At least you’re rewarded with new monsters to fight, and new arenas to fight them in. The design philosophy behind the mode is clear – having monsters swarm you as you fortify your precious hometown is a wonderful conceit – but in practice, it can sometimes turn out to be more of a chore than a treat. Rampage missions are fun in multiplayer, where you have allies to draw the cheap, area-of-effect damage spat out by irritating drone enemies, but a nightmare in single-player if you’re not a patient player. Somewhere between Dynasty Warriors’ raids and a tower defense game, these siege-like modes task you with installing defenses and repelling a slew of weaker monsters until the Apex predator arrives. Once you’ve slashed, bashed and carved your way through the impressively extensive rogue’s gallery of monsters on display in Rise (featuring many, but not all, fan favorites), it’s time to steel yourself for Rise’s most gimmicky challenge: the Rampage. World-building and story really injects some threat into the monsters.There appears to be no end-game at launch.Rampage missions are fun – but peculiar – breaks from the rhythm.It’s some real wish fulfilment from Capcom, and mounting monsters makes for some of the most empowering moments in the game – if not the series. Skilled riders will be able to parry opposing monster attacks, unleash powerful moves on them, and then mount the other monster afterwards, leaving the arena speckled with precious shiny parts for you to pick up and horde like the unhinged maniac you are. Inexplicably called ‘Wyvern Riding’ in this instalment of the series, mounting a monster with your Wirebug means you can instigate a turf war with another beast – raging around the arena, deploying attacks meant for you on the local fauna… it’s a feeling without equal in the game, and it’s worthwhile mechanically, to boot.

Whether playing solo or in a party of up to four, though, you’re able to witness one of Rise’s best moments: luring a monster to another monster’s lair and beating up your target so badly it falls to the floor means it’ll be primed to mount. We’d still recommend teaming up with friends or finding buddies via the (surprisingly competent) online lobbies, but lone wolves can certainly find value in the game, too.

Playing solo, and with support from a canine and feline companion, is a perfectly cromulent way to play Rise, too, which is a treat. The more feline-friendly among you will be pleased to note the Palicos also return, and are as resource-hungry and eager to please as ever. Having your dog follow up, supporting you with attacks tied to your own inputs, and seeing them tear chunks out of the monster’s flank grants its own giddy thrill, too. Leaping off a cliff edge, getting a lil’ boost off your dog and throwing yourself onto a Rathalos’ face, sword-first, is a thrill unlike much else in gaming. One of the best additions to Rise is the humble Palamute: a dog-like companion that can be mounted and ridden into battle. Watching a dog bite – and ride – a huge dragon will never get boring.Riding a mount into battle instills some of the slower parts with life.Your dog-like Palamute will get you into the action quicker.There may be some baffling backsteps from revisions to the gameplay loop we saw in Monster Hunter: World, and there may be some weird question marks hovering over the lack of an endgame, but there’s no question about it: this is a perfect Nintendo Switch Monster Hunter game.

Slaying monsters with enough skill to break bits off them and praying you get the right drops to make your dream weapon/armor is the sweet spot between luck and skill, and once you get bitten by the proverbial Monster Hunter Wirebug, it threatens to never let you go. Hunting, modifying your armor, hunting again, and upgrading something else – that’s the gamer catnip, right there. Sure, other flourishes – some narrative beats, some gimmicky encounters, some particularly brutal ape-bull hybrids – appear to change the tempo or modify the beat of the day-to-day, hunt-to-hunt norm, but that’s the crux. If you’ve ever played a Monster Hunter game, you’ll know that this is the central rhythm that the whole game rests on.

Monster hunter rise release date