Monster Hunter Rise, preview: a new presentation for the Capcom title
Monster Hunter Rise, preview
Monster Hunter Rise will be the title for Switch that will dominate this first half of 2021: out at the end of March, the new episode of the famous Capcom series will return to Nintendo consoles after a few years of pause in which it has played on PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One . It will be a new experience for hybrid console owners who have only played the Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate conversion from Nintendo 3DS to Switch some time ago: closer to Monster Hunter World in terms of gameplay and quality of life, Rise also offers a completely new approach to the mobility and dynamism of the clashes thanks to the introduction of a new tool called Insetto filo. We talked about it thoroughly in our recent demo test that was temporarily available on eShop, but Capcom also gave us the opportunity to watch a couple of real hunts and to interview producer Ryozo Tsujimoto and director Yasunori Ichinose . Here's what we found out.The village of Kamura
Monster Hunter Rise: hunting for Almudron. As you probably already know, the new hub of Monster Hunter Rise is the village of Kamura, a delightful village surrounded by Japanese nature: the medieval-inspired inspiration is very reminiscent of Monster Hunter Portable 3rd for PSP, which never arrived in the West, and is not a coincidence given that the director was the same Ichinose of Rise. Capcom's presentation then led us to visit the village, following the preparations of a hunter who is preparing to leave on a mission. We have finally seen the historical services of the series up close, starting with the kitchen: in Monster Hunter Rise you eat dango, a kind of Japanese dumpling served in three pieces on a skewer. As usual, we will unlock different types of ingredients and we will be able to choose predefined or customized menus, combining the dango as we like to get different bonuses at the beginning of the next mission. Once the meal is eaten, we start to wander around the village again, accompanied by a background song, completely in Japanese, which gives the experience a decidedly more refined and sophisticated touch than the usual music.Monster Hunter Rise: the return of the Tigrex. The village stands on the back of a mountain, above a spectacular waterfall, and one thing we realized is that the hunter can move freely using the wire insect, not so much to quickly reach any destination, but also to climb above. the structures and admire the view from above. Realistically it is useless, but it contributes to a greater feeling of freedom that makes even Monster Hunter World seem like the past. In the area adjacent to the village square, we find the area dedicated to companions Felyne and Canyne managed by the master Shirubei, who introduces us to the active services. Iori is the assistant in charge of managing our companions: here we can recruit the Canynes and Felyne, looking for the ones that suit us best. Then the system of types and skills already seen in Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate returns: each Felyne companion - bomber, support, fight and so on - knows up to five different skills, which he will learn progressively as he increases in level fighting with us. The Canynes, on the other hand, do not seem to possess specific abilities, and their combat abilities are determined by the three pieces of equipment they wear: weapon, scarf and saddle.
Monster Hunter Rise: Somnacanth combat. In the same area it is possible to send the Felynes on the bench to look for materials for us while we are on the hunt, by talking to an NPC called Korobashi, or to buy the goods that Rondine will find during his voyages to the sea. These are the functions that we have already seen in the most recent Monster Hunters, and should not surprise fans of the Capcom saga, who will immediately feel at home.
After stopping briefly in the square dedicated to his companions, our hunter returned to the city and approached Senri the postman, a Felyne who attracted his attention with a colorful comic. "It's very important!", He says, and indeed it is: this NPC is used to put Kamura online or offline. In fact, during the cataclysmic event known as "the Fury", the hunters cannot leave the village, which goes offline to follow the narrative campaign. By setting it to online, however, the campaign goes to sleep and other players can join us to socialize or prepare for the next hunt. Senri, however, manages a large list of features that allow you to consult your friends list, access the Nintendo eShop, download additional content, and so on.
Monster Hunter Rise: the menacing Rakna-Kadaki. Of course, you can also create a room for a local game and set various parameters to customize it. The presentation then shows us the area reserved for the final preparations, where we will also find Minoto, Hinoa's twin, behind her mission counter. The latter are divided into types as usual - there are urgent missions, low-grade ones and optional ones - but an indicator clearly tells us how many we have to complete to unlock the next difficulty level and the new missions that carry on the story . Among other things, in these few moments we have glimpsed an old acquaintance who comes directly from Monster Hunter World: one of the targets to hunt, in fact, was the funny Pukei-pukei. While waiting before leaving, the Capcom hunter delights in fiddling with his Canyne while his fellow adventurers enter the game, eat at the canteen and join the mission: the monster they will face is a Khezu.
