Topic: Monster Hunter Rise

@Pizzamorg
It'll be fine. Most of the Switch player base actually prefers Switch over PC due to the hybrid advantage. I'm sure a fair few would have gladly bounced back and forth to PC if cross save was available (myself included) but aren't willing to be stuck on TV screen if it's an either-or scenario (especially if having to replay everything for the privilege).

For better or worse, because Capcom has decided to not pursue cross save, most of the PC player base will be non Switch owners and the few who don't mind redoing all their progress and don't see any value in hybrid gaming. Which, judging by the polls, is a very small percentage of Switch gamers.

You play that Magnamalo quest yet? It's absolutely brutal. I'm talking full triple cart brutal.

I’ve been slacking on the events, if I am being honest. I made it all the way to the last but one monster and the grind was just absolutely insane to unlock the final monster, I never could be bothered. I should probably bang out all the events to get there, as I assume I’ll need to for Sunbreak but it’s like “here is a brutally hard version of a monster and if you win, you get a sticker!” Or something. Just really kinda naff.

@Pizzamorg Hey I can play with you to make the grind faster if you'd like.

Yeah I am down to play with anyone, been a while since I last played so I’ll be a little rusty but feel free to add me and we can arrange some sessions.

I feel like the lack of cross-saves ruined it for a potential audience, since me and a couple of friends were actually considering buying the PC version, and just playing on that... but we don't want to start over, since this is one of those games that you just don't really want to have to grind out again after being on top for a while, so it hindered our interest in buying the pc port.

@Pizzamorg
I don’t think you have to do all of them, just the advanced 7 start quests listed under high rank. That unlocks the final quests in the game.

The event quests, however, are DLC quests and available immediately after claiming them from the courier, and will show up under “Event Quests > High Rank” at the Hub.

It may only unlock stickers and stuff, but the fun of Monster Hunter is in the gameplay and overcoming a challenge. Previous games never gave you anything for the event quests- they were just for fun. So if I get to unlock something extra like a gesture or sticker or layered armor piece, all the better. It’s not my primary motivator but it’s a nice little bonus for something I was going to play anyways for the fun of it.

Yeah I cleared all the higher rank stuff, but I still have something crazy like 50 plus HR to clear to unlock the last monster. Just such a huge mountain to climb with no new content to play.

@Pizzamorg
Ahh, Valstrax. Right. Gotta hit HR100.

I hit it fairly easily, as I recall. I did every quest in the game and I'm... [checks game] HR184.

The event Quests alone should be enough to yet you to HR100. Plus, if you pick an endgame weapon and armor set you want to work toward, that grind will really contribute as well.

I made the perfect mix set with max amount of the exact skills I wanted, with perfect decorations and talisman. With a separate version of the set for charge blade, a separate version for Switch Axe, a separate version for Gunlance, a separate set for Insect Glaive/Dual Blades, a separate set for Hunting Horn, and even a Long Sword set.

I still need more Defender 9 tickets from Apex Monsters and Apex Rampages though, to finish upgrading some Rampage weapons to Level 9. They're really good to have because you can apply layered skins to them. Combined with layered armor, you can make any fashion set in the game, weapon and all, without sacrificing the skills underneath or using a lower tier weapon.

Yeah, that is the thing. I either keep fighting monsters I’ve already fought many times over or do the event quests, but the event quests are just not very interesting. Here is a harder version or here is more of and you get some stickers for the end result.

I think the Rise levelling experience is significantly more enjoyable than World, but while I don’t think World had a great endgame until Iceborne basically, Rise’s existing effectively “create your own” end game frankly sucks imo. It doesn’t help that the game is significantly easier than World and has a significantly watered down gear system from World, too. Like going through the levelling period I appreciated Rise being easier, it allowed you to just have some fun and feel powerful. World almost never let you feel powerful, you’d have to minmax every drop of your build to still get beaten into the floor, but not as hard. That just isn’t necessary here. If you have no build synergy at all, you’re still gonna get wrecked, especially on some of the optional event quests but it just simply isn’t necessary to minmax every droplet, it is entirely optional. And like I say, the simplification of the gear system just made me even less interested, given it was optional.

I simply played through all of the monsters, did some stuff with friends, made some weapons and sets but when I saw the grind wall for the final monster, I was like “no thanks”. I had a really enjoyable 60 odd hours and didn’t see the point in spoiling that with another 60 hours of pure, mindless, grind to get to the level requirement. Like I could do stuff like learn a new weapon or something, but it’d mostly be for the sake of it, rather than really enjoying it.

That is why to me Stories 2 was the better MH game this year. The game had a proper endgame and a much more compelling build system thanks to the gene system. I think I am over 100 hours into that game now and I still have plenty to go back and do. And like I say, that isn’t to say I didn’t love the 60 or so hours I had with Rise, but by that point I had well and truly had my fill.

@Pizzamorg
If you had your fill, you had your fill. I just don’t even come close to getting my fill until I’ve sunk several hundred hours in. At the end of the day the enjoyment from playing, for me, doesn’t come from progression or sets or any other meta, it just comes from playing. I sunk 40 hours into the demo. The demo had zero progression or save data or anything. But it was just so fun hunting those monsters, I never wanted to stop. Obviously the appeal wears off eventually but for me that didn’t come until the 400 hr mark in the full game. That’s not to say I don’t like progression and things to work towards because I absolutely do, and it does boost the addiction, but this has always been a series I can just pick up and hunt a monster for fun here and there, or play with friends. Even helping others grind for sets they want is entertainment enough, as long as the hunts are challenging. But if I have something to work towards I won’t put it down until I’ve done it. Valstrax, for example, is an awesome monster, one you’re definitely not going to want to miss out on, and this last page of event quests is so difficult I’m even triple carting. So there’s something to work towards and there’s challenge- all the ingredients needed to keep the party going.

