Yes, Monster Hunter Rise is Absolutely Worth Playing For New Players
As an expert in analyzing gaming industry data and trends, I highly recommend Monster Hunter Rise to those looking to get into the acclaimed franchise. Rise‘s streamlined gameplay, expanded tutorial, and improved accessibility make it the perfect entry point for new hunters.
Sales and Reviews Show Rise is a Hit with Players
Monster Hunter Rise has surpassed over 8 million units sold worldwide as of October 2022, making it one of the Nintendo Switch‘s best-selling titles. It holds an outstanding 90% critic score and 8.4 user score on Metacritic. On Steam, 94% of over 15,000 user reviews are positive. The game also has a passionate community – the Monster Hunter subreddit boasts 1.2 million members. By all measures, Rise has been embraced by critics and veteran series fans while also appealing to a new audience.
Streamlined Gameplay Welcomes New Hunters
Monster Hunter Rise introduces various quality of life improvements that make its gameplay more fluid and accessible compared to previous main entries like Monster Hunter World. The new dog companion provides tracking assistance, wirebugs allow for increased mobility and vertical traversal, switch skills augment weapon movesets, and join requests allow for easy multiplayer.
Early quests ease newcomers into key concepts like gathering, crafting, hunting prep, and using items/traps during battles. An expanded training area lets players freely test out the 14 radically different weapon types before picking one to main. All these changes lower the initial barriers for new players to dive into the addictive monster hunting loop.
Compelling Progression and Customization
While the core gameplay loop is streamlined, the depth of the progression systems and customization ensures continued engagement. Each of the 14 unique weapons handles completely differently – from the huge Great Sword to nimble Dual Blades. Their movesets can be augmented with switch skills, allowing veterans to customize their weaponry while new players stick with the basics.
The armor skill and decoration systems provide loads of flexibility for bonuses and resistances. Crafting stronger weapons and gear means taking on tougher monsters, providing incremental goals. For endgame, the varied “rampage” quests and underused “melding” system add more ways to target desired drops.
Epic Monsters and Diverse Environments
Rise features over 30 large monsters to discover and hunt, from returning favorites like electric wolf Zinogre to new threats like the blood-absorbing Magnamalo. The diverse locales, from flooded forests to deserts to icy reaches, provide beautiful and atmospheric arenas for the massive battles ahead.
As a newcomer, fighting gigantic, fantastical creatures with unique movesets and challenges is an absolute thrill. Study each monster, use traps and bombs to gain an advantage, and time your strikes and dodges carefully. Landing big hits and severing tails never gets old!
Helpful Resources and Passionate Community
If you ever need help on a quest or with gear progression, the Monster Hunter community is full of passionate veterans willing to guide new players. Useful resources like the Monster Hunter subreddit, handy guides from content creators like GaijinHunter and Arekkz, and Discord servers will help you master Rise‘s systems.
Seeing skilled players speedrun monsters flawlessly or creative cosplay builds showcases the dedication of veteran hunters. But the community is equally excited to provide tips and share knowledge with new slayers. Monster Hunter Rise gives players meaningful goals to work towards – and it‘s more rewarding when shared with others.
Conclusion
With vastly improved accessibility combined with the signature strategic combat of Monster Hunter, Rise knocks it out of the park for both veterans and newcomers. Sales and reviews back up that Rise hits the sweet spot for an onboarding experience while retaining series strengths. If you‘ve been looking for the perfect chance to jump into Monster Hunter, Rise is absolutely worth playing.