Attention other developers: this is how you do it. Capcom has removed gender-restricted armor sets from Monster Hunter Wilds in its upcoming PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC game Monster Hunter Wilds.
As revealed in a developer diary live at Gamescom 2024 today (and confirmed in your hands-on demo), Capcom has decided to remove binary armor options for female and male hunters. Now, no matter what character you decide to make when creating your avatar for the game, you can equip all types of armor without any restrictions.
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Typically, Monster Hunter games lock you into one of two variants based on the makeup of your custom character, but in the upcoming game, every player will be able to equip either A or B of each gear set Variants. I even tried mixing and matching; I could use the “male” version of the Chattakabra head and the “female” version of the Chattakabra body in the same outfit. Therefore; you can mix and match.
This is purely decorative. No matter which variant you choose, the abilities and bonuses granted by each set are the same, but the aesthetic impact is considerable. Monster Hunter players have long considered “Fashion Hunters” a major part of the game’s appeal, and essentially doubling the amount of armor each character can wear would have a huge impact.
Want some flimsy, skin-revealing upper armor to go with some oversized, ridiculous shin guards? Knock yourself out! Want a helmet that completely covers your face, but want an exotic dancer’s waist? go ahead. A cursory glance at the community’s hubs (read: Reddit or Twitter) reveals that most people are pretty happy about it. After all, why should your body shape stop you from wearing what you want? Both in real life and virtually, for that matter.
“Major title for Capcom W; now I can make my manhood look more feminine,” one observer said. “I can’t wait to play as the sluttiest girl boy in this game,” said another. “This is the best news for fashion hunters since Transmog,” one Reddit user said. But perhaps my personal favorite take on the situation is: “Ah yes, two genders: monsters” and hunter.”
What I really like about this is that Capcom still went to the trouble of making two sets of armor and giving all avatars the ability to wear it. It would be much easier to simply make a set and use it as an “armor” set for each monster or resource. It shows the effort and detail that the developers are going to put into it, and really embodies what Monster Hunter has always been about: giving players the choice to actually play the game the way they want.
The content provided in the demo was very bare-bones, so it’s uncertain whether we’ll see the return of the alpha and beta armor sets as well. However, a hunter can dream, a hunter can dream.
Monster Hunter Wilds It is expected to launch on Xbox Series X/S, PS5 and PC in 2025.