By Adele Chapline Smith | Catholic News Service
NEW YORK (CNS) — The latest addition to a franchise that dates back to 2004, “Monster Hunter Rise” (Capcom) is the first game in the series to come to the portable Nintendo Switch platform.
Like its predecessors, this role-playing title offers gamers the thrill of chasing down and trapping aggressive creatures.
The leader of a community called Kamura Village tasks the player with discovering the cause of an impending stampede of beasts, the potential recurrence of a similar event 50 years before. Known as the Rampage, the earlier disaster nearly wiped Kamura off the map.
In preparing for battle, gamers can choose from an array of armaments, including the insect glaive, a double-bladed staff equipped with a special bug that hunters can count on to aid them in a showdown. Certain weapons are designed for higher-skilled players, however, and are thus too unwieldy for beginners.
New auxiliaries include the “palamute,” a dog large enough to ride, and the “palico,” a cat that assists hunters. The “Wirebug,” a movement feature that lets players grapple and fly around, is also a novelty.
Combat is obviously frequent, though the resulting blood effects are very mild. Postmortem, the body parts of monsters are carved up and used to craft new weapons and armor — an aspect of the gameplay that some may find distasteful.
Sexual content is confined to some skimpy outfits. But online play is available, and this may expose youngsters to unsuitable behavior on the part of others.
The parents of small kids should, accordingly, seek suitable entertainment for them elsewhere. Teen and grown players, by contrast, will appreciate the great storyline and vivid artwork that enrich this latest iteration of a long-lasting stalwart of the RPG genre.
Playable on Nintendo Switch.
The game contains considerable, but mostly stylized, hunting violence and revealing female armor. The Catholic News Service classification is A-II — adults and adolescents. The Entertainment Software Rating Board rating is T — teen.
Smith reviews video games for Catholic News Service.