While lacking the environmental depth that made its immediate predecessor so engaging, Monster Hunter Rise's core mechanic of beating comedically large boss monsters to build comedically large weapons to help fight even more comedically large boss monsters is videogame candy for me.

Exploration in Monster Hunter Rise is streamlined to the point of being a detriment, but the additional movement brought by the Wirebug system and the vertical layers it adds to every level were immensely satisfying.

I remain a huge fan of the wacky monsters in the Monster Hunter series. Rise's star remains the series' menagerie of absolute nonsense and genuine menace, with the usual fire-breathing tyrannosaurs and dragons joined by returning super chameleons and at least one dragon with actual jet engines for wings. Newcomers don't always live up to the series' highs, but a few still manage to add their own charm to the Monster Hunter herd - the game's flagship monster included. It doesn't matter that the narrative in this game exists solely to provide excuses for smacking around giant lizards, because the giant lizards alone are worth the price of admission.