Games of the Year 2021 - Game of the Year

Reaching the end of the line of our Games of the Year 2021, we are happy to present to you each of our Game of the Year choices.

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

---

Pierre-Yves: ENDER LILIES: Quietus of the Knights

I could say so much about ENDER LILIES: Quietus of the Knights but I already have from the below review to the preview that came before it. Artistically, it was a pleasure to look at. Musically, it was phenomenal where every area not only had its own various musical scores, but bosses not only each had their own, but they also had two where one could rise into the other before falling back down once the battles were over. Gameplay was stellar and I loved the evolution from beginning to the true end as you pick up new spirits and integrate them into your strategies.

If there's one title from 2021 that I think you should play if you haven't already? It would be this one as it's a Metroidvania that keeps on giving all the way to the ending credits.

Check out our full review of ENDER LILIES: Quietus of the Knights by developers Live Wire, adglobe and publisher Binary Haze Interactive for the PC (Steam).

Richard: Monster Hunter Rise

Admittedly I may be a little biased here, as I'm a huge Monster Hunter fan, but to see the amazing quality of life improvements, the little tweaks and changes from the older style, the fact the hunting horn is a viable option for casual players, as well as the cool wirebug stuff going on, this game hooked me in from the beginning.. The special moves, raid battles, and doggo transport were all wonderful additions. While it's by no means perfect, it's definitely at the top of my list for games I've reviewed this year.

Check out our full review of Monster Hunter Rise by developer and publisher Capcom for the Nintendo Switch.

Susan N.: Sherlock Holmes: Chapter One

Frogwares is the ultimate detective in their ability to find the right combination of gameplay elements that make a title enjoyable. They developed an open-world Sherlock Holmes game that contains different paths players could take. Not only did they expand upon the abilities that Sherlock could have in his younger years, but they also overhauled the combat system into one that fit the character. Despite that fact, they allowed players to skip the combat altogether if they wanted to focus on the investigation and intrigue of the story. Additionally, the studio did a brilliant job of livening up the story with excellent wit and a wonderfully crafted atmosphere. Considering that I had been looking forward to this title for a long time, I was not disappointed in the outcome. In 2021, nothing beats Sherlock Holmes Chapter One for me.

Check out our full review of Sherlock Holmes Chapter One by developer and publisher Frogwares for the PC (Steam).

Nick: Guilty Gear -Strive-

This is fighting at its best. It’s fast, it’s flashy, it’s accessible yet it rewards patience and dedication to improving with your preferred characters as well. The rocking soundtrack is the kind of OST I can gleefully listen to without playing the game itself, but it compliments the action and smooth visuals to perfection during gameplay as well. 

Check out our full review of Guilty Gear -Strive- by developer and publisher Arc System Works for the Sony PlayStation 5.

Robert: Star Citizen

Sure, we can technically say, “but wait! That’s not a game, that’s a tech demo!” and you’d not be entirely wrong, but this is my list and Star Citizen belongs here for the very simple truth that, as a ‘game-as-a-service,’ Star Citizen is exceptionally successful (as proven by Star Citizen having raised over $400M from crowd-funding) and is growing more successful with each quarter that passes.

Well over 100-ships currently in game and designed to a degree not seen in other video games, well beyond a dozen unique planets/moons, all with their own unique biomes, one of which is a massive ecumenopolis, hundreds of items, from lethal to non-lethal weapons, food and drink (which you need to consume to survive), and a massive, growing, and passionate community …

Star Citizen is without a doubt, a “game;” it’s just not a traditional one.

Read More

Monster Hunter Rise - Beginner's Guide

Monster Hunter Rise by developer and publisher Capcom—Nintendo Switch Beginner's Guide written by Richard.

Estimated reading time: 20 minutes

---

Hello aspiring Hunters, are you here for the classroom portion of your hunting test? Well thanks for swinging by! With the recent release of Monster Hunter Rise, we thought it would be a good idea to put together a little Beginner's Guide to Monster Hunter. My credentials? Over 4,000 hours and about 16 years of familiarity with the franchise. Don't let that worry you though, this is more of a lite introduction on how the game works, so that experience isn't needed to get into Rise. If you haven't already, feel free to check out my review for Rise.

Now, let's get into it!

What is Monster Hunter?

