PLATFORM: SWITCH | RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
Fifty years ago, a pack of monsters ravaged the small but bustling settlement of Kamura. Word arrives that another Rampage is on its way and, as a newly-certified Hunter, it’s your job – your duty – to help the locals deal with the oncoming hordes. That’s pretty much it, as far as story goes. Monster Hunter Rise doesn’t concern itself with delving too deeply into the lore – all you need to know is that monsters are coming and you need to stop them…
Gameplay will be familiar to veteran Hunters – there are half a dozen areas to explore, and each quest involves heading to a designated area and taking down either a group of small monsters or one larger foe (at least, it’s just one larger foe in the early going…). Village Quests form the game’s story campaign, where your Hunter rises through the ranks to take on progressively bigger, badder and stronger monsters, and Hub Quests follow the exact same structure except these are intended for multiplayer parties of up to four people which can be done either locally or online (you can also tackle them solo if you’re an expert or a masochist). The loot you obtain from these quests is used back in the village to upgrade your weapons and armour, and forging the best gear will mean revisiting areas multiple times to farm the necessary parts. There are fourteen different weapons to try out, all of which are upgradeable into multiple other forms, so you’ve always got something new to try out or an upgrade to work towards. Sure, it can feel a bit repetitive at times, but that’s always been the Monster Hunter way. To break things up a bit, MH:R introduces Rampage Quests, a new addition to the series, where players set up a range of fortifications and repel waves of monsters in a sort of hybrid horde / tower defence mode.
There’s a chance that the amount of menus to navigate and information you need to take in could be a bit overwhelming for newcomers, but everything starts to make sense after your first couple of hunts as you get to grips with the nuances of your feline and canine companions and figure out how the Wirebug works (a handy tool that allows you to zip around the screen, perform special attacks and even ride monsters). At least the lower rank quests shouldn’t give you too much hassle – there aren’t many monsters that require much in the way of strategy – so the game does ease you into things quite gently. It’s another story entirely when you reach rank 5 and beyond, though, when you may well start to question whether it’s even possible to beat them on your own…
Rise is a huge upgrade over the last MH Switch release (2018’s HD 3DS port, Generations Ultimate) – gameplay is much smoother and faster, it looks much better (more in line with Monster Hunter World than the slightly cartoony visuals seen in previous Nintendo iterations), the world design is more coherent (there are no loading screens between areas, for example) and dropping in and out of multiplayer sessions (which can be absolutely tremendous when four players all pile onto the same monster at the same time) is an absolute breeze. Combat could be a little more fluid – you’ll often find yourself attacking thin air because you weren’t facing the right direction when you pressed the attack button – and keeping track of which parts you’ve got (or need) could be improved but, other than that, it’s pretty much everything you could want from a portable Monster Hunter game. Its current contents will keep you going for a good 50 hours or so and the first free update, which will add more monsters and a handful of new features, has already been announced for April 2021. Jump in now, get yourself ranked up and you’ll be ready for round two when the time comes!
