The best Monster Hunter experience in the series
For newcomers to the series, the amount of information you’re presented with during the first few hours of Monster Hunter Rise can be a bit overwhelming, but doing exactly what the tutorials advise you to do can make the transition much easier. While veterans of the franchise won’t have any issues jumping directly into their first hunt, I’d strongly recommend visiting the training area first to get used to the chosen weapon. Monster Hunter Rise introduces a new companion that will help you during your hunts, so besides the “traditional” palico, you will now be able to take a Palamute with you. These are canine creatures that not only help you fight monsters but also let you ride them without losing your stamina. The addition of Palamutes reduces the monster-hunting downtimes in the previous games to zero. You can now traverse entire maps in a matter of a few minutes, not the mention that you’ll now be able to sharpen your weapon while riding on the Palamute, or even gather resources. The funny thing is Capcom went above and beyond to make both the Palico and Palamute more useful to players, so Monster Hunter Rise allows you to recruit more of these. Obviously, you can only take one of each with you on a hunt, but what’s interesting about them is that they now have different skills. Before recruiting a new Palico or Palamute, you can see their skills and choose the ones you think are suitable for your playstyle or particular hunt. Moreover, they typically have more skills that they can use, but you can switch between them on the fly. This is something that the game doesn’t explain and lets you find out on your own. Another interesting new gameplay feature that sets Rise apart from other Monster Hunter games is the new Wirebug mechanic.
