Monster Hunter is a franchise of small improvements. Throughout the series, small changes and additions to the mechanics have gradually transformed gameplay into a new, more approachable form. Older titles still maintained a strong sense of hunting monsters, with players needing to set themselves up properly for a mission, and learn the ins-and-outs of their prey to succeed. Monster Hunter World and Monster Hunter Rise have focused on speed and smooth progress through hunts instead, giving them a wider appeal. Even so, the different styles of Monster Hunter have each gone through a lot of iterations to build up a hit series, and more will certainly come.
One of the biggest additions to modern Monster Hunter is the addition of a makeshift grappling hook. With the Slinger in Monster Hunter: World, the Clutch Claw addition to it in Iceborne, and the wire bug in Monster Hunter Rise, hunters now have a massively expanded set of mobility and monster interaction options. Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak looks to bring even more versatility to this mechanic. It seems like some sort of grappling hook or finely-controlled rope will be a mainstay of Monster Hunter for the immediate future, and Sunbreak has every reason to continue experimenting and expanding what the wire bug can do.
What Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak's Wirebugs Are Used For
While the Slinger was a somewhat subdued part of Monster Hunter World, it was nonetheless important in enabling shortcuts, fast travel, and a generally higher degree of mobility in World’s detailed environments. They were more often used to shoot special ammunition with different effects, but Iceborne’s Clutch Claw gave it a new use: Attaching oneself to a monster to influence their movement and vulnerability. The Slinger was a great tool to mix into a hunter’s regular moveset, and the Wirebug comes off as an iteration of it. It still feeds into a hunter’s versatility, but it enhances their mobility even more.
Wirebugs are uniquely tuned to enable Monster Hunter Rise’s massively increased movement abilities. With omnidirectional wiredashes and wallrunning, even traditionally slow weapon classes gained an enormous speed boost. Combined with wirefalls that allowed players to sacrifice some of their Wirebug Gauge to recover early from a monster’s attacks, and it felt like Rise was a new breed of Monster Hunter.
It did use Wirebugs to bring back some old mechanics, however, and those included Silkbind Attacks similar to the super moves from Generations and a version of mounting called Wyvern Riding that allowed players to bind and control monsters directly. Wirebugs are a game-changer, and Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak has the chance to do even more with them. Among other things, it's introducing a callback to the Clutch Claw where hunters can attach their wire to an enemy and tug them into hazards.
What Sunbreak Can Do to Enhance Wirebugs Even Further
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Even with all that, there is still even more room for Wirebugs to improve. The Clutch Claw’s other mechanic, wounding part of a monster to remove armor and get a part closer to breaking, could easily be added to this version of the mechanic. Instead of pulling the monster out, the wire could be detonated with another kind of insect. The Wirebug has the potential to subsume the Slinger entirely, and then some. Special ammunition types lying around the environment, such as pods and certain tiny animals, could be grabbed and thrown with a wire. There could even be a limited number of times players could grab explosive barrels and traps to reposition them.
Another potential Wirebug mechanic is a hunter tying themself down for a universal parry, even if that is somewhat similar to what some Silkbind Attacks do. It could come with a nearly frame-perfect window that results in either a stun for the webbed-up player or the monster, and may need its own set of charges separate from the standard gauge.
However, the best thing Sunbreak could do with Wirebