Monster Hunter Rise is as solid as ore, albeit as dry the Sandy Plains as the base launch of World was. However, it makes up for it in the post-launch support, as all of these games do. Props to Capcom Division 3 for the foundation they've laid for the series and improved on.

Kamura's Feudal Architecture, the cobble-stone paving, the colorful Sashimono banners all add to the overall aesthetic of the game, one that's greatly appreciated and pits one to one with Pokke Village as a favorite. This home-yness incremented by the still one-dimensional but not as vapid cast as the last game cast of this game, and the two 𝑀𝒾𝓈𝓉𝓇𝑒𝓈𝓈𝑒𝓈 Hinoa and Minoto being best gals, fite me. All of it lends toward the best mood and art direction in the series, beating out the rather bland, at least in my opinion, I know I know jalapeño popper take, jurassic direction of World that MH7 (not 6, fuck y’all, Rise is 6!) will also have.

So too are the maps teaming with life thrice over, of all trophic levels. Life that gives to an ecology that feels alive, even if it isn’t truly alive. All beset with that life not just being set-dressing, but aiding/ailing in moment to moment gameplay. Stone Lizards that drop Spheres, stat boosting Spiri-birds, Great Izuchi calling on a pack of Smaller Izuchi to gank you dank swords style, or Icy Tundras where you'll face upon Lagombi who'll lead you into a pit infested with those STINGY BASTARDS... gripe aside.

Herein, you're to be fixated on the staple gameplay loop of Monster Hunter that you either couldn't get into or never got tired of, no in-between; slaying monsters and accruing all manner of pelts, fangs, horns, or other bodily features via an actually well balanced RNG Loot system that's woven with an upgrade system that's divided by armor sphere spending and deck allotting, usually to three slots per armor variant max all available at the smithy after certain HR levels are reached, all while new Silkbind moves for your weapon of choice open, camp grounds from previous expeditions are opened, you deck your buddies out with the same set as you or a different set hey maybe you're into fashion hunter, no knock against ya, and they push you along to grind s'more.

Oh right Silkbinds, so it's a faux hunter art system where you get one or two special moves depending on what class you're into, which changes up gameplay lots and adds more depth and breadth to a game that already has it in spades. As an Insect Glaive main I really like that I get to do a spinny move that finally looks different than the spinny move I've been accustomed to since the damn thing was introduced in 4, I was stuck with Tetra-seal for a while and the range sucks but Diving Wyvern is a fucking GODSEND, AAAAND the Kinsect recall that nets you two buffs instead of one kind of broke the game in a really good way for me. Can’t speak for mains of other weapons as each one has a meta and I only dabbled in such stuff like the Hunting Horn and heard from long-time mains that it got downgraded, but point is the game has sooooooooooo much player choice it's insane

As an Impromptu bookend to this review since I'm a bad writer and don't know how to review games, the game has soooooooooo much player choice it's insane… But no really, try Monster Hunter Rise. It’s never been a better time to get into the franchise, which is coming from a vet that started at Tri on the Wii back in the olden days. With such a polished, streamlined, and fun game that honors the series legacy, it's a hardy ass recommendation from me, a nobody on the internet. Buy the game basically, it's really good, and it applies to every monster hunter game ever too, this is a review of every game in the series if you look at it that way. Grab three buddies and go slay a Rathalos or something. Thanks for reading if and when you do or did.

i can't find any holes in this game's...well...game. this geniunely could not be more for me even if it tried to...it's one of those works where i'm seeing small parts i really love from other stuff combined into one perfect package.

it looks beautiful, it plays beautiful & it sounds beautiful. it's an ace.

idk what else to even say other than R.I.P to one of the better modern videogame studios & fuck you microsoft.

If you are sad that bloober team is going to stomp on everything that Silent Hill 2 is all about with their eventual dogshit remake than don't worry because the best silent hill game made since 3 is right here! Enjoy this game while you can before people try and tell you it’s overrated or nothing but annoying people talk about it and get you mad

After losing my save when the game came out and putting off replaying back to where i was 2 years later i am happy i finally did it. I knew i would love it, i knew it would be amazing and still it blew me away.

Anyone who claims The Beginner's Guide not to be a game has never played a game.

They may have watched a playthrough unfold before their eyes, one whose inputs coincidentally came from the same brain watching it. But they didn't play it. Because in order to understand The Beginner's Guide as something other than a game, one has to go through the same process as someone who can't see essays as literature: games are, for these people, either fun-generating machines or vessels for Narratives, which in turn have Messages, but never a language unto itself.

When The Beginner's Guide meditates on game design conventions, axioms and the interplay between intent, message, execution, apprehension and interpretation -- and does so through layers of that same interplay -- it generates meaning not because of what it says, but because of what it does. The fact that the experience is guided by a voice is orthogonal to the fact that you have to play it to get anything out of it -- that is, to use the many syntaxes the game establishes to navigate the world, the stories and the mechanics. Only then, The Beginner's Guide becomes a conversation, not a guided tour.

Every instruction is a negotiation when you're playing a game, even if you end up following it. The mediator of the negotiation is not Coda or the narrator, but your own curiosity about these characters and what they have built.

Overhated and underrated.
Definitely way more buggy than the other two games even with the unnoficial patch but its such an ambitious entry that nails so many aspects well, i had alot of fun with its more often than not bullshit difficulty and heat seeking grenades.
Honestly i really dont think there's a single bad STALKER game, yes we all know the x ray engine tends to work like an otherwordly artefact at times but the community has more than done their job of fixing and revamping so anyone can actually play these games.
Whether you prefer Shadow of Chernobyl's focus on the tense atmosphere, Clear Sky's faction warfare or Call of Pripyat's more slower paced survival horror gameplay, you cant deny each of the three main games bring something completely unique to the table, hence why i dont agree with the statement of "Dont bother with the main series! Just play Anomaly and other mods!", the main games offer so much variety already, why would you want to deny yourself from experiencing that?
Anyway, check out Tarkovsky's STALKER (1979) and Roadside picnic by the strugatsky brothers, they're both more than worth the read and the watch.