I've been a big fan of the series for a while now, but I usually skipped the games from the second team at Capcom, the portable ones and the Generations games. I think in general, I'm just not a fan of the most show-y and experimental aspects of them. At first, I was planning to skip Rise too, but with the game coming to even more platforms, and the chances of MH6 slipping further into the future increasing, I decided to go after it and I can't say I regret it.
Rise, like all games of the series, keeps a lot of the series' traditions unchanged, but still introduces its own fresh air to it. Probably the most important concept in the game is verticality, something the series already improved since MH4, but I think it was never really perfect until Rise. With the wirebug system and levels made with verticality in mind, it actually feels a lot better to move around, fast as well, and exploration has never been better than that. The addition of palamutes also makes going to the monster a lot faster, and with how hassle free starting a quest is, along with the great loading times on PS5, you're hunting in literally a few seconds, which is very impressive. This feels great and all, and yet, a part of me was a bit sad with how streamlined hunting has become, as during hunts, it never felt like the environment or the preparation mattered. Even if the monster leaves the fight, you reach it easily, and if another monster intrudes, the riding system actually benefits you way more than your opponent. On one hand, those are some good changes that save you time and from a headache, but this "arcade-ization" of the series is something I'm not awfully fond of.
As far as the roster goes, the base game has a pretty decent lineup of a lot of some fan favorite monsters, some returnees from Tri and new really cool additions to the series. They're also generally quite varied, with a lot of different body types and gimmicks. Some of the new monsters, like the flagship, are already some of my favorites. A new addition to Rise is the Rampage, which is a tower defense style of hunt. It was cool the first time, and even though it doesn't appear much, after a few times I already felt I didn't want more of it. It's a decent idea that just doesn't work that well, or doesn't really fit with the style of the series imo. Difficulty of the game also felt a bit too much on the easy side, even though the endgame certainly is a lot more demanding.
Rise probably has one of the coolest hub villages in the series, and while the story didn't really seem that good, the characters themselves had a lot of personality that you mostly see through the dialogues with them. Again, a lot of QoL changes, that made some common preparation tasks completely hassle free, like combining the rare merchant with the farms. On another note, something I miss from World, is the attention to the details in its world. World has a live-and-breathing ecosystem feeling that Rise doesn't have, partly because of its technical limitations. The better visuals also enhanced it, and the downgrade there is noticeable in Rise, but at least I thought the artstyle of the game and the Japanese aesthetic really suit it.
Overall, Rise is a really fun game to play, with some cool new ideas and way more accessible and fast than ever before. I've already put quite a few hours on it, and probably even more once I get to the expansion.
Rise, like all games of the series, keeps a lot of the series' traditions unchanged, but still introduces its own fresh air to it. Probably the most important concept in the game is verticality, something the series already improved since MH4, but I think it was never really perfect until Rise. With the wirebug system and levels made with verticality in mind, it actually feels a lot better to move around, fast as well, and exploration has never been better than that. The addition of palamutes also makes going to the monster a lot faster, and with how hassle free starting a quest is, along with the great loading times on PS5, you're hunting in literally a few seconds, which is very impressive. This feels great and all, and yet, a part of me was a bit sad with how streamlined hunting has become, as during hunts, it never felt like the environment or the preparation mattered. Even if the monster leaves the fight, you reach it easily, and if another monster intrudes, the riding system actually benefits you way more than your opponent. On one hand, those are some good changes that save you time and from a headache, but this "arcade-ization" of the series is something I'm not awfully fond of.
As far as the roster goes, the base game has a pretty decent lineup of a lot of some fan favorite monsters, some returnees from Tri and new really cool additions to the series. They're also generally quite varied, with a lot of different body types and gimmicks. Some of the new monsters, like the flagship, are already some of my favorites. A new addition to Rise is the Rampage, which is a tower defense style of hunt. It was cool the first time, and even though it doesn't appear much, after a few times I already felt I didn't want more of it. It's a decent idea that just doesn't work that well, or doesn't really fit with the style of the series imo. Difficulty of the game also felt a bit too much on the easy side, even though the endgame certainly is a lot more demanding.
Rise probably has one of the coolest hub villages in the series, and while the story didn't really seem that good, the characters themselves had a lot of personality that you mostly see through the dialogues with them. Again, a lot of QoL changes, that made some common preparation tasks completely hassle free, like combining the rare merchant with the farms. On another note, something I miss from World, is the attention to the details in its world. World has a live-and-breathing ecosystem feeling that Rise doesn't have, partly because of its technical limitations. The better visuals also enhanced it, and the downgrade there is noticeable in Rise, but at least I thought the artstyle of the game and the Japanese aesthetic really suit it.
Overall, Rise is a really fun game to play, with some cool new ideas and way more accessible and fast than ever before. I've already put quite a few hours on it, and probably even more once I get to the expansion.