This review we will tell you about Monster Hunter Rise, the latest chapter of the well-known Capcom hunting game series.
Monster Hunter Rise has only been available for a week and in this short time Capcom has been making some truly staggering earnings. Since the announcement, fans have been eagerly awaiting the release of the game and this obviously led to a large number of sales.
Despite this great initial success, many people continue to be a little doubtful about the title due to all the hype surrounding it. Thanks to our careful review, however, you will certainly be able to get an idea of the actual value of Monster Hunter Rise.
The threat of calamity
Let’s start our review by briefly talking about the history of Monster Hunter Rise. In the titles belonging to this series, the plot has always been almost completely absent , but with the release of World it has begun to play a slightly more important role and consequently we want to talk about it at least a little.
In Monster Hunter Rise, players take on the role of a novice hunter from Kamura, a small coastal village with oriental hues . Normally the new hunters are simply concerned with eliminating the monsters that cause damage to the inhabitants of the country, but unfortunately the protagonist will face a much greater threat than him. Kamura is in fact about to be hit by the Fury , a great migration of ferocious monsters that risk completely destroying the village. To deal with this terrible threat, players will have to try to find out what lies behind this calamity and stop it once and for all.
At the release of Monster Hunter World the story of the game failed to fully convince the players and unfortunately , once again Capcom failed to hit the target . While there are some interesting twists towards the end, the overall storyline of Monster Hunter Rise is quite lackluster . Of course, as we told you earlier, the story plays a very marginal role within the series, but we would still have liked to see some improvements.
Hunter Life – Monster Hunter Rise Review
As we anticipated in the previous paragraph of the review, Monster Hunter Rise is set in Kamura and luckily for you this small village has all the comforts a hunter needs.
In addition to the generic shop and the blacksmith, the beating heart of Monster Hunter, you will also have customizable private accommodation , a well-stocked training area , an area dedicated to companions and of course the kitchen . In particular, the kitchen will be very important for your hunter, since before each mission you can use it to eat dango , characteristic Japanese skewers that will provide you with several very useful bonuses . No particular new facilities have been added in this chapter, but compared to World there has been a big improvement in comfort . The village of Kamura indeed isextremely compact and this will allow you to speed up the preparation process for hunting.
Obviously in addition to these points of interest there are also two attendants from which to accept the missions : Hinoa and Minoto . This time there will be two girls because, as happened in the portable chapters, the distinction between the village quest (singleplayer) and the guild (multiplayer) is back. These two types of missions have a very different level of difficulty and will progress completely autonomously . Fortunately, however, Rise has introduced convenient single-player missions called special tests that will allow you to immediately advance the rank of the guild missions. in case it is too inferior to that of the village.
In addition to the classic tasks that require you to collect materials or hunt large monsters, you can also accept other types. For example , arena missions return , challenges to be completed with specific equipment, and secondary missions , extra objectives to complete during other hunts. Citizen requests are also returning , additional tasks that will allow you to unlock useful items.
A Freer Hunt – Monster Hunter Rise Review
Among the most important innovations introduced in Monster Hunter Rise we have the thread insects , creatures able to greatly improve the agility of hunters . These flying arthropods have the ability to secrete a resilient, resilient drool that players can exploit in a variety of ways. The main use of these creatures, however, is related to movement, since thanks to them you can shoot towards elevated positions and climb even the steepest climbs .
Thread bugs allow players to navigate in a whole new way and as a result the game maps are now much freer . Now the areas develop very much vertically and there is no longer that clear distinction between the areas that required players to follow specific paths. This new way of moving manages to create a sense of freedom never seen before in the series and, combined with the extreme care and beauty of the maps, manages to make even the most boring harvesting mission enjoyable.
In addition to this great freedom, Rise also combines a large number of simplifications aimed at making the gaming experience more immediate. Obviously, the comforts introduced with World , such as rapid travel, the tents where to change equipment and the removal of collection tools have been maintained , but many others have also been introduced. For example, now the point objects will no longer take up space in the inventory and you can instantly collect all the materials present in the collection points with a single animation. In addition, the now ancient mechanics of temperature has also been removed which forced to use specific objects before leaving for hot or cold biomes.
The Fury – Monster Hunter Rise Review
In addition to the classic assignments that we talked about in the second paragraph of the review, the Fury missions have also been added in Monster Hunter Rise . In these missions your task will be to stop a raging horde of monsters from destroying the gates that defend Kamura . To do this, however, you will not have to rely only on your strength, but you can also count on the help of the citizens and above all on the defenses of the village.
These missions are very different from the classic style of hunts typical of Monster Hunter and are almost close to tower defense. In fact, before facing the horde you will have time to place mines, cannons and many other defense tools that will help you defend the gates. Furthermore, even the behavior of monsters will be very different from normal, since instead of just attacking you each of them will take on a specific role . Some will have the task of breaking down the gates, others will try to eliminate the hunters, while still others will support their companions by attacking from above.
Completing the Fury missions will allow you to obtain a large number of materials belonging to many different monsters, but not only. Thanks to the special rewards of these assignments you can in fact upgrade your weapons with brand new Fury skills . These improvements are able to offer several brand new bonuses to weapons that will allow you to customize your play style even more.