How does Monster Hunter work? In a nutshell, you will be embarking on quests from the guild to deal with the local overgrown wildlife, do some pest control, or collect items for those not tough enough to brave the wilds. The main focus is dealing with the large and dangerous creatures that roam the wilds outside town. Hunting the titular Monsters, as it were. Thanks to a slew of quality-of-life improvements debuting in Rise, there is little hassle regarding quest details. If you're starting now, you definitely picked a good time! Quest progression will follow a fairly simple pattern: select a quest, choose a weapon, eat for status increase, depart on quest, hunt the Monster, and then collect your sweet rewards. Pretty simple, right? Let's start by taking a look at what weapon to bring along.

Weapon Type

When you start up a new game, you will be equipped with a default weapon. In Rise this is a Long Sword. Immediately after gaining control of your hunter, you’ll see you have one of every weapon type available in your equipment box. Which weapon should you bring? There's no real right or wrong answer to this question; it is entirely personal preference. Every weapon is just as viable as the next, so there is no real wrong choice. What weapon you should bring is what weapon you WANT to bring. As a new hunter in Rise, you will want to head to the training area accessed for the first time through the town’s Buddy Plaza. There you’ll find an equipment box to change weapons. In the training area, the game will display the weapon’s button controls and some combos to help familiarize you with the system.

You can also check all the moves for a weapon in your hunter notes, so you don't need to worry about forgetting the weapon combos before you learn them. It is important to note that the attack value listed is raw damage value, and NOT a DPS value. Choosing a weapon simply because it has a high number usually doesn't end well.

There are a few different categories that each of the 14 weapon types slot into: heavy, light, ranged, and defensive. This is more of a loose terminology, since some weapons cover multiple categories.

●     Heavy weapons are slow to wield, but deal higher damage per swing. The Hammer, Great Sword, Switch Axe and Hunting Horn are your big heavies. They require commitment to any given attack, taking the time to learn the Monster’s patterns to deliver massive damage when the window presents itself.

●     Light weapons are quicker to swing, but deal less damage per hit. Getting more hits in allows for more opportunity to build up status and elemental damage, depending on the properties of the weapon. Sword & Shield, Dual Blades, Insect Glaive and Long Sword are your main light weapons.

●     Ranged weapons allow you to hit a Monster from further away using a variety of ammunition type. The Heavy Bowgun, Light Bowgun and Bow are your ranged options.

●     Defensive weapons allow you to stand your ground against Monster attacks and then retaliate. Lance, Gunlance and Charge Blade all use shields to let you know they’re your defensive picks.

You’ll be able to find a variety of in-depth weapon tutorial videos, but when you’re trying to learn, they can get overwhelming. Once you've done a number of quests and grown accustomed to your weapon, you can check out the tutorials to learn more of nuance available with each weapon.

Weapon Selection for your Quest

In order to choose a weapon that's right for the quest, it's important to know what the monster is weak to so you can bring a weapon that takes advantage of that weakness. Taking a look at weapon stats can provide an example of what you want to consider. The key take-aways are:

●     Attack

●     Sharpness

●     Affinity

●     Element or Status damage

Weapon attack is exactly what you expect: raw damage value. Bigger doesn't always mean better, but is generally desired for most weapon types. Sharpness is represented as a gauge with different colors (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, white) and provides a damage modifier for each hit you make. Sharpness also allows you to bypass some of a Monster’s defense, so your attacks don’t bounce off their hides causing your Hunter to flinch. If your Sharpness gets too low, you will need to sharpen your weapon with a Whetstone. Affinity is your weapon’s critical hit chance. A critical hit will deal more damage on that hit, and be accentuated with a red/pink effect on the screen. If your weapon has a negative Affinity, you have a chance to deal less damage on a hit, which will be accompanied by a purple/black screen effect. Element or status on some weapons allow for bonus damage or status effects on each attack. Some weapons won’t have any element or status effect, while some rare weapons can have both.

Element values are damage of that type applied to a Monster. Some Monsters are weak to certain elements and resistant to others. As you craft more weapons with different elements, you'll want to pay more attention to this stat. Most of the heavy weapon types, such as the Hammer, Hunting Horn, or Great Sword, don't rely on element damage, whereas Light weapons like the Dual Blades or Sword & Shield are able to rack up elemental damage quickly. Because of this, you’ll want to match your Light weapon’s element attack to a Monster’s weakness while a Heavy weapon won’t notice much of an impact to damage numbers. Once you’ve defeated a monster once, you’ll be able to check its elemental resistances in your Hunter’s Notes and exploit the weaknesses on future hunts!

