Hopelessly Hooked on Hunting | Monster Hunter Rise REVIEW 

Since recording this review I have played so much more and I am now an insect glaive user for life.

I can't believe Arlo talked about how the music was forgettable while playing footage of a Khezu hunt - he has the best theme in the series!

Seeing red sharpness in the video multiple times hurt my soul

It's funny how in rise, I can be connected to a large map with four other people for as long as 50 minutes at any one time, multiple runs on any given day, but at my internet peak, smash tells me the connection is too weak to even try connecting.

“One thing I don’t like is the weapon-sharpening mechanic” *weapon is 80% orange*

"There's nothing to collect in the maps" Each map has 12 hidden messages to go find on the map, and if you find them all it gives a hint to find a rare creature.

I believe the intent of the sharpening system, and I make no claims that it was successful, but I think the idea is that it contributes to the balance factor between weapons? Some weapons are very strong in terms of their raw numbers but their sharpness is very finite, so in order to maintain that DPS you have to either sharpen frequently or use armor skills that mitigate the need to sharpen as often or at least make it easier. The alternative, of course, is to get weapons that have really long sharpness, and there are absolutely at least a few in every weapon type but you can get through a hunts with a single monster without having to sharpen. It's not the most fun mechanic to be sure but it's one of the ways that you can tailor your experience in 1 way or another

Ah, yes... Monster Hunter has claimed another soul...

I disagree with your assertions about sharpness being unnecessary: there's a massive difference between different colors, and the fact that different weapons have differe t amounts of the different colors adds more layers to preperation or execution to maximize your effectiveness. For example, the hi ninja sword (the 100% affinity sword and shield they recently added). It has a massive chunk of green sharpness. You can either 1) get the most benefits of having green (bludgeoner 3, mind's eye) and be content knowing you'll never need to sharpen, or 2) get a few points of handicraft to push it into a tiny sliver of blue sharpness, and get skills and fight to peraerve that tiny bit of blue (razor sharp, master's touch, protextive polish, using the shield basher move since shield attacks don't use sharpness, etc).

The reason it took so long for this review to release was because Arlo wouldn’t stop playing Monster Hunter Rise

"The most I've ever had to grind a monster was, like, four times." Me over here who had to brutalize 24 rathalos before I got a single plate drop.

I never realized how true it is that you just need someone to explain the game to you for 10 minutes and then you're good. I remember trying Monster Hunter for the first time and not really getting it so I dropped it, but then like a couple of months later I saw a video that gave a fast beginner's guide and I completely understood it from that. I think it shows that the series isn't too complex for new players, it just has never made a good tutorial.

A note about the whetstone. I believe it's intended design was to balance out the hunters, because of the consistency of Good Hunter teams just knocking a monster around and killing it before it gets a chance to run. Just like how the monster gets tired and has to eat or sleep, the hunter has to eat and sharpen his weapon.

The game sort of treats the weapons like characters in a fighting game where they want you to try one too learn combos in training mode and find a main

Think of sharpening your weapon as the hunter "recharging" just like the monsters do after they've been fighting for too long.

I've been saying this for a long time. The best tutorial a Monster Hunter game could have is another person that has played it before. Instead of information overload in your face, another player can just bring up necessary information as they become relevant. Bit by bit, you'll understand why this and that are the way they are. And with the way multiplayer hunts works, they can play and teach at the same time. Playing together with them is really the best way to learn the game

Reason the online quality is so great with MHRise compared to other games on Switch, is because Nintendo is using a brand new server architecture. They havent used a new architecture since the very start of their venture onto online gaming and services. Rise is the 1st one tht will use it. So newer games tht arent already late into development will benefit from this. Sadly it cant be retrofitted onto previous games in the Switch's library since tht basically will take more than a simple patch. Basically hav to re-work the games code.

PSA: the attacks when wyvern riding auto aim. You do not have to be facing the other monster. You just have to be close enough and locked on.

I like how he mentions "muting the music" while A Khezu was on screen.

