Jing Boran
Song Tianyin
Search results
Jan 22, 2016 · Monster Hunt: Directed by Raman Hui. With Baihe Bai, Boran Jing, Wu Jiang, Elaine Jin. Human and monsters have lived in their separate worlds, but after the birth of Wuba, the last of the monster kings, begins the adventure to bring the two races together.
- (5.7K)
- Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy
- Raman Hui
- 2016-01-22
The critically acclaimed action-RPG series returns to the Nintendo Switch™! Set in the ninja-inspired land of Kamura Village, explore lush ecosystems and battle fearsome monsters to become the ...
- Games
- Rise's new Wirebugs are so fun you'll never want to give them up.
- Every IGN Monster Hunter Review
- How the Insect Glaive Has Changed
- Monster Hunter Rise Locales Official Art
- What's your experience with Monster Hunter?
- PC Impressions and Post-Launch Updates
- Verdict
By Tom Marks
Updated: Nov 3, 2022 8:51 pm
Posted: Mar 23, 2021 3:00 pm
Update 1/10/22: Alongside its Steam release, we've added impressions of Monster Hunter Rise's PC version down below, as well as thoughts on the last year of free content updates.
There’s nothing quite like piloting a fire-breathing T-rex like a runaway train through an overflowing volcano before using it to beat the crap out of a dragon. In a series already known for providing thrilling battles you can’t really get elsewhere, Monster Hunter Rise still manages to surprise and delight. Its scope and progression can feel flatter than that of Monster Hunter World at its launch (including a conspicuous lack of Elder Dragons), making it seem like a foundation waiting to be built upon – but after spending dozens of hours with Rise’s wonderfully enhanced mobility and faster pace, it’s going to be hard to ever go back to the way things were before.
For those new to the series, Monster Hunter Rise is all about killing or capturing giant, spectacular monsters and turning them into pairs of pants (among other pieces of gear), this time with an awesome feudal Japanese theme throughout. Each hunt is essentially an epic boss fight against a specific monster or two, all of which are incredibly diverse in both visual design and behavior; a successful hunt earns you materials used to craft better equipment that will, in turn, allow you to take down harder monsters – and so on and so forth. Success relies on a healthy balance of preparation and skill, and it’s kept fresh by the variety of 14 radically different weapons types you can swap between, the strategic puzzle of breaking and severing specific parts of a monster rather than just whacking at it mindlessly, and the everlasting allure of that next piece of sweet gear.
The systems that house all that depth have given Monster Hunter a reputation for being daunting to learn, but 2018’s Monster Hunter World shattered that barrier by streamlining many aspects and making the series accessible to a wider audience than ever before. (For context, World outsold the previously most popular game in the series by at least 11 million copies, so for a huge chunk of current Monster Hunter fans it’s all they’ve ever known.) That’s relevant here because Rise feels a little more like a follow-up to the most recent Switch entry, Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate, that benefits from many of World’s impressive evolutions rather than a successor to World itself – which makes some sense, given World never came to Switch and Rise is a Switch exclusive (until it comes to PC next year).
That means there’s a mix of old and new ideas here, some of which are more successful than others. For example, much of the streamlining World did has been carried forward, including tweaks like load-free maps, weapon-sharpening whetstones not being consumable, and healing items being usable while walking – all of which feel vital after spending hundreds of hours with them in World. Meanwhile, other things like separate Village and Hub questlines for single- and multiplayer and the ability to tweak a weapon’s playstyle a bit return from older Monster Hunter games. This mishmash of old ideas with some compelling new ones of its own makes Rise feel like a huge mechanical step forward compared to Generations Ultimate, but more of a sidestep in the context of World and its Iceborne expansion.
Load times are shockingly fast both in and out of hunts.
“
Story has never been the point of a Monster Hunter game (Capcom has a series literally called Monster Hunter Stories for that), so it’s no surprise that the one in Rise is as thin as tissue paper. It’s told through a scant few cutscenes where English voice acting is stutteringly dubbed to match what appear to be unaltered Japanese lip flaps in a way that does neither any favors. That doesn’t make the fights around those scenes any less exciting, but it’s important to point out that the improvements World made weren’t only mechanical. Its story wasn’t much thicker, but it did provide a nice sense of discovery and continuity that made it feel like you were actually exploring its new continent. I missed that a little in Rise, where unlocking new areas or being sent on key hunts rarely had much relation to the story or your actions in it – and again, that’s not a deal breaker by any means or even necessarily something I’m looking for from Monster Hunter, but it’s still a place Rise takes a noticeable step backward from World.
