Monster Hunter Rise Review

 

Teeming with Modernity-A Monster Hunter Rise Review

Having previously merely tolerated Capcom's legacy entries in the series, I hadn't really kept an eye out for Monster Hunter games when they release. That is, until Monster Hunter World broke out of the series long standing hold of outright frustrating and dated mechanics to finally revitalize the series for a modern audience. However, my excitement was momentarily postponed when the initial Nintendo Switch version of Rise released, as it struggled to perform with even low quality textures on the Switch's dated chip set. Following a recent release on Steam on January 12th I was finally able to experience this game as smoothly as possible, so just how does it deliver on the foundation MH: World set down?

Continuing to Refine

Monster Hunter is inheritably a grindy formula which is not necessarily what I take issue with, but always these games have around 3-4 hours of blatant padding at the start where you gather herbs or fight useless lizards in preparation for actual gameplay. Such was the case in World as well even with its modern touches. Rise throws all this out the window by allowing you to skip all its cutscenes and shortening this beginning section down to one tutorial explaining the new wirebug mechanics before it just lets you hunt real monsters. Words cannot truly describe the feelings of ease I felt knowing I would not spend 3 hours doing a selection of "deliver 4 unique mushroom colonies" or "gather 5 herbs" before the action really started. To those who have felt turned off by the series for its perpetual shortcomings, now is a better time than ever (even better than Monster Hunter World) to join in and understand what an idolized version of this series can be. 

I feel the core fanbase of this series was always able to look over its flaws of stagnation, and fall in love with what is admittedly a fantastic formula. Throughout your quests the gameplay loop is simple: Fight big monsters for materials, craft new weapons and armor, hunt bigger and better monsters, and rise up the hunter ranks for more challenging foes. It's such a perfect loop that Rise finally follows through with to the fullest to deliver a spectacular product. Let's go over some additions that made a difference outside of a faster tutorial sequence. 

1) Palamutes. In addition to your normal feline palico companion, you now also have a large dog that you can use to make movement smoother. Riding the palamute feels natural, and while you use them to track down a retreating monster you can choose to sharpen your weapon while you move or heal back some health with a potion. Fluidity is the name of the game here, and I'm sure there were a substantial amount of slog hours cut off because of this faster and more efficient movement option

2) Wirebugs. Arguably the game's main new feature, these bugs allow for vertical and recovery types of movement (see a common theme) to your arsenal. They'll gradually regenerate as you use them, and can be used in tandem with your weapon for new special attacks. These bugs also replace the monster riding of the older games, allowing you to instead control whittled down monsters to help fight the monster you are currently hunting. This is in a similar sense to the cinematic turf wars of MH World, which Rise keeps but in a smaller scope. In short, Wirebugs are a multifaceted solution to a variety of movement issues these games have been plagued with and they help keep up the pace of the game. 

3)Streamlined Village and Hub. Whereas older MH games would have a less contingent difference between main village quests and hub quests (typically used as multiplayer avenues in older titles), Rise has them coexist as two separate areas of progression. Want to improve various aspects of the dining area or smithy? Complete village quests. Want to take on bigger and better monsters for greater challenge and rewards? Use the hub quests. This culminates in a gameplay loop that staves away any sort of monotony by giving you an option of completing different sorts of quests when one type start to drag a bit. 

What results from these changes is the most refined and highest quality gameplay the series has ever reached, with a sense of fluidity these games have never reached before. Take something as simple as gathering a herb, where you'd have to press a button prompt on a gathering spot multiple times to collect resources. Rise simply asks you to press a button once, see a much sped up animation, and then all the resources appear in you inventory instantly. although a bunch of these changes are minor additions, they culminate in a drastically smoother gameplay experience.

But don't let the additions make it seem like this game differs heavily from its predecessors. All the iconic weapons are given their full representation, with that huge variety you've come to expect. Monsters from prior entries make cameos here just like the other games, and you can expect the same level of quality in the new designs that populate each area. All the refinements from World are present here as well, with a very clean cross progression multiplayer experience to boot. 

It is not without a few flaws however, as Rise does tend to leave the door open a bit.

Visually, even the higher resolution textures of the PC release tend to disappoint. Nothing seems more vibrant than an upscaled PS2 title, and it feels like a significant step back from World's utter beauty in this department. I understand this was originally developed for poor switch hardware, but some better texture and lighting effects were sorely lacking in this port. 

Another aspect of shame here are the rampage quests, which are pitiful distractions from the main game that you have to go through a few times throughout the campaign. These clunky, tower defense like levels are extremely boring and are hardly enjoyable even with friends. It seemed like no matter how I strategized with these the outcome was almost always the same and took longer than it needed to be. In what could have been a perfect title, these rampage quests are an example of Capcom's downright asinine need to "innovate" on a main loop that doesn't need it. In concept this idea isn't horrible, but its implementation here is downright lame. 

Verdict

Outside of subpar visuals and one annoying type of quest that rarely shows up, Capcom's Monster Hunter Rise is as close to the apex of the series' original vision as it has ever been. With gameplay that is smoother and more refined than any other entry, this game is literally a step away from perfection and a wonderful starting point for new fans.

9.5/10-The Peak of Monster Hunter Gameplay