Monster Hunter Rise

Monster Hunter Rise
Cover art, featuring the game's flagship monster, Magnamalo.
Developer(s)	Capcom
Publisher(s)	Capcom
Director(s)	Yasunori Ichinose
Producer(s)	Ryozo Tsujimoto
Designer(s)	Katsuhiro Eguchi
Programmer(s)	Kazunori Sawada
Artist(s)	Hiroshi Sato
Writer(s)	Hiroshi Yamashita
Composer(s)	Satoshi Hori
Series	Monster Hunter
Engine	RE Engine
Platform(s)	Nintendo Switch Microsoft Windows
Release	Nintendo Switch March 26, 2021 Microsoft Windows Q1/Q2 2022
Genre(s)	Action role-playing
Mode(s)	Single-player, Multiplayer

Monster Hunter Rise^[a] is an action role-playing game developed and published by Capcom for the Nintendo Switch. It is the sixth mainline installment in the Monster Hunter series after Monster Hunter: World (2018) and was released worldwide on March 26, 2021. A Microsoft Windows version is currently in development and is planned for an early 2022 release.

Rise follows many of the new conventions established for the series in World while also introducing new features and mechanics, including a new animal companion called a Palamute that can be used to ride across the map or into battle, and the use of Wirebugs to traverse the game world and mount and ride certain monsters. The game received generally positive reviews upon release and has shipped more than 7 million copies worldwide since launch.

Gameplay[]

Hunters defending themselves from monsters in the new Rampage mode. One hunter using a Wirebug (in bright blue) in combat can be seen in the center.

As with previous Monster Hunter titles, Monster Hunter Rise has the player take the role of a Hunter, tasked with slaying or capturing large monsters using a variety of weapons, tools, and environmental features to damage and weaken them while surviving their attacks. Successful completion of the offered quests provides loot, typically in the form of various monster parts from the monster, which are used to forge new armor and weapons that can be used to take on more powerful monsters, forming the series' notable core loop. Several of the series' monsters return along with a host of new monsters developed for Rise.^[1] All fourteen weapon types that have been present in both Monster Hunter Generations and World, which mix archetypes of swords, shields, staves, bows, and guns, are present in Rise.^[2]

Rise uses the same seamless map approach introduced in Monster Hunter: World unlike the zoned area approach typical of earlier games in the series. Its maps are more focused on vertical movement than previous games, as implied by its title, so new tools are given to the player to help with quick vertical scaling. The Wirebug, similar to the Clutch Claw added in Monster Hunter World: Iceborne, allows a player to grapple and swing across gaps or to higher locations as needed.^[1] The Wirebug also has different interactions with each weapon type, adding to that weapon's set of moves and combos.^[2] Further, the Wirebug allows a player to engage certain monsters in Wyvern Riding, allowing the hunter to mount and control the creature to a limited degree as to either lead it into areas more amenable for combat or to engage in combat with a different monster.^[3]

Palamutes are new dog-like companion creatures in Rise. The player can ride them to help quickly navigate the map without losing stamina. Palamutes can also quickly scale cliffs and perform attacks while fighting monsters alongside the player's other companion option, the cat-like Palicoes, who return from previous games.

Rise features both single player and local and online multiplayer modes with up to four hunters in a group. In single player modes, the player hunts with up to two of any combination of the Palico or Palamute companions. In the online modes, players selects up to one of either the Palico or Palamute to join them.^[1]

In addition to the series' typical hunts, Rise introduces Rampage, a survival mode where the players must defend the base village from several attacking monsters. Prior to and during the attack, the players can set up siege weapons and instruct non-player characters to attack the monsters while the players attack the monsters directly.^[4]

Collaborations[]

Similar to some previous Monster Hunter titles, Rise has several collaborations with Capcom games, called "Capcom Collab". The first collaboration is with Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin.^[1][5] The second one is with Ōkami.^[6]

Plot[]