But minor issues like that are far overshadowed by the massive (literal) leap forward Rise takes in the hunts themselves. Monster Hunter is about hunting some dang monsters, and here the options available, locations to fight in, and techniques to do so with are, on the whole, superb. And while the Switch’s comparably weak hardware means things don’t look quite as crisp as I got used to with World, it’s frankly remarkable how close Rise gets. That includes how well it generally runs, as well as load times that are shockingly fast both in and out of hunts. Capcom also deserves a special shoutout for making an online system that just works, letting you join the lobbies of your Switch friends with little to no hassle. That’s become a frustratingly infrequent standard of living on the Switch (I’m looking at you, Animal Crossing).
Just about every weapon in Monster Hunter Rise has been touched or tweaked in some way, big or small. And while I was playing alongside IGN’s Wikis team, who have plenty of experience across all sorts of weapons, I almost exclusively use the Insect Glaive. A lot more has changed with this weapon relative to its most recent appearance in World than it might seem on the surface, but since many folk are like me and simply stick to their main choice, I figured I’d break down a bit of it here so that those who aren’t interested can safely skip ahead.
While the Glaive’s initial moveset is largely unchanged from World, the Switch Skills that let you alter certain attacks can have a fairly significant impact on your combos if you choose to use them. I was a fan of both alternative options because they swap slower big hits for rapid attacks, and that appeals to my playstyle I enjoy since the Glaive’s agility is one of my favorite things about it. Plus one of them is a draw attack that lets you spin forward in a flurry of blows and automatically throws you into the air with a dodge if you get hit while attacking, which is just so dang fun.
And while the Glaive’s Silkbind moves initially struck me as uninteresting aerial maneuvers for a weapon that arguably needs them the least, the one bound to ZL+A became an absolute staple of my hunts. It’s basically an emergency dodge button with a ridiculously large invincibility window, letting me deal damage longer and still get away clean. The only shame is that the ZL+X option is less useful, acting more as a way to leap into a fight – I prefer to use Rise’s signature new Wirebug system defensively, and the Silkbind Switch Skill you unlock in High Rank can unfortunately only be swapped with the one I actually did use.
But the most drastic changes the Glaive received actually have to do with the Kinsects that accompany them. Kinsect nurturing is gone, and instead you’ll simply unlock more bug varieties to buy as you progress, with a Kinsect Level assigned to each Glaive that determines their stats. Kinsect types are also split into three different categories now: Powder, which are the only type that can auto attack and leave detonatable clouds behind, as before; Speed, which charge up while on your arm before dealing extra damage on their first hit when sent out; and Assist, which attack alongside you when you have all three essences collected for improved anime flair (and damage).
This is actually an incredible change, specializing each type into a particular playstyle preference where World gave you very little reason not to just pick one of the fastest options. In fact, completely rocking my world, the iconic Pseudocath ended up being one of my least favorite options in Rise. Its speed is helpful, but the Assist Kinsects can actually guarantee they collect either a red or white essence no matter where you hit, massively speeding up close-range collection and guaranteeing I always had my red attack combos available. But that’s just what I preferred, and someone else might like the dust clouds that are now exclusive to the Powder type more. In any case, the fact that there’s more of a real choice now is what’s impressive.
Regardless of the weapon you wield, the most powerful new tool at your disposal in Rise is available to everyone: the Wirebug. Wirebugs are a recharging resource that let you jump through the air, scale any wall, recover from big hits, and use special Silkbind moves of your own. It’s hard to overstate how much they influence the pace both in and out of combat. Suddenly, Rise not only doesn’t have loading screens between its map zones, it barely has boundaries at all as you scale mountains and jump vast distances. And when you are in the heat of battle, Wirebugs can instead be used on special moves unique to each weapon, ranging from epic attacks to more maneuverability.
