Peter James Mann
At 2:20pm yesterday, I saw the Nintendo eShop was back up, but still having trouble operating with the release of the demo for Monster Hunter: Rise. Both the shop being down and the demo release were news to me and I immediately ran to my Nintendo Switch.
“Are you almost ready?” My wife asked from the bathroom, straightening her hair.
“Yep!” I said not looking up from the Switch. Ever since I bought the system, I had never seen what I saw when trying to download the demo. Super Mario, circa N64, running in place on a white screen. I didn’t think they programmed something so cute for something so frustrating. Such is Nintendo and I genuinely love them for it. But more servers for downloads would be way better, let’s be real.
I anxiously awaited going home to open up the Switch and dive back into the Monster Hunter universe. The closest I had been since Monster Hunter: World a couple of years ago (my only exposure to the series) was Dauntless, a free-to-play game available on the eShop and Epic Play Store. While it was fun for a little, at the time it felt a little shallow. I was hoping to find in this demo what I missed from Monster Hunter the most: the JRPG charm.
I got home after errands to find out we needed broccoli for dinner. I leave to go to the grocery store intent on playing the demo for Monster Hunter: Rise the second I got home. I must play this game tonight, I thought in He-Man’s voice. I had to have a story done in a timely manner for this website. I walked into the grocery store listening to the soundtrack to 2016’s Doom, intent on making it a short trip for what had become several items. I thought about how I would rip and tear those dinosaur behemoths back to the Mesozoic Era. I achieved a small victory getting everything I needed under 45 dollars and made my way back home, knowing that when I walked through the door, I would be playing the Monster Hunter: Rise de–
I was met by the laughing with Rabbids on the television screen as my kids played on the Nintendo Switch.
“Hey dad!”
“Hi daddy! Playing bad guy rabbit game!”
“…Yay!”
“I told them you had to play your demo for the thing you’re writing. You can play it later tonight.”
“…Yeah! Yep! Mmhmm!” I said with a grimaced, forced grin and an unspeakable scream inside my head. I was convinced then. I was Odysseus, and playing this demo was my journey home. I already had the beard of a marooned sailor, adrift the tides of an unforgiving sea. Okay, it’s not that long or filled with mats. It’s pretty scruffy. I just wanted to kill dinosaurs, okay? That was it. It was four hours since I downloaded the thing, and I wanted to live out the revenge fantasy Jeff Goldblum should have gotten in Jurassic Park 2: The Lost World. I remembered his words fondly.
“Life, uh, uh, uh, finds a way. Hmm.” It’s eloquent even now when I muse on Goldblum’s immortal words. I will find a way, Jeff. I will, I thought to myself.
“Why are you smiling?” My wife asked me.
“Nothing.”
Okay, 10:09pm and I’m ready to sit down and play the Monster Hunter: Rise demo with my daughter next to me huddled in a blanket. I boot up the game and I am met with a title screen showcasing the graphics engine. For a Switch game, it’s great. I feel like a lot of reviewers can say that about ports, and the PC version I’m sure will have better graphics, but in handheld or docked, the game looks and plays great.
Master Utsushi was super encouraging. He always found a way to call me Ace or a prodigy or best pupil. My daughter wasn’t having it with all the super positive pep talk and neither was I. This was Monster Hunter! We skipped through the rest of the basic tutorial. Clearly, we thought we would be fine. We knew what we were getting into, right? Right?
WRONG. If it wasn’t for a few lucky strikes on the beginner mission’s main objective, we would have been wrecked quick. The long sword felt balanced for me, but a little weak. I was sacrificing a little power for a little more speed, and that wasn’t going to work for this guy. Oh no. I wanted something bigger, meaner. I went for the big ‘ol great sword. We went for the intermediate level mission. The armor was big, bulky and mean looking on my hunter. My pets were color-coordinated, and I had a sword Cloud would be so mad at seeing on someone else’s back.
“Beware the bubbles.” Ha! Bubbles! What could possibly go wrong? Well, I got my ass handed to me like it should have been. I was too bulky, too slow, and it turns out the bubbles sap your stamina bar to almost nothing until you scrub yourself clean with cleaner. And that’s when I knew I was in love.
This game has the charm of a Final Fantasy game, the deep hunting mechanics of a Witcher game (but more deep) and it challenges you in different fights depending on your loadout. Each weapon has a unique move set, just like a Soulsborne game, and the attack animations are unforgivingly long in some cases. You don’t time your swing with your giant hammer, tough luck, kid! Get to the back of the line and try again.
And the way the Palicos drop you off back at camp, on this prehistoric stretcher, and literally dump you like you’re Ewan McGregor in Trainspotting after visiting Mother Superior, that hurts. But I’m also at my camp and able to make stuff with all my kleptomaniac spoils ranging from random herbs to small lizards to monster dung. So, thanks?
The Charge Blade is a Keyblade (complete with a heart handle and everything) and shield that turns into a giant axe hammer when combined. The Switch Axe is another favorite of mine, reminding me of my favorite weapon from Bloodborne, the Saw Cleaver.
The Wyvern Riding is really fun. Using your wire bugs to tie it up and ride it around feels like it’s right out of Dune and I’m riding a sandworm. It feels about as well as a hulking beast would feel and the attacks are heavy.
For multiplayer, which I didn’t dive into for this review, you can enter it a total of 30 times. After that, you cannot do Online Play, but it will allow local play as long as you all have your own switch. Each run through the demo has a 50 minute timer and it wipes most of the data. But, every weapon available in the game and you get to try out each one to see what will work best, or worst, for your playstyle.
Overall, I really am excited to dive back in a little more and play around with other weapons. I’ll be excited to see the final product and give this one a larger review when it comes out later this year. If you have a Nintendo Switch, do yourself a favor and download it yourself.
See you soon.