You either quit at HR2, or you stay long enough to reach HR100. Once you’re in, you’re here forever.

Just in case you haven't been told yet: when your stamina bar gets shorter you can replenish is with rations, energy drinks or meat. A lot of the clips in the video showed a severely shrunk stamina bar.

Okay I’m convinced that Arlo just wants to make everything Breath of the Wild.

24:19 "The music though, I'm pretty indifferent" I don't know how I can be so offended by that, but I am. Even listening to the background music in this video of all the different themes is reminded me how amazing this game's music is.

"am I missing something here??" Yes, you missed Somnacanth putting Zinogre to sleep.

"the music in forgettable" *magnamalo and arena theme living inside my head*

Arlo: Alright, I gotta make a review for Monster Hunter Rise. I guess I should play it to refresh myself. *ONE MONTH LATER* Arlo: Must... hunt... monsters...

I kind of had like the opposite thing happen with MH and Dark Souls lol. I got really into Monster Hunter World it kind of laid the groundwork for me to get into the Souls games. Glad you had a good time with Rise! Haven't picked it up yet myself, debating if I should, because I know I'll be hooked...

A.) I'm glad the difficulty curve is good for new players even if as veterans some of us find it it to be easier than we'd like. B.) Weapon sharpening may seem pointless at first but it's actually an essential mechanic for balancing various end game weapons and builds. If you find yourself frustrated by it like Arlo I'd encourage you to explore some of the decorations available to you.

Wyvern "why Vern" 🤣 you kill me Arlo

Personally LOVE the Japanese theme. The music is wonderful IMO. And for the lack of breadth, this is basically what world had before Iceborne. I guarantee that’ll be rectified with a big expansion two years from now. Oh and tons of free updates.

He said he only has had to fight something 4 times to get a certain material?!? This guy has never needed a Purple Magna Orb....

This video made my mind up. I will never have a visa metal card powered by crypto.

"I am now a monster hunter fan". Nothing makes me happier than to hear this from new monster hunter players

I'm so glad you've had such a positive experience with the community! This is my favorite game in the series so far, and I'm really not sure what it would be like for new players to try the older games, but I have this feeling of "if you liked 100+ hours of THIS game, just think of the 100+ hours you can get out of each of the other games in the series!" It's really easy for me to think it would be worthwhile, but it could also simply be good enough to just play the new games as they come out. In much the same way that the games have been refined over time, playing them refines your understanding of them over time, so whether you're going forwards or backwards in the series, you'll find it easier to make sense of things and you'll find more opportunities to deepen your skills. And if you're like me, you'll still be nowhere near as good as some people, even after 2000+ hours with the series. That's a good thing!

So it sounds like you also might want to go back and try Monster Hunter World. It has a lot more of the cinematic feel, and really tries to make tracking and finding the monster part of the whole experience. Glad to see you're enjoying the series!

You are the only game reviewer I know that shares my hatred of “forced co-op” crap in games.

If u find sharpening a hassle look into crafting a few Speed sharpening decorations. It really helps. been looking forward to the full review, thanks for making it.

Uploading this a day before the next Monster Hunter Digital event (basically their nintendo direct equivalent) is an interesting move

It gladdens me so to see a series i grew up with to blossom into such a refined and overall enjoyable experience. Happy hunting arlo!

I can’t stress enough how important it is to have a buddy or just a video explain to you for 10 minutes how stuff works in Monster Hunter when you’re starting out. I started with Generations Ultimate, and if I didn’t have my friends helping me out with the game I NEVER would have been able to get into Monster Hunter as much as I am now. Having someone helping you out is really really nice when you’re new to the series.

