More Monster Hunter Rise details – development, post-launch quests and updates, possible movie tie-in, more

Another round of details have been published for Monster Hunter Rise. The latest information batch comes from articles published by 4Gamer, Famitsu, and Game Watch.

Here’s the full roundup, courtesy of Gematsu:

• After development on Monster Hunter Generations was complete, game engine verification and project planning for Monster Hunter Rise began. The concept was developed while supporting the development of Monster Hunter Generations. Additionally, the Monster Hunter Rise team exchanged ideas with the Monster Hunter: World team, which was in development alongside Monster Hunter Rise, to help decide which elements to include in the game.
• The wirebug began as a way to include an element that ties into the main part of the action system. It feels good to simply move around. Since you can basically go wherever you can see, exploration and traversal are fun as well.
• Some monsters are designed to give you a wider ranger of strategy by making use of the wirebug.
• The reason Monster Hunter Rise has a more Japanese or Asian aesthetic is because director Yasunori Ichinose wanted to create something with a different taste compared to Monster Hunter: Generations and Monster Hunter: World, which were in production at the same time. Additionally, much time has passed since Monster Hunter Portable 3rd, so he thought it was high time to return to that style.
• The four new monsters revealed thus far—Wyvern of Malice Magnamalo, Parasol Bird Aknosom, Kamaitachi Wyvern Great Izuchi, and Kappa Frog Tetranadon—all have a yokai theme.
• Magnamalo was designed in the image of an armored ghost warrior and onibi. Aknosom is a fusion of a crane and karakasa-obake. It is characterized by the changing shape of its head crest, and moves like no other Bird Wyvern in the past. Great Izuchi is themed after the yokai kamaitachi, which act as a trio. Since they are always moving as three, it is important to determine whether or not to target the followers first. Tetranadon was created in the image of a kappa and frog, but with various other elements mixed in. He moves like a sumo wrestler.
• Various yokai themes have been applied to the monsters that have appeared in previous Monster Hunter games.
• The hunter’s various voiced lines were taken on as a new challenge by the proposal of the sound team. If you want to make your character unique, you can set an anime-esque voice. For users who want to play with traditional shouts, that can be adjusted in the options.
• The Palamute attacks as the player attacks. While it can also attack on its own, the more the player attacks, the more the Palamute attacks.
• The Palamute specializes in attack and movement support, while the Palico specializes in recovery and trap support. In multiplayer, where you can only take one partner along, you should choose based on your capture strategy.
• There is an emphasis on the communication between monsters and hunters. Based on that, fields are designed so that the terrain of the main areas are not too complex. But as not to make it a level surface, the team has added sub-areas that you can explore. While in previous games the hunter would simply chase the monster when it moved to a new area, you can now take shortcuts through sub-areas. The goal is for players to determine their own strategy.
• The gameplay leading up to the hunter reaching the monster is different from previous Monster Hunter games. The field is scattered with elements that enhance your stats, so you can challenge the monster after some slight detours and enhancements, or simply head straight into the hunt.
• While mounting was not shown during any of the live gameplay we have seen thus far, it will be introduced again in the future.
• While there are still only 14 weapons, each weapon has added wirebug actions.
• There are various things you can do with the environmental biology in the field. There are organisms that can be used for buffs, organisms that can be used like items, organisms unique to the field, and so on, so figure out the best way to use them and seek out locations to gather a lot.
• Capcom is not thinking about an expanded version of the game yet considering the main story has yet to be completed, but event quests and title updates are planned after release. The idea is to keep users playing for a long time.
• Amiibo from other games can be used to play the daily lottery to get various items. You can also get special layered armor with the Monster Hunter Rise-specific Amiibo.
• Capcom hopes to be able to collaborate with the Monster Hunter movie if the opportunity arises.

Monster Hunter Rise arrives for Switch on March 26, 2021.