some past titles. With 29 big beasts at launch—20 new, 9 returning—it pales next to Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate’s whopping 93. At first, that gap irked me. But then I replayed Generations, and now I’m convinced: Wilds’ leaner lineup might just be its strength, and Generations proves why bigger isn’t always better.
Monster Hunter Wilds Has Fewer Large Monsters Than World Or Rise
But It Has More Skeleton Variety
Let’s rewind to Generations Ultimate, the 2018 Nintendo Switch behemoth that bundled four generations of Monster Hunter into one chaotic package. With 71 large monsters in the base Generations (2015, 3DS) and 93 in Ultimate, it’s the series’ high-water mark for sheer volume. It’s a fan favorite for a reason—icons like Fatalis, Tigrex, and Nargacuga share the stage with oddballs like Congalala and its fart attacks. X posts from players like @BannedDino tally the legacy: MH1 had 17, MH4 had 52, Generations blew them all away. For completionists, it’s a dream; every hunt feels like a reunion or a new challenge. But dig deeper, and cracks show. Many of those 93 were lifted straight from older titles—think MH1’s Rathalos or MH2’s Kushala Daora—with minimal tweaks. On the 3DS and Switch, that worked; the hardware couldn’t handle drastic overhauls. Yet, it left some fights feeling dated, their movesets clunky against Generations’ flashier mechanics like Hunter Arts. Quantity ruled, but quality sometimes stumbled.
Wilds, by contrast, takes a different tack. Its 29 launch monsters—per sources like PC Gamer and TheGamer—aren’t a fluke; they’re a choice. Capcom built this game from scratch for modern hardware, ditching the portability constraints of Generations or Rise. Every creature, new or old, is tailored to Wilds’ ecosystem-driven, open-world vision. Take Quematrice: its fire-powder tail sweeps feel bespoke to the sandy Windward Plains, where storms amplify the chaos. Or Gravios, returning from Generations Ultimate: its heat beam now softens its rocky hide dynamically, a far cry from its static MHGU incarnation. Posts on X, like @MHKogath’s beta breakdowns, praise how “no two monsters feel alike”—a stark shift from World’s Uragaan-Radobaan overlap. Capcom’s poured love into each one, ensuring they mesh with new tricks like Focus Mode and environmental traps. It’s a quality-over-quantity ethos that Generations couldn’t sustain with its retro roster dump.
Monster Hunter Generations Highlighted The Problem With A Huge Roster
Corners Need To Be Cut To Make Up The Numbers
That’s not to say Generations flopped—far from it. Its monster glut was a celebration, a love letter to two decades of hunting. But it came at a cost. Some beasts, like Gypceros or Cephadrome, felt like filler, their AI barely evolved from the PSP era. Others, like the Deviants (MHGU’s souped-up variants), shone but highlighted the base roster’s inconsistencies. Steam forums echo this: users like “Sawblade Shieldslave” note MHGU’s charm but admit its “fodder monsters” padded the count. Wilds sidesteps that trap. Its 29 aren’t throwaways—Doshaguma packs roam with alpha-led tactics, Balahara’s sand-burrowing ambushes demand strategy. Even returning stars like Rathalos feel refreshed, their aerial assaults woven into the open-world sprawl. Capcom’s focus on integration over inflation means every fight lands with purpose, not just as a notch on a tally.
Numbers alone tell a story. Monster Hunter World launched with 30 large monsters (36 after updates), Rise with 37 (46 post-patches), per Steam threads correcting inflated counts. Wilds’ 29—or 34, if spoiler leaks hold—sits close to World’s base, but its variety stands out. Where World leaned on wyvern clones (Kulu-Ya-Ku, Tzitzi-Ya-Ku), Wilds diversifies: spider-like Lala Barina, squid-ish Nu Udra, lightning-charged Rompopolo. X users like @BoostToastt hype the “new blood,” and it’s hard to argue. Generations had variety too—71 or 93 is a lot to juggle—but its reliance on legacy ports diluted the polish. Wilds’ smaller pool lets Capcom refine each encounter, a lesson Generations taught through its uneven execution.
More Large Monsters Will Come To Monster Hunter Wilds
And An Expansion Will Make The Game Even Bigger
Post-launch plans sweeten the deal. Capcom’s roadmap, teased on X by @monsterhunter, promises free updates—think Mizutsune, retooled beyond Tempered difficulty. If World’s Iceborne (71 total) and Rise’s Sunbreak (78) are blueprints, Wilds could double its roster with a Master Rank expansion. Collaborations, like World’s Behemoth, might add flair too. Steam’s “Cú/Moon” predicts this: “It’s World’s successor—title updates will grow it.” Unlike Generations, which launched complete but static, Wilds opts for a living game, pacing its monster drops to keep hunters hooked. It’s a gamble—some X posts grumble about a “short” base game—but it trades upfront bulk for long-term care, dodging Generations’ feast-or-famine feel.
Does Wilds nail it perfectly? Not quite. A roster of 29 stings when you’re used to Rise’s 46 or MHGU’s 93, especially at a $70 price tag. Steam threads like “Really concerned about the monster roster count” voice that worry: 30-ish feels like World redux, not a leap. And yeah, not every Wilds monster is gold—some newbies might flop, just as Generations had its duds. But the difference is intent. Generations threw everything at the wall; Wilds curates. Its open world demands monsters that play nice with Seikrets, weather shifts, and herd dynamics—porting oldies wholesale, as MHGU did, would’ve clashed. Web sources like TheGamer note Wilds’ “detailed design” justifies the cut, and I buy it. A tighter roster built from the ground up fits this bold new era.
Generations remains a legend—a monster-packed nostalgia bomb. But its sprawl showed the limits of quantity: not every beast got the spotlight it deserved. Wilds flips the script, betting on depth over breadth. After facing Arkveld’s thunderous charge or outwitting Balahara’s sand traps, I’m sold. The roster’s smaller, sure, but it’s alive—each monster a crafted piece of the Forbidden Lands, not a recycled relic. Capcom’s playing the long game, and if updates deliver, Wilds might rival MHGU’s count with twice the polish. For now, I’d rather hunt 29 unforgettable foes than 93 hit-or-miss ones. Generations proved more can be less; Wilds proves less can be more. Time will tell if it sticks the landing, but I’m sharpening my blade for what’s next.