Status damage works like elemental damage in that it provides a bonus effect to each hit and has a weakness/resistance system per Monster. Hits from a weapon with a Status value will fill an invisible meter. Once it reaches the peak, the Monster is affected by the Status effect. Each Monster has its own weaknesses and strengths to each of the available Status effects, and some Monsters will try to use these Status effects on you! A poison-using Monster like the Great Wroggi can still be affected by poison, but the effect won’t last as long as it would on one weak to poison. There are more aspects to weapons that will unlock as you progress into the game, but for your first hunts, this is what you should be concerned with. Bringing a thunder element weapon to a Rathian fight for instance is a good idea. Bringing a fire weapon? Not so much.

Food

You’ve gotta eat to live, and Monster Hunter shows why this is true. Eating has always been an integral part in the franchise, and Rise has simplified the matter. Whenever you go to eat at the Dango store, you will get a boost to your maximum health and stamina, as well as the possibility of gaining the effects associated with the Dango you chose. Never hunt on an empty stomach! New to Rise, a symbol will pop up next to your quest description after accepting, indicating if you've eaten. If you forget to eat before embarking on a quest, you can still eat in the field, thankfully. I remember the good old days when me and the lads got prepped to fight a Monster and then had to immediately abandon the quest because someone forgot to eat.

Item Loadouts

In Monster Hunter you have a wide variety of items you can take with you into battle. Everyone will have a different role they like to play, so your item loadout will differ from person to person. I've included a shot of my personal loadout for reference, but you don't need to follow that if you don't want to. What should you almost always have with you? First up are Potions and Mega-Potions. These are your main healing, and can be made really easy. Herbs can be crafted into Potions (they are also available in the town shop), and mixing Honey with a Potion in the crafting menu makes a Mega-Potion. The next items are the stamina-increasing Rations and Well-done Steak. These increase your available stamina up to the maximum limit. During a quest, your maximum stamina will decrease over time, and you’ll need to eat to regain the maximum. The lost stamina is indicated by a red empty bar behind your stamina gauge. Eating Dango before a hunt will increase your maximum stamina a little, remember, but you can raise it even more with Rations! Antidotes are a great item to bring with you when Hunting a Monster with Poison attacks!

Traps aren't required on all Hunts (unless the quest goal is to Capture the Monster), but are handy for new and experienced Hunters alike because they provide an opportunity to either catch a weakened Monster to end the quest, or provide some free time to wail on a Monster with all you've got. The Tranq Bombs are for capturing a trapped Monster, which will be covered in the Combat Tips section of this Guide. The last two items you see are Powercharm and Armorcharm, and provide an increase in attack and defense ratings, respectively. These will be purchasable from the shop after certain in-game progression has been met. Other optional items to take could include: Flash Bombs for blinding monsters or dropping them out of the air, Nulberries to get rid of any blights you may get, Lifepowder to heal teammates if you're playing online, and Bombs for blowing up monsters if they are asleep or in a trap. In addition to the items you bring, you can also grab temporary items from the supply box at the beginning camp when you start a quest. There isn't any reason not to take these, so go right ahead, but anything with “EZ” or the First Aid Med will be returned at the end of the quest. If you're playing online, don't take all the items unless your friends or teammates offer. Don't be that guy.

Know the Area

Monster Hunter Rise offers large open maps for you to explore and Hunt in, and knowing how to get around easily in the area will benefit you more and more as time goes on. Your map will make note of any environmental hazards, locations of Herbs, Honey, Endemic Life, Ore deposits and other key harvestables, but it helps to learn how to find these in a pinch as well. This is even more important now that Rise has introduced vertical movement, since the in-game Map isn’t the best at showing elevation at a glance. Remember to put down Great Wire Bugs on Jewel Lilies and explore to make future hunts easier. Know how to get back up to areas if you get knocked off a cliff or down a pit, and where there is any handy Endemic Life nearby. Vigorwasps are bugs with a floating green sack and provide a burst of healing when attacked or activated. Wirebugs give you a temporary extra Wirebug charge. Thankfully the days where you had to track the Monster, throw a paintball at it, and then hope the tracking paint doesn't wear off while the Monster is running away are long gone. Your map will track known Large Monster position. Some monsters also change the elements on their attacks based on where you fight. For instance, monsters that throw rocks will have elements attached to the rocks based on locale.

