The thrill of the hunt returns in all its essence. It’s been three years since Monster Hunter: World crossed the line to build a larger base of player hunters in western territory, where the series has traditionally had much less impact than it did in Japan. Boy did he do it? His concept of the open world, reformulated and accessible control system, and story with a superior background earned him the respect of the public. Now the series is booming, there’s even a live-action movie opening on March 26th, and it’s the ideal time to pick up our long sword and step into that Monster Hunter Rise.
Hunting itself doesn’t have a particularly steep learning curve. The system 50 minute time limit missions it is still valid, although you can rarely consume it. The difficulty lies not in the battles themselves, but in careful previous work to gather materials, equipment, weapons, and knowledge of the terrain that we must undertake. For the latter we will have a new tool, the chordopter. These are insects from which we can extract fairy lights (?) That allow us to otherwise make agile movements impossible with the character and access areas of hunting grounds. Thanks to them, we can also make new weapon combinations, evade attacks or even put ourselves in a blind spot of the monster to land a devastating battery of blows. Maybe the movement is a little random at times. Remember, like the gun blows, they are relative to the camera and sometimes you can throw yourself where you don’t want to.
For this adventure, a list of new creatures to be tracked has been presented, such as: Tetranadon o el acnosomeand some of the most famous from earlier installments are also returning, such as the Jagras or the Kulu-Ya-Ku. In this case, it will be the most powerful animal that we will encounter el Magnamalo, a kind of gigantic tiger that even devours other large monsters and is considered the flagship of the game. Of course, every animal costs us a good amount of time to strike, chase and sharpen the weapon. When you finally manage to knock down the enemy after countless attacks, the feeling that comes to you is similar to defeating a boss from the Souls saga. And then you’re addicted and just want more.
As usual in the series, Monster Hunter’s story isn’t exactly its forte. Suffice it to know that we are a novice hunter and that we need to make a name for ourselves and improve our skills before the frenzy arrives, an invasion of hordes of monsters that have invaded the village decades ago. Kamura, our village, is the main base of the adventure. There we will find mission orders, traders and blacksmiths to obtain new weapons and armor, recruit new comrades and accept challenges and special orders from their residents. There is also the canteen where we can order dangos. The dangos (a typical Japanese dish made from rice flour) allows us to temporarily improve our statistics. Each type of dango enables an ability or increases a value. Several can be combined on one skewer (as long as they are unlocked), and all of their effects will be retained on the next mission. Therefore, it is important to study the goal and evaluate which benefits to choose.
But then what is the main differentiator in this ascension? Well, there really are two, the new type of mission of Frenzy and Wyvern Mount.
The frenzy It’s a kind of special mission in which a horde of monsters goes towards the village and you have to stop them at all costs through a special area (the Red Fort) along with the rest of the hunters and residents of the village. It does this by using specially designed defenses (such as ballistae and bamboo bombs, among others) and your own weapons to defeat them and defeat as many as you can. Depending on the difficulty, there are up to three waves of monsters to fend off and a final enemy in each one that we must defeat completely. Using super weapons to hunt down the big monsters quickly feels like a reward in the face of long hunts to hunt down a single specimen of the big ones. This is where you will end up with several of them, although only the last monster is considered lootable. In addition, the Frenzy Missions offer exclusive crafting and blacksmithing materials for some weapon upgrade routes. You should therefore study the area and defenses to achieve a good installation and be successful.
“When you finally manage to kill the monster after countless attacks, the feeling that it leaves you is similar to defeating a boss from the Souls series.”
Wyvern’s mount is another interesting addition. As in previous sections, sometimes during the hunt for a large animal, another monster appears on the path with which it begins to fight, either because we hit it or because it has invaded its territory. At this moment the riding ability is activated, in which we can control one of the monsters for a short time using Cordoptera bindings and direct their attacks on the other. This is especially useful in single player sessions as we gain an advantage and inflict huge damage on the opponent in those precious seconds. Controlling a giant monster by hitting a similar one is always fun and is another way to take advantage of the situation and feel rewarded for the game. But be careful, because when the timeline runs out, we get off the mount and find two monsters facing each other and being angry. It should be taken into account.
But at no point do we fight alone, even without being in online mode. We will always have our side by our side Comrades, those animal helpers whose skills often save us from defeat. We have two main types. The Felyne They are the classic cat companions that were already seen in previous sections. They perform support functions by healing and collecting ingredients and materials. Enjoyed entering the scene for the first time Canyne
The Multiplayer mode It’s what has sustained and loyal to the Monster Hunter community over the years. Go hunting with up to three other companions and you can take out the wildest prey and get a good amount of prey that would otherwise be very difficult to find. At the time of this writing, and despite the fact that the game has not yet been released and the number of hunters roaming the servers is limited, over several sessions we had no problem finding players to share an adventure with . The matchmaking was quick and in just a few seconds we got together and selected a mission. There is also the possibility that if we are clinging to a particular mission on our own, we may seek help in the hopes that a player will come. In our particular case, I have to admit that I wasn’t able to play much of the previous Monster Hunter games and that watching other players and following their directions helped add value to the experience and add value to the game.
Rise is here to continue on the path taken with MH: World, but adds some new mechanics and some improvements based on the feedback and graphical performance of the previous title. In this case, the MT Framework graphics engine is replaced by the RE engine and the results of the Nintendo hybrid are spectacular, pushing the performance to the limit of its capacity. This adventure offers endless hours of fun, both alone and with friends, so Monster Hunter Rise marks the dedication of the new era of the franchise to the general public and, as such, can perfectly serve as the gateway to their world for many gamers who were undecided. Let the hunt begin!
