Huge, savage creatures roam dense forests and sprawling deserts in Monster Hunter Wilds. They’re spectacular, lethal, and the sport’s ostensible major attraction. However my favourite acquaintance within the Forbidden Lands will not be some hulking, ferocious beast however a ‘lil man named Rove. Different gamers agree: the philosophical Wudwud has been stealing the present.
What’s a Wudwud? I’ve performed 50 hours of Monster Hunter Wilds and I’m nonetheless not fully positive. They’re a neighborhood forest tribe of stubby-looking cats, however to not be confused with the sequence’ long-running feline Palico buddies. Wudwuds have a bit extra of Disney’s Sew in them. They don’t know English nicely and communicate in very damaged sentences. Apart from Rove, who as a substitute carries himself like Sailor Moon’s Tuxedo Masks making an attempt out for the Royal Shakespeare Firm. The man fucking guidelines.
Why are Monster Hunter followers shedding their shit over this furball? The truth that he appears like cat Gandalf is a part of it. The truth that he speaks like Sir Ian McKellen too is one other. There usually are not many iconic traces in Monster Hunter Wilds. Rove has most of them. His large monologue comes early on if you encounter him all webbed up, Frodo-style, by a large Nerscylla in an ice cave. It could be the perfect scene in your complete recreation.
“Ah, now dying greets me with a brand new masks,” he says as he’s prepped for supper. “Or are you my salvation? So what shall it’s, shall I depart it to destiny? I squirm. I wrestle. Ergo, I’m. Confronted with dying, I’m lastly, really alive.” His English voice performing is nice. The Japanese is even higher.
Rove is an ideal encapsulation of Monster Hunter Wilds’ distinctive mix of grim Darwinism and goofy antics. It really works as a result of the sport is at all times taking itself lethal significantly, even when it’s being purposefully absurd and foolish. Gamers love him. Vtubers can’t get sufficient of him. As one individual on TikTok put it: “bro talks like a darkish souls boss earlier than he whoops your ass.”
The most effective half is that Rove’s contributions to Monster Hunter Wilds aren’t restricted to your preliminary assembly with him. You may stumble upon him out within the area and there are a number of facet quests he’s concerned in, together with one significantly main story mission within the late recreation after hitting excessive rank. And each time you run into him he’s spouting stuff like, “Overlook me. Go. If destiny wills it, we will meet once more.” Similar Rove, similar.
Monster Hunter Wilds may not in the end be most individuals’s 2025 GOTY, however Rove is undoubtedly my present front-runner for 2025 online game character of the 12 months. I wouldn’t take a bullet for him however I’d take him to Scorching Matter and we’d have a blast choosing out dumb T-shirts collectively.
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