I started MH back in Monster Hunter Tri, on the Nintendo Wii. I have some 150 hours clocked in with Monster Hunter: World. I played the demo missions prior to launch.

Coming to Monster Hunter Rise from Monster Hunter: World, there is a slight spin-offy feeling to the game, which is most likely caused by the faster pace of the game/story and the lack of what's known as endgame in MH:W (Still pretty early, so the latter will not be an issue for a long time, plus there's an expansion coming in the future). That said, it does create a certain charm to it, already knowing what to do and having such speed navigating through the maps.

While the content might still not be as vast yet, the game compensates with good gameplay. I am a big fan of the new features. There are so many quality-of-life changes compared to MH:W, such as the dog mounts, the verticality of the maps and faster mining. Being able to fight monsters with other monsters for a short time during the hunt is a major boost in dopamine.
It's important to know that this is a PC port for a game that originally came out on Nintendo Switch, and it shows. That said, the port has been built well: I'm playing the game on a laptop with a GTX 1050 and an Intel i5 processor, and the game runs very well. Solid 60 FPS, no drops. I still haven't tried out higher frame rates, as I'm not sure whether my laptop can handle them, but even with 60 FPS the game is very pleasant to play.

The negatives I'd pick would be that the fights - at least early on - can feel super crowded with all 4 players, each with both companions onboard. At times, there's so much action going on the screen that it's hard to make out where you're going. While the companion system is a nice addition, it does have its downsides. I also really liked the larger capacity of Online Lobbies in MH:W, which I'm a bit saddened to find not existing in Rise (4-player limit).
As a Lance main, it's also a little sad that there's no ability to perform a mounted charge with the Lance. It feels like a low-hanging fruit and it's a bit of a shame they didn't pick it. But, all things considered, it's a minor issue.

Already having tons of fun playing with my buddies at 5 hours game time - I strongly recommend bringing your squad into the game, as that's when the game shines the brightest. Still decent fun going solo if you enjoy boss fights in action RPGs, though it can get a little daunting alone, if played for a longer period of time.

Overall, it does hit the essential Monster Hunter check boxes. It's a very solid title in the franchise, and I'm looking forward to playing it some more with the bois.

I started MH back in Monster Hunter Tri, on the Nintendo Wii. I have some 150 hours clocked in with Monster Hunter: World. I played the demo missions prior to launch. Coming to Monster Hunter Rise from Monster Hunter: World, there is a slight spin-offy feeling to the game, which is most likely caused by the faster pace of the game/story and the lack of what's known as endgame in MH:W (Still pretty early, so the latter will not be an issue for a long time, plus there's an expansion coming in the future). That said, it does create a certain charm to it, already knowing what to do and having such speed navigating through the maps. While the content might still not be as vast yet, the game compensates with good gameplay. I am a big fan of the new features. There are so many quality-of-life changes compared to MH:W, such as the dog mounts, the verticality of the maps and faster mining. Being able to fight monsters with other monsters for a short time during the hunt is a major boost in dopamine. It's important to know that this is a PC port for a game that originally came out on Nintendo Switch, and it shows. That said, the port has been built well: I'm playing the game on a laptop with a GTX 1050 and an Intel i5 processor, and the game runs very well. Solid 60 FPS, no drops. I still haven't tried out higher frame rates, as I'm not sure whether my laptop can handle them, but even with 60 FPS the game is very pleasant to play. The negatives I'd pick would be that the fights - at least early on - can feel super crowded with all 4 players, each with both companions onboard. At times, there's so much action going on the screen that it's hard to make out where you're going. While the companion system is a nice addition, it does have its downsides. I also really liked the larger capacity of Online Lobbies in MH:W, which I'm a bit saddened to find not existing in Rise (4-player limit). As a Lance main, it's also a little sad that there's no ability to perform a mounted charge with the Lance. It feels like a low-hanging fruit and it's a bit of a shame they didn't pick it. But, all things considered, it's a minor issue. Already having tons of fun playing with my buddies at 5 hours game time - I strongly recommend bringing your squad into the game, as that's when the game shines the brightest. Still decent fun going solo if you enjoy boss fights in action RPGs, though it can get a little daunting alone, if played for a longer period of time. Overall, it does hit the essential Monster Hunter check boxes. It's a very solid title in the franchise, and I'm looking forward to playing it some more with the bois.