5 Best Monster-Hunting Franchises

With the Witcher 3: Wild Hunt releasing this week, we decided to look at some of the games that inspire us to take down some grotesque creatures and mythical beasts; so without further ado, here’s the five best monster-hunting franchises:

Monster Hunter

Of course, no monster-hunting list would be without the most obvious choice: Monster Hunter. This beloved series has found a cult following around the world and has made the transition from console to portable devices without losing any of its scale. There’s not much more satisfying than banding together with friends to kill or capture the massive and interesting monsters spread across the games’ massive open-world landscapes. It’s a difficult game to adopt, but impossible to quit.

The Witcher

While the Wild Hunt isn’t here just yet, the Witcher franchise definitely earned itself a spot on the list. The first two games in the series blew everyone’s expectations away by incorporating a strong story arc, great visuals, exciting combat, and true-to-its-word RPG elements. Traveling around the incredible medieval fantasy world as a paid-for monster-killing mercenary is what we all really want to be anyway, after fire-fighters, of course.

Shadow of the Colossus

Easily one of the greatest games ever made, the Shadow of the Colossus stands tall as a shining light in the adventure game category, however, it’s not all exploring and discovering, as 16 giant beasts are needed to be hunted down. What makes the game so incredible is the diversity and excitement of battling a new colossi. Each has its own unique abilities and structure, and you’ll have to work out how to scale them and attack their weak points without being flung off and falling to a certain death.

Dragon’s Dogma

Dragon’s Dogma is a familiar yet somewhat refreshing take on the monster-hunting genre, borrowing some of the best bits from other franchises. It shares a similar climb-and-stab combat system to Shadow of the Colossus, a massive open-world like Monster Hunter, and visuals like that of Dark Souls. It’s an interesting mish-mash of game mechanics that manage to bring a faster, more frantic and more acceptable experience to that of the Souls franchise.

Castlevania

While centred around the lineage story of Dracula, the Castlevania games are, for all intensive purposes, about hunting down mythical beasts. Playing as one of the Belmont ancestors, you’re always tasked with heading into a creepy castle, cave or tomb in order to find and kill something dangerous, usually before going after the big-fish himself, Dracula. 2010’s Lords of Shadow was one of the best examples of the franchise’s roots of hunting down some serious threats, as players had to kill the lords of the vampires, werewolves and necromancers in some epic boss battles.

What’s your favourite monster-hunting franchise? Let us know in the comments section below.