Monster Hunter Rise Review: small but powerful

More than a decade ago, in a previous life The edge, Monster Hunter on the PSP it was the travel game of my choice. I would spend an hour or two a day dealing with solo quests while my train was going through Japanese country, then comparing loot with friends late at night while in which we would work to take over the monsters that we could not beat alone.

2018’s World of Monster Hunter we had no hope of reproducing that experience. World we tried to replicate the series as a major online event that took advantage of powerful hardware – and it was a huge success, bringing Monster Hunter to a much larger audience than ever before. World it was a good game, and Capcom moved clearly Monster Hunter in the right direction. But for me, something was missing.

That’s where Monster Hunter Promotion coming in. It is a Nintendo Switch-exclusive game that builds on it Worldimprovements – but now you can move on.

Monster Hunter Promotion this is not a new idea. Last time a new main Monster Hunter the game first came to home console – 2009’s Monster Hunter 3 for the Wii – it was coming off the huge success of an earlier PSP notification. Monster Hunter 3 it brought a lot of improvements to the series, but a direct port to the less powerful PSP would not have been practical for technical reasons, so Capcom changed many of the elements and content in a new PSP game with it. called. Monster Hunter 3rd. It ended up being the best selling game in the series, at least until World I got there, and the version that ate up the most time for me on those train tracks.

That is basically what Capcom has done Monster Hunter Promotion. It is not a Switch port World – it’s better. Almost everything did World there’s a big leap forward for the series here, and Eirich changing the formula further while operating within a range that makes more sense for the Switch. The result is a modern game feel at home on its portable hardware rather than the risk of being fit.

Monster Hunter Promotion this is probably the most technically impressive Switch game I’ve seen so far; it is certainly that most impressive which is not made by Nintendo. Running on Capcom’s RE Engine, the character and monster models look very close to those at World – especially on the small Switch screen. Capcom has done an admirable job of conserving Worldmeaning and style of less powerful hardware.

Environments are the biggest discounts. The standards feel more like old school Monster Hunter games than they did World, with a less elegant design and fewer graphic flowers such as thick foliage. Unlike the older games, however, the subsections are not broken up by loading screens, which helps Eirich play the same way Worldmore flowing style.

In fact, Eirich going further in that regard. Getting around the environments is faster than ever thanks to two new elements: a pet dog called Palamute that comes with you in battle and allows you to ride on its back, and a machine called the Wirebug which can be used to put up walls and hop on monsters, occasionally even controlling them in major conflicts with other animals. What Eirichthere is a lack of levels in complexity they add directly to it, and although your targets are marked on the map from the beginning this time, you will often find yourself figuring out how you meet them at their level.

Eirich feels even more suitable for portable play than previous games, as you will never find yourself wandering around aimlessly in search of a monster. Other changes save seconds that take up more than hundreds of hours – you now extract a resource supply from a mining block or bone pile with a one-button tap, for example.

Something else, Eirich is normal Monster Hunter game. It is a very complex action RPG where you choose one of several weapon classes for hunting increasingly dangerous animals, harvesting them for materials that you can use to curing new weapons and ammunition to take on more dangerous animals. The game is definitely an acquired taste, and I’m not sure the constant ban of tutorial pop-ups explaining obscure mechanics is just as helpful for newcomers as it is. Capcom thinks they will.

It is what helps, however Monster Hunter Promotion just not too hard compared to other games in the series, even World. I found the “city” questions that advance the story and take you to the endgame surprisingly easy – it’s as if they’re a tutorial in their own right. I’m familiar with the series, but it’s not an amazing player at all, but I eliminated most new monsters much faster than usual on my first attempt. City quests are never real gin meat Monster Hunter game, so I think it ‘s okay for them to be a fun venture that anyone can blast through.

There is also a series of challenging “challenge” questions available from the outset, which should dispel that notion Eirich there is no focus on the existing fans. But it’s hard to review any Monster Hunter game ahead of the release as I didn’t have much time to test it online, let alone see how the player’s base brings to its most challenging content. Eirichlongevity is largely due to its endgame design and how Capcom handles future updates, none of which are known at this stage.

At least for now, Eirich looks like a more solid content package than World at the time of launch before its premiere Iceborne expansion. Of course there is no shortage of monsters, and the mix is ​​wider than it is World offered, with several old options and some imaginative new designs.

Monster Hunter Promotion the most accessible game in the series so far, and this is probably the best. I am not prepared to call that yet, as much will depend on how the support turns out after launch. But Capcom’s classic bones are completely here already. Almost everything was good about it World also true of Eirich, unless you want to run it at 4K / 60fps. If you do (and I will too), a PC version is coming next year.

It feels like Monster Hunter comes full circle with Eirich. The series started on the PS2, sure, but it didn’t become a cult surprise when it moved to records, which is where it has now returned after World brought it to an even larger global audience. You will not need to travel far to appreciate how Monster Hunter benefiting from a portable format.

One of the joys of the Switch is that it allows you to enter during a game when you would not be able to, even if it is in a situation as basic as your living room. Monster Hunter Fans of the series have had just that once-again move, and with the exciting new design and portable form feature, Eirich much more should be adapted to the cause.

Monster Hunter Promotion available for the Nintendo Switch today.