I will be going in depth in this review, so for those not into rambling walls of texts here is a bottom line:

Monster Hunter Rise is the best possible closure for the 5th generation of Monster Hunter, Capcom continues to experiment in interesting ways since Generations and the fruits of this effort are evident more than ever here. This is a very easy recommendation, for new and old fans of the series.


Now for those that are willing to stick around, first of all hello and welcome to my ramblings.

Lets start with what I feel Rise does better than its predecessors (in recent memory at least).
Kamura offers a thematic and homey village that World and Iceborne severely lacked. Kamura feels lived in and vibrant featuring a superb cast of villagers to back it up, this is also thanks to some top notch art direction that is peppered throughout the whole game with the attention to detail expected in MH series. The Yokai theme is present in the new monster lineup and reinforces this feeling of mysticism that along with the Kamura hunters unique brand of hunting ties up excellently in one juicy package that pleases those looking for artistic and thematic consistency. Even the new mechanics are weaved thematically and do not alienate the player which is really a testament to some very sweet game design. Speak of the devil, mechanically Rise aims for a sweet spot between, Generations' more action focused over-the-top combat and Worlds open World vistas and streamlined hunt exploration. The result is a very unique playstyle made possible by additions such as the wirebug and the Palamute. Wirebug is an amazing way to blend open world traversal at a brisk pace while allowing for the presence of Switch Skills to fill the empty void left from Hunter Arts in Generations, and Palamute speeds up traversal in the open world maps. Level design is the first obvious culprit to accomodate these additions, its vertical and is designed around the wirebug, without lacking the necessary details for those keen to exploration and lore deep dives. The biggest difference one might spot from World is the presence of huge open areas and less intricate labyrinthine level design present in World. This is a coupling that might turn off some people off but it feels the best possible marriage of both worlds, Generations(and older entries) Areas/Arenas and Worlds seamless open worlds. The focus in this game is combat depth in encounters and level design is a tool to that effect. And exploration is also streamlined to that effect, where knowledge of the map rewards players with quick buffing routes and helpers to assist in tackling what is on the map. I really feel that as a whole every element in Rise make a player tailored experience that stays fresh for a very long time, especially noteworthy for a non ultimate entry of the series.
The last point I want to praise is weapon depth and combat, Capcom has been tweaking its formula with Generations,Iceborne and now in Rise the result of all that knowledge is apparent, making for a truly fun experience that honestly is addicting. Every weapon is full of possibilities and unique playstyles that pave the way for unique builds buuuut...

And here we go to the bad

Rise is far from perfect, no matter how much I love it to buy two times and spend nearly 300hours on it. My first gripe is builds, ditching the a and b sets from World is a major step backwards, it makes builds much more stiff and decoration sloting a nightmare. It also minimizes reasons to farm monsters and indulge in a combat system that feels more robust than ever. On the farming note, Apex monsters feel a very peculiar idea. I love them, they are great fights but there is no reason besides challenge to fight them. Tempered monsters and Arch Tempered monsters had an idea behind them whereas Apexes are there for a few not really great weapons. And considering they are a reincarnation of the Deviants from Generations they feel very underutilized here. They managed to make Thunderlord Zinogre into a fight that doesnt make me wanna kill myself and I have no reason to farm him... Wishful thinking is these ideas make it to Sunbreak but as of this moment Apexes are a missed opportunity and not a very well thought out concept.

And for the bucket list small nitpicks real quick
- Final boss armor is a very poor concept and makes two great endgame fights pointless from a gear standpoint
-Please give a character edit ticket each time someone purchases cosmetics for free instead of having to buy it seperately. I love that we can change characters in MH since it was impossible in older entries but give some free edit tickets to people that give something.
-Emergency Apexes are amazing but again no reason whatsoever to fight them and perfect those the fights.
- Two many bear archetype monsters in the lineup (Lagombi, Arzuros, Volvidon) makes for some very weak slots, hopefully Sunbreak remedies that.
- Where is Gore and Shagaru Magala? Im dying here guys...