Despite being effectively the same game in core concept, Monster Hunter World and Monster Hunter Rise seem to attract different kinds of audiences. But why?
"The best rhetoricians are those who can adapt their communication style to resonate with different audiences."
-Aristotle
The Art of Rhetoric
Monster Hunter is a action fantasy series created by Kaname Fujioka and published under Capcom, dating back as far as 2004. The series follows a common core concept between each entry: having the player kill weaker monsters to obtain materials to fight stronger monsters. The Monster Hunter franchise had usually been stuck as an exclusive title in Japan and other Asian countries, but in 2018, The next big entry would shake up the series forever.
Promotional Art for Monster Hunter World. Image by Capcom.
This next big title, Monster Hunter World (MHW), sought out to broaden their target audience, specifically leaning more towards the western countries. Including features like increased platform accessibility, gameplay mechanics and visual improvements, Monster Hunter World became the first major leap of the franchise. Some time after the world’s success, they wanted to keep the franchise going strong, and released their next major title: Monster Hunter Rise.
Promotional Art for Monster Hunter Rise. Image by Capcom.
However, upon release, It wasn’t without some mixed controversy. Some lashed out, declaring it was a downgrade of the previous entry, but others fired and expressed their love for the newest entry of the franchise. But why? The core concept of monster hunter was kept intact, but people sought different perspectives of them.
I wanted to “dive deeper” into this concept by contrasting the visual appeals between Monster Hunter World and Rise. In the end, we will understand how these separate entries persuade players differently.
-Contrasting Visual Appeals of Monster Hunter -
Monster Hunter World Intro Cutscene (2018)
First Impressions
Before you even get to set foot in the game, World presents you with a masterfully designed cutscene.
We have the fleet of hunters having their boat swept up by what is seemingly a rising island. However, we learn later on in the cutscene that it is actually the back of a giant monster. Showing off the scale difference of this monster really sets a precedent on how the monsters are visualized in the game: Threatening and dangerous. Having the player feel how small they are compared to the possible threats sets the tone for the game as more as a battle for survival. The game goes on intertwining gameplay with cinematics, really setting that story driven and immersion feeling game.
With Rise, we don’t get the same treatment. The hunter is just “plopped” down into the first zone of the game, having a mentor to follow around, learning the basic mechanics of the game. How are we here? We don’t know. We don’t even get to see any monsters of the sort before returning the the hub, providing us with a low threat level and no lingering dangers to keep in the back of the mind. Just on first impressions alone, we see Rise presenting itself as much more Casual and Straight-to-the-point, especially with the graphic downgrade from what World was being capable of.
However, as we will see later, what Rise lacks in graphics and cinematic presentation makes it up with gameplay.
First Area of the game, where you learn the mechanics of Rise- Image by Matthew Duncan
Before the Hunt
- Before we get into gameplay however, lets looks at the different hubs the game provides. this will be the place will be involved with the most outside of hunts, so it serves as an important overarching tone for the game.
Astera
Once we get our bearings straight, we get presented with Astera, the base of the new world. We can tell from the aesthetics alone that it gives off the sophisticated tribal vibe: from pitched tents lying around, constructed machinery made out of scraps and monster parts to pulleys moving things to and fro; everything here is alive and moving. Even the player model can’t sit still more than a couple seconds. It really makes you feel like you’re involved in a much bigger, breathing world.
The player greeted with the Hub of World, Astera.
Depictions of Monsters on the bounty board.
We see this aesthetic carry over with fonts choices and illustrations. A mix of scratch and serif fonts are used throughout, portraying the mix of formal and tribal. Small and detailed illustrations paint the monsters in unusual ways, presenting them as intimidating before even getting the chance to fight them.
The player being greeted with the Hub of Rise, Kamura.
Kamura
On the other end of the spectrum, we have Rise’s Kamura. Unlike worlds more Western “Barbaric” approach, full of moving parts and de saturated tones, we see Rise takes more of a flourishing Asian style, with mulitple elements regarding Chinese and Japanese culture, and plenty of popping saturated colors. The tone is immediately settled as more light hearted. Throughout the Hub, there’s not much internal movement going on (outside of the smoking towers), and player movement overall is much more snappy and strict than worlds more realistic bobbing and momentum.
