Topic: Monster Hunter Rise

@pablo1517 I agree with this sentiment, I have yet to actually learn any of the new monsters attack patterns, you can literally just beat them into submission.

World was my first game and I remember hitting the Anjanath wall and being stuck there for ages (even in multiplayer) - going away and crafting weapons that align with its weakness and having to study its moves to stop carting.

In Rise I'm still in the starting gear for the most part and have only upgraded my LS to the second tier and I'm still walking through most hunts with no problems - aside from gobbling potions.
Solo might have given me more challenge but I don't buy multiplayer games to play alone.

@Mr-Fuggles777 From the two big monsters I've dealt with, Solo is also pretty easy honestly. I got knocked down a couple of times, but I could easily recognize when the monsters were about to do heavy attacks or when they were about to attack.

@pablo1517
It's not dumbed down. It's streamlined like World was streamlined, with added complexity in areas that matter.

Easy is another story. Yes, the game is easier, at least in low rank. Which was by design, as Ichinose wanted to onboard new players. And even now there's plenty of new players who can't even beat Azurus and rage quit.

Coming from G rank elder dragons to Low Rank beginner monsters in offline village Quests designed to be even easier than normal... ya, it's gonna be noticeable if you're a veteran Hunter. But Low Rank Village is prioritizing new players more than vets. The hub quests, the added title update monsters, and inevitable Ultimate expansion which adds High Rank Village and G Rank Hub... that's where a veteran will find more difficulty.

Of course, just not upgrading armor is an easy way to curb some of the Low Rank lack of difficulty.

@Joeynator3000
Difficulty is the same... in the hub. The Low Rank village Quests are made a bit easier for newcomers. But it was always going to be easy regardless. It's Low Rank. When you take an experienced veteran with 2,000 hrs in the series used to fighting G rank elder dragons, and pit them against Low Rank monsters... it's not gonna be anything but easy.

I breezed through World Low Rank too. The difference this time is we actually have separate Hub Quests which, even scaled for solo, are noticeably more difficult.

@Mountain_Man
The red arrow is optional and turned off by default. It was only on in the demo for the sake of new players.

@VoidofLight it's definitely fun, just feels like an arcade title than a more tactical one. You don't even need to find footprints or anything on your first hunt now, the map just tells you where it is - everyone just dashes straight there on the dogs and after a few repostions around the map it's dead. I dont even bother going around for wirebugs or spirirbirds anymore because you don't need them.

@Mr-Fuggles777
Ya, that was by design. It's a different kind of MH game built ground up for quick pick up and play sessions on the go. A game designed for the Switch at heart. Just like World was designed for power consoles at heart. And I love both approaches. They're just different for different consoles and playstyles.

Straight into the action, leaving exploration optional. The spiribirds are also not needed, but provide an extra layer of help to new players who need it. I like getting them regardless because I love exploring.

@Mr-Fuggles777 I mean, to be fair, the aspect of finding footprints was a world exclusive feature, that probably will stay in the mainline entries. However, it is odd how paintballs don't return at least.

It is dumbed down in places.

Just the fact that it's by design doesn't make it good.
I don't see myself dumping 500 hours like when I first time which was back in Tri on the Wii and then 3U. Simply because - the game is too easy.

A lot of it comes from mechanical dumbing down, because wire fall, the ability to instantly recover from being knocked down via wirebug use is just straight OP. I get it. It lets the player get back into action making it more of an arcade, casual game. Sure. But is it fun in the long run? Not exactly.

I remember monsters that were all about stunning the player and you had to prepare with the gear for it, because monsters like Zinogre could lock onto you and force the stun, at which either another player helped you get out of it, your cat helped, or you had gear that negates stun, or you are dead.
In MH Rise I forgot the stun mechanic even exists, since I ALWAYS can recover before the monster can even do anything about the fact that it finally got me. Just jump away, chug a potion and you are ready to go like nothing happened. Sure, unexpierienced players will run out of potions and die, but for this to happen you really have to be new to the series.