In Kamura Village, the player-character is informed they have been promoted to a Hunter by the Guild by the Wyverian twins Hinoa and Minoto. They escort the new Hunter to the village leader Fugen, though along the way, the Hunter catches sight of an unknown flying monster far in the distance. Fugen congratulates the Hunter on their success, but warns that they have been alerted about pending signs of "The Rampage", a mysterious calamity that occurred fifty years ago where a large horde of monsters attacked the village in a frenzied rage. Fugen tasks the Hunter to prepare themselves for a possible recurrence of the Rampage by helping with various quests to protect and supply the village with goods while building up their hunting. Further signs of the Rampage emerge, and Fugen instructs the Hunter to go to the Stronghold, a battleground that guards the gates to Kamura. After repelling the attack, the Hunter, Yomogi, the village chef, and Iori, the "Buddy Handler", are suddenly attacked by a tiger-like, mace-tailed fanged wyvern, forcing them to retreat. Fugen tells the trio that the monster is known as "Magnamalo" who appears alongside the Rampage and feeds on monsters of the horde. Under Fugen's orders, the Hunter slays Magnamalo. Upon returning to the village, Fugen and Hinoa congratulate the Hunter on their victory. Fugen then gives the Hunter his Long Sword, which has been passed down in Kamura for generations.

After repelling another Rampage attack, as Hinoa wonders how long the Rampage is going to last, suddenly the same flying serpentine dragon-like monster that the Hunter saw earlier appears. Hinoa's eyes suddenly turn blue as she says, "Where is my queen? Where is my queen?" before regaining her senses. The monster is later identified as an Elder Dragon known as the Wind Serpent, Ibushi. After Ibushi is repelled, the group begins to question who Ibushi's "queen" is. Master Utsushi, the village's lookout, discovers who Ibushi's "queen" is: the Thunder Serpent, Narwa, who is Ibushi's female counterpart and mate. Further research from the guild reveals the origins of Ibushi and Narwa. Every fifty years, Ibushi, as well as Narwa, will emerge to mate with each other; in order to do so, Ibushi will wander the land to seek out Narwa. Ibushi is also known to cause destructive storms by sending dragon energy into the ground. This turbulence is strong enough to uproot trees and wipe out the landscape. This causes nearby monsters to become terrified and flee directly into Kamura Village. Meanwhile, Narwa seems to wait in a location she prefers until Ibushi is able to locate her. However, the disturbance caused by her presence and electromagnetic abilities tend to drive other monsters berserk, leading to a rampage event that regularly hits Kamura Village during the Serpent's mating process. This information reveals that the actions of the Serpent Elder Dragons are the primary cause of the Rampage. Due to the fact that Narwa had wiped out most of the village's hunters, they call on the Hunter to slay Narwa. After a fierce battle with the Thunder Serpent, Narwa is seemingly killed when she falls to her death. Narwa's corpse is not found, however, causing Fugen to believe that Narwa is still alive. At night, the Hunter witnesses Hinoa and Minoto (possessed by Ibushi and Narwa) talking to one other, saying that their offspring will roam across the earth.

After fending off various elder dragons, the Hunter is told that Narwa and Ibushi have returned and finally united. Fugen calls on the Hunter to confront the two serpents and end the Rampage for good. The Hunter battles Ibushi, whose life force is devoured by Narwa, transforming her into Narwa the Allmother, greatly enhancing her power. The Hunter faces Narwa again and is aided by the unexpected arrival of Magnamalo, who attacks the Thunder Serpent. After a destructive battle, the Hunter slays Narwa and returns to the village. Fugen names the Hunter the Savior of Kamura as the village celebrates with a great feast and Hinoa states that the village is finally at peace.

Development[]

Monster Hunter Rise is considered to be the sixth main installment after Monster Hunter: World, despite not being numbered in a similar fashion to previous titles.^[7] The game's producer, Ryozo Tsujimoto, said that with both World and Rise, they wanted to move away from the use of traditional numbering for the main titles in the Monster Hunter series and instead name them based on a central concept that the game was built around; "Rise" was chosen reflect the verticality of the game's levels and gameplay elements.^[8] The verticality resulted in level design that resembled a medieval Japanese/Asian aesthetic, which had not been an initial goal of the design team but was happenstance from their design.^[2] The game's director, Yasunori Ichinose, had previously directed Monster Hunter Portable 3rd, a title that had never been released outside of Asia; Portable 3rd featured Yukumo Village as its hub location, a Japanese-inspired setting with hot springs, and which reappeared in Monster Hunter Generations. Ichinose did not want to reuse Yukumo Village for Rise but wanted a similar setting, one that could be considered in the same region, and designed Rise's hub, Kamura Village, with similar concepts as Yukumo. Further, this setting helped with Rise's approach to more freedom of movement, much like that of ninjas, according to Ichinose, which also worked well with that setting.^[9]

