Monster Hunter Rise Switch Analysis Video: It Runs Impressively Well
A video analysis of Monster Hunter Rise's performance shows that the game runs very well on the Nintendo Switch. Monster Hunter Rise is only a few days away from its official launch, and the demo for the game helped give a taste of what the game's performance would be like.
The duration of Monster Hunter Rise's demo revealed the ambition that this game is reaching for. Its online functionality is said to be the first subject of Nintendo's new online multiplayer system, with the old system being used for so long that Splatoon 2's online code had an unused function to launch Windows 98. As a result, the online connectivity in the demo for Monster Hunter Rise was stable. Nintendo's online netcode has been said to be behind the times, but any sort of improvement to the company's online functionality is definitely a step in the right direction for Monster Hunter Rise and other online Nintendo games.
Digital Foundry's tech review of Monster Hunter Rise goes in depth into the game's performance. The level of detail is said to be not as high as Monster Hunter World, and there are technical cutbacks such as the shadows on trees not moving, but it makes up for this by have the frame rate capped at 30fps. Monster Hunter World's frame rate wasn't locked at 30fps and was inconsistent, but Monster Hunter Rise runs at 30fps throughout the test session. The multiplayer performance was not able to be tested, but the review states that "Based on what I've played this is the best-looking, most consistently smooth Monster Hunter experience I've had on a handheld console."
Monster Hunter Rise may not have the same graphical detail as Monster Hunter World, but it still features key advancements that Monster Hunter World reached for the series. This includes seamless area transitions, where instead of having loading screens in between each area in the maps, the whole map is loaded at the start of a quest. The map size is also just as big if not bigger than Monster Hunter World, and while Monster Hunter World had various ways of traversing through the map, Monster Hunter Rise's wirebug changes the way hunters navigate through the environments, allowing the ability to climb up to tall cliffs to get a view of the whole map.
While there are some sacrifices on a technical level, the performance and fluidity of the gameplay make it worth the price. The use of the RE engine is new for the series, and for being a game on the Switch, Monster Hunter Rise performing as well as it is is very commendable. Hopefully this kind of performance and use of aesthetics in Monster Hunter Rise helps not just the Monster Hunter series grow, but other Nintendo franchises as well.
Source: Digital Foundry