Monster Hunter Rise - I'LL TELL YOU WHAT'S RISING LADS

That's fine, I'll probably play it and enjoy it.  But, er, I have another question (sorry): do your furry pals max out at level 20, or is there any way to make them surpass their limits?

Once you hit high rank yourself their cap is raised to 35 & after the hunter rank is uncapped (in post game) they can go to 50.

Cheers Jas. Right, back to DLC chat.

The_Jaster wrote:

Speculation time: The new flagship monster we get a peek at looks like it's luring that Rathalos in to have a little snack on & maybe power up from it?

JayMoyles wrote:

I got big goth bat Castlevania vibes from that flagship, which rules.

Having watched this multiple times now, along with Gaijin-Hunter's dissection, you can tell that this monster is meant to be a vampire. It lives in a gothic, Bloodborne-as-fuck castle, it has wings which it folds around itself like a cloak and its horns and chest kind of look like a popped collar and ruff.

Could this game be going for gothic western monsters the way Rise gave us Asian monsters and yokai? I'd take a werewolf, some old ghost stories, a Frankenstein (equal dragon weapon? ), maybe Atlal Ka could return as the mummy . . .

Castlevania by way of Monhan? Sign me up!

Buska wrote:

a Frankenstein (equal dragon weapon? )

It fits but no.

All the other ideas are neat though and it would be interesting to see how those would influence the monster designs.

I'm big excite

Not yet reached HR100 but this gives me a deadline for it! I haven't played in a while so hopefully going back I'll have a load of event quests to play (the reason I'm not HR100 is because I didn't want to grind out quests I've already done, first time I've had that problem in MH!)

Nothing is quite going to do it for me in the same way making monsters into youkai did, but hey, gothic horror would be fine.  Although it could just do a gargoyle that would be indistinguishable from all of the bog-standard dragons and shrug its shoulders.  Speaking of:

OrangeRakoon wrote:

I think not liking Rathalos is like not liking Charizard

I don't like Charizard.

Also, not sure if anyone's mentioned this yet, but feeding (ha) the gothic idea: I get a big Phantom of the Opera's mask vibe from the flagship's face.

I'd love to see influences from classic Western movie monsters - something like the Creature from the Black Lagoon would work perfectly in the swampy areas.

Buskalilly wrote:

Could this game be going for gothic western monsters the way Rise gave us Asian monsters and yokai? I'd take a werewolf, some old ghost stories, a Frankenstein (equal dragon weapon? ), maybe Atlal Ka could return as the mummy . . .

The long con of naming our podcast Monster Mash finally fucking pays off, lads.

Oh shit, I hadn't even thought about that but you're right

I know I'm way behind, but I just want to say: I like Tigrex much more than I thought I would. Not the design, that still gets a big ol' shrug from me, but the fight is really fun. The first time it's absolutely terrifying and you will (or, er, I did) get smashed. Then you realise it's effectively all bark and no bite, gets tired and/or broken quickly, and can be danced around easily if you just pay it some respect. The way it goes from 'aaaaaargh' to 'aaaaaah' was particularly satisfying!

Balladeer wrote:

 Not the design, that still gets a big ol' shrug from me, but the fight is really fun.

See, for me, the fun of Monhan is that the designs and their fights are inextricably linked. Part of Tigrex' design is all those things you mentioned, and I think a brutish, big-jawed dinosaur fits that character you described really well.

Tigrex is a good one but there are even better out there imo. I'm glad you got to experience that click moment where you suddenly get a given monster. I talk about this every now and then on the pod but I do feel a tangible sense of respect for some of the monsters in this game which tends to happen whenever I build up that rapport with it over the course of a few hunts.

Buskalilly wrote:

Balladeer wrote:

 Not the design, that still gets a big ol' shrug from me, but the fight is really fun.

See, for me, the fun of Monhan is that the designs and their fights are inextricably linked. Part of Tigrex' design is all those things you mentioned, and I think a brutish, big-jawed dinosaur fits that character you described really well.

This is entirely valid, and yet... it comes back to my '7.8 too many reptiles' concern. Tigrex could have been replaced entirely in behaviour by a rhino-looking thing, and that would have suited the behaviour just as well without contributing to my 'dragon fatigue'.