Combat Tips/Capturing

Fighting style will vary from weapon to weapon, and based on personal preference, so let me just give a few tips and pointers here. Have you noticed your attacks are bouncing off a Monster’s hide and causing you to flinch? Remember to keep your Sharpness up by using a Whetstone while the Monster is changing areas, fatigued, or focused on another Hunter. Monsters will enter an enraged state at certain thresholds. During this time, the Monster will typically be more aggressive and hit much harder. The enraged state typically begins with a loud roar, and some monsters will change their appearance slightly. After a time in this state, a Monster will calm down and return to normal. Don't be scared to run away from a Monster. If you're at low health or a Monster is enraged, it's perfectly fine to book it to a safe location to heal and take stock of yourself. A good example of a monster you should do this with is the Tigrex. When it gets angry, it hurts and just won't stop.

Capturing a Monster is a good way to end a Hunt without needing to completely drain a Monster’s health. When a Monster can be captured, a blue icon will appear under the Monster’s photo in the top right of the screen. You may also see the Monster limping away if it tries to change locations while capture-able. Normally a limping Monster will head off to its nest to sleep. During this time, you can drop a trap and throw two Tranq Bombs at the creature to capture it. When should you capture versus slay though? Drop rates for different parts vary based on hunting method. Some parts you can only carve off of a slain Monster, and some are only available from capture rewards. Check the Large Monster section of the Hunter’s Notes for drop tables if you need a reference.

Learning a Monster’s attack animation tells can help you to avoid attacks. If you’re swinging wildly and not watching the Monster, don’t expect things to always turn out in your favor. If you’re using a weapon with longer animations, be sure to time them so you won't get knocked upside the face for your attempt. The new Wirefall is a move that can help get you back up and either away from a Monster or back into a fight, but can lead you to getting hit multiple times by an attack since it cancels your invulnerability time. Sometimes after getting hit, it can be best to stay on the ground a moment while a Monster’s attack finishes. Once you have some experience under your belt, you can style on the Monster and use the Switch’s video capture to save the memory.

Know your positioning in a fight. Monsters will take different damage on different body parts. Some parts take more damage from Cutting weapons like a Monster’s tail, while the head is more vulnerable to Blunt damage. Each Monster’s entry in the Hunter’s Notes has a chart which tracks which body parts are more durable, which parts take more elemental damage, and which parts can be broken or severed. Part breaks cause a Monster to flinch and provide more rewards at the end of the quest! When playing online with others, typical etiquette is to have Blunt damage weapons like the Hammer attack the head, while Cutting type weapons focus on the tail. This way you can get KOs, part breaks and not hit your allies with your attacks. While you can’t damage a teammate with your attacks, you can make them flinch.

Crafting Gear

Now that you've successfully Hunted some creatures, it's time to turn them into pants! I've done a brief summary of weapons statistics, so let's take a look at armor. Armour is easier to understand, as it has a raw defense value, elemental resistance value, and skills attached to each piece of armor. Yes, you can mix and match, but I suggest sticking to a full set until you’re more comfortable with the game. In Rise, having multiple pieces from the same armor set equipped offers a small increase to all of your elemental resistances. The defense rating is your main area of concern, but it helps to be aware of your elemental weaknesses and resistances. If your current equipped set has a negative to fire resistance, you’re going to take more damage from a fireball attack.

On the flip side, if you have a high enough elemental resistance, you can take less damage and even gain immunity to some blight side effects. Your armor’s skills are what you are here for after defense. These skills provide in-battle bonuses for the Hunter. Most sets are geared for a specific playstyle, so just because that armor set looks fancy and has good defense, doesn't mean you want all those Bowgun skills when you're using the Dual Blades. Skills shouldn't take precedence over defense for new Hunters, but they can help to form your play style. Crafting armor at the Smithy takes a number of Monster parts and cash, so you may need to hunt a number of Monsters before you can craft your gear. Upgrading and forging weapons works on a similar basis. Don't forget that you can upgrade armor, which you should do if you have the resources. Upgrading increasing an armor piece’s defense stat.