Rise's pre-planning development started after the completion of Generations and Generations Ultimate, and was co-developed alongside World, with ideas being shared between the two development teams.^[2] The game was built with the RE Engine that was originally developed for Resident Evil 7 and since been used for other Capcom games like the Resident Evil 2 remake and Devil May Cry 5.^[10] As this was the first time this engine was used for a game of this type, it delayed some of the production as they worked to assure smooth gameplay within World's zoneless approach on the Switch.^[2] Furthermore, the Palamute companion was developed with the portability of the Nintendo Switch in mind, eliminating the depletion of stamina as the player rode it around the game world.^[2] According to Ichinose, due to the specs of the Nintendo Switch, it would have been easier to use data from the 3DS era but since Monster Hunter: World was released recently, it was important to make Rise look as modern as possible.^[11] Natsuki Hanae provide the game narration.

Release[]

Monster Hunter Rise was announced during a Nintendo Direct Mini: Partner Showcase broadcast on September 17, 2020 for a worldwide release on March 26, 2021.^[12] Alongside its release, Rise included three Amiibo figures of the Palico, Palamute, and the game's flagship monster, Magnamalo. Using the Amiibo unlocks a set of unique layered armor for the player in the game.^[13] A month-long demo was released on January 7, 2021, featuring four quests with all fourteen weapons available as well as single player and online multiplayer support.^[14] The demo's release briefly caused the Nintendo eShop servers to suffer outages due to its popularity.^[15] A second demo was released on March 12, 2021.^[16] The game will have free a post-launch content model similar to World.^[17]

A special edition Nintendo Switch bundle, which will include the console and dock emblazoned with Rise artwork along with a copy of the game, launched on the same day.^[18] Ahead of Rise's release, the crossover game Super Smash Bros. Ultimate included three Monster Hunter-themed Mii Fighter costumes as downloadable content, including the Hunter armor, Rathalos armor, and a Felyne hat.^[19] Coinciding with the game's launch, three collectable Spirits based on the Palico, Palamute, and Magnamalo were added to the game.^[20]

As with past Monster Hunter games, Rise includes crossover events with other Capcom properties, featuring quests to unlock costumes and other items related to the other franchise. The first crossover event for Rise was with Monster Hunter Stories 2 around the time of its release in June 2021.^[21] The second crossover event featured Amaterasu from the game Ōkami in July 2021.^[22] A third event in August 2021 included the ability to earn a costume based on Street Fighters Akuma.^[23] In September 2021, another crossover event gave the player the ability to earn a palamute costume based on Rush from Mega Man.^[24]

According to Tsujimoto, due to demand and interest from players, Capcom is planning to develop a Microsoft Windows version of Rise, which is expected to release in the first half of 2022.^[25]

Reception[]

Monster Hunter Rise received positive reviews from critics, with a Metacritic score of 88.^[26] Critics praised the addition of new tool like the Wirebugs and the game's expansion of Monster Hunter: World's mechanics.

Sam Machkovech of Ars Technica praised the new movement mechanics and how the game adjusted many monsters from previous entries to compensate for it. He also criticized the game's technical performance saying, "I did run into frenetic battles where the frame rate buckled into the mid-20s."^[40] Martin Robinson of Eurogamer appreciated how the game's hunts were shorter than prior games.^[41]

Richard Wakeling, writing for GameSpot, enjoyed the new Japanese-styled setting, and the Rampage missions.^[42] Ryan Gilliam of Polygon enjoyed the game's increased accessibility for newcomers to the series, and how the player had more ways to approach hunts.^[43]

Sales[]

Capcom has announced that launch shipments of Monster Hunter Rise reached four million units worldwide three days after release. Monster Hunter: World had shipped five million units during the same period after release.^[44] It sold over 1.3 million copies within its first week of sale in Japan, and was the bestselling retail game of the week in the country; it also led to a surge in Switch unit sales, more than doubling combined sales of the Switch and Switch Lite compared to prior weeks.^[45][46] By April 27, 2021, six million units had been shipped.^[47] Total sales reached 7 million by May 28, 2021.^[48]

Note[]

References[]

External links[]

Official website