Fury missions stray far from the spirit of strategic combat that characterizes Monster Hunter, but are still a very welcome extra addition . These assignments are great for detaching after a series of classic hunts and are also really fun to tackle with a group of friends.
Advanced Combat – Monster Hunter Rise Review
The fights of Monster Hunter Rise continue to maintain the same tactical as well as arcade style that has always characterized the series but are expanded thanks to many new additions, first of all the wire insect attacks . These new techniques exploit the aforementioned insects to perform truly devastating moves capable of inflicting tremendous damage and more. By hitting a certain number of these attacks you can in fact weaken the monsters to the point of being able to control them thanks to the new Wyvern Ride.
During the Wyvern ride you will be able to control monsters as if they were some kind of extension of your body. For example, you can move freely, use different types of attacks and even use the wire insects for quick dodges. Also, if you land enough hits on another monster, you can fill your Punisher Gauge and then unleash a devastating Special Attack.
In addition to these techniques that are as powerful as they are dramatic, new moves called shift skills have also been added to Rise . Shift skills are unlocked as you progress through the game and will allow you to replace some attacks. In this way you can greatly customize the moveset of your weapons so that it adapts as much as possible to your style of play.
Animal Power – Monster Hunter Rise Review
In Monster Hunter, animal companions have always played a very important role, but in Rise they are really fundamental . In addition to the classic Felyne cat , present in the series for many years now, the Canyne , large dogs trained for combat, are also introduced in this chapter .
Canynes can help hunters in combat like Felynes do, but unlike them they can also be ridden . While on the back of your partner you can move much faster and perform uncomfortable actions such as eating or sharpening the weapon without slowing down . Thanks to the Canynes , downtime during the hunt is reduced to the bone and in the middle of the battle you can use it to escape or reposition yourself quickly.
In addition to companions, the endemic fauna also plays a very important role in this chapter . World had already introduced the presence of animals with useful effects during the hunt, but now Rise has improved this mechanic even more. Compared to the previous chapter, the endemic fauna will not be usable only on site, but you can also capture and exploit it at a later time . Thanks to this small difference, you will no longer be limited to using the creatures in the area you are in, but you can finally use them in a more tactical way.
The only aspect related to animals that does not convince us very much are the spiriuccelli . These creatures are scattered throughout the maps and are able to give you permanent bonuses that will last throughout the mission. Basically, the spiribirds are very useful, but going far and wide to collect them is not very much in line with the spirit of Monster Hunter . In fact, generally we tend to want to complete the hunts as quickly as possible and consequently often these birds end up being almost totally ignored.
Mythological Beasts – Monster Hunter Rise Review
Now the time has finally come for our review in which we will talk about one of the most important aspects of Monster Hunter Rise: the monsters . As happens in every new chapter of the series, this time Capcom has created a roster composed of many old and new creatures , but we will focus mainly on the new ones.
All the new monsters added for the first time in Rise are characterized by truly exceptional care from every point of view . These creatures are in fact extremely different from each other, possess unique moves and boast exceptional designs based on ancient oriental mythology . In addition, their behavior outside of combat is also extremely careful. For example, in some moments it is possible to see the Gran Izuchi playing with his fellow men or to see the sinuous Somnacanth singing to the moon.
All of these new monsters excel from a qualitative point of view, but unfortunately overall they turn out to be a bit ‘few . This is a problem that makes itself felt once you reach the more advanced missions in the game, as you will always find yourself facing the same creatures . Fortunately, however, we know that Rise will follow the same path as World , so over the next few months new monsters will be added constantly to better support the end game and put a patch on this problem.
A Miracle on Nintendo Switch – Monster Hunter Rise Review
From an artistic point of view Monster Hunter Rise is a truly excellent product. As we have already said previously, the designs of the new monsters are truly spectacular and even those of characters, settings and above all equipment are not far behind. In addition, everything is also supported by a truly enchanting soundtrack composed of songs that are a pleasure to listen to both before and during the hunt.
All this artistic beauty, however, would not be able to stand out without the excellent work done by Capcom in optimizing the game . It is no secret now that Nintendo Switch is a not very performing console, but despite this Rise manages to boast truly stunning performance . Despite the huge amount of detail, special effects and screen elements, the title manages to maintain 30 FPS with a constancy that is miraculous . Even in the most chaotic multiplayer games where chaos reigns on the screen, frame drops are really minimal. This shows us how capable developers are able to bring out the best even from a console like Nintendo Switch.
Conclusion
Now the point of our review has finally arrived where we sum up Monster Hunter Rise. This new chapter for Switch manages to renew the already new formula established by World, thus becoming a new point of reference for the series.
Rise boasts a freedom never seen in previous chapters and has a large number of really winning new mechanics that will certainly be taken up at least in part by the next Monster Hunters. The new monsters are truly spectacular in every respect and many of the old ones have also received improvements so as not to look out of place. In addition, the title boasts a technical level that is miraculous on a console like Nintendo Switch. In short, thanks to all these qualities that far outweigh the defects, Monster Hunter Rise deserves to be crowned without too many hesitations as the best chapter of the series.
Monster Hunter Rise is available now for the Nintendo Switch . If you are interested in staying up to date with all the news on the world of video games and much more,