Exploring Kamura Village

In Rise, there's a bunch of stuff to do in town and you shouldn't be neglecting it. Be sure to talk to everybody. People will give you quests that will generally result in something useful for you, such as better Dango effects or more Great Wirebugs. If you open the fast travel menu, if an area has someone who wants to talk to you, there will be an icon on the list. Next, in the Buddy Plaza, there is a tree you can climb with a nest at the top. Your Cohoot will collect an item after each quest and store up to five quests worth in the nest. Be sure to take advantage of the facilities in the Buddy Plaza. The Meowcenaries allows you to send idle Palicoes and Palimutes on their own side adventure to collect various items for you. Some items used in crafting can only be found using this system (indicated in Rise with sparkles in the Meowcenaries menu).

When crafter gear for your Hunter, don’t forget your Palico and Palimute! While I haven't really mentioned your furry friends too much, they require weapon and armor as well. Don't neglect them! Go visit the Buddy Smithy to get them geared up! Dressing up your cat and dog are one of the main draws of the series. Lastly, be sure to visit the Merchant often. Sometimes they will have a sale, cutting the price of goods in half and open up the Merchant’s Lottery for some more free items. This will be indicated by a music change and a nearby Felyne doing advertising.

General Tips

A few things hunters should know to make life easier.

1. You can cook Raw Meat and turn it into Well-done Steak by using the BBQ. There is both a visual colour change, as well as a song to note when to finish cooking. Well-done steak is useful for restoring stamina. The Motley Mix in the Dango Shop for turning any Raw Meat into Well-Done Steaks in bulk, which can save time as well.
2. Village quests are easier than Gathering Hub quests. Be prepared for stuff to be tougher in the Hub missions. While High Rank is exclusive to the Hub quests, it is a good idea to familiarize yourself using the Village quests first.
3. Don't make a weapon/armor just because you have the materials. This is a good way to run out of money fast. Not to mention those parts might be needed for other weapons or armor. Think before you make.
4. Endemic Life and Hunting Helpers are there for your benefit. Use them, simple as that. They can help turn the tide of battle in your favor!
5. Your Palico and Palimute are your lifelines in the early game, and can really make a difference late game. The dogs are for mobility, the cats are for support and skills. I highly suggest to bring one of each along. When playing online with others you only get one instead of two, and while it's hard to beat the mobility of the Palimute, don't be scared to try the Palico. Once you have more of the map unlocked and explored, you can travel faster without needing to ride your Palimute.
6. If a Monster is asleep, it takes double damage from the hit that wakes it up. Use bombs or a powerful blow when a Monster is sleeping for major damage. It can help to stack bombs, even if that isn’t the damage you want to be doubled. The Monster isn’t moving while it’s asleep and this is prime time to use that to your advantage.
7. Check the in-game notes and tips. They're there to help. While they may be a little overwhelming for the newcomers, a lot of what you need is right there in the manual.
8. If you're hurting for money, go on a harvest tour via the expeditions, collect a bunch of stuff, preferably rocks, and sell them. You probably won't need this in low rank, but harvest locations respawn approximately every four minutes, so getting money isn't too hard.
9. Don't be afraid to abandon a quest. If you have two faints in under two minutes, chances are the hunt isn't going well. You can choose to abandon from the start menu, and all your consumed items will be returned to you. There is nothing shameful in backing out to try again. Even I still do this if a Monster is just being particularly awful, or things just are going too poorly.
10. Remember your hunting etiquette for online play: Don't attack those who are carving, know your location to attack, don't run off to mine and leave your teammates to do all the work, send your teammates likes if they did a good job (you get free items for lots of likes), and don't use your teammates as lures unless they're your friends and are ok with it.

Wrap-up

That's it for the beginner's guide. While there is a bunch I haven't talked about, this is stuff that will usually come around either in High Rank, where you'll no longer be a newbie, or is more advanced than what you should be concerned about at the moment. If you have any questions, throw them down in the comments section and I'll try and answer them when I’m able to! Hope this makes your first Hunting experience a little better than mine way back in the day.

Happy Hunting!

Read More

Monster Hunter Rise - Switch Review

Monster Hunter Rise by developer and publisher Capcom—Nintendo Switch review written by Richard with a copy provided by the publisher.

Estimated reading time: 16 minutes

---

Hey there Hunter, it's time for another round of hunting! After the success of Monster Hunter World, we now get to experience Monster Hunter Rise on the Nintendo Switch. Is it better, is it worse, how does it stack up against World or previous titles? Well, now you'll have a chance to find out.