Diablos, on the other hand, can bite a boaby. It's another big lizard, for starters. Mostly it seems to have just generic physical attacks, except they're stupid powerful. It's got 360º attacks, meaning that unlike the Tigrex there wasn't an 'aaaaaaah' moment: I just learned the patterns by brute force. I didn't build the same rapport Muss is talking about. Finally, the 'digging' thing it's got going on seems in no way related to its physique: in fact the horns look like they'd get in the way! Imagine if it was a giant mole instead. That would be fun. Instead it's bobbins.

I disagreed with every word of your last post.
All dinosaurs are good- the more the merrier. And I like physical monsters better than elemental ones. I'd like those monsters less if they were a rhino and a mole.
(also, would a rhino be that different visually to a triceratops thing?)

I don't think we'll ever see eye-to-eye on the dinosaurs thing. For what it's worth I loved dinos as a kid, and spent more time at the NHM than I care to remember (albeit mostly looking at the arthropods exhibit).  I just like mammals more now.  Which is not to say that 'dinosaurs are for kids' which is how it might read , just that I can kind of understand the appeal for 'moar dinos' but don't feel it at all these days.

Depends how scaly and crested the rhino was I think.

To be fair, I am exaggerating. Because dinosaurs are pretty well represented, I get excited when Monster Hunter has a furry beast or a move spotlights a mammoth or something. I just have room in my heart to be excited for other beasts while not resenting dinosaurs.

Which reminds me, I bookmarked a video about what now-extinct animals the Romans encountered and I'm excited to watch it.

You know who's a good furry beast? Goss Harag. I left it to be basically the last of the village quests because I was looking forward to it, and it did not disappoint. Lovely oni/namahage stuff going on there.


I think I'm probably done with the game though. I've had my fill. I finished all the village quests, including the licence quests. Then the next hub quests is a Rampage, and after that it's... the same monsters again, but harder. I've got other games to play and I'm happy to leave it there.

I know I've missed so much by not playing in multiplayer, but I've still had a really good time with it and I'm up for the next MonHun game to come to Nintendo! (If, as assumed, my Hunter Rank won't be high enough to dive into the new expansion.)

Balla wrote:

I know I've missed so much by not playing in multiplayer, but I've still had a really good time with it and I'm up for the next MonHun game to come to Nintendo! (If, as assumed, my Hunter Rank won't be high enough to dive into the new expansion.)

Aye, they've said you need to have done a specific 7 star hub quest to access Sunbreak. (which oddly isn't the very end of the hub )

The fact you've done the licence quests means you're right on the entry point of high rank though so you could always come back for that if you ever wanted to & in the latter half you would be seeing a handful of new monsters.

Goss Harag is one of my favourites in Rise, he is great. I always feel bad for killing him, as the way he uses weapons makes him feel a fair bit more sentient than the other monsters!

Times like this I wish it was easy to just download a save so you could skip to the content you want to play Balla, it's a shame you will miss out!

Kill him!? I captured him! You monster.

Yep it is a shame. Gatekeeping the handful of new foes behind Yet Another Arzuros seems... funny. Ah well.

I better get back to this at somepoint as I'm keen for the DLC.

masofdas wrote:

I better get back to this at somepoint as I'm keen for the DLC.

I need to start this at some point, but at this moment in time it feels like a time sink at an inconvenient time in the run-up to Christmas. Especially as I'm currently tackling a Pokémon game.

I know it won't convince you Balla but there is plenty new at high rank - monsters have new moves, you get new equipment, some more mechanics like decorations open up, character dialogue is still changing, and the actual quests (combinations of monsters and locations) are different too.

Balladeer wrote:

Kill him!?  I captured him!  You monster.

Yep it is a shame.  Gatekeeping the handful of new foes behind Yet Another Arzuros seems... funny.  Ah well.

masofdas wrote:

I better get back to this at somepoint as I'm keen for the DLC.

stu_the_great wrote:

masofdas wrote:

I better get back to this at somepoint as I'm keen for the DLC.

I need to start this at some point, but at this moment in time it feels like a time sink at an inconvenient time in the run-up to Christmas. Especially as I'm currently tackling a Pokémon game.

This looks like the perfect opportunity for the occasional multiplayer sessions & while it can be a time sink if the game grabs you MH Rise is also great for short bursts of play as well.

Goss Harag rules. Probably my second favourite new monster next to Bishaten.

If you ever want some help in getting to the new High Rank beasties Balla, I'm sure myself and any of the Mash lads (well, maybe not Andy, lazy bugger) would be more than happy to help you with the Hub quests to get there. Like OR was saying, seeing some of the new moves in HR from the monsters you've already fought is a big part of the fun.