Nine days after this review was published, it’s been five years since Capcom’s Monster Hunter series finally conquered the Western market in the form of Monster Hunter: World.For those of us who have been playing since the days of monster hunter 3 ultimatethe world felt like a breath of fresh air when the series finally hit the big time — and was no longer confined to the extremely obnoxious Nintendo 3DS. After being one of the best PC games of 2022, Monster Hunter Rise has arrived on Sony’s shores to become one of the best PlayStation games of 2023.
Going into World, I got the sense that Capcom’s design philosophy was to create a classic Monster Hunter experience, but stack up quality-of-life changes to make the game more accessible. Taking the ethos even further and focusing on the movement mechanics of the series to create the best Monster Hunter game ever.
First of all, a new companion: your beloved Palico has been joined by a paramute to aid you in your hunt. These cunning dogs can perform standard offensive and support tasks that Otomo (or his two little freaks in MH3) have been able to perform for years, but can be mounted like miniature horses. You can also This allows you to move quickly without using your character’s stamina, as well as sharpen your weapon while moving. This is a godsend. Most importantly, you can also drift while riding a sick dog.
Another core mechanic in Rise is the nematode gauge, which cannot be dug deep enough. The extra layer to traversal, combat, and pacing Wirebugs adds completely changes the game in a way the series hasn’t seen since Monster Hunter 3’s divisive attempt at underwater combat. , but most notably its primary use as a zipline, allowing hunters to fly around the map in a manner previously reserved for insect glaive weapons.
These bugs also add additional offensive and defensive options to the game’s combat. It hosts its own switch skill (the equivalent of the title’s special move), even defensive options like parry. Each weapon comes with unlockable moves to customize your experience. It more than makes up for the lack of new weapons in this release. This can be used to escape tough situations like being knocked into the air ready to lose the battle.
But what is a Monster Hunter game without monsters? Rise has a roster of 40 monsters (including 6 with powerful apex variants), a mix of new and classic beasts. The land of Kamla is based on ancient Japan, so the new creatures are mostly based on Japanese folklore. The result is some of the best designed enemies in the series. Front and center is Magnamaro, whose samurai-inspired look sadly makes it one of the best flagship monsters the series has seen since the absence of Gore Magala. Goth Harag, a giant ice beast inspired by Yokai.
The story of Rise revolves around Rampage, the catastrophe that besieged the village of Kamla 50 years ago, now mysteriously returning. This ties into rampage missions that act as a sort of tower defense game where you set up turrets and traps to fend off monsters before they destroy the gates protecting the village. Or it’s at its best when played with multiple additional hunters, but it does more than it can on its own and offers a fun experience outside of the standard hunt.
Another way Rise improves World is through multiplayer integration. In World, all hunts in the game were accessible from the same quest board. It was a good idea in theory, but it led to a lot of fuss because certain missions couldn’t be played in multiplayer until certain criteria were met. There is a village hub. It consists of easier low-rank quests for solo players. Then there is the Gathering Hub, which contains missions designed for multiplayer missions (although these missions can also be played solo). Completing village quests or low-rank quests in the multiplayer hub will give you access to higher-rank quests exclusive to the gathering hub, so you’ll spend most of your time here. Not just monsters to hunt, but more difficult variants of previous monsters with new attacks and new material drops.
Also, you can’t play a Monster Hunter game without great tunes. The hype hit us like a tsunami when we first heard the horns blaring over Sandy Plains’ flamenco-inspired battle theme. Even songs that were previously in the series like Spark of Blue (Zinogre’s theme) get their own remixes inspired by ancient Japan. Also, you can’t talk about the song “Fuwafuwa Usagi Dango” that plays in the lovely cooking animation without mentioning the music.
Rise was hugely popular when it launched on Nintendo Switch, thanks to Capcom’s phenomenal RE Engine. It looks great here on PS5 as well, but in some cases there’s a noticeable visual downgrade from worlds, etc. The bad visuals, though, are a fair trade with silky-smooth framerates. This is something the Switch version does not have.
This edition will also be fully updated at launch, so the problems that existed when Rise was first released (such as a missing conclusion) are not an issue here. But there’s an elephant in the room in that the Sunbreak expansion wasn’t included at launch, arriving in the spring instead. I feel
Conclusion
Monster Hunter Rise is the new standard in the series, and thanks to its higher frame rate and better visual fidelity than the original release, we’re happy to finally be able to play it on PlayStation. New monster rides, faster gathering and mining, hunting helpers, and much more that we haven’t mentioned yet. This is the game this reviewer spent his 100+ hours on the Switch, and we’ll likely see another 100 on the PS5. Monster Hunter’s perpetually satisfying gameplay loop is now filled with essential quality of life and traversal improvements.
