Topic: Monster Hunter Rise

I gotta admit, the more I read about Sunbreak, the more I get excited and the more I get nervous about it.

I personally think Rise is the best Monster Hunter game I've played by a long mile, but you don't have to go very far to see people claim that Rise is the worst Monster Hunter game. They say it is too easy and that it didn't provide them what they think the Monster Hunter experience should be.

And in some ways, this is hard to argue with. Like I don't agree with where they landed, but Rise did make a fundamentally different MH experience, even while retaining a lot of the trappings. They streamlined the experience more than ever before, made a faster and more immediate experience, made it more arcadey, gutted the grind, upped the action focus so it was less hunting and more fighting and the silkbind gave unparalleled mobility and power to the player unlike basically anything that came before.

In Rise I get to feel powerful as a Hunter, whereas in past games, you seem to always be at the mercy of whatever monster came next, no matter how much power you amassed. Maybe that should be the whole point, but games like World, Generations Ultimate, or even going back to some of the older titles I remember playing back on like the Wii and stuff with friends, I always found the experiences delivered more frustration than fun, whereas I just think Rise really rebalanced the scales on the fun and frustration scale. Monsters felt powerful, they felt like threats, they would punish greed and mistakes, but a good strategy, learned skill and a bit of luck would result in you feeling like a God. I don't think this undermines the experience, but I know many feel otherwise.

I bring all this up, because with the inclusion of things like a new difficulty rank, I do wonder what that means for a game as a whole. Will they use this opportunity not just to make the monsters stronger, or expand their move sets or whatever else, but also introduce mechanics which'll slow down fights, diminish player power and put a greater focus on the hunt, rather than the fight? It seems like it's what a lot of players want and it will bring the game more in line with past entries. Or will they stick to their guns, with Rise's perhaps more player friendly, more "casual" approach? This is what I want, but I am fearful due to all the backlash to Rise's shift in focus.

I also dunno how I feel about the new multiple sets of switch skills you can change on the fly, either. I already think Rise can be quite a clunky game to play, they did generally simplify a lot of the control schemes and make some of the more awkward weapons easier to use, but there is still a lot of stuff to remember, learn and get used to still every time you swap around a weapon or take any time away from the game. I still remember looking at some Hammer tutorials and being told the optimal way to use the weapon is to swap between stances mid combo for different effect and like that is just way too much for me. Will this be the future of Rise? Stringing together massive fighting game style combos as you chain together different switch skills? Giving the player even more inputs to think about? Like I am sure it will result in some incredible YouTube montages, but I am really worried this just won't be fun to play at all.

That said, I am looking forward to trying out some of the new Switch skills individually, I wonder if there are any weapons I'll be incentivised to use for the first time, because they come with just unmissable skills. I am excited to fight against these new monsters (and returning monsters) and seeing what gear or weapons they make. I though Rise kinda oversimplified the gear system to the point where it just wasn't all that exciting, so I am hoping we see a more expanded gear system in Rise. More sets with bonuses and clear identity, more sets with perks that actually directly impact the game, rather than just providing minimal bumps in stats etc

Honestly, I am just really just excited for a reason to play Rise again. I love the game feel of Rise (should that be retained for Sunbreak) but for me game feel is not enough to keep playing, if I don't have some sort of chase, or goal or progression. I played through the game all over again on PC because I just love it and wanted to feel that chase again. I am fully ready to do it all again through Sunbreak as well.

I am also really intrigued by those quests that let you bring an NPC with you to fight alongside you. It honestly sounds really cool, and will maybe be a good answer for those like me who usually have to rely on online randos for hunts, but we will have to see how it is balanced. If the NPCs are just rubbish, you may as well just run solo, but if they are too strong they might create their own issues. I just hope they draw aggro and don't die straight away so I can lop off some tails.

New Sunbreak videos have started dropping for the 14 weapons showcasing new silkbind attacks.

Switch Axe is getting a discharge counter.

Sunbreak armor sets looking super slick.

Seregios Armor

Astalos Armor

Malzeno Armor

@JaxonH The gear looks SO good 😍

@DreamlandGem
It really does. I'm crafting all these sets.

And it seems dango now have levels, so you can level up each food skill. And you can lock favorite talismans so you don't accidentally sell them.

And the Great Sword video showcase is looking super dope. I always try to main a new weapon for each game. I've done Long Sword, Hunting Horn, Insect Glaive, Charge Blade, Switch Axe and a bit of Gunlance and Dual Blades.

For Sunbreak, I think it's GreatSword time. And Hammer. Looking for a new experience, a new weapon naturally has to be part of that.

Meanwhile, I'm getting back into the Glaive...I don't know why I dropped this weapon after 4U. I mean, yeah...Gen/GenU had cat mode and the hunter basically was non-existent at that point. With World/IB I just didn't feel like using the Glaive and stuck with my good ol' Gunlance (despite that game having blocking issues, like...seriously, I have Guard-Up, why does blocking not work with some basic monster attacks, wtf?
>.<).

For Rise, I still stuck with the Gunlance but also liked the Charge Blade, but didn't stick with it for too long and went back to the Gunlance. I think one reason was that I randomly could no longer figure out how to do that discharge attack that sends out bolts or whatever after a Wirebug attack. Full phials, charged shield/sword...all of the sudden nothing comes out for me anymore, which is bizarre because I was pulling it off constantly before.

I used the Glaive in Rise like once, only to find out that they "changed the normal controls" and I never messed with it again. Ummm, yeah, the normal Glaive controls are still there, it was just the Switch Skill stuff. lol

If I am understanding it correctly, the new Greatsword Switch Skill auto parries for you. I am all in.

@Pizzamorg No joke? I will need to give that a shot.

I dunno, the trailer didn't really make it all that clear. And the tweet is worded quite poorly.

It says, "If used while charging, you can quickly parry an attack and then unleash a fierce onslaught afterwards."

That suggests to me the parry has to be automatic, as how can you parry if you are charging?

@Pizzamorg It says can, not will, so I must assume you can do it automatically. It if you could that would be sick!

Yeah, the video just shows the user tanking a hit, if that is all it is, it kinda sucks, as there are already Greatsword Switch Skills in the game that do the same thing.

Then again, a lot of these "new" skills just seem to be more of the same. Both Hammer and Horn seem to basically be getting the same stuff, and all they do is further increase the chance to flinch. This is pretty boring and also problematic as I feel like the identities of the weapons are getting lost. If the HH is as effective as the Hammer at bonking, and also buffs and heals everyone, why would you use a Hammer?

IG gets to like throw the Kinsect like a grenade or something, which I guess is cool, but you can already fire the Kinsect to do damage.

Just stuff like that, pretty whelmed by a lot of this if I am being honest. On the Switch Axe one, I couldn't even tell what was different about that versus what is already in the game.

@Joeynator3000
Glaive is so good in Rise. It took a while for the community to realize its value. Like how Diving Wyvern damage increases the longer your air combo has been going.

Toward the end of my base game playthrough me and @TeeJay built glaive sets and wrecked shop together for a while.

We both mained glaive in MH4U also. I've also mained Switch Axe and Charge Blade in Rise, so for Sunbreak I want to go with something new. Something fresh.

Something like... GREAT SWORD and HAMMER

@JaxonH Yeah for the expansion I'm gonna try and give the Gunlance a break. That said, with the Charge Blade, how do you do that "ultimate discharge" attack again? Or what am I doing wrong that stops me from using it? I looked at the controls for it and everything and can't figure out why it randomly stopped working for me. >.<

@Joeynator3000
Switch Skill swaps Savage Axe for Charged Elemental Discharge (where you hold and charge the sword for a double swing attack) but you should always have the SAED.

• Build up phials by attacking with sword.
• Charge phials with ZR+A
• Morph into Axe mode with ZR+X (or draw attack with ZR)
• Attacks with A in Axe mode Discharge phials. The 3rd successive A attack will be the SAED, discharging all phials (unless you hold back and X while rearing up for the SAED, which cancels the full Discharge and only uses 1 phial)
• You can shortcut directly into the Level 3 SAED from Sword mode by using X+A twice in a row during a combo. The first X+A does a shield bash, and if you press X+A immediately after, you Morph into Axe mode and instantly perform an SAED
• Charge your shield by pressing ZR while performing an SAED. Instead of discharging you will do a spinning Slash that charges the phials into your shield
• Charge your sword by holding X while charging your phials immediately after pressing ZR+A in sword mode. This only works if Condensed Element Slash Switch Skill is selected. Otherwise, it activates Savage Axe mode, where the axe will spin like a chainsaw if you hold the attack button

@JaxonH That's such a good idea! I have always been die-hard IG since the weapon came out but I switched over to HH in Rise. Really enjoyed playing something new, might take the same approach as yourself & change it up with each new game/expansion I'd love to arrange some form of Nintendo Life community hunts when Sunbreak launches, thought it would be a good way for us all to play together!

@DreamlandGem
Oh for sure. We always hunt together when a new MH drops, going aaaaall the way back to MH3U and MH4U on 3DS. When base Rise released, it was a party in this thread.

You'll see all sorts of people crawl out from under the woodwork who normally don't post in this thread, but always show up for a new MH title. @TeeJay will be here, @FattyWhale_42 and @Ralizah and plenty more. We'll definitely get some hunts in, don't worry about that!

x_X
I thought the Condensed Spinning Slash was the chainsaw mode, that's my favorite part about that weapon in Rise. >.< lol

@Joeynator3000
I meant Condensed Element Slash

@JaxonH Okay, never mind then. xD

Chainsaw mode is the only reason why I messed with the Charge Blade here. lol

Switch Axe has never had anything even close to ressembling a block or counter up until this point (Frontier aside).

I don't see what the problem with Hammer here. It is a weapon meant solely to do huge amounts of impact damage, it doesn't want or need anything else. As for the Hunting Horn, they've tried to let it be it's "complex" self for 4 generations straight and it was the most consistently least used weapon in every game. The stars had to align to not only get someone who used it but also didn't just do stuff like the dreaded "corner horning" to pretend to be useful. Rise's HH complements hammer by being more of a consistent DPS output compared to the powerful burst of the latter. But that also means you have to be more aggressive with a HH to match the more opportunistic Hammer, and no amount of attack buffs the former can potentially give will change that.

I do understand your concerns, back in 4 Ultimate there was a sentiment that Charge Blade was making Hammer obsolete with how easily Impact UAEDs could get KOs while still doing cutting damage for those tails. But at that point the Hammer had barely gotten any updates at all, it was true case of power creep.

Which makes it all the funnier that people think the new Switch skills for Charge Blade are lame. To me it's just proof the weapon is just so loaded on a fundamental level there isn't much you can do to it without making it over the top again.