The big new mechanic coming to Monster Hunter Rise that sets it apart from previous titles in the series is the Wirebug that adds a whole new level of complexity to combat. These new movement and attack options in Monster Hunter Rise, may be building a whole new way for players to interact with the monsters that roam around the areas during a hunt.
Interestingly, this new addition to Monster Hunter Rise might make finding multiple large monsters in the same area more of an asset to players than a liability, as they had been in the past. In fact, this one mechanic might ease one of the more frustrating aspects of previous titles and make an older item essentially obsolete, as driving the enemies away from each other is no longer an obvious benefit.
That isn't to say that allowing monsters to fight each other hasn't previously been beneficial to players in titles like Monster Hunter World, where turf wars could be a helpful and flashy way to deal severe damage to enemies. However, Monster Hunter Rise can take this a step further by giving players complete control over these turf war moments, thanks to the secondary benefit of the Wirebug. Specifically, this is where the revamped Wyvern Riding mechanic can make leading multiple enemies into each other a new strategy that players would have previously avoided.
Wyvern Riding
Being able to mount monsters isn't entirely new to the Monster Hunter series, with the ability usually allowing players to unleash a powerful attack and leave the wyvern vulnerable. The major difference that Monster Hunter Rise adds to Wyvern Riding is that instead of simply jumping on a monster and dealing damage, the player can now completely control the enemy. Now movement, attacks, and even punishing other monsters is completely up to the player, using the monster as a temporary vehicle to deal massive damage.
In addition to being able to attack other monsters with the mount, the player can also launch these enemies into walls or each other in order to deal massive damage and create vulnerable openings. This can even effect players' choices in weapons in Monster Hunter Rise, as the Wirebug that controls the ability to mount wyverns changes based on which weapon the player takes into hunts. The result of this new mounting ability also leads to treating certain large monsters less as an opposing force or enemy, but as an asset to be used to gain an advantage in tougher fights.
Large Monsters as Endemic Life
This new outlook on large monsters wandering around throughout the hunts means that some of the enemies who aren't even worth grinding their parts for are now worth tracking down. So now, early enemies like Monster Hunter Rise's Arzuros get to still be useful, not as a source of materials and gear, but instead as a temporary vehicle to attack more difficult enemies with. Some players have already started using this tactic in the demo, in fact, with the fight against the Mizutsune being made more manageable by luring it to other monsters and mounting them to deal easy damage.
An added advantage to this type of tactic is that enemies that normally take a lot of work to mount can simply be slammed into by an easier to capture wyvern and made immediately vulnerable. With this new strategy, stringing a combo of monster rides into each other to deal damage, slam them into walls, and then take advantage of a vulnerable state can give players huge opportunities in a tough fight. This then turns Monster Hunter Rise's rampaging monsters into assets and opportunities, instead of unforeseen obstacles that hamper progress or elongate hunts.
Redefining Dung Pods
One strange mechanic that this redefines is the use of dung pods, pellets made of monster dung that can be used to force monsters to flee a fight and turn a situation with two or more enemies in one area into a one on one match. In previous games, this mechanic can sometimes be necessary if players want to survive a hunt that has some imposing enemy like the Deviljho or Bazelgeuse roaming around in the background of a simpler encounter. Now, separating Monster Hunter Rise's monsters becomes a calculated risk, deciding that the mounting opportunity isn't worth the added danger of a second enemy.
In fights with the previously mentioned Deviljho, mounting likely won't be too easy of an option, considering that stronger monsters have a higher resistance to being mounted. So, it might not be worth attempting to use a creature that can absolutely destroy the player as a temporary weapon, if it's going to take ten extra minutes of focus just to be given the twenty second opportunity. At the same time, a dung pod would be wasted on the Great Izuchi in Monster Hunter Rise, since it can be mounted much easier with a lot less frustration.
Ease the Frustration of Wandering Monsters
The reason dung pods existed in the first place is to make encounters wear some imposing elder dragon, or rampaging monster, wanders into a fight doesn't lead to players getting carted. Sure, players will have to maneuver around the two enemies at once for a quick moment, but a quick throw can get rid of the intruder in less than a minute. However, if players don't have or understand the importance of dung pods, having a monster invade a fight can be endlessly annoying, especially when trying to fight limited event enemies in Monster Hunter.
So, giving players another benefit to fighting two monsters in the same area at the same time can really ease the tension from one of the more frustrating aspects of the game. The world wouldn't quite feel alive without this wandering monster mechanic, so tossing it out wouldn't exactly work for the atmosphere of Monster Hunter Rise that Capcom is attempting to cultivate. This then makes utilizing Wyvern Riding as a mechanic to mitigate getting double teamed an ingenious solution to keep players engaged without having to sacrifice on any level of the design direction.
Monster Hunter Rise is set to release on March 26th, 2021 for Switch.