The Monster Hunter franchise has a history of welcoming guests from other games to join the hunt. 2018's Monster Hunter World saw collaborations with Horizon Zero Dawn, The Witcher, and even Street Fighter. Based on Monster Hunter Rise's content roadmap through summer 2021, it looks like the latest game in the series will be getting at least a couple more crossovers.

Monster Hunter Rise has already collaborated with the upcoming Monster Hunter Stories 2, and through August, will feature two more crossover events with other Capcom franchises. Once summer is up, it's anyone's guess what content Capcom will pump into the game next. Given the series' track record, it's probably not too far of a reach to assume that the game could, like its predecessors, partner up with some franchises outside of Capcom's domain.

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A crossover between Monster Hunter Rise and Square Enix's NieR wouldn't be the first time these two series have crossed paths; Monster Hunter Frontier Z previously collaborated with the breakout hit NieR: Automata in 2019. However, it's worth noting that Frontier Z was a Japan-exclusive MMO, and its servers have also since been shut down, thereby making the NieR content inaccessible.

With the recently released remake of NieR Replicant bringing the series back into the limelight, now seems like a great time for Capcom and Square Enix to team up to bring NieR to Monster Hunter once more, but for a more global audience. Armor sets resembling Nier, Kaine, and Emil, along with some new monsters based on the series' Shades would all likely make for some worthwhile additions to Monster Hunter Rise.

Monster Hunter World and Final Fantasy 14 have collaborated before, but should the two series unite once again, Monster Hunter Rise ought to incorporate elements from some of the other Final Fantasy installments.

The Final Fantasy games are home to many weapons that would fit right into Monster Hunter. Sephiroth's absurdly lengthy sword could work as a new longsword, while Cloud Strife's mammoth Buster Sword could function as a greatsword. Additionally, armor resembling the iconic Warrior of Light, or new hunts featuring Bahamut, Ifrit, or Final Fantasy 15's titanic Adamantoise would all be good ways to further implement elements from the long-running RPG series.

This pairing may seem a little odd, but the two series have a fairly strong connection. Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker featured Monster Hunter-inspired missions where players could fight notable monsters like Tigrex and Rathalos. Monster Hunter Portable 3rd also had armor sets and accessories inspired by Metal Gear. However, like NieR, the Metal Gear content never made its way west, as Monster Hunter Portable 3rd wasn't released outside of Japan.

In the event of a future crossover, Metal Gear Solid has a wide variety of characters that Monster Hunter Rise could draw inspiration from for armor sets. While Metal Gear's large mechs might not make for suitable hunts, Rise could try to include Gear REX, an original monster created for Peace Walker based on Metal Gear REX.

These two series haven't crossed paths before, but their publishers have. Shin Megami Tensei 3: Nocturne notably featured Dante from Capcom's Devil May Cry series as both a boss and a party member. Both franchises were also thought to be fairly niche until Monster Hunter World and SMT's subseries, Persona, each saw great success in the west.

Shin Megami Tensei has an extensive list of monsters like Moloch, Jack Frost, and Cerberus that would all make for some good hunts. Additionally, armor sets based on the distinct looks of SMT 3, 4, or 5's protagonists would be welcome, too.

It's well known that Monster Hunter and The Legend of Zelda are frequent collaborators, as previous Monster Hunter games have featured armor, weapons, and accessories from multiple generations of Zelda. 

With Breath of the Wild 2 on the horizon, armor sets based on Link's new look along with hunts featuring Lynels, the dragons from Breath of the Wild, or perhaps any of Ganon's forms could allow the two series to join forces yet again while still delivering some fresh content.

Monster Hunter Rise is available now on the Nintendo Switch. A PC port expected to launch in early 2022.

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