There are a lot of things to do in Monster Hunter Rise. Players will need to explore the game's world, gather resources, complete quests, and fight enormous monsters. They will do all of this with their Palico and Palamute buddies, which are helpful cat and dog-like creatures that will accompany players everywhere and help them when needed.
Monster Hunter Rise has a dedicated area where players can take care of their buddies and engage with several important systems they will want to take advantage of. The Buddy Plaza can be found to the right of Fugen the Elder, past Senior Hunter Hanenaga, and across a bridge into a forested area.
In Buddy Plaza, players will be able to use the Buddy Board to select which buddies accompany them on quests, change their Palico and Palamute's gear, and change their appearance. They can also hire new buddies through the Buddy Scout, Iori. Iori will regularly have new potential hires, so check in with them often. Players will want the best type of Palico support on each quest, so hiring multiple buddies will give them plenty of options.
Felyne Chief Kogarashi also resides in Buddy Plaza and organizes a group of buddies called the Meowcenaries. They act as a recon squad, gathering materials and items from different areas in exchange for Kamura Points. Players can also take advantage of the Buddy Dojo, paying Kamura Points to train their buddies to increase their experience and level.
Buddy Plaza is also home to the Argosy, a merchant vessel captained by Rondine the Trade. This is a great place to big up rare or hard-to-find items as players make their way through the game. Players can also send their buddies out in a submarine to trade for specific items, giving them even more reason to have a range of buddies.
When playing single-player content, gamers will be accompanied by both their buddies, but when playing with friends or random players in multiplayer content, they will only be accompanied by their primary buddy. The current norm seems to be to choose Palamutes as the primary buddy, as players can ride them to traverse the map faster.
Buddies will even accompany players during Rampage quests, taking the fight to the invading monsters and helping to defend Kamura Village. Buddies are an easy aspect of the game to ignore but can actually be potent tools and useful for gathering and sourcing important resources. Players should definitely take the time to visit Buddy Plaza and take advantage of everything their buddies can do.
Monster Hunter Rise is now available on Nintendo Switch and a PC port is coming in 2022.