Monster Hunter Rise is an excellent installment in the Monster Hunter series that is the perfect entry point for newcomers. The story is a bit rushed, but the quicker hunts, impressive world, and streamlined features all make this a great portable Monster Hunter.
Monster Hunter Rise
Developer: Capcom
Price: $59.99
Platforms: Nintendo Switch (reviewed)
MonsterVine was provided with a Switch code for review.
The Monster Hunter series is one that I haven’t got too much experience with beyond Freedom and World/Iceborne. I find it to be a lot of fun, and at times addicting, but a bit difficult for new people to break into. Monster Hunter Rise is the antithesis of this theory, providing new players with lots to learn in easy-to-understand ways and old players with a fresh new experience full of monster slaying goodness, No matter what level of fan you are, Rise is for you.
It’s a simple story this time around, though I doubt anyone comes to Monster Hunter for a complex narrative. You play as a novice hunter in the village of Kamura. The town is under threat from “the Rampage”– a flood of monsters led by the dangerous Magnamalo. It’s up to you to fight monsters, power-up, and protect Kamura from the Rampage. It’s a sufficient story, but it feels very rushed. The Rampage is set up to be this huge, terrible thing, but it’s over in a snap after a battle with Magnamalo. The credits roll after around ten hours, and while there’s plenty of content to keep you busy beyond the story’s ending, the climax of the story feels disappointingly anticlimactic.
Rise takes the fairly complicated gameplay of the Monster Hunter series and makes it more accessible than in any previous entry (even Monster Hunter World.) You pick a mission, prepare your inventory and gear, and jump in. Palamutes, your canine companions in Rise, make the game far more ergonomic for old and new players alike. You can move quickly by riding them, you can sharpen your weapons while moving on them, and you can gather resources or carve monsters from atop them. They almost make things a bit too easy and stress-free, but if it helps new players get into the game, I don’t think it’s a bad change. Creating new equipment is as addictive as ever, whether you’re focused on your hunter’s aesthetic of stats. I do wish there was a color-changing dye feature to make your hunter look a bit less goofy when you mix-and-match, but that’s a very minor suggestion. It’s still a blast to go out on hunt after hunt in pursuit of that one armor set you really want.
“Some of the most fun times I’ve had with Rise were when I was slaying my prey with staff members Diego and Joe.“
There’s a wide variety of weapons at your disposal, each of which has a wildly different playstyle to adapt to. You can stick to one weapon if you like, and upgrade it with new skills and stat boosts, or you can easily jump between loadouts to experiment with new combat methods. From Ramp-Up skills to material upgrades, you’re always customizing your weapons in one way or another, which provides even further incentive to continue hunting. Having a group of friends that all use different weapon types makes monster hunting far more interesting, so I recommend taking advantage of the plethora of weapons at your disposal.
More so than World, Rise feels quite welcoming for solo players. Since there are both Village hunts and Hub hunts, solo players can focus on Village hunts in order to progress through the game on their own. The hunts aren’t ruthlessly challenging or unnecessarily long when you’re playing alone, which is encouraging for those who may not have friends to play with or who may not want to play with others. There are lots of smaller missions that unlock more skill-granting dango and items, which are perfect for when you want to explore or do a breezy quest. There’s lots of variety to keep you busy as a solo player, which I appreciate.
Of course, multiplayer is a huge part of Monster Hunter, and Rise is no exception. Some of the most fun times I’ve had with Rise were when I was slaying my prey with staff members Diego and Joe. I had no issues with lag and found the entire experience to be both fun and remarkably smooth. Nothing quite matches the sheer chaos of fighting a giant creature while coordinating with friends on the spot, and I highly recommend playing with others to experience this yourself.
I’m quite impressed with what Rise is able to pull off visually, as it’s quite intricate for a game on the Nintendo Switch. In both handheld mode and docked mode, I found the locales to be expansive and easy to remember after a few visits. The scale of each area is also worth noting, as I never felt limited by the size of any of the maps. The grand and epic musical score should also be highlighted, as Rampage missions and particular hunts feel especially grandiose thanks to the stunning music.
The Final Word
Monster Hunter Rise is an excellent Monster Hunter game that anyone can fully appreciate. The hunts are a blast, there are tons of features to explore, and it’s visually rather impressive for the Nintendo Switch. The story is a bit uneven with how it presents itself, but that shouldn’t stop you from diving into such a damn fine game.
MonsterVine Rating: 4.5 out of 5 – Great
