Dry your eyes Switch fans sad about the lack of Monster Hunter World on Nintendo’s platform; Capcom has announced Monster Hunter Rise, a brand-new entry in the long-running series that’s heading to Switch next March.
Revealed during today’s Nintendo Direct Mini, Monster Hunter Rise builds on the open-world style of exploration introduced in Monster Hunter World, with each environment existing as a seamless, single locale. According to Capcom, verticality is a key focus in Rise (as its name hints at), and players will have access to a new Clutch-Claw-like tool known as the Wirebug, a sort of hookshot enabling hunters to climb and swing up to places normally out of reach.
One of these places is the Shrine Ruins, a rather gloomy map filled with dilapidated shrines and ruins, bamboo thickets, and waterlogged fields, punctuated by towering, mist-shrouded rocks. Capcom promises plenty of secrets to uncover here, encouraging thorough exploration, which should be a whole lot easier thanks to Rise’s new Palamutes, dog companions that can carry hunters across large expanses without depleting stamina.
Monster Hunter Rise – Announcement Trailer Watch on YouTube
That’s not their only role though, and they also serve as fearless, attacker-type fighting companions. Single-player hunters are able to have two sidekicks with them during a hunt, and can mix and match between Palamutes or returning cat-like Palicoes (which serve as support types here) as they choose. One companion is available to each hunter in multiplayer mode.