I get a similar feeling from the newly expanded monster riding system, which is equal parts cool and insane. Dealing damage with certain attacks (or if another monster lays on the pain itself) will eventually put a monster into a rideable state, but unlike previous games where that monster is then still ravenous and unwieldy, Rise gives you complete control of it. You can pilot them like your dog, ram them into walls at will, and even use their light and heavy attacks with a combo and parry system that’s surprisingly nuanced in its timings. You have a lot of time to do all this too, letting you drive monsters all the way across the map in order to do kaiju battle with another one, dropping extra materials and doling out some serious damage.
It’s an absolute blast, but the side effect is that the other monsters on a map are transformed from beasts to be feared into tools to be used. Gone are those thrilling moments where another monster shows up unexpectedly and throws a monkey wrench into your fight in hilarious fashion – maybe some people will be happy about that lack of chaos, but it makes those monsters barely different from the tiny Endemic Life waiting to be picked up, which is a little strange. There are copious ways to easily ride or lure monsters into fights, and it wasn’t uncommon for me to use three or four different monsters to beat down my actual target in the course of a 20-minute hunt. Again, that’s exciting, but it also means that Rajang I used to fear is now little more than a club to be wielded. (The notorious Deviljho and Bazelguese aren’t in Rise, but I’m honestly not sure their imposing interruptions would even work here.)
The new monster riding system is fun, but it makes other monsters little more than tools.
“
This is a feeling that persists a bit in Rise’s new Rampage hunts, too. Rampages are basically a weird blend between Monster Hunter and a tower defense game, letting you setup ballistas, cannons, and more to defend gates against waves of monsters. It’s an odd but fun novelty of a thing, reminiscent of past siege fights like Kulve Taroth but with significantly more customizability and a lot less pressure. The monsters that plow toward your gate are significantly weaker than usual, and you’ll spend a decent amount of each rampage at a turret peppering them with bolts, bombs, and even machine gun fire rather than on the ground with your weapon which can be a neat change of pace.
It’s a very entertaining side mode, and one that greatly benefits from a party of friends so you can share the multitasking madness of base defense – one person could man a turret while another sets up new defenses and a third shovels coal into a kiln that reduces the cooldown on powerful superweapons like the recognizable Dragonator and what is essentially an aerial nuke. I’ve certainly enjoyed completing Rampages, but they also don’t change much from run to run, really only modified by a variety of straightforward subgoals to increase your final score, like stunning a certain number of monsters. There are only four possible stronghold layouts to defend, and while the monsters attacking might change visually, a Khezu and a Basarios will basically break your gate the same way. The real return draw of them is taking on the super-strong Apex monsters that cap off some High Rank Rampages, but eventually I just wished I could fight those out in the field instead of having to do the same tower defense song and dance again before they appeared.
I've never played a Monster Hunter
I've only played/started with World
I've only played Generations or older
I've played all/most of them
It’s a shame, then, that Rise currently lacks any sort of endgame to really push the limits of all the choice it offers. It took me just under 50 hours to see basically everything there is to see and finish the story – that’s certainly not short, and I still have a few optional quests to unlock improved meal options or Switch Skills for other weapons, but Rise ends with an unsatisfying cliffhanger and feels like it’s missing that last layer to really test you. I was disappointed to see there’s no additional challenges unlocked once you reach this point, no Tempered monsters, no replayable area like Iceborne’s Guiding Lands, and no Elder Dragons – some of Monster Hunter’s most challenging and exciting adversaries – apart from a couple that can only be fought in special encounters (which, avoiding spoilers, are at least extremely cool).
Couple that with its relatively flat-feeling equipment and progression and Rise ends up looking more like an excellent foundation for Capcom to build upon rather than a deep game of its own at launch. That’s not to say there’s nothing here as is though, and the excellent support World received gives me plenty of faith that Rise will grow in one way or another. Its first free content update has even already been scheduled for the end of April – but it’s probably good it’s that soon, as I’m running out of personal goals to keep me hunting faster than I expected to.
