If you’ve captured them for a minute, monsters in Monster Hunter Wilds are legally allowed to leave

In Monster Hunter Wilds, you can capture monsters—which is the slightly more humane alternative to lunging at them like a feral dog the moment your handler says it’s OK to cut off all their tentacles and skin them for cool armour. Capturing involves laying down a pitfall or shock trap, then pelting the poor, wounded sod with tranq bombs when their health is low—which, depending on how much you’ve beaten the poor bugger, might actually be meaner.

Well, turns out, you’ve only tuckered out the monster for a minute maximum, as discovered on the game’s subreddit by a flabbergasted hunter as the Nu Udra, a giant squid and apex monster of the game’s third region, pops up from its power nap and slithers away like a director just called “cut!”

Fun fact: captured monsters just get up and leave within a minute of napping from r/MonsterHunter

I’m still churning through the game’s 20+ hour tutorial known as its story mode, so I’ve not reached the tier of material min-maxing required to incentivise capturing, myself—and typically, this kind of thing would be hidden by a quest complete screen. Not to mention, the game takes its sweet time introducing you to the concept. But if you’re just out doing ad-hoc hunts in the game’s open world, then you’ll absolutely be able to watch the critter just hop up and scurry away.

As for the in-universe justification, a few scholars in said Reddit thread have some theories: the major one being that, in Wilds, you’re part of an expedition with limited resources, so there aren’t really big cages or pens to house your brutalised octopi in. The idea being that your handler runs over to your target critter, jots a few quick notes, and sends them on their way. As for where the parts come from? Uh, don’t think about it. Guild supplies or something.

Really, though, I can’t help but feel like Capcom could’ve done more to keep the illusion up. Have some guild scholars scurry in and start scribbling stuff down or, better yet, just keep the monster penned down for more than a minute? I only say this because Wilds has been flooded with loving detail based on my current playthrough.

You’re telling me you can have all sorts of cutesy animations and arduously-rendered lettuce munching cutscenes, but a quick pop-up study sesh is too much? Mind, I’ve argued in favour of efficiency and corner-cutting before, so I’m happy to let this one go.