Monster Hunter Rise

Monster Hunter Rise is a 2021 action role-playing game developed and published by Capcom for the Nintendo Switch. It was released worldwide in March 2021, with a Windows port released in January 2022 and ports for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S were released in January 2023. An expansion pack, Sunbreak, was released in June 2022.

Rise follows many of the new conventions established in Monster Hunter: World while also introducing new features and mechanics, including a new animal companion called a Palamute that can be used to ride across the map or into battle, and the use of Wirebugs to traverse the world and mount and ride certain monsters. The game received generally positive reviews upon release with critics praising the gameplay and its expansion of the mechanics introduced in World. It has sold more than 15 million copies worldwide since launch, making it the second best-selling game in the series. Sunbreak has sold more than 8 million copies since launch.

As with previous Monster Hunter titles, Monster Hunter Rise has the player take the role of a Hunter, tasked with slaying or capturing large monsters using a variety of weapons, tools, and environmental features to damage and weaken them while surviving their attacks. Successful completion of the offered quests provides loot, typically in the form of various monster parts from the monster, which are used to forge new armor and weapons that can be used to take on more powerful monsters, forming the series' notable core loop. Several of the series' monsters return along with a host of new monsters developed for Rise. All fourteen weapon types that have been present in both Monster Hunter Generations and World, which mix archetypes of swords, shields, staves, bows, and guns, are present in Rise.

Rise uses the same seamless map approach introduced in Monster Hunter: World unlike the zoned areas typical of earlier games in the series. Its maps are more focused on vertical movement than previous games, as implied by its title, so new tools are given to the player to help with quick vertical scaling. The Wirebug, similar to the Clutch Claw added in Monster Hunter World: Iceborne, allows a player to grapple and swing across gaps or to higher locations as needed. The Wirebug also has different interactions with each weapon type, adding to that weapon's set of moves and combos. Further, the Wirebug allows a player to engage certain monsters in Wyvern Riding, letting the hunter mount and control the creature to a limited degree as to either lead it into areas more amenable for combat or to engage in combat with a different monster.

Palamutes are new dog-like companion creatures in Rise. The player can ride them to quickly navigate the map without losing stamina. Additionally, Palamutes can quickly scale cliffs and perform attacks while fighting monsters alongside the player's other companion option, the cat-like Palicoes, who return from previous games.

Rise features both single player and local and online multiplayer modes with up to four hunters in a group. In single player modes, the player hunts with up to two of any combination of the Palico or Palamute companions. In the online modes, players selects up to one of either the Palico or Palamute to join them.

In addition to the series' typical hunts, Rise introduces Rampage, a tower defense mode where the players must defend the base village from several attacking monsters. Prior to and during the attack, the players can set up siege weapons and instruct non-player characters to attack the monsters while the players attack the monsters directly.

Besides incorporation of new content such as new monsters and locales, the expansion Sunbreak adds in a Switch Skills Swap feature that allows the player to switch between two different skill sets while in the middle of a hunt without returning to a base camp. Current non-player characters in the hunting hubs can be befriended by the hunter character and then become companions that join the player for hunts.