For veteran players there is simply no challenge at the moment. As I said earlier. Some of the challenge in Monster Hunter wasn't even about running out of potions and health, but running out of time. Monsters could be so tough that literally the timer runs out when it's already limping. Now this is where the game shined beause you really felt the adrenaline rush. Game tells you that 5 min left to fail, monster starts limping away and it's a race against time.
I miss this. These long, hard hunts. These walls that you would hit and at this point you really start preparing:

• Potions
• Mega potions
• herbs and honey for more potions crafted on the fly
• Bombs
• mats for more bombs to craft
• traps
• mats for more traps on the fly
• monster is weak to sound? Bring sound bombs
• monster can fall down from being blinded? Better make those flash bombs and get some flashbugs too
  and so on and so forth.

Hell in 3U at the very end game I remember giving away ammo for my buddies that they would give me back later in the hunt when I've run out of it because fights were so tough and could take so long.

Apparently the arrow is turned on by default in the demo but not in the full game, which is cool.

I don't mind that a monster is auto-tagged after you spot it. You lose the busy work of crafting and throwing paintballs, but that's not a big deal at all.

Still waiting on my copy to arrive. FedEx tracking says — again — that it will be delivered today, and at least the status says it was put on the truck early this morning for delivery. Here's hoping.

@JaxonH I understand why they have done it but im getting bored of it already and it's stupid having to wait for endgame content when they know experienced players are going to blast through the "tutorial" - HR starts after 3* and still no challenge.
Might put it aside for a bit and come back once they have added more content and G rank drops.

@pablo1517
Completely disagree.

There's a difference between dumbing down and removing tedium most people hated and streamlining with quality of life.

People said the same kinds of things when World released. And the concern just turned out to not hold water.

I see myself dumping MORE than the 600 hrs I put in MH3U. Specifically because it's way more fun. Of course the game is gonna be easy in Low Rank... it's... low rank. That doesn't mean the entire game is a cake walk. Hub is more difficult, and has High Rank. Once Elder Dragons are added and G rank expansion released people are gonna complain it's too hard, just like with World. It's a base game. Base games are always easy.

Wirefall is the best addition to the series. All it does is remove tedium of getting back on your feet faster. That's it. There's no tactical advantage. You could always just lay there as long as you wanted and get up when it's safe. All wirefall does is cut out 10 seconds of boring filler every time you get hit.

@Mr-Fuggles777
Well, don't know what to say. I guess play something else.

As for myself, I don't think I'll ever get board of this game and will probably be playing for the next year, minimum. I haven't been this enamored with a game in my life. It feels like reliving my first MH only way more fun to play and exhilarating just to run around the maps in.

Honestly, Wirefall doesn't mean much either. It's optional. So if you don't want to use it, you don't really have to. I haven't used it since I got the ability to do so.

@JaxonH this is where I wish the switch had achievements as it would give me something to work towards until more content dropped.

Outriders has just released today, I still need to finish Beyond Light after a break from D2 and ESO's next gen upgrade is dropping soon so there's plenty to crack on with.

Glad that you are enjoying Rise so much and I probably will once the challenge ramps up via patches and updates.

Some of the new monsters in Rise gave me trouble, in the vllage version...the new monsters in World barely gave me any trouble at all...even Nergigante...

So yeah, I say World is easier than Rise.

I honestly kind of wish the maps were a bit bigger or a bit more complex. The shrine ruins is alright, but I can't say I really like the Tundra map, which is a shame honestly.

@VoidofLight The maps are the weakest part of the game imo. Once I'm bashing a monster around and in the thick of the action I forget about it though.

...I like the maps, it's one of the main things I like about Rise...World's were way too large and overly-complicated.

I actually wonder if any of the hunts make use of the verticality of the maps this time around. Mainly since it seems like there's so many areas that monsters wouldn't really go off towards, due to only being reachable via wirebug.

Guess whose order for MHR just shipped.

Should be in my hands Wednesday.

Can't wait.

Maps are the best the series has ever had. Part of it is being designed around the wirebug and palamute. They offer so much verticality, are just as big as World's maps (as confirmed by the devs) but are less confusing while managing to offer even more secrets and still retaining more open, less cluttered areas.

I would say the ice map is the weakest of the 5 though. It's still great, but the other 4 are just standouts.