Switch on the rise with this Monster release
THE BIG RELEASE MONSTER HUNTER RISE NS ★★★★✩
Under the bed. In a wardrobe. Cooped up beneath a bridge. What is it with monsters and their cubbyholes? The denizens of Nintendo’s latest exclusive (a PC version is due next year) suffer no such shyness. They’re out front and centre, monstrously waving around like a morris dancer after too much tea.
The name of the game here is to put said beasties back in their box, hence ‘hunter’. The ‘rise’ bit is harder to explain. While the Monster Hunter franchise has been mega in Japan for well over a decade, the success of the series on these shores only came rather more recently with 2018’s Monster Hunter: World.
Here, once again, the player takes the role of a hunter, tasked with slaying colossal creatures with a variety of weapons and tools. Unlike story-led games such as The Witcher, which shares a similar premise, Capcom’s offering is an all-out arcade romp – and it’s all about upward movement, with that ‘rise’ referring to the fantastically imaginative verticality of the level design and gameplay.
To reach new heights your hunter gets two new perks: a companion called a palamute, which is a mountable dog-like creature that runs all over the place; and the wirebug mechanic, which lets you grapple and dash up mountains and cave walls to your heart’s content. Once mastered, these new additions alter the gameplay, turning an apparent linear level into an explosion of pinball motion and swordplay. Bored of zip-wiring about? Mount the monsters and ride to an open arena or pit them against a fellow jumbo.
More’s the fun, you can enlist up to three real-life mates to help you cull the herd, although there’s no in-game voice chat. Aside from tracking and trapping, stabbing and skinning, there’s lots to do out and about, from collecting power-ups to side quests.
Fundamentally, though, Monster Hunter Rise is a great example of a game that appeases super fans and new players alike. it’s been a while since Switch owners got a monster of a game. Saddle up!