Babybird’s You’re Gorgeous was one of the most popular love songs to come out of the ’90s indie music scene, except it’s not actually that romantic at all. Best known for its iconic chorus “Because you’re gorgeous/I’ll do anything for you,” the verses of the song actually tell the tale of a photographer manipulating female models into posing for him in gratuitous ways. But it has remained popular despite this because of the truth inherent to its chorus, and I felt this while playingMonster Hunter Wilds.
The character creator in Monster Hunter Wilds is excellent. It’s not quite as in-depth as others, but it has one major advantage that all great character creators need: it lets you create truly gorgeous characters. And when a character is gorgeous, I’ll do anything for them. Making attractive characters isa non-zero factor in Mecha Break’s popularity, and if Wilds is theMonster Huntergame that finally makes me go the distance, it will owe a debt to Lena the Hunter.
A Good Character Creator Makes You Want To Keep Playing
My relationship with Monster Hunter is a pretty standard one. I jumped on board the series withWorld, as many did, and couldn’t quite hack it, as many couldn’t. I tried again withRise, and it was a similar story. Wilds could make it a hattrick, but everything I’ve heard about this game beinga little more casual friendlyhas me thinking that this time it might be for keeps. It maynot be the ‘true’ Monster Hunter experience, but that falsehood could be the thing that finally drags me under.
Lena will be an important factor in that. I’m less likely to give up on a game if I’m invested in a character, and while you’d hope that comes from narrative, designing a character you’re proud of and wanting to see it through to the end with them is a motivation. Whether that be’the end' as in creditsor ‘the end’ as in the real ending remains to be seen, of course. It’s also the complete opposite toAvowed, where I gave my character, fair Caoimhe,beautiful blue eyesthen covered them with Godlike features,only to be stuck with them for some 60 hours.
I’ve only done the first few quests so far, and at this point I was still enjoying World and Rise, so it’s too early to judge where Wilds will end up falling. However, taken in isolation I’d say I’m enjoying myself, and having Suds the Palico (like Suds McDuff, and he’s a foamy ginger beer colour) along for the ride is a massive help. The fact I’m meeting characters who seem set to be grounded in the story rather than just tutorial teachers is a big help too. Monster Hunter Wilds had my curiosity, but now it might have my attention.
Monster Hunter’s Hair Is Terrific
The best thing is I didn’t intend to create anything like Lena. I don’t like to make myself in character creators, but I tend to just feel out what works as I flick through the presets. However, the Monster Hunter Wilds community is big on importing characters, and I considered going in this direction. Strangely, I had not seen a Taylor Swift shared, as it often is for character creators, but there wasan impressively similar Beth Harmon I could steal, or even just use as a base.
I decided to scroll through the creator myself first - having a good looking character is great and all, but half the fun is messing around with sliders, and importing a character doesn’t offer that. All of the Monster Hunter Wilds characters seemed pretty enough, but it wasn’t until I got to the slicked back long hair that it started to come together. I always start with the hair for this very reason. It didn’t quite work on my preset character, but I cycled through a couple more until I found one with the perfect skin tone for the hair I wanted. A little shimmer on the ‘do, bright green eyes, dark lips, and a lot of fiddling with sliders I didn’t really understand later, and Lena was ready.
Whether or not I can make it through Monster Hunter Wilds remains to be seen, especially when the big releases just aren’t slowing down any time soon. I still need to circle back around forPirate Yakuza in Hawaii, and withInfinite WealthmyGOTY last year, I’m expecting big things. But whatever happens with MHW, one of my core memories will be Lena. When the going gets tough, she’ll make me push through. She’s gorgeous, and I’d do anything for her.