Having said that- I never did beat Iceborne, and I dropped World after 200 hrs before the first DLC monster was even added. And it’s not because it didn’t have a good end game, because I actually think it did a better job of that than Rise, I think it was just being stuck on the TV makes it hard to stick with it. One day I’ll get back to it. Probably when the Deck releases and I can play it hybrid.

Add me, in case you’re ever on. I’m always down for a hunt (and I legitimately need help on these event quests, I’m getting destroyed).

1947-6504-9005

I think Switch playerbase won't diminish much with the PC release because of no cross save. Honestly, I'd say Nintendo is probably the reason there's no cross save. Sure they allowed it for Daemon X Machina but that didn't do particularly well, compare that to MH Rise which is the most successful 3rd party game on the Switch.

@Grumblevolcano
Eh, if they were worried they could easily just say cross save only works if you own Sunbreak on both platforms, using, "to ensure parity" as the excuse.

I think Capcom just honestly doesn't think there's much overlap between fanbases. The survey they ran overwhelmingly stated cross save is the number one desired feature, but if they think it's a biased sample from the vocal minority, or if it's not in the work schedule, they're probably like eh, we don't have time... not worth it. Not understanding they're missing out on 8 million potential double dip sales by its omission.

Yeah, it has very much become a change for me as I’ve gotten older and experienced a lot more games. I find a game has to be really special to have no real progression systems and for me to stay engaged with it. Most games now, I need some sort of chase or grind, to keep me motivated to keep playing it. When you’ve got access to so much content, I just need some kind of hook to convince me to invest my time there and not somewhere else. I can keep playing Rise, but I’m not really gaining anything new and there are so many other new gaming experiences I had since I put Rise down, that I might have otherwise missed out on had I invested all of my time hitting that arbitrary HR rank. And that isn’t me trying to convince people otherwise, not my intention, just saying for me specifically, when I have the whole gaming world at my finger tips, I need a compelling, dopamine delivery system of a tangible progression loop, to keep myself around.

And yeah, I know a lot of diehard MH vets didn’t like how much Rise streamlined things, but I do think it was mostly for the better, the faster, more action focused, more power fantasy centric experience is just a more enjoyable experience, in my mind. But no matter how artificial so much of it was, World certainly used things like oppressive difficulty and artificially inflated grind loops to keep you locked in for the long haul. Rise feels more modern in that it can be enjoyed almost like a single player title, it doesn’t have to become a second job in order to be able to see and experience everything. For me personally, I prefer that but I know others put in literally like 10k hours into World and were hoping Rise would be their next 10k hour game and were sad when it really isn’t necessarily a 500 hundred hour game, let alone a 10k hour game lol.

But yah. I’ll add ya, I’ll maybe try and toss together a Switch axe build since I’ve been meaning to try it and then let you carry me through hunts as I drag the whole team down with my ineptitude. Gotta get @Snatcher on the squad, too.

@Pizzamorg My name has been summoned, I shall do my duty! whenever you wish.

Also I understand where your coming from, Idk why die hard MH fans just can't have fun, sure its not as hard, but I feel like some thing in the older MH games, just didn't need to be there, Its fun at the time, but the games kinda need to evolve you know?

Wile yes it became more streamlined, at what cost? not fun I will tell you that, Its just so fun to move all over the place like you do, I do love having to not think about what I'm taking on a hunt, so if I forget I to get out of the whole thing all together,

I still like genU a lot, and I still need to finish it, and with my statement, i'm not saying its fun, I just mean its fine if the other MH games changed, MHGU has a lot of content to offer, and lots of DLC quest, so you should get your OG MH fill by then, and even if you do, and what to come back for some more, I'm sure there is enough quest for you to do in the mean time.

Sorry if I butted in your guys talk.

I'm new to the game, just got it a few days ago and all, and having played for a few hours I can say I enjoy it. It's a really different game to what I'm used to, so more realistic combat instead of bombastic RPG elements, and very open world traversal. Can't wait to see what I discover next!

@JaxonH and @Snatcher I added you both, let me know when you guys are all ready. I’m probably going to be out most of today but should be around in the evening. In the mean time I am gonna try and put a Switch Axe build together really quickly.

@Pizzamorg Oh ok so that was you, Sure thing, And If I can't make it, Blame my Messed up Time schedule.

(If you had a time that would be great)

So, update. I love the Switch Axe. Am I a Switch Axe main now? Probably.

Much like with the Hunting Horn, MH Rise makes the Switch Axe significantly easier to use without losing any of the depth or complexity of the weapon’s mechanics (if that makes any sense at all).

I tried the Switch Axe in World and it had long, complicated, combos which were an absolute nightmare to pull off. Here, all of that has been simplified into much smaller, easier, combos but you still need to keep on top of your various gauges and so on to maximise the weapon. Oh and the Elemental Discharge just makes me feel so ***** cool. Sorry for anyone I bump out of the way.

Oh and the Amped State with all the explosions? And that mounting Discharge move? I AM YOUR DADDY NOW. Just so cool.

I made the General’s Strongaxe as it is an exhaust axe (I hear they are the best) and the only one I had the materials for. I just now need to put together a proper armour set for it, I already had a few pieces and some mor general defensive pieces that’ll suit me for now. But I think I’ll mix together some Teostra, Almudron and Basarios bits for this set.

@Pizzamorg
Not sure if you have time now, but I have a lobby up. 5477 is the passcode

Sorry dude, played longer than I should have! So I am just about to jump off. Quick question, how do I unlock the third Switch Axe skill? I have the invincible move, the discharge one from the quest but not the other one, which is meant to be the best. Is that where you need to make like ten Switch Axes and then you unlock it?