Following in the same vein as World, we get a storyline in this title, although it's still rather lacking if compared to major title games. You are a new and aspiring hunter for Kamura village, and your job is to fend off the monsters that are congregating the same as the event 50 years ago that is “The Rampage”. But what is the reason behind the rampage? Can you, a fresh new hunter, do what the last hunters could not? Only time will tell!

For those of you well versed in Monster Hunter gameplay, this next bit is more so a recap of what you know. As a hunter, it is your job to take requests from the local guild representative, and go out and complete them. Technically this could involve gathering certain materials, or killing smaller monsters, but the bulk will focus on hunting the large monsters that inhabit the world, and are teeming right outside the village walls. So it falls to you to take up one of the many available weapons, all with different playstyles, and head out with your dog and cat friends to beat the creatures into submission. Each weapon has its own strengths and weaknesses, and finding the right one to fit your playstyle can be just as challenging as fighting some of the monsters.

You get some really nice tutorial quests that explain exactly what you need to know in-game, as well as a training area that shows you combos for your weapon of choice and indicates damage levels. As a quick summary of how hunting works, you have a large map to explore, now with enhanced vertical options, and must go find the monster you're tracking. You have an HP and stamina gauge, which can be restored through item use or environmental aspects, and all fights are “live”. Different actions will deplete the stamina gauge, such as running and dodging, and losing all your health will cause you to faint, or “cart” as we in the community call it. Generally speaking, 3 carts or running out of time and you fail the quest. There are also free expeditions you can go on that are unlimited time and faints.

So what's new from World or older titles? Well, a lot. Like, a lot a lot. First up, the clutch claw from world is gone and replaced with a wirebug. These little fellas carry two charges and allow you to use a sort of “dash” to move around. But wait, there's more! They can also be used when climbing mountains, riding monsters, and using powerful moves! Yes, climbing mountains. You can now climb virtually anything in-bounds on the map, something so removed from standard monster hunter titles I was floored by the fact I was saying “there's so much to explore in this Monster Hunter”.

Your hunter is basically a ninja, being able to run along walls and throw an infinite amount of kunai held in some pocket dimension. Wall running depletes stamina fast, but can be useful for mounting arial attacks, running from monsters, or just getting over a wall separating you and your prey. The wirebugs also allow you to mount monsters when they've built up enough mounting damage, and you can ride and control them like puppets. Clunky puppets yes, but I'd like to see you do better when moving something 20 times your size using only six wires. You can attack with the monster, ram them into other monsters or walls, and if you land enough hits, you can unleash a powerful finisher move.

Also new to Rise are elemental blight attacks. You say those have always been a thing? For the hunters yes, but now you can inflict monsters with blights as well! There are also new status, such as hellfire blight, and old status inflictions may have different effects than you are used to. You'll see many returning monsters from World and previous titles, such as the Tobi-kodachi, Rathalos, and Mizitsune, just to name a few, as well as new introductions, such as the Magnamalo or Boss Harag. I'm pleased to note that enemy hitboxes have been refined even more than they were in World, and there were a lot less instances of me yelling at my screen that I shouldn't have been hit. Another neat little feature added is the Petalace, a sort of necklace thing that will collect energy from Spiribirds you find while out on a quest to confer you permanent buffs for the duration of the quest, up to a certain point. Each petalace has a different focus and stat cap, so check them out.

Now, let's give some love to your friends and mine: Palicoes and Palamutes, or the Felynes and Canynes. Essentially, like in World, you can bring a cat partner into battle with you. Now, in Rise, you can also bring along a doggo! And hoo boy, let me just say, this dog is great. The doggo is essentially a free taxi service that will also climb walls, allow you to sharpen your weapon/drink potions on, is faster than normal running, won't run out of stamina, and can drift like you're playing freaking Mario Kart. A buddy of mine and I literally laid out different “circuits” in each of the five areas quests usually occur in, and we had races around the map.

These dogs are one of the three best changes/additions that have been made to the franchise, and I honestly have no idea how I'd survive without them. This isn't to say the cats don't have a place at the table. Each cat still has a different roll, and unlike world where you could just change the role, now we are back to hiring different companions like we did in Generations. The cats have role skills and are incredibly useful as partners in hunts. Train a few of these fellas up and watch them drop healing plants for you, steal monster materials, or place traps to help you fight your targets.

