Capcom is best known for its thrilling series, Resident Evil, but another series is causing a whirlwind in the gaming industry. The Monster Hunter franchise has blossomed into a massive success, selling over 88 million units. This leaves many gamers with a tough choice of choosing between Monster Hunter World vs Monster Hunter Rise two of the latest titles from the developer.
However, despite the familiarity in gameplay, each title has its fair share of strengths and weaknesses. With patches and updates, the two titles keep improving in performance; however, significant differences stand out. Whether it’s the addition of new monsters or re-designs, the two titles' common ground is that they are entertaining and hooking. The knotty question is, which one is better? Let’s find out.
What is Monster Hunt: World?
Monster Hunter: World is the fifth installment in the Monster Hunter series by Capcom. The game was released in 2018 on Xbox One and PlayStation 4 consoles. As the title implies, the action-role-playing video game lets players assume the role of a hunter on a quest to take down ferocious monsters. An assistant handler and a palico accompany the hunter.
After a successful hunt, players receive rewards as loot bearing various equipment, including the monster parts. With no leveling up in the game, players have to craft their weapons and armor to increase their abilities. Additionally, the game provides a roster of 14 archetypes from the series. Moreover, players can take on quests as a solo mission or team up in the game’s online multiplayer mode.
Monster Hunter: World adopts game mechanics from its predecessors and new generation consoles. Consequently, this has led to a blossoming of its fanbase in Western markets. Furthermore, the game is the best-seller according to Capcom’s database, making it the best title in the franchise. Much of this can be attributed to the new features included in the game. This includes improved monster design, the creation of connected environmental spaces, and an upgraded user interface.
What is Monster Hunt: Rise?
Monster Hunt: Rise is the sixth installment in the Monster Hunt franchise and is a sequel to Monster Hunter: World. Released in 2021 on Nintendo Switch, the game consistently keeps up with the leviathan-hunting tales of the nameless hunter. It, however, features new additions, such as replacing the Palico with a Palamute. The title also eases the hunter's journey by adding wirebugs (similar to the clutch caw), which allow players to ride on the monsters.
The game retains its core reward system of loot, which players can use to advance their stats. Moreover, the 14 archetype arsenals from previous titles are retained, and players can upgrade their weapons' capacity through crafting.
Much like Monster Hunter: World, this title uses the same map styles and replaces the zoned areas with interactive environmental spaces. Players can make use of the environmental elements to strategically hunt the monstrosities. For instance, blowing up a dam can get the monster out of hiding. Or pitting two monsters against each other by having a monster invade another monster’s den.
Similar to its predecessor, the game also features a local and online multiplayer mode. Alternatively, players can partake in solo quests with either the Palico or Palamute or both.
What are the Main Differences Between Monster Hunt: Rise and Monster Hunt: World?
Despite the two titles consistently sticking to the same core gameplay loop, there are discernible differences that set the two apart. For instance, World has a wider platform reach by being available on PS4 and Xbox, unlike Rise, which is exclusive to the Nintendo Switch. Also, Capcom had to tone down the graphics on Rise for the game to run smoothly on the Switch platform.
However, as a sequel to its predecessor, Rise has better features and upgrades not previously witnessed in the series. A good example is the introduction of the tower defense mode, which tasks players with defending a village from the monstrosities. Players can form a line of defense with the NPCs.
Gameplay
Despite the core loop gameplay being intact, the two titles have striking gameplay differences. Rise features an easy way of tracking monsters using the minimap, unlike World, which has players piece together clues about the monsters’ whereabouts. A noticeable inclusion is the Palamutes which are dog-like companions that serve various purposes like the Palico cat counterpart.
Also, Rise has a broader roster of monsters that players can leverage to increase stats after a kill. The Wirebug, an adaptation of the Clutch Caw in World, is a new addition to Rise that lets players easily traverse the environmental spaces.
Furthermore, Rise’s expansion includes a swap feature that lets players switch skill sets without retreating to base camp.
Environment Design
In order to adapt to Switch’s performance, developers had to remove environmental details from Rise and include an open area. In the world, the surroundings are intricately detailed with vegetation, animal species, and discernible terrain. Also, in Rise, players no longer need to take potions to survive in different biomes, unlike in World. However, the title still retains the need for potions to recover from monster attacks.
Performance
Monster Hunter: World is more demanding performance-wise than its counterpart. On the PS4 Pro and Xbox One, the game runs at 30 fps at 900 to 1080p. Updates have greatly improved the game’s smoothness, but it’s still shy of 60 fps at 4K. On the other hand, Rise runs at 540p in portable mode and 720 p in docked mode in the switch consoles. Moreover, owing to the small size of Switch screens, there’s a noticeable graphical difference, but this doesn’t shake the game's integrity.
Monster Hunter World Vs. Monster Hunter Rise: Which One is Better?
Quite frankly, it isn't easy to discern which title is better, considering the consistency in gameplay. However, we can’t ignore the fact that Monster Hunter: Rise is a later release that features additions and improvements over its predecessor. Not to forget, it also has an array of more monsters to fight.
Answering this question boils down to preference and equipment. On the front end of graphic performance, Monster Hunter: World features an amplified environment, hence taking the lead. On the other hand, the neat additions to Monster World: Rise create a new and fascinating experience that fans will marvel over.
