got to sunbreak after doing almost everything in the normal village so i consider main game done.

first of all i never played any 3Ds game, my first MH experience was with freedom unite and portable third. both amazing games that i hold very dearly despite some absolute jank and time wasting shenanigans, they were games made to be grinded to an absolute halt.
with that said i still loved MH rise, yeah birds as temporal upgrade is bloody stupid and so is switching food for dango, but as far as it goes this is the best experience so far, i loved my time with it, got to HR 9 before going to sunbreak and it felt like a polished upgrade from the old psp games i enjoyed so much with friends, as a side note i'm kinda glad they took off friend launching with heavy weapons, i had a friend who would complain for hours every time i switch axed him far away or accidentally great sworded him into another map (maybe not so accidentally), so in this game he has zero reasons to complain, but now i am the one complaining because i actually do enjoy his salt, please let me launch players from cliffs again capcom <3.

overall this is an upgraded version of portable third and thats all i could ever ask for

I don't know if Monster Hunter is entirely my thing but I can't deny that Rise is both a fantastic entry point for the series while also being a great game in it's own right. The series has made a name for itself on two major components to it's success - depth of combat, and the actual monster designs themselves, and Rise succeeds heavily at both which counts as a win in my book. Strong controls and mobility across the board make this a breeze to play, especially as hunts take longer and longer to complete.

It's definitely got a learning curve - the series' notoriety for difficult to explain concepts is definitely here - but for those willing to take the plunge and actually try it out this might be your best bet to start. And while I definitely prefer something with more story on it's bones - this is literally just kill monster, rinse and repeat - the actual loop of gameplay is so fun it's hard to ignore.

Had a fantastic time with this game overall. Coming from Generations Ultimate, the improvements made in this game is astounding. Wirebugs and maps being more vertical, change the game a fair bit giving players the ability to play each of the five maps very differently each time. This also goes without saying but the many quality of life features that was added to the game, such as having the choice of eating before a hunt or if a player had forgotten to eat before a hunt they can do from the tent at the main base. The music and presentation are fantastic in this game, especially the music I never got tired of listening to the music during my time playing this game with the hub and the desert area being some of my favorites in the game. There are a couple of small things that did bother me, such as the boring grind from HR 50 to HR 100. I felt as if though the final hunt should have been the HR 50 hunt, but it wasn't and the last fight was another 50 ranks down the line. The HR 100 isn't bad, it is an interesting fight but I feel as if the build up from HR 50 to 100 wasn't as exciting as it could be. I would suggest to have some of the apex monsters be some of the urgent quests on the way to HR 100 to keep players engaged. As I had started to lose my interest in the game a bit around the HR 90 mark. But that grind for HR levels aside, this iteration of Monster Hunter is an absolutely amazing experience, as for me, it improves in many areas where I felt Generations Ultimate could deal without. Great time sink if you have friends to play through the game or a fan of boss fights.