After being exclusive to Nintendo Switch for almost a year, Monster Hunter Rise releases for PC via Steam on January 12th, 2022. It currently has a free demo with no restrictions that can be played and offers an array of new features. Let’s take a look at 15 things that new and returning players should know before picking it up.
Story and Setting
The story in Rise starts in a new world with the player character becoming a Hunter in Kamura Village. Upon meeting Fugen the leader, one learns about the Rampage, a mysterious event that saw crazed monsters attacking the village 50 years ago. With signs of the Rampage returning, it’s up to the player to gather resources and prepare for the onslaught. Of course, given how previous games have played out, there’s more going on than meets the eye.
Kamura Village
The world is made up of a multitude of zones with each having areas that can be seamlessly navigated, from the forest-heavy Shrine Ruins to the snow covered Frost Islands among others. Kamura Village serves as your main base with one of the Wyverian twins, Hinoa, serving as the main helper who sets up Quests. Hamon is the Blacksmith responsible for all your crafting needs; Kisaki handles Buddy equipment crafting and upgrades; and Yomogi runs the Tea Shop that provides various buffs from meals. A variety of other NPCs await along with other facilities like the Argosy, which offers specific resources and trading goods, and the Training Area for polishing one’s own fundamentals and testing out weapons.
Palamutes and Palicoes
While the Palicoes of old return, armed with their own unique gear and tools, Palamutes are a new addition to the Buddy roster. They fight alongside the player and can be ridden as mounts around the map, making it that much quicker to locate monsters. Two Buddies will accompany the player during hunts in single-player, whether its two Palamutes, two Palicoes or one of each. You can recruit different Buddies (including preset appearances, skills and gear), change their behavior, or send them to the Dojo for training.
Weapons
The 14 signature weapon types of past games all return here including the Longsword, Sword and Shield, Gunlance, Lance, Hunting Horn, Bow, Dual Blades, Charge Blade, Hammer, Light Bowgun, Heavy Bowgun, Switch Axe, Great Sword and Insect Glaive. Each has their own unique playstyle and moves while benefiting from different armor perks. Some have seen significant changes over Monster Hunter World, most notably the Hunting Horn, to make them much more viable. But as it stands, mastering each weapon still takes a significant amount of time and practice
Wirebug and New Skills
Akin to the Clutch Claw from Monster Hunter World, the Wirebug can be used as a grappling hook. The difference is that it offers many more movement options like dashing in mid-air and on the ground, wall-running, quickly recovering from being knocked down and much more. It can also be used to execute different Silkbind skills with each weapon type (which consumes a Wirebug charge). It’s also possible to switch between different skills, like changing out the Great Sword’s Tackle for a Guard Tackle for increased defense.
Monster Riding
The Wirebug can also be used to ride monsters. Damaging a monster with Silkbind attacks or taking advantage of Turf Wars allows you to essentially control a monster with the Wirebug for a limited time. You can perform different attacks, evade incoming damage or launch the monster into a wall, so this is also a useful substitute for mounted damage.
Increased Verticality and Spiritbirds
Like in previous titles, each area in Monster Hunter Rise is its own unique biome with certain materials and quirks to be found. Many environments leverage the enhanced movement options, whether it’s using the Wirebug to quickly climb up rock faces or the Palamute to dash around the area. Another key feature is the presence of Spiritbirds in each area which provide slight buffs like increased stamina, health, defense, attack and more for the remainder of the Quest. Petalaces, a new equipment type, further augment this and different kinds can boost the effects of each Spiritbird collected.
New and Returning Monsters
A number of classic monsters, whether from World or prior titles, return in Rise including Anjanath, Diablos, Barroth, Barioth, Mizutsune and Rathalos. But there’s a fairly hefty selection of new monsters as well like Aknosom, Almudron, Great Izuchi and the new flagship monster, Magnamalo. Many other monsters also appear, which we won’t spoil, and on top of Turf Wars returning, players will also have to contend with harder Apex Monsters as well.
The Rampage
The Rampage is its own separate mode and consists of wave-based survival missions where players take on several monsters at once. Fortunately, you can set up defenses like turrets and fortifications to defend Kamura Village. Another cool feature is being able to summon NPCs like Hinoa and Minoto, Fugen and so on to deal damage. Monsters can’t be captured in this mode and will have different roles, whether it’s destroying gates or attacking Hunters directly.
All Post-Launch Content and Free DLC
At launch, the PC version will feature all of the post-launch content released thus far. This includes collaboration DLC with Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin, Okami, Street Fighter, Mega Man 11, Ghosts ‘n Goblins Resurrection and Sonic the Hedgehog. All of the new monsters and quests along with the new ending are also confirmed to be included at launch. It’s a great departure from the Monster Hunter World’s PC release and ensures that PC players won’t have to wait for all of the additional content to arrive later.
Gameplay Length
The story in Monster Hunter Rise can be completed in about 20 hours or so, if you know what you’re doing and ignore everything else (according to HowLongToBeat.com, that is). But if you’re partaking in side content, that can stretch up to 64 hours. Completionists seeking out every single upgrade, Crown, weapon and whatnot can easily invest over 150 hours into the game. There’s also multiplayer and the chance to start over with a completely different weapon type and build.
4K Resolution, HDR and Unlocked Framerates
In terms of graphical settings and features, the PC version offers resolutions up to 4K, HDR support and unlocked frame rates (with support for 120 Hz monitors). High resolution textures are also included and one can adjust options like texture filtering, ambient occlusion, shadows, anti-aliasing, mesh quality and much more. Based on previews and the recent demo, performance seems to be very good overall.
Ultrawide Monitor Support
Looking to see even more while being assailed by monsters? Ultrawide support is also included with the PC version of Rise with support for 21:9 aspect ratio monitors. There’s even a setting to correct the UI’s position when playing on an Ultrawide display. Overall, the results – based on what’s been showcased thus far – look incredibly stunning.
No Cross-Play or Cross-Save With Switch
Despite acknowledging requests for the same, Monster Hunter Rise on PC won’t support cross-save or cross-play with the Nintendo Switch. The reason given by Capcom is that “after looking into it throughout the development process, we found we are unable to implement it this time.” This extends to the upcoming Sunbreak expansion as well so unfortunately there won’t be a solution any time soon. One can always hope that plans change though.
System Requirements
Minimum requirements for Monster Hunter Rise on PC include an Intel Core i3-4130 Core i5-3460, 8 GB of RAM and either an Nvidia GeForce GT 1030 DDR4 or an AMD Radeon RX 550. Recommended settings include a Core i5-4460 or FX-8300, 8 GB of RAM and either a GTX 1060 with 3 GB VRAM or an RX 570 with 4 GB VRAM. Storage-wise, you’re looking at only 23 GB of space needed for installation.
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