Man, you can tell this is a legacy series that did one thing good back in the day (hunting monsters) and laser-focused on gradually refining that. The Fantasy Japan setting is nicely rendered but generic and about as shallow a cultural representation as the average Mexican restaurant in America. The narrative and characters are generally either nonexistent or faintly embarrassing. This sounds harsh, but they barely matter - they're set-dressing and setup for the monster hunting, and they have the good manners to move by quickly.
That aside, the monster hunting - it's intensely satisfying. The initial approach makes a good first impression with rewarding mechanics. Zipping around the environment as you scoop up and strike down the local wildlife is a functional amuse-bouche, building up anticipation and crystalizing the final preparations. Popping a web-slinging spider or a pheromone-puffing mink into your pocket might point you towards hijacking an extra monster to rodeo into your target, while grabbing status-inflicting exploding toads may instead tempt you to set up a trap.
The monster fights themselves are certainly worthy of being the series' singular focus. Each monster has a distinct character and a variety of attacks, with constant surprises as you hunt increasingly dangerous targets. A razor-tailed velociraptor, a colossal acrobatic crane, and a b-boy mega-monkey are some of the first targets, and they only get more extravagant. While the game is broadly forgiving if you're staying on curve with upgrading armor & weapons, analyzing a monster's attack patterns and exploiting their weaknesses is still exceptionally satisfying.
In between hunts, upgrading your equipment is often enough encouragement to go back into the fray to test out your new digs. It's not an XCOM-level "one more turn" effect by any means - upgrades tend to be more numerical rather than meaningfully changing the way you interact with fights - but given how strong the outfit & weapon visual design is, test runs are tempting.
After a hundred hunts, many of Rise's charms have already started to wear thin. The environments' unchanging nature means that exploration is decidedly finite, and collecting wildlife at the start of a hunt can turn into more of a chore than a treat. The limited ways monsters engage with their environment (typically milling about aimlessly, occasionally beefing with other monsters in the locale) similarly limits the variety - and impacts the monsters' credibility. (Most hunts start by telling you the target is a danger to civilization, not that you ever see that.) And the Rampage side-mode - a sort of Monster Hunter tower defense - is broadly unworthy of revisiting more than the game insists. But by this point, you've probably cleaved through nearly all of Rise's content. I wish there were more systems to encourage (or force) improvisation, but Rise shines bright enough for the majority of its time that it's hard to rag on it especially hard for an ending that fades away.
That aside, the monster hunting - it's intensely satisfying. The initial approach makes a good first impression with rewarding mechanics. Zipping around the environment as you scoop up and strike down the local wildlife is a functional amuse-bouche, building up anticipation and crystalizing the final preparations. Popping a web-slinging spider or a pheromone-puffing mink into your pocket might point you towards hijacking an extra monster to rodeo into your target, while grabbing status-inflicting exploding toads may instead tempt you to set up a trap.
The monster fights themselves are certainly worthy of being the series' singular focus. Each monster has a distinct character and a variety of attacks, with constant surprises as you hunt increasingly dangerous targets. A razor-tailed velociraptor, a colossal acrobatic crane, and a b-boy mega-monkey are some of the first targets, and they only get more extravagant. While the game is broadly forgiving if you're staying on curve with upgrading armor & weapons, analyzing a monster's attack patterns and exploiting their weaknesses is still exceptionally satisfying.
In between hunts, upgrading your equipment is often enough encouragement to go back into the fray to test out your new digs. It's not an XCOM-level "one more turn" effect by any means - upgrades tend to be more numerical rather than meaningfully changing the way you interact with fights - but given how strong the outfit & weapon visual design is, test runs are tempting.
After a hundred hunts, many of Rise's charms have already started to wear thin. The environments' unchanging nature means that exploration is decidedly finite, and collecting wildlife at the start of a hunt can turn into more of a chore than a treat. The limited ways monsters engage with their environment (typically milling about aimlessly, occasionally beefing with other monsters in the locale) similarly limits the variety - and impacts the monsters' credibility. (Most hunts start by telling you the target is a danger to civilization, not that you ever see that.) And the Rampage side-mode - a sort of Monster Hunter tower defense - is broadly unworthy of revisiting more than the game insists. But by this point, you've probably cleaved through nearly all of Rise's content. I wish there were more systems to encourage (or force) improvisation, but Rise shines bright enough for the majority of its time that it's hard to rag on it especially hard for an ending that fades away.