We keep the this same level of lighthearted tone through Rises uses of text and Imagery. The abundance of sans-serif and brush strokes, present a overall safe and humble feel to the experience. Lots of the fonts and images are loud and in your face, they want to scream at you for attention, trying to be eye-catchy.
Palico talking to the player, in the format of a odd cartoon speech bubble.
A provided quest given to the player. Notice how artistic it’s presenting the monsters.
During the Hunt
- Hunts are the most crucial aspect of the Monster Hunter experience, defining how the gameplay will feel and how the player will get affected through the experience. World and rise presents their monsters and combat in different lights.
"Alive vs AI"
World makes the monsters feel like are actual living beings, that can interact with the ecosystem around it. A good portion of monsters will not actually fight you unless provoked. The game tries to tie in aspects of the environment into real lore reasons of the world. For example, Pukei Pukei is a Bird-Frog like Wyvern that feeds off the poison pods of the region, such as the Ancient Forest. You will not see Pukei Pukei in places that wouldn’t make sense to a feather beast, like the scorching desert of Wild-Spire Wastes.
Some monsters even have special interactions with each other. One of the funniest moments of my early days as a hunter is having a Great Jagras hunt, and having another monster, Anjanath, just rush over and starting eating him, counting the hunt as a success as he walked away.
We can notice as well how much life is poured into the enviroment, seeping with detail. It really makes you feel like you are a living being among the world.
A Great Jagras hunt where Anjanaths steals the kill infront of the hunter.-Image by Capcom.
However in Rises Case, they can be compared to walking meat bags. Most monster can just appear just about anywhere, and will always target on sight. They dont feature any unique interactions with each other, and the environments are basically bare boned. The monsters in essence just feel like the video game enemy you have to defeat.
Weapon Mechanics
- To understand the philospohies of each game’s weapon mechanics, lets look over at a video that shows one of the most simplest weapons in action, the greatsword.
Attacks in World have noticeable camera movements and sounds that make it feel like they are really having impact with the monster. During the Final charge slash with the great sword, camera will vastly zoom in during the hit, giving that meaty feeling that I love about world,
In rises case, attacks don’t have that oomph in them. The attacks don’t give much of a impact; they feel more weightless.
- But notice how much movement tech the weapon attacks give in Rise, which brings up the reason why Rise is great in its own right.
The "Rise" of Wirebugs
- Wirebugs were introduced and Rise, and they give an entirely new meaning to hunting monsters.
Wire bugs allow the player to move around almost as free as they want, as long as they respect the cooldown. Rise throws away the realistic and grounded style approch of world and just goes wild with its movement tech. Rise also gives their weapons unique abilities that are way over the top, but flashy for the eyes. This crazy tech also makes the monsters faster to keep up the hunters, and quicker hunts due to the increased control the hunter gets accessed to.
Using a Gunlacne against Pukei Pukei. Notice how fast I can move around and perform flashy attacks like the “Bullet “Barrage”
Key Takeaways
Despite their differences and controversies, there are countless people that say that both World And Rise are amazing in their own right, and I say I couldn’t agree more. While I much prefer the atmosphere and “meaty” feel during hunts in World, Rise’s weapon mechanics vastly outshines the simple and sometimes, boring weapon mechanics that World presented. Doing flashy and crazy moves with wirebugs, leaping around like a ninja gives you that dopamine hit, but World still gives that grand experience that skill keeps me going back around. Monster applies their skills at visual rhetoric to appeal towards different audiences.
- Worlds persuades the player through the visuals of atmosphere. Monsters are seen as actual living beings, interacting with a environment full of life. The game takes slow, allowing the player to fully take in the immersion, wrapped up with meaty and impacting gameplay. Players know this is their game when they just want a true experience out of a game.
- Rise persuades through the visuals of game mechanics. Going back to its roots approach, being more of a Arcady style thematic to the genre, Less emphasis is placed on the details of monsters and the enviroment, rather focuing on movement, around, flashy and crazy over the top weapon patterns; all for making the player feel like a badass. Including quicker hunts overall, the player can go right back in after one quest into another and have fun with their weapons. Players know this is their game when they just want quick experiences of action based combat.