Lala Barina in Monster Hunter Wilds May Be My Favorite Spider in the Series

I don’t particularly like Monster Hunter spider monsters, but I do adore the equipment and weapons you can make for beating the hell out of them. Plus they can sometimes be a bit of a challenge, due to the shapes of the creatures and their attack patterns. As part of the Monster Hunter Wilds preview session I attended at Capcom’s headquarters, I got to face off against the newest spider Lala Barina not once, not twice, but five times both as part of my normal runs and equipment grinding during the new game, and it might be my favorite one yet.

The official third trailer for Monster Hunter Wilds pulls directly from the game and sets up the introduction to the Lala Barina, as we meet the spider after Olivia’s Ace Team biologist Erik uncovers some of its florets in the blood-red river. The full experience goes into this further, showing the lethality of the monster. (For the sake of avoiding spoilers, I won’t get into that just yet.) Suffice to say, said florets also have a paralyzing toxin tied to them. This comes up not only during the course of the campaign, but in fights with this gigantic arachnid. 

All of my encounters with Lala Barina, be them tied to the story, quests at the counter, or free exploration in the Forbidden Lands, tended to begin at its nest. What’s fascinating is how the environments here sort of lead you to it. Those blood red rivers mentioned above? Following it takes you right to that spider’s home. Knock knock. Who’s there? It’s me, Jenni! I need your mucus!

That’s not a joke, by the way. That’s the reason why I spent a chunk of my over five hours with Monster Hunter Wilds going over Lala Barina. Remember how I said I like the spider equipment in the series? The attire and weapon for Lala Barina is as lavish as ever. The waist part I wanted, which was a long, cascading white shirt with red petal/blood accents, needed Lala Barina Mucus. It just was not cooperating and dropping it. So, it had to die. Five times. Because by that point I was nearing the end of the portion of the game I could play, and I wanted to defeat Uth Duna with the full set. (Seriously, I went for this outfit during my initial Long Sword run, and the full Lala Barina set can include a custom Long Sword, so…) 

I loved the complexity of the Lala Barina fight in this preview build. (Which could be subject to change, so my experience might not 100% transfer over to the final game.) Upon first encountering it, it will be hanging from the ceiling in the nest and sleeping. This is a mostly enclosed space with water on the ground. The spider will sound off the florets that can paralyze you temporarily in batches, forcing you to maneuver around them to reach it. This part is fairly straightforward, with the only danger being the occasional florets and some leaps to attack.

Once its health gets low, it will leave the nest and force you to chase after it. I honestly found the floret element of the fight a bit trickier at this point. This is because now that we were in a larger area, there could be other residents of the Scarlet Forest around. That would mean other elements to consider during evasive maneuvers. Not to mention that, as you’d expect from a spider in the series, the Lala Barina in Monster Hunter Wilds is agile! It gets more room to move at this point, meaning you need to work harder to pin it down.

The final part of the hunt sees the Lala Barina retreating to its nest again. I noticed that more often than not, during this last portion it would make more use of the ceiling and walls of the space. Like it would attempt to get out of reach. However, more often than not it wasn’t typically using florets at this point, perhaps because by that time I’d broken the parts that made it an option for the creature. 

The Lala Barina fight in Monster Hunter Wilds felt so satisfying during the preview session. Especially during my first four assaults when I used the Long Sword, since its swift hits really let me keep up with it. The paralyzing agent element makes it feel like one of the first “challenging” opponents in the game, and I’m hoping the hunt is just as much fun in the final build.

Monster Hunter Wilds will come to the PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC on February 28, 2025. People who pre-order get the Guild Knight Set layered armor and Hope Charm.