8:19 I don't know, Arlo, it's pretty necessary in my eyes. It's another thing that you need to keep tabs on. Imagine playing Breath of the Wild but with weapon durability turned off; the balance would be all out of wack. Sure, it could be altered and all that, but sharpening is part of the danger and critical thinking of hunting. 'When' and 'where' to sharpen are important questions to ask, because you might miss out on valuable damage by leaving at the wrong time, but take too long and you'll start bouncing off and doing nothing. What they mean by sharpening being 'less annoying' than earlier games is that it's no longer limited. Before you had to supply your own stones before a hunt with a max of 20 [If I remember right]. It was annoying because entering a hunt without enough stones, or fighting in extremely long fights, effectively causes you to fail outright for clear reasons, though considering that you can refill at camp at anytime now... Needless to say that that's no longer a concern anyways (it also introduces new problems). At the same time, you could easily just leave a zone and be safe from harm most of the time, so there are trade-offs, not that it matters much. My problem with Rise (and World), is that they dumbed everything down too much. Don't let someone make you think that people like me only say such as though we're elitist about it. It's too much to go over, but to me, there are things that improved over time and things that got worse. It's not a simple thing to talk about. One thing is the fact that they actually do let you know how weak a monster is (mostly). Sure, you do have to pay attention to the fight, but both your Palico and the monster icon in the top right tell you when they're almost dead. Effectively making capturing require no skill, wherein before you had to pay attention to the features of the monster itself. Again, that's only one point and there are things that I kind of prefer, so it's not like I want to go back to the old ways or anything, but we did lose a lot in the process. It's a very deep conversation I think, but to go back to the whetstone thing: yeah, I do think that it's necessary. It's a level of complexity that, while on it's own seems relatively superfluous, creates a deep combat system that required a lot of attention and allows for more ways to tailor your own experience. Take one thing away and what's stopping you from taking away something else, like ammo amounts (though you can resupply at any time, so they kind of did in a way). At some point you lose the DNA of the series. Not to say that that leads to an objectively better/worse game, but my point is that Monster Hunter was about careful planning, attentiveness, and skill, with the grinding simply being the gameplay loop. Not all of that is gone of course, but it's different that's for sure. I'm happy that more people are getting into the series, but some part of me always goes back to the old days, not simply because they were better, but because it stands on it's own. Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk, that is all.

This review is making me wanna buy monster hunter rise, seems like fun

Hey Arlo, I really enjoy your videos! Your reviews are always really thoughtful and the Nintendo news roundup is something I look forward to each week.

Arlo the battle music is amazing!!!!

16:06 What seasoned hunters? The only hunters in the village (as far as the story's concerned) are either retired, have a nearly career-breaking injury, are from another village and don't understand how the wirebugs work, or are the player character. Yeah; a story about a lone hero in a multiplayer game is an old contradiction, but still; the story does say why the player character is the one doing all this stuff.

THE RAW IMPATIENCE I HAD FOR THIS REVIEW TO COME OUT ♥

Welcome to the Club Arlo, Used to be a Hammer user myself, but turned into a Great Sword user.. its amazing how different weapons click with different people.

Very good review. Highlighted the major points while not overlooking the various shortcomings.

just so you know, the thing you mentioned of wishing you could encounter a monster in their den or something like that is kindoff done in world. there's a lot more nest areas in that game that are mainly used by only one monster. also, world allows you to encounter monsters before you're ready to fight them. you could encounter a rathalos right after beating the second monster, and you can encounter a diablos right after unlocking the second area. it's a small thing that I wish rise kept. don't get me wrong, I'm not saying "world good rise bad". both are fantastic games. I'm just mentioning some things you'd probably be kindoff happy to hear I guess.

