* This game supports Korean subtitles
Many people are already playing, but anyone can play the trial version of “Monster Hunter Rise (hereinafter Rise)” on the Nintendo Switch for a limited time only. Single player and local/online network play are possible, and there are two types of subjugation quests featuring large monsters, all weapons can be used, and each weapon has a different type of armor. Subjugation quests can only be challenged 30 times, but basic training quests and quests where you can practice’Dragon Control’, a new action dealing with large monsters, can be practiced as much as you want, so you can practice enough and challenge the quest. .
One of the subjugation quests is a new monster,’Osaizuchi’, a quest on beginner difficulty with’Aoashira’ also appearing, and another quest is’Tamamitsune’, which attacks with water-based breath and bubbles. It is an advanced difficulty quest that also appears as’Rio Leia’. Both quests have limited time and items, so if you try a few times, you will be able to clear them without difficulty.
In the basic training quest, you can learn about a new action,’The Rope Bug’, and you can ignore the instructor Utsushi talking to teach the operation and focus on the search, so it appears on the field after scouring the new field,’Temple Ruins’. You can also check the creatures that do.
It’s not as wide a field as in’Monster Hunter World’, but it still feels wide enough. The density of the field, such as the mountain climbing point, is also dense, so it is good to take a calm look around.
New action’bug wire technology’ that increases the breadth of battle
Rise added a new action using a rope bug, but the basic flow of finding and defeating monsters to be defeated is not much different from the previous series. The details were not known, but in the trial version, the location of the large monster appears immediately after the quest starts, and the target monster to be defeated tells the direction to go with an arrow. It was nice to search the field in search of monsters like in the previous series, but being able to fight straight ahead is a part of joy for me, who is impatient.
Ryze’s combat feature is a rope bug that seems to have developed the world’s slinger. Each weapon has two types of’worm wire technology’ using it, and accordingly, there are weapons that have a wider range of actions than in the past, and weapons that are easier to use.
I especially felt this change in the hammer, the attack power is high, the reach is short, and the need to measure the distance remains unchanged, but the “Iron Repellent Rotation Attack” that can narrow down the monster at once makes it easier to hit even in the flimsy movements. “Impact Crater”, which can be used as a counter-feeling while being an aerial attack, is powerful. The hammer was a weapon that was quite annoying to me, but the point is that it is easier to hit than before and has a higher sense of refreshment.
Likewise, the attitude is that I feel that it has become easy to use. The linkage from stabbing, which was difficult to match due to the slow skill activation, has been changed to the linkage starting with the “flying kick” of the bug wire skill. The technology reached quickly and the reach was long, making it quite easy to use. The sword had a counter technique that was difficult to hit, but it is an impression that it has changed to be easier to use than the original due to the “Sleep Pose” that automatically activates the counter when it is attacked.
In this way, the insect wire technology has changed the battle compared to the previous one, and there is also a’dragon control’ that allows you to control a monster by inflicting certain damage with the insect wire technology. It is a system derived from the clutch claw added in’Monster Hunter World Iceborn (hereinafter referred to as Iceborn)’, and you can get on and control monsters and fight other monsters. The specific actions you can take are as follows
- move
- Weak attack
- Strong attack
- Evasion/Emergency Avoidance
- Rush exit
- Dragon Control Biggie
Basically, there is a delay when you act one by one, so you don’t move a monster like your own body, but you have the awkwardness of moving a doll as the name suggests controlling a dragon. Still, in combat with other large monsters, you can fight like a fighting game with evasion or emergency evasion, and if you can hit multiple attacks, it is possible to inflict large damage with the monster’s special move, the dragon control trick.
Also, even if there are no other monsters, you can inflict damage by driving a monster you control by rushing or leaving the wall. It is the same method as Iceborn’s Clutch Claw, but since the time to control the monster is displayed, it is also possible to rush the monster after waiting for a friend to prepare to fight, such as recovery or reinforcement.
The time you can control is long, so if you are playing alone, it is good to control the monsters to move long and fight monsters in other regions, but multiplayer is a nuisance. Of course, Wyrm class monsters seem to have a short control time, but if they are used efficiently, there is a possibility to shorten the time to defeat the monsters.
