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Written by Anthony L. Cuaycong
Developer: Capcom
Publisher: Capcom
Genre: Action
Price: $39.99
It's amazing to think that the Monster Hunter series is still going strong. Monster Hunter World and its Iceborne expansion were fan favorites, featuring a smoother progression system alongside all the bells and whistles you'd expect from the series. Great visuals, tons of content, and all the monster slaying and hunting you could hope to get. Monster Hunter Rise, the subsequent release, seeks to emulate that same energy, but with a few added extras to spice up the gameplay. While it might not be as streamlined as Monster Hunter World was, Monster Hunter Rise is, in many ways, a good step forward for the series in terms of gameplay, particularly with some new additions that, after playing, feel essential at enhancing the experience.
For those unfamiliar with the Monster Hunter series, this gameplay loop is much of what makes any of the releases so addicting. The various monsters you face each have their own quirks and their own weaknesses, vastly changing how you approach your prey, or even what armor or weapons you use in order to counteract their mobility or defenses. Later bosses are vastly more dangerous than early ones, and when you're tracking them through the map, using the environment to shadow your movement and catch them by surprise, it can really be a fun, if edge-of-seat, time.
However, Monster Hunter Rise isn't just content to give you what you'd expect. It goes above and beyond that, adding in some mechanics that, while taking some getting used to, feel almost integral to the gameplay experience, and can make it difficult to go back to the previous games.
The most obvious of these are the additional mobility options you now have access to in Monster Hunter Rise. Being able to ride mounts is a game changer in a traditionally slower Monster Hunter experience. The slow start-up prep has been drastically reduced because of this, letting players move across the map faster and filling in the dead air. However, there's still also a very good incentive in beating down weaker creatures. By being able to mount and take control of them, you now have more options available to you; imagine being able to use otherwise-dangerous foes turned allies against your prime target. Being able to make use of monsters like wyverns and Rajangs against far more dangerous foes is not amusing, it's also very memorable to finally be able to take control of iconic Monster Hunter enemies.
The quests you'll be undertaking in Monster Hunter Rise will mostly be cookie cutter, and not much new has changed in terms of mission variety. You're still going around, taking down monsters, and grinding their bones into materials for crafting. However, what has changed are the variety of monsters you'll now face. In addition to some of the familiar ones, new monsters are now available to take down, and these add much to the replay value, especially for a veteran of the franchise. It might not seem like much, but the presence of new monsters adds a lot of variety in how your encounters will go, as they are just as memorable as the older monsters were; they bring with them their unique sets of armor and weapons to be crafted from their body parts.
Monster Hunter Rise is a blast to play alone, but it is best with friends. There is a lot of variety in the cooperative missions you'll be able undertake even as your teammates complement your weapon styles. The change in pacing alters how you'll do your hunts, and plenty of them in ways that serve to make coop play a more engrossing experience. Coupled with Switch Skills that let you customize the available combos on your weapons, and Monster Hunter Rise really shines as a game that lets you express yourself in its systems, both in what you wear and in how you fight.
If there's a negative, it's that parts of Monster Hunter Rise feel lacking when compared to Monster Hunter World and its Iceborne expansion. While Monster Hunter Rise has better variety and pick of monsters and monster encounters, Monster Hunter World still has a rich, memorable biome system, with plenty of environments to navigate and tons of content on offer, especially with its strong endgame. Parts of Monster Hunter World still feel superior because of this, and anyone who's enjoyed it to its fullest may be a little disappointed to see that Monster Hunter Rise hasn't quite lived up to the environmental diversity that its predecessor boasts of. That said, it is still certainly a far more memorable and exciting experience, so much so that even those who aren't fans of Monster Hunter's gameplay might find something to love in Monster Hunter Rise.
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Monster Hunter Rise does a lot at making the game feel faster paced, and it's succeeded in a way that should serve to change the Monster Hunter gameplay loop for good. With less downtime, more monsters, and more options to consider, Monster Hunter Rise does a great job at adding to the already robust formula its predecessors make use of. Highly recommended.
THE GOOD
- Tons of new monsters and content to explore
- Very entertaining mount system
- Enjoyable combo system
THE BAD
- Some parts don't feel as fleshed out as Monster Hunter World and its Iceborne expansion
- Not much mission variety to break up the grind
RATING: 9.5/10
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