Lao-Shan Lung is back, and it’s the reason Monster Hunter Wilds: Ascendance has a fortress. Capcom’s new trailer, shown during State of Play today, opens on the colossal Elder Dragon crashing into the Forbidden Lands after the events of the main story, and the devastation it leaves behind is what gets Madoi Stronghold built in preparation for its eventual return, which is the same basic arrangement as the fortress battles the dragon was known for in the earliest Monster Hunter games. The expansion, first shown at Summer Game Fest in June, is still set for 2027 on PlayStation 5, XBOX Series X|S, and PC via Steam, with more details on the official site.
Once the stronghold is up, the mists over Wyveria’s skies recede to reveal the Skybound Eyrie, a new locale floating above the clouds with ancient ruins and endemic life nobody has catalogued yet. The story picks up years after the fight with Arkveld, and Nata, the young Keeper from the base game, is now supporting the Expedition Team alongside Bangard, a Wudwud who is particularly attached to him. Their work in the Eyrie involves unseen Guardian Monsters and Elder Dragons pushing into the Forbidden Lands, which fits the expansion’s headline promise of returning Elder Dragons and Master Rank content.
The trailer also introduces the expansion’s first two new monsters, starting with Araketa, a pack-hunting flyer that rides powerful air currents released from its own wings, with pack leaders using distinctive calls to coordinate the group. Gundoraja is the other, a newly discovered Elder Dragon with a massive serpentine body and the ability to bend storms to its will. On the equipment side, the Boost Bracer got a closer look, which we previously covered. When activated, it temporarily unlocks new attacks, combos, and mobility options, and Capcom says more abilities for each weapon type, along with new gameplay mechanics, will be revealed later.
Ascendance is the Iceborne and Sunbreak style expansion Capcom first confirmed back in February, and we’ve been fairly upfront about where we landed on the base game. In my review, I called Monster Hunter Wilds a proper evolution of the formula, with Focus Mode and the wound system extremely satisfying to use even if they made the game easier than previous entries, though performance issues and crashes on PC dragged the experience down. As a group, we put over 60 hours into it at launch and then bounced off sooner than expected for the same PC reasons, and when the expansion was announced, we said we’d be heading back whenever it arrived, since Monster Hunter is a great time when we’re all playing together. Monster Hunter also remains one of the few franchises I’ll clear my schedule for, as I said in my review, and I logged over 400 hours across World and Iceborne.
Monster Hunter Wilds: Ascendance is set for 2027 on PlayStation 5, XBOX Series X|S, and PC via Steam. That list doesn’t include the Switch 2 version of Wilds that Capcom announced in June, and Capcom hasn’t said anything yet about the expansion on Nintendo’s hardware. The next scheduled stop is the Capcom Spotlight on September 16, with Ascendance leading Capcom’s Tokyo Game Show booth the following week.