11:13 You're making a perfectly reasonable point about mounted damage, but in that clip specifically, you are actually right about missing something. The attack you had Somnecanth perform doesn't deal damage, instead it instantly puts a monster to sleep. Sleeping monsters are completely helpless (which gives you time to sharpen, heal up, and prepare to re-enter combat whenever you feel ready) and the first attack used to wake them up deals 50% more damage, all of which has the potential to be way more impactful to your hunt than a single mounted attack would normally be, especially if you stack bombs and/or wake them up with a large hit, like a Greatsword slash. In terms of monsters that aren't Somnecanth, it's important to remember that each monster's attacks do different things. Some are slow and require good timing but hit for a lot of damage, some cover a wide radius and are easy to hit, some are fast and light, some hit multiple times if you wait for the animation to fully complete, and some deal low physical damage but have hidden effects, like inflicting statuses on the opposing monster or only achieving their peak potential when the monster you are riding is enraged. Not to mention that some monsters are simply weaker than others. It would be weird if a Great Bagi did the same damage as a freaking Rajang, after all. Finally, it's important to keep in mind that you (and your team) are more or less completely invincible while you have a monster mounted and that you end a mount by knocking down the opposing monster, thus opening it up to an immense amount of free punishment. It would be kinda unbalanced if the monsters did meta-build levels of DPS while you were on them, especially with how long you can make some of them last if you hold off on performing the Mounted Punisher until the last second.

It makes me so incredibly happy to hear so many new people getting into the series and im happy to see a new hunter enjoy it so much. I hope 3.0 treats ya well. Cant wait till you see what other cool monsters we have in store for you

Arloooo good job on the Scott the Woz feature!!! Happy for you and everyone else who participated!!!!

I feel like some of the issues Arlo has with Rise are rectified in Monster Hunter World and would be a great game to get into if he wanted a bit more immersion or get a little bit of a different experience while being eased in with general battle mechanics he has learned in Rise. There is never a “too late” when it comes to monster Hunter so I’d say play whatever entry sounds the most fun may it be World, Generations, or even the older titles.

Also, hearing you talking about trying a new weapon has encouraged me to give others a try myself after sticking with Dual Blade for almost the entire game.

My sweet summer Arlo.... So glad you are enjoying Rise =)

I've been waiting, thanks Arlo :) Now I just have to wait a couple more days for that glorious 3.0 update....

The Japanese setting is actually my favourite part of Monster hunter rise

Plot twist: Vern at Best Buy is actually a wyvern.

Love the content arlo!

Amazing review! Basically all my thoughts on the game as well! Gameplay really feels so fluid and intuitive!

"whipping out the whet stone does slow the pacing a little" congratulations Arlo, you are now a monster hunter fan

The thing with Whetstones is to help with not overwhelming the monster in the game because if u never got hit u would never disengage and monsters couldn’t deal with it so it’s to help sway the momentum of the fight

A couple notes/comments I have: - Shrine Ruins’ battle theme is the best imo. - The Argosy theme (video intro) is also a bop. - Sliding south from Lava Caverns’ first sub-camp, my personal record is just under the cave entrance between 10 and 12. What’s your best? - My character’s voice lines are hysterical. My favourite is the carving line ‘Daddy needs a new pair of boots!’ - I love the chaos of hearing every character’s voice in multiplayer. “I like it when the cats do things.” - Alpharad And finally... Hammer go bonk

Sweet non-skippable ads! My favorite!

Just wait until he discorvers protective polish, razor sharp and master´s touch...

I'm so happy to see you've gotten into Monster Hunter! For a series about Killing powerful beasts, it's strangely therapeutic. Welcome to the hunt!

Thanks for the great work as always!

Not only is this one of the best Arlo reviews but the explanations of major MH systems is phenomenal, best on RU-vid atm

That intro about the 3DS game hurt me. 4 Ultimate was what got me into the series.

As someone who's played the series since Monster Hunter 2, I can say without a doubt that it's a fun series, at best, when you play with friends. While I can see why some online experiences with randoms have been not as great; they have their moments! As for the OST, while I can understand the music isnt EVERYONE's cup of tea; there are moments when the music, or lack thereof, can really make the moment. For an example, (for those new to the series) look into a monster by the name of Amatsu.

I started with MH4U on 3DS, and hearing your MH journey has just put a big nostalgic smile on my face, happy hunting!!