Updated January 10, 2022
Monster Hunter Rise is finally being released on PC, nearly a year after its Switch debut, and its arrival includes months of post-launch updates right out of the gate. I’ve had the chance to wirebug my way across its locales once again, this time at a much higher resolution and with an uncapped framerate, and it sure felt great to do so. With the exception of the still strangely low-quality cutscenes, Rise looks fantastic here and has so far run quite well on the two PCs I’ve tried it on (both of which are quite beefy, with RTX 3080 and 2070 Super GPUs, respectively) whether I played online or solo.
Additionally, having every event quest, new monster, and content update available right away does help address one of the main problems I had with Rise at launch: a general lack of stuff to do in the late game. The story, while still as flimsy as a Kinsect’s wing, is no longer left dangling on a tasteless cliffhanger, and it can now be immediately followed up with some epic Elder Dragon hunts as you bolster your Hunter Rank.
That said, Rise also hasn’t received updates that were as impactful as I’d hoped for a year ago, either. The new monsters have been exciting to fight and the tie-in event quests have been amusing (including one where you race to pick up rings as Sonic Adventure 2’s iconic “Escape From the City” plays), but there also weren’t any surprising hunts to shake things up in the way something like Monster Hunter World’s Kulve Taroth siege or Witcher crossovers did. It’s pretty much just “more,” which meant the updates never sank their hooks into me for very long – but thankfully “more” is at least still a lot of fun.
There are also a few gameplay things I can see with clearer eyes now that I’ve played Rise for nearly 200 hours: most notably, Rampages are, without a doubt, a huge miss. I mentioned in my initial review that they were already starting to lose their luster, and as I continued to play I eventually found I had no desire left to do them at all – especially once updates made the more menacing Apex monsters available to fight in regular locales. Similarly, the Spiribird and monster-riding mechanics that I certainly enjoyed but was a little bit split on have been almost entirely ignored by the larger community as far as I can tell, as nearly all of the random players I’ve queued up with over the last year just don’t engage with them on hunts whatsoever.
That all said, Rise is still an absolute blast, and I’m very glad it has run this well for me on PC so far. I’d certainly recommend it to anyone who enjoyed Monster Hunter World on Steam, and the updates (while they didn’t build on its promising foundation as much as I’d hoped) mean PC players will get the more complete package at launch that Switch hunters had to impatiently wait for. I am already looking eagerly toward the Sunbreak expansion coming this summer, and the enhanced visuals may be all I need to convince me to catch up to my Switch save on PC after all.
Monster Hunter Rise mixes classic Monster Hunter ideas with some of World’s best improvements and a whole bunch of clever new mechanics of its own. Not all of them are slam dunks, but they are all fun – and the introduction of Wirebugs and the mobility they bring to every fight is so great I never want to give them up. The post-launch updates Capco...
Rise to the challenge and join the hunt! In Monster Hunter Rise, the latest installment in the award-winning and top-selling Monster Hunter series, you’ll become a hunter, explore brand new maps and use a variety of weapons to take down fearsome monsters as part of an all-new storyline.
- (61.6K)
- CAPCOM Co., Ltd.
- CAPCOM Co., Ltd.
- Jan 12, 2022
Dec 11, 2015 · Monster Hunt - Official Trailer - YouTube. FilmRise Releasing. 9.37K subscribers. Subscribed. 406. 64K views 8 years ago. From the animators of "Shrek" comes this epic fantasy adventure. In an...
- 2 min
- 72.1K
- FilmRise Releasing
5 days ago · May 30, 2024. Monster Hunter Wilds: new gameplay details from today’s State of Play. 12 0 173. Capcom shares details on monsters, mounts, combat options and more. Joseph Bustos Social Media and Community Manager, Capcom USA. Greetings, PlayStation fans! Today during State of Play, we revealed some exciting new information for Monster Hunter Wilds.
Community Hub. Monster Hunter: World. Welcome to a new world! In Monster Hunter: World, the latest installment in the series, you can enjoy the ultimate hunting experience, using everything at your disposal to hunt monsters in a new world teeming with surprises and excitement. Recent Reviews: (2,307) All Reviews: (264,241) CAPCOM Co., Ltd.
People also ask
What is Monster Hunter World?
What does a Monster Hunter do?
What is a Monster Hunt?
What is Monster Hunter rise?
