Getting my thoughts out for this game simply because Sunbreak is now out, and I wanna give my opinion on a pre-Sunbreak Rise. I'm out of the honeymoon period of my initial Switch playthrough, and this'll probably be really scattered because I want to go play Sunbreak.
Rise's very Japanese setting is very good. While I do feel like I've seen this kind of style one too many times at this point for it to feel completely fresh, Kamura Village is still special. For my PC playthrough, I made a point to talk to most of the NPCs every time there was a major story event. Aside from the main cast of characters, there's a dense but tightly-knit community in Kamura. Charming interactions, little side-stories, and funny dialogue are all completely missable if you don't take the opportunity to chat with the locals. The Buddy Plaza Trainer is the worst NPC though. He never has unique dialogue for any event in the story, and he constantly drags you out to the Buddy Plaza just to pick up a Buddy Ticket/Lagniapple.
The monster designs introduced in Rise are are great. Taking a design approach based on Japanese mythology actually brought out many memorable designs and fights. I love the overly dramatic intro movies they all get (it's kabuki theatre if you're using the Japanese voices). I feel like monster designs are a balancing act between animalistic instincts and a charming "personality". In my opinion, Rise balances these aspects very nicely.
The real star of Rise is the movement. Wirebugs and wall-running open up a whole new world of options for traversal and combat. I didn't realize how much of a difference it made until I went back to World, only to realize that I no longer had a "jump button". Wirebugs are also used for Silkbind Attacks, which can also be swapped out for entirely different moves (outside of quests). Switch Skills literally just replaces one of your weapon's moves for an entirely different one. Hitting a monster with enough attacks also downs them and allows you to ride them, giving you the opportunity to wield a monster's moveset and thrash other monsters. There's just so many fun tools at your disposal in this game. However, "fun" doesn't necessarily directly translate to "difficult". Hunts can end fast in Rise due to all these damage-dealing tricks up your sleeve, and it can often feel like you're literally styling on the monsters.
Map design is...admittedly not my favorite. The whole map is interconnected, but the "area" mentality makes there feel like there's a lot of empty space. It is lined with stuff to collect though, primarily "Spiribirds". Those birds increase your stats for the duration of a quest. They're a little annoying to collect at the beginning of every quest, but you'll start mapping out mental routes as you go. The bigger areas are easier to navigate by riding your new buddies, the Palamutes, but I am a cat person, so I don't take that benefit.
I'm pretty torn on the execution of the "relic records", Rise's completely optional collectibles. There are 12 relic records in each of the 5 areas. I'm sure that the intention was that you'd stumble across more of them as you explored the areas more thoroughly over time, but to me, it falls into the trap of being a guide-dangit pixel hunt way more than it should. You are given next to no clues on where to find any of these, and every area is so god damn huge in comparison. I really feel like your notebook should've at least given you vague hints for the ones you were missing, maybe even have there be a completely optional skill for Felynes that lets them warn you when one is in your vicinity. I do have to give praise to the ones that are hidden behind fairly complex Wirebug platforming challenges though, or no-brainers like bringing a barrel bomb to blow open the temple entrance in the Flooded Forest. Stuff that's completely optional, but still feels rewarding to explore. Some relics are also vaguely telegraphed by gathering points that you might see on your map in suspicious spots, like they're out-of-bounds or something. The vast majority are just...out there, though. Also, the one that has you blow up a snowman can go fuck itself. Bad game design.
The last thing I really wanna mention is the music. I think the original tracks in Rise are excellent, and the remixes are...good. I dunno, I guess the Japanese instrumentation and vocals fit the atmosphere of the game, but the remixes kinda lack the punch that the original tracks had. Just my opinion, please don't hurt me.
So yeah. Capcom used the RE Engine to create a very fun MH game that was optimized to the point of being witchcraft on Switch and PC, and everyone loved it the end i'm off to live in a post-Sunbreak society byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
Rise's very Japanese setting is very good. While I do feel like I've seen this kind of style one too many times at this point for it to feel completely fresh, Kamura Village is still special. For my PC playthrough, I made a point to talk to most of the NPCs every time there was a major story event. Aside from the main cast of characters, there's a dense but tightly-knit community in Kamura. Charming interactions, little side-stories, and funny dialogue are all completely missable if you don't take the opportunity to chat with the locals. The Buddy Plaza Trainer is the worst NPC though. He never has unique dialogue for any event in the story, and he constantly drags you out to the Buddy Plaza just to pick up a Buddy Ticket/Lagniapple.
The monster designs introduced in Rise are are great. Taking a design approach based on Japanese mythology actually brought out many memorable designs and fights. I love the overly dramatic intro movies they all get (it's kabuki theatre if you're using the Japanese voices). I feel like monster designs are a balancing act between animalistic instincts and a charming "personality". In my opinion, Rise balances these aspects very nicely.
The real star of Rise is the movement. Wirebugs and wall-running open up a whole new world of options for traversal and combat. I didn't realize how much of a difference it made until I went back to World, only to realize that I no longer had a "jump button". Wirebugs are also used for Silkbind Attacks, which can also be swapped out for entirely different moves (outside of quests). Switch Skills literally just replaces one of your weapon's moves for an entirely different one. Hitting a monster with enough attacks also downs them and allows you to ride them, giving you the opportunity to wield a monster's moveset and thrash other monsters. There's just so many fun tools at your disposal in this game. However, "fun" doesn't necessarily directly translate to "difficult". Hunts can end fast in Rise due to all these damage-dealing tricks up your sleeve, and it can often feel like you're literally styling on the monsters.
Map design is...admittedly not my favorite. The whole map is interconnected, but the "area" mentality makes there feel like there's a lot of empty space. It is lined with stuff to collect though, primarily "Spiribirds". Those birds increase your stats for the duration of a quest. They're a little annoying to collect at the beginning of every quest, but you'll start mapping out mental routes as you go. The bigger areas are easier to navigate by riding your new buddies, the Palamutes, but I am a cat person, so I don't take that benefit.
I'm pretty torn on the execution of the "relic records", Rise's completely optional collectibles. There are 12 relic records in each of the 5 areas. I'm sure that the intention was that you'd stumble across more of them as you explored the areas more thoroughly over time, but to me, it falls into the trap of being a guide-dangit pixel hunt way more than it should. You are given next to no clues on where to find any of these, and every area is so god damn huge in comparison. I really feel like your notebook should've at least given you vague hints for the ones you were missing, maybe even have there be a completely optional skill for Felynes that lets them warn you when one is in your vicinity. I do have to give praise to the ones that are hidden behind fairly complex Wirebug platforming challenges though, or no-brainers like bringing a barrel bomb to blow open the temple entrance in the Flooded Forest. Stuff that's completely optional, but still feels rewarding to explore. Some relics are also vaguely telegraphed by gathering points that you might see on your map in suspicious spots, like they're out-of-bounds or something. The vast majority are just...out there, though. Also, the one that has you blow up a snowman can go fuck itself. Bad game design.
The last thing I really wanna mention is the music. I think the original tracks in Rise are excellent, and the remixes are...good. I dunno, I guess the Japanese instrumentation and vocals fit the atmosphere of the game, but the remixes kinda lack the punch that the original tracks had. Just my opinion, please don't hurt me.
So yeah. Capcom used the RE Engine to create a very fun MH game that was optimized to the point of being witchcraft on Switch and PC, and everyone loved it the end i'm off to live in a post-Sunbreak society byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee