Monster Hunter Rise (PC)
Image: Capcom

Monster Hunter Rise was easily one of the best Nintendo Switch exclusives of 2021, and while Capcom won't be slowing down its support for this version anytime soon, in a few days it's releasing a PC port on Steam.

If you're just a tad curious to know what the PC version of the game is like, we've rounded up a handful of critic reviews that compare this version to the Switch one. While there are some obvious improvements in the PC release in terms of resolution and performance, no cross-play support is definitely a letdown.

When Rise was originally released on Switch in 2021, we awarded it nine out of ten stars. Here's our video review:

So, what did the critics have to say about the PC version of the game? Read on...

Polygon summed up the PC release as a different way to play, but wasn't sure it was worthwhile for existing players:

"Without cross-save between the Switch and PC, or visuals that improve on what players already have on a handheld system, it’s hard to see why anyone who’s already sunk hundreds of hours into Rise would jump ship for Steam.

"Monster Hunter Rise on PC is just a different way to play a fantastic game. And while that’s great news for PC players who’ve never bought into Nintendo’s ecosystem, its graphics fail to impress, even on the most impressive of hardware."

TheGamer said it was a "definitive edition" of the game and praised it for being a massive leap "in quality over the Switch version" but admit it fell short when placed alongside the previous entry, Monster Hunter World. It also wasn't happy about the exclusion of cross-play support. Its final score was four out of five stars.

"The new 4K textures add so much detail to the monsters, and the increased frame rate makes every fight feel so much more fluid and intense. Even if you played the Switch version, Rise on PC is going to feel like a whole new game in a lot of ways...If you played a lot of Rise in handheld mode on the Switch, you’re going to see things on the PC version you’ve never seen before."

"If you’re coming from World, on the other hand, Rise is kind of a mixed bag...There’s no escaping the fact that Rise is a Switch game. Now that World and Rise can be compared side-by-side on PC, it's staggering how stripped down and bland Rise really is. The regions are mostly flat, featureless arenas that look empty compared to World’s complex and highly detailed environments."

Wccftech.com also thinks World is a better-looking game, but liked the less-demanding nature of Rise on PC. It also agrees it's one of the "best console-to-PC ports" in recent times and gave it nine out ten:

"Having been originally released on the Nintendo Switch console, Monster Hunter Rise doesn't look as good as Monster Hunter World, although the different art direction makes the differences between the two games less aggravating. A less-demanding game, which still looks good thanks to the amazing RE Engine, however, means that most PC players will not have trouble running it at high framerates. The game supports 30, 60, 90, 120, 144, 240 framerate caps as well as unlocked framerate, and a moderately powerful system will have no trouble running it at above 60 FPS. The machine used for the test, powered by an i7-10700 CPU, RTX 3070 GPU, and 16 GB RAM, had no trouble running the game at 4K resolution, stable 120 frames per second at high to max settings.

"The fact that Monster Hunter Rise runs so well isn't the only thing that makes it one of the best console-to-PC ports we have seen in recent times. The game features ultrawide support and tons of different graphics settings, ranging from a High-Resolution Textures toggle to multiple shadows options, including Dynamic and Equipment shadows, Level of Detail settings, and Anti-Aliasing options, and more. The game also does a great job of providing information on how each setting impacts system performance thanks to Graphics Memory Usage and CPU Load indicators, which make tweaking all the settings to achieve the best balance between graphics quality and performance incredibly easy."

PC Gamer gave it nine out of ten as well with similar comparisons to World and how the game now plays:

"Rise was, of course, originally designed as a Nintendo Switch exclusive and, though this PC release is a good port with everything you'd expect, it has nowhere near that immediate visual 'wow' factor that World did. Nor can it compete on things like textures or the stunning bespoke animations for monsters fighting each other...Thing is, though, Rise is the better game."

"...Sure, this might be a Nintendo Switch game in origin, and visually it shows. But who cares, because it's hard to shake the feeling that Monster Hunter Rise is as good as this series has ever been. Which is to say: As good as it gets."

NME was just as impressed, labelling it the "definitive version" but questioned why people would double-dip when there's no cross-play support:

"Of course, even if you don’t have the fanciest display such as an ultra-wide monitor (which is also supported), playing Rise on PC is still going to, well, rise above the Switch version."

"...Who knows, if enough conflicted Switch and PC owners also restrain their wallets from what should have been an easy double-dip, it might just persuade Capcom to find a solution to cross-save further down the line."

That's just a sample of some of the reviews for the PC version of Monster Hunter Rise. Capcom also revealed last week how it would include some special screen filters.

Will you be checking out the PC version of Monster Hunter Rise or are you sticking with the Nintendo Switch release? Tell us in the comments.