`Monster Hunter Rise': An addictive buffet of combat and beasts
When “Monster Hunter World” was released in 2018 its success made the series skyrocket. From a niche franchise into a global powerhouse for publisher Capcom. Now, “Monster Hunter Rise” shows how the series continues to evolve and refine its formula while unfortunately retaining some flaws.
The premise of the series is simple. Players use a variety of weapons to go out and hunt monsters and then use their parts to create new weapons and armor for bigger challenges. “Rise” mixes things up by adding the wirebug, a tool that gives players a lot more mobility and new options in combat. Using the wirebug makes gameplay feel a lot faster and more aggressive compared to past entries and it makes for the best gameplay the series has had.
Each “Monster Hunter” game is largely defined by its roster of monsters to hunt and “Rise's” is one of the series' best. New behemoths like the Magnamalo, a samurai-themed quadruped that uses hellfire attacks, and the menacing Goss Harag which uses blades of ice are highlight encounters in the game. The monsters in “Rise” have more personality and their designs feel more creative than what was found in “Monster Hunter World.” It all comes together to make a roster that draws you in with interesting designs and then challenges you with difficult hunts.
The biggest appeal of these games is being able to hunt with three other people online. Going through the game with friends is easier than it was in “World” so players can progress through the game with fewer headaches. This is one of the only games where playing with random people online is almost as much fun as playing with friends. The community is welcoming and helpful and playing with new people gives you insight into the different playstyles that are available to you.
There's a huge variety of playstyles in the game. With 14 different weapon types and an armor set for each different monster, there are loads of possibilities in how players can approach a hunt. It goes hand in hand with combat because if a player sees a weapon or armor piece that they want then they have to hunt the respective monster to get it. Some builds are all-rounders that are good in any situation, but the best ones are specific to one kind of weapon or damage type. It all feeds into the addictive gameplay loop that's the reason why players log hundreds of hours into these games.
For all the improvements “Rise” brings in there are still things that could be done better. The tutorials in the beginning are very slow and mostly text-based.
They don't even cover things that are more important like weapon combos, the importance of armor skills or item management. It'd be great if those things were covered in interactive videos or in a way that made the player do things themselves in order to understand it instead of just throwing text at them.
There's nothing like “Monster Hunter” in the gaming industry and as a longtime fan, I'm happy to see the series has become so popular. “Rise” does a lot to keep things fresh and entertaining, but some of the pitfalls that have existed for years are still there. It's an amazingly fun game, but the slow pace at the beginning and lack of thorough explanations bring the game down to four stars out of five.