I like Monster Hunter Rise, I think it's a good game - but there are two statements often repeated about it that I find surprising. The first is that the game is "more accessible" than World, which is something I feel people largely say just because it's on the Switch and because there's a fair few quality of life changes like the Wirebug & the Palamute. It's more convenient than Monster Hunter World, sure, but accessible? I don't know.
I think this game is likely to be very jarring for new players because it absolutely does not teach the player how to play or how to understand the basics of Monster Hunter like World does. World teaches you through a tutorial in which you learn by playing, Rise assaults the player with lengthy textboxes over a loud and distracting vocal hub theme for the first few hours and generally explains itself in a pretty overwhelming way. Even I, as a Monster Hunter veteran who's been playing since 4U found myself a bit confused by some of the explanations of mechanics I was already familiar with.
And to be honest, the second statement is that this game is better than World, which I just really don't think it is. World's story wasn't much to write home about but it was a damn sight better than the underbaked and clearly half-assed mess this game throws at you. (Not that you ever play Monster Hunter for the story, mind you.) The graphics being such a huge downgrade isn't the game's fault and moreso a limitation of the Switch, but when you pair that with slightly less detailed maps and monsters with less intriguing behaviours, you have a game with very underwhelming presentation across the board when put next to a game that came out 3 years earlier. Rise just lacks a lot of the nifty little details that made World sparkle to me. (When you capture a monster you don't even get to see them in a little pen afterwards anymore! Bummer!)
So with all this said it might sound like I dislike Rise, but quite the opposite. There is one area in which Rise trumps World in my opinion, but it's a pretty big one; gameplay. The core, moment-to-moment gameplay in Rise is the best it's ever been in Monster Hunter, even better than World - which is saying something. Thanks to the additional attacks and exceptional mobility provided by the Wirebug, core combat with the monsters is absolutely fucking ace and having the Palamute to run around the map and track them down cuts out so much lethargic timewasting when it comes to looking for the monster. Rise was designed with verticality in mind and it shows, less detailed as they may be - the maps are a joy to traverse. Every cliff can be scaled, every ravine can be leapt over, you can clear huge sections of these maps in mere seconds and it makes you feel like the coolest mfer in the world when you do so.
Every weapon has been given new tricks and tools, the Silkbind attacks add so many layers of depth to your strategy and the fact that you can choose from multiple for each weapon is pretty insane. There are some additions that backfire a little bit, Wyvern Riding gets a bit old after a while and can often trivialise fights more than I think they should, and the Rampage, while not as offensive an extra mode clearly put in just to mix up gameplay as it could be - does wear out its welcome after a while.
Unfortunately the consequence of making so many changes in the name of convenience is that you also make the game significantly easier, perhaps too easy. I think Monster Hunter Rise is by far the easiest Monster Hunter game to date; almost every hunt is over within 20 minutes or so because you've been given so many new tools to fight the monsters with but the monsters themselves remain almost completely unchanged and are no longer able to contend with all the buffs the player's gotten between World and Rise. If World is Dark Souls, then Rise is fucking Devil May Cry.
This game is really fun, it has core gameplay and combat over World and honestly? Probably soundtrack too, some of the area battle themes like Sandy Plains and Lava Caverns in particular absolutely slap. (Oh, it also has weapon designs over World! No more "piece of monster clearly layered over bone" weapons, every weapon design in Rise is dope as hell.) However I think it needs some of the kinks around the edges ironed out. I hope Sunbreak can ramp up the difficulty, present a more interesting story and generally present a bit more finesse than Rise does because the core is there, it just needs some more support.
I think this game is likely to be very jarring for new players because it absolutely does not teach the player how to play or how to understand the basics of Monster Hunter like World does. World teaches you through a tutorial in which you learn by playing, Rise assaults the player with lengthy textboxes over a loud and distracting vocal hub theme for the first few hours and generally explains itself in a pretty overwhelming way. Even I, as a Monster Hunter veteran who's been playing since 4U found myself a bit confused by some of the explanations of mechanics I was already familiar with.
And to be honest, the second statement is that this game is better than World, which I just really don't think it is. World's story wasn't much to write home about but it was a damn sight better than the underbaked and clearly half-assed mess this game throws at you. (Not that you ever play Monster Hunter for the story, mind you.) The graphics being such a huge downgrade isn't the game's fault and moreso a limitation of the Switch, but when you pair that with slightly less detailed maps and monsters with less intriguing behaviours, you have a game with very underwhelming presentation across the board when put next to a game that came out 3 years earlier. Rise just lacks a lot of the nifty little details that made World sparkle to me. (When you capture a monster you don't even get to see them in a little pen afterwards anymore! Bummer!)
So with all this said it might sound like I dislike Rise, but quite the opposite. There is one area in which Rise trumps World in my opinion, but it's a pretty big one; gameplay. The core, moment-to-moment gameplay in Rise is the best it's ever been in Monster Hunter, even better than World - which is saying something. Thanks to the additional attacks and exceptional mobility provided by the Wirebug, core combat with the monsters is absolutely fucking ace and having the Palamute to run around the map and track them down cuts out so much lethargic timewasting when it comes to looking for the monster. Rise was designed with verticality in mind and it shows, less detailed as they may be - the maps are a joy to traverse. Every cliff can be scaled, every ravine can be leapt over, you can clear huge sections of these maps in mere seconds and it makes you feel like the coolest mfer in the world when you do so.
Every weapon has been given new tricks and tools, the Silkbind attacks add so many layers of depth to your strategy and the fact that you can choose from multiple for each weapon is pretty insane. There are some additions that backfire a little bit, Wyvern Riding gets a bit old after a while and can often trivialise fights more than I think they should, and the Rampage, while not as offensive an extra mode clearly put in just to mix up gameplay as it could be - does wear out its welcome after a while.
Unfortunately the consequence of making so many changes in the name of convenience is that you also make the game significantly easier, perhaps too easy. I think Monster Hunter Rise is by far the easiest Monster Hunter game to date; almost every hunt is over within 20 minutes or so because you've been given so many new tools to fight the monsters with but the monsters themselves remain almost completely unchanged and are no longer able to contend with all the buffs the player's gotten between World and Rise. If World is Dark Souls, then Rise is fucking Devil May Cry.
This game is really fun, it has core gameplay and combat over World and honestly? Probably soundtrack too, some of the area battle themes like Sandy Plains and Lava Caverns in particular absolutely slap. (Oh, it also has weapon designs over World! No more "piece of monster clearly layered over bone" weapons, every weapon design in Rise is dope as hell.) However I think it needs some of the kinks around the edges ironed out. I hope Sunbreak can ramp up the difficulty, present a more interesting story and generally present a bit more finesse than Rise does because the core is there, it just needs some more support.