The wyvern joke at the start actually cracked me up, thank you for that :>

I like how he's complaining about the sharpness and uses clips where he's using some of the worst weapons in terms of sharpness, yes only having 40 points of yellow sharpness is gona feel really bad haha

There's something I miss so much from the old MH gameplay: the farm

Yesssss, I am Soooo glad you're liking the game!! You are hands down my favorite Nintendo RU-vidr and it would be my dream to do some hunts with you. I've got thousands of hours in the series and would be More than happy to help show you the ropes and grind rampages with you. I'm a Hunting Horn main and I'm all about helping.

Somehow it feels like it's been a long time since we last got just an ordinary review of something...this was nice. Not that I don't love your other videos too! Just a sign of the crazy past year, I guess.

Wyvern riding may feel like free mindless damage, but it really helps to be strategic, timing your counters, flinches, and knockdowns most effectively, especially so that your finishers are as affective as they can be

Arlo lore confirmed: Arlo uses the hammer to give monsters the ole ‘wham-skabunk’

Absolutely awesome review…I think rise has to be my all time favourite monster hunter & I’ve been playing since psp….I’m really really REALLY enjoying it but unfortunately I have no one to play with so being a mediocre gunlance hunter I’m struggling a fair bit.that’s why I’m pleased there’s matchmaking (if only switch had a proper party/chat system tho.I’d love to have more people to play with.but so glad your enjoying it Arlo

Arlo, just a good tip for the sharpening problem. You can sharpen while unsheathed by using the whetstone via the Radial Menu. Makes things a lil bit faster paced.

I know he said “Review copy provided by capcom” but what I heard was “The first hit is always free.”

Finally, a review from someone who isn’t as familiar with the series! Thank you!

Yesss i have been waiting for this!

what I love from this review is that Arlo, as a new-er player, focused on exactly the things that drew me into the series ages ago: the crisp combat with completely different weapon types, and the monsters feeling so damn alive and well designed.

I would love to see you review Monster Hunter Stories 2 when it comes out. I have been playing through the first game and its everything I wanted from pokemon Sword and Shield and then some.

Who would win in a fight? Arlo or Grover?

Welcome to my favorite addiction Arlo! MH is the best!

That unboxing at the end was like seeing a kid on Christmas! :)

Was that a Blair Thumb reference?? Wow. The memories.

I looked into what the dango is a while ago. In short, balls of rice flour dough boiled. You put things in or on it.

Great video arlo

Kamura village is, in my opinion the most efficient of the 4 games I've played. It is a HUGE upgrade to the town in MH World which was huge and had an elevator and multiple levels. It was ridiculous. Also, all of the Monster Hunter games have kind of a feudal Japan aesthetic. The sharpening mechanic makes slightly less sense in modern MH. In the past, the games were as much about being prepared as they were about fighting monsters. Thing like pickaxes, fishing rods, and whetstones were items you had to put into your item box before each quest, and whetstones were consumable. There was no way to switch equipment, transfer items, or eat at camps. Now that there is no need to think about those items until you use them, it does seem unnecessary, but the sharpness mechanic is important and wouldn't work without the need to sharpen weapons so they couldn't just get rid of it

I love that head cannon! XD

Arlo: “One thing I’ve learned about Capcom over the years is they know how to make a polished game!” Capcom Fighting Game Fans: *cry*

i love that you can shoot photos from monsters and place them in your hunter notice for that Monster

Picked this up after seeing your initial video on it. Put in probably 50-60 hours in the past few weeks and have been absolutely loving the dual blades and long sword. Such a fun game and so many unique play styles that are available.

Should also be noted-- this game also inspired a craving for chicken sandwiches at 1am in the morning. Also, hey, thanks for the shoutout!

A lot of what you're saying sounds a lot like how I was when I picked up Monster Hunter World as my first title. I'm glad you're enjoying Rise.

As an old hunter from the PSP days (Freedom 2 and onward), it is always good to see a new hunter join in.

I’m a switch axe main but I’ve experimented with the insect glaive and goddamn! It’s fun to use. Glad you’re enjoying the game. I got into it with World a few months back and with Rise I’m playing them both back to back and they’re fantastic.