Field exploration with increased freedom as if playing other games
There are environmental creatures supporting hunters in a large field without regional conversion, and although the worldview is different, the overall atmosphere is close to the world. The field of the trial version is worthy of the name of the ruins of a temple, and rotten shrines and torii gates are scattered here and there. In addition, as time passes and darkens, ghosts appear, creating an atmosphere that suits Ryze.
Like in battle, rope bugs play a big role in the field. Depending on the direction in which the insect is shot, it rises into the air if it shoots up, and if it shoots forward, it dashes forward in any direction. If you make good use of the top shoot, you can easily cross obstacles and cliffs, and you can fly a considerable distance, so when you jump big, I feel like I’m playing a game other than a monster hunter right now. It is also possible to jump up high walls by shooting insects while running.
It is also easy to get to your destination with the shortest route by riding the mountain because you can move around the field almost without restriction with a rope bug. It is really fun to explore the field with the increased freedom of movement, but it would be nice to have one or two bases in various places because the field is still wide.
Field movement can relieve this regret because you can move at high speed with your companion Garrk. This feature is an advanced form of Iceborne’s Monster Ride, but it does not have the ability to automatically run to certain places like Iceborn. However, as the environmental creatures mentioned later can give you an edge in the battle of monsters, the concept of the world and the game differs from the beginning, so the automatic running may have been deleted.
Still, after playing the World and Iceborn where movement is too comfortable, I expect simpler movements to be added.
The core of the field is a variety of environmental organisms
What featured in the world was a large-scale field gimmick that changed the terrain. Rise could not confirm these factors, but instead, the types of environmental organisms have increased significantly, and the role is considered to be important. Environmental creatures useful for hunting, such as recovery bees, flashing wingworms, and sleeping gas toads that appeared in the world, continue to appear, so the battle can be advantageously progressed when used properly.
The convenience has also improved as some environmental organisms can carry up to five. Gas-based toads cause powerful abnormalities in monsters, but in the world it was difficult to use them because they had to induce them. In addition, as gas comes out when shocked, there were often cases of indiscriminately causing abnormalities regardless of enemy and allies… . This small gas toad can be recovered as an item again, so if it is a narrow and dangerous place, it can be recovered in advance to prevent a disaster.
Environmental creatures that can be captured include recovery classes that restore stamina or abnormalities, and environmental creatures that spray pheromones to focus the enemy’s attack, which seems to be helpful to wolf-class monsters.
In addition, there are environmental creatures that temporarily increase their attack power or defense when they come into contact with a new type. Since these reinforced environmental creatures inhabit all over the field, they can efficiently collect them while moving to the monsters to be defeated, and fight while gaining the upper hand.
There are parts that are less than the world, but it was made easy
Rise is the next monster hunter game released after Iceborn, and because the screen is similar, I often compared it with Iceborn. It is unfortunate that the resolution is degraded due to the difference in hard specifications, but the modeling and textures are clearly well made, so when the battle begins, regardless of the specifications, you can immerse yourself in the Japanese-style worldview drawn by Rise.
When I concentrate on playing like this, I don’t care much about the resolution, but as I played the game at 60fps in the world, it was difficult to set the timing due to the difference in the response of the motion while taking the attitude that the timing is vital. (Rise’s switch version is 30fps) That doesn’t mean that it’s unacceptable.
Although there is a difference in the difference due to the hard performance, the new action, the insect wire technology, sufficiently increased the battle pattern, and the whole new element was well incorporated into the game. In the case of Lance, personally, it was a difficult weapon to handle, but the new action made it easier to use. Insect wire techniques can be used in a wide range of attacks, counters, and evasions, and all can be easily used. It’s so high-performance that maybe the balance may change in the product version.
Guidance using guide bugs in World or Iceborn has been changed to simple and easy to understand with arrows, and dragon control, which seems to be an alternative to clutch claw, is marked with a limited time. Both systems have their own strengths, and many systems have become intuitive and easy to handle. It is fun to wait for how it will be finished until the official release in the future. The demo version of Monster Hunter Rise can be enjoyed by any Nintendo Switch user until 17:00 on February 1, 2021.