Speaking of large monsters, and just monsters in general, let's set aside a space to talk about the amount of data you are given, both on in-quest maps and in your notes. Let's start with the maps. You are now able to bring up a detailed map and select different materials/endemic life on the map. While this doesn't apply itself to the minimap, it is still insanely useful for finding specific ore deposits or endemic life. And why is the endemic life so important? Well, you can now pick them up to bring them with you and use them on monsters. That's right, endemic life now has a very real and useful application. Except the gust crab. Whichever butthead decided to put those in clearly didn't think anyone you hunt with would misuse those at all. No way. Either way, the map is now really useful when going on harvesting runs. Couple this with the fact you can now gather/mine/harvest everything while on your dog or in one move or even while running by? Absolutely glorious. One tink of a pickaxe and I have 6 ores? Hawawawawa. But the map isn't the most detailed item. No no, that honour goes to the Large Monster hunter notes. After beating a large monster, its data is added, allowing you to see full weakness charts and drop tables. You now have a personal in-game wiki for monsters.

New to Rise we are also introduced to “Rampage Quests”. These quests function like tower defence submissions, where you need to protect the gate at the end of a path by setting up installations to help defend against the monsters that come in. You can set up manual, automatic, or special installations to help fend off the horde of monsters. You start with only some basic equipment, but as you fulfill submissions and fend off monsters, your installation level increases, allowing you access to better equipment, as well as mechanisms such as the dragonators scattered around the field. During the rampage quests, you can have a lot of enemies at once on screen, so be prepared to have things get dicey, especially if you get a bunch of the same type.

There are three types: aerial/ranged, targeted, and gate crashers. The targeted type monsters will make it their mission to see you K.O.'d, while the aerial/ranged monsters tend to sit in the back and lob shots at you when you aren't looking. The gate crashers will completely ignore you and head straight for the gate you're trying to protect. These should be your primary focus, as you can have lots of enemies at once, meaning if you get a lot of gate crashers rolling in, you're in for a bad time. Three Khezu at once made me want to cry. Thankfully, you have two ways to win a Rampage: either defend until the timer runs out, or defeat the boss of the horde. Thankfully, you don't have a faint limit, so you can keep on going until either the gate falls or you win. The installations available for you to personally use start with only ballistae, but you gain more options, as well as upgrade the installations, as the level of your gate increases. The level is per quest, so your level will reset after the quest. I personally found the rampage quests to be most fun as a group with my friends. The more people there was, the more fun I had, so go out there and convince all your friends to play with you.

There are a bunch of quality of life upgrades that have been made, and while I could spend a few hours talking about each and every one, I'll just list a few here as examples. First off is the ability to fast travel around the village. It's super speedy, super handy, and if somebody wants to talk to you, it's indicated on the fast travel menu. This is also available during online mode, which I will get into in a bit. Mining and gathering is now done extremely fast and is super convenient, being able to grab items on the go. Additionally, it feels like the harvesting locations respawn a lot faster now than they used to. Stocking up on select items is also simpler now, as you can buy pretty much anything a standard hunter would need, provided you have the money. I've already mentioned the doggo travel system, but let me just emphasize how convenient that is. The food system has also been optimized and it is now much easier to get the effects you are looking for.

In the area of “nice to have but not really impacting gameplay”, Rise clearly separates what is expected from a new hunter to a veteran hunter. Village quests are for the newbie hunters for the most part. The monsters felt really scaled down to what I was expecting, and fight generally lasted between 3 to 7 minutes depending on how much health the thing was and how often it ran away. The hub side of things usually had 10 to 15 minute hunts, which is more in line with my G Rank hunt times from other titles. While I personally found the village quests to be less challenging than I'd like, it certainly is useful to introducing the newer players. On a neat side, the hunters now have voiced lines! They're a little cliche and campy, but overall not too bad. Having your hunter yell out “Here comes a big attack” or “It's going after you” is really cool to hear. If you aren't a fan of the hunter talking, you can adjust it in settings and change the language of the hunter. You can select between English, Japanese, or “Monster Hunter Language”, so you can always swap it if you start cringing too hard. It's really nice to see the weapon appearance variety in Rise. One of my biggest complaints about World was that most of the weapons all looked similar, just small changes or palette swaps. No longer is this the case, as the weapons are full of unique appearances once more. The crafting system now also feels much easier and better to navigate, and everything is separated nicely.

