Geralt and Ciri finally visit Monster Hunter: World on May 9th
He really should keep away from portals
After months of lazing around on consoles, Geralt Of Rivia is finally stumbling through the portal to Monster Hunter: World on PC. Capcom have picked May 9th for the debut of this impressively well fleshed-out crossover. It features a fully voiced, branching story mission where you get to play as everyone's favourite grumpy monster-slayer from The Witcher series, a new monster (plus one variant) from that world. There's also a trio of big perks to grind for. Dedicated hunters can permanently unlock Geralt, Ciri and horrible Nekkers to fight, or capture to swap your Palico for.
As with the extensive Final Fantasy XIV crossover, the Witcher update is permanent free DLC instead of a timed event, so you won't have to rush. You will however need to have finished the main story of the game to unlock the crossover quest, which features investigation aspects lifted from The Witcher 3. Geralt will have to tussle with a Leshen, a woodland spirit from his own universe, although once the quest is over, anyone can pick a fight with it. While it can't summon wolves as it could back home, MH:W's Leshen can call on Jagras and crows to attack you, and control plants.
Once you've gotten the hang of beating up the regular Leshen, you can set your sights on the Ancient Leshen, a more powerful variant. You'll need to get used to beating both kinds if you want to unlock Geralt, Ciri, their weapons and the Nekker. The character unlocks are crafted as suits of special armour, but when fully equipped, your regular hunter will be replaced by the guest character, along with some of their iconic abilities. Geralt can use his Igni magic, and also slowly regenerate health. Ciri is less magical, but she's got a bunch of buffs to evasion, and some new Demon Mode dash effects.
The crossover begins on May 9th. While most of the stuff added is permanent, there will be a time limited event quest from May 17th to 30th to earn some extra goodies. You can read the full announcement on Steam here.