Recent reviews by Lux

Overall decent. Probably a 6/10 for me personally.
However, as a Monster Hunter game, it falls short. The launch state of the game was pitiful, but the lack of content has been filled. I haven't personally experienced any notable bugs or save data loss.

Story: 3/5
Its a Monster Hunter game first and foremost. The story is passable, but doesn't provide anything spectacular. Per usual, it exist primarily to push plot. The cast of prominent characters is notably smaller than World, but I found them to be a likable cast.


Combat: 7/10
The game is notably fast paced compared to other entries in the series. I personally dislike most of the new monsters in the base game due to a mix of awkward hitboxes and the prevalence of attacks that have no clear telegraphing, or have tells similar to a completely different attack. However, I do like many of the changes to the returning monsters. The Rathalos fight feels quite fresh compared to past versions.

Gimmick: 1/5
The wirebug gimmick is much more in your face than past mechanics such as World's mantles and 4U's mounting. Wyvern riding has completely replaced standard mounting. The fast pace of the game pushes the player to crutch on wirebug based movement, especially following nerfs to dodging skills such as evasion and evade extender. Overall, it is a very intrusive mechanic, although the concept is fun.

Environment: 2/5
Rise uses an open map without loading zones, much like World before it. However, the environments are notably bare compared to World. Some of this is to be expected as the game was made for the Switch. However the way endemic life and environments are implemented gives off a feeling more reminiscent of arcade power-ups than using the environment to your advantage. Monsters locations are automatically shown on the map now instead of needing scoutflies or environmental clues to find them. Overall the environment is much more bare-bones and to the point than World's, although better than the static environments in past games.

Maps: 3/5
The maps introduce the standard "combat area" connected by a series of pathways. The combat areas feature enough variety to avoid being utterly boring, but feel quite flat compared to World and 4U. This differs starkly from the rest of the map. Due to wirebugs and wallrunning, the entire map can be traversed by the player. Once again, the wirebug mechanic pushes a need for its existence with what often felt like excessive verticallity throughout the exploration parts of the map, with the maps

Overall its a decent game, but I find that it is held back by the insistence of wirebugs. The faster pace may appeal to those who initially found Monster Hunter to slow or clunky, especially with the wirefall move, which allows the player to immediately get up after being knocked down by an attack.
Also, as my hours may indicate, I may be being overly critical here.

Todd is definitely NOT holding a gun to my head and forcing me to write a positive review.

Monster Hunter for casuals. Still a good game, but is missing much of the charm of previous games. New players will likely enjoy it, but vets will find it lacking. Weapon and armor designs are bland compared to past games. There are 31 unique large monsters. I consider it to be easier than Dark Souls 3, but harder than most games. I'd reccomend buying on sale or wait for a Iceborne if you're on a really tight budget.

Nep-Nep. 11/10