The Khezu in the Frozen Isles
Monster Hunter Rise: Barioth is another old acquaintance. The first hunt of the presentation takes place in the Frozen Islands, a brand new location that Capcom has designed especially for Monster Hunter Rise: the four hunters take advantage of the first minutes on a mission to explore it and show us its geometric variety, made of chasms, hills, rivulets and frozen lakes. At one point, the team stumbles upon a ship stranded above the top of an icy hill: with the help of the wire bug, it is possible to climb to the top of the mast to admire the view, a gray sky surrounding the islands like a cloak of steel. Between a slide and a run on the back of the Canyne, the hunters collect the endemic Fauna - which as we explained in our previous preview is much more widespread and functional than in the past - and the objects requested by the NPCs of the Kamura village. The exploration phase is much more dynamic and frenetic thanks to the freedom of movement, enormously extended by the combination of mount and Insect wire.Monster Hunter Rise: the Mizutsune was also present in the demo. The team finally finds the Khezu on the riverside and the fight begins. The Khezu is an old acquaintance and we find it more sprightly than ever: it has some new attack, but otherwise it is the horrid blind wyvern that we remembered, able to stretch its neck and wrap itself in an electrostatic field. The hunter protagonist in the presentation fights with sword and shield together with his Canyne, but soon the team puts the monster to flight, which goes to take refuge in a cave. This is an excellent opportunity to go in search of another monster crossed in passing while searching for the Khezu: the Tetranadon. In reality, the team only fights him to be able to ride him and then unleash him at the real target via the new Wyvern Mount mechanic. In the end, after a long battle, the Khezu perishes under the blows of the hunters, which we can praise through a simple interface: in this way their next hunting companions will know that they are the right types!
Monster Hunter Rise: Nintendo will produce a Magnamalo amiibo. In short, our fearless protagonist manages to bring enough loot to the village to make a complete armor. This is the right opportunity to get to know Hamon, the blacksmith. The menu is what we expected: we can craft and upgrade weapons and armor, customize crossbows, buy Insect Glaive Kinsets, and manage equipment in general. The interface of the weapons is taken by weight from Monster Hunter World, instead: we have a scheme that allows us to easily check the progression of each weapon and to retrace our steps in case a weapon does not convince us, disassembling it to recover the materials. Some weapons are checkpoints and, once unlocked, it will not be necessary to craft the previous ones to continue in that branch. This is how our hunter builds a nice hammer and then a complete armor for himself, for the Felyne and for the Canyne. At that point, however, he decides to try his new weapon in the training room.
The Bishaten in the Flooded Forest
Monster Hunter Rise: the new Tetranadon. Capcom had implemented a training area in Monster Hunter World as well, but that of Monster Hunter Rise in comparison is a whole other story. Inside a cave, surrounded by immense waterfalls, we will find a gigantic mechanized mannequin on which the other players in the game can also rage. It is therefore possible to try the combos suggested by the interface and learn how to use the weapons, but if you want to try an even more complex training you can always talk to Sekirei at the entrance and set different options such as the position of the head, the direction in which it faces the mannequin, whether or not it must follow the player, the various actions, any moving targets and so on. After training, our unnamed hunter returns to Kamura, has lunch, has fun with a bamboo toy, cuddles the Canyne and then climbs onto a roof to admire the view ... when one of the guests posts a new mission. Surprise, surprise: it is now possible to open the board in any place, without having to visit it personally, and immediately join the published mission.Monster Hunter Rise: the Bishaten is also a whole new monster. The new hunt takes place in the Flooded Forest, a map that Monster Hunter Tri and Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate players probably know well - it was one of the most striking. Obviously Capcom has redesigned it to replace the underwater areas with new locations in which to fight on the mainland, but the map, for better or worse, is the same as then, graphically renewed, much more spacious and full of details. The team faces the Bishaten at the foot of a waterfall: the monster is a wyvern with ape-like features that can stand on its tail and attack players from afar by throwing various fruits. The animations of this model are completely new; the Bishaten is very agile, but our hero gets along well even with the massive hammer thanks to the renewed mobility that the wire insect guarantees.
Monster Hunter Rise: the real Ludroth is a monster that appeared for the first time on Wii. The hunt becomes more complicated when a royal Ludroth and the Great Wroggi get in the way, but our hunters, using traps and Wyvern Mount, manage to put the Bishaten to flight. The new Wyvern Mount is getting more and more interesting: initially we were a bit skeptical about its usefulness, but it seems that Capcom has also implemented it to make more sense to the presence of other monsters in the missions, which players usually ignored to attack only the main target. Now, however, they become an extra tool to heavily damage the mission objective and shorten the duration of the fight. Eventually, this beast also succumbs to the blows of the Capcom hunters, who celebrate the victory by making it into small pieces and posing.
There are a few weeks left before the release of Monster Hunter Rise for Nintendo Switch, but Capcom took advantage of this presentation to confirm the rumors that it was also released on PC: it's all true, but we will have to wait some time for to be able to get our hands on that version, which will only be released at the beginning of 2022.
The presentation we have witnessed has finally served to show us a couple of real hunts, the most important features in the village of Kamura, some super interesting news such as the training room and the freedom of movement in the main hub, but also the dynamism and frenzy of the new clashes, embellished by the wire insect and everything that allows you to do in combat and beyond. Monster Hunter Rise is in serious danger of exceeding all expectations, and there is still a lot of content we haven't seen. The question at this point is only one: will you run to buy it on Switch or will you wait a year to play it on PC?
