Monster Hunter Rise presents a fun challenge to players who want to prove their skill against mighty beasts. But the true fun of Monster Hunter is tackling that challenge with a group of other hunters. It could be a team of trusted friends or random players in an online lobby. Either way, the social aspect of working together to conquer a daunting foe and help each other acquire rare items charm of Monster Hunter Rise. That's why communication is so important in a game like this.
In an age where just about everyone has Discord installed on their phone or PC, it's safe to say that most Monster Hunter players will have an external way of talking to their teammates. Sometimes that isn't an option though. There are likely to be situations where an eager hunter hops into a Hub with a bunch of players that they've never met before.
Since most people wouldn't think of plugging a USB keyboard into their Switch, these players will probably greet each other with one of the premade shoutouts or stickers provided in the game's chat menu. For players who rely on this method of communication, it can be fun to inject some personality by composing some custom shoutouts.
To start making custom shoutouts, players should navigate to the chat menu. By default, it can be reached quickly by pressing the - button. Otherwise, it is accessed from the Multiplayer tab of the start menu. Players can edit any of three shoutout sets other than the default "Translated Shoutouts." Once a set has been chosen by pressing the Right Stick, pressing X will begin editing the shoutouts for that set. Each set includes standard shoutouts, auto shoutouts that the party will see when certain actions like Wyvern Riding are performed, and messages accompanied by a sticker.
Players who want to quickly access and use the shoutouts they've made can shortcut them to the Action Bar. By opening the menu and scrolling to the System tab, a player can select Action Bar to customize which actions will be available for quick access. One shoutout and up to three stickers can be placed on the bar at a time. When in the village or out on a quest, players can quickly toggle between Action Bar shortcuts with the left or right inputs on the D-pad.
Making regular use of shoutouts and other communication options in Monster Hunter Rise will allow for things to go much more smoothly on a hunt. For example, it's possible to convey to the team that a monster should be captured. It's also a great idea to be cordial to fellow hunters so that they will want to go on quests together again in the future. When push comes to shove, the only thing that can protect a hunter from inevitable failure is a team of companions that are willing to have their back.
Monster Hunter Rise is now available on Nintendo Switch and a PC port is coming in 2022.