A few aspects that I am personally fond of, although probably won't matter to most, involve the unlocking progression, guild card achievements, intro scenes for monsters and locales, and the photo opportunities. Starting from the top, there is a fairly clear and natural progression order for unlocking aspects of the game. For instance, some aspects, such as decorations, only unlock when you start high rank, which makes sense on two fronts. Most players who are only for Low Rank quests won't or don't need to worry about them, and they are only applicable to High Rank armour anyways. For the guild card achievements, as far as I can tell, there are no rewards for crown farming. Any of you who do this know that pain, and I can honestly say that I consider any guild cards complete if they have everything except the crown achievements.

After 126 Jade Barroth from Tri Ultimate and no gold crown small or large, I just got too frustrated. The guild card achievements don't actually do anything, they're more of a bragging rights deal. Keeping with the motif of the very Japanese themed village, every time you encounter a new monster or locale, you get an introduction cutscene in a sort of “Japanese style poetry” type deal. Even my friend who isn't a fan of the Japanese culture motif liked them. The photo opportunities are great as well. You get a pet owl, or Cohoot as it were, that can take pictures while you're out on an adventure (although you do this manually). Whenever you take out the camera, there's a little space in the top right that will tell you the name of the creature featured in the shot, if applicable. These pictures can then actually be used in the Hunter's Notes to replace the existing pictures. My current goal is to fill the Large Monster notes with pictures of the monster, with my friend and I in the picture, cooking steak, and the monster can't be asleep. We are replacing all existing pictures with these.

Now let's talk a bit about the online functionality. I am super excited to say that playing online together has never felt easier. It's faster, smoother, you're allowed to do more, and it's altogether a really enjoyable experience. So first up let me preface by saying that only Hub quests can be run in online multiplayer with other people, and they do scale to number of people. Fancy new change, there is no “online specific” area, whoever joins your room visits your village. You can literally run around outside the gathering hub and see your friends, the fast travel on the map still works, and you can still access any shop or function you need to. Quest loading times are loads faster, and you now have a hot command that will let you access quests anywhere.

Essentially, if you are off somewhere and someone posts a quest, you can tap up on the D-Pad on the quest indicator, and join and ready for departure from anywhere. This is super handy and I love it. While the maximum number of hunters per lobby has reduced to 4, this is perfectly fine with me, as you rarely get a large group that's super cohesive in what is being hunted, and it makes it easier to join in on quests with only four people per lobby. One of the best parts though? Rise will recognize if you have been booted from a quest and rejoin the lobby/quest. I was having some internet trouble while playing with my friends so I got dropped from the lobby. I rejoined and went back out on the quest, and it started me at the base camp with the items I took from the supply box still in my inventory. This is genius, good job developers.

While there is a lot to love about Rise, there are some aspects that could have used a little bit more work. For instance, there is a distinct lack of elder dragons in Rise. The elder dragons have always been some of my favourite fight (except the Kirin), so it was a little disappointing to see so few. It also feels like there is less content than other monster hunter titles. While I realize that a lot of quests in previous titles were “same monster, different location”, when some star levels don't even have two full pages of quests, it does feel a little...lacking. I know there is free content update, including story content from what I've heard, but that feels like something that should've been included from the get go. On a more personal note, I'm sad to see there aren't any Event Quests in Rise, at least not yet. I'd like to see more “Phantom Urugaan” style quests or special reward quests.

Good news for all those fans of the monster hunter soundtracks (myself included), the soundtrack for Rise is exactly what I've come to expect from a monster hunter title: awesome orchestral pieces and spicy monster themes. The graphic quality when using the Switch dock is also really good, although the handheld mode is, obviously, quite toned down. Each area you visit: Shrine Ruins, Frozen Islands, Sandy Plains, Flooded Forest, and Lava Caves have soundtracks and visuals to match their location themes, and it really feels like a lot of work was put into planning out the locations in detail.

Summary

Overall, Monster Hunter Rise is a stellar addition to the franchise, introducing quality of life improvements, some really great new monsters, doggos, and a really well functioning online mode. The new Rampage Quests are pretty neat, and are really fun as a group, but can get a little frustrating depending on how many and what type of monsters are introduced at the same time.

While Rise definitely feels “short” in comparison to other titles, there is a lot to love about the direction Rise has taken. As a veteran player, there are some mechanics that have been simplified or removed, like hot and cold drinks, that I feel bitter about seeing gone or “oversimplified”, but looking back on it, it's pretty much all stuff I would constantly complain about anyway. The takeaway is that Monster Hunter Rise is a great title in the franchise, hands down.

Score: 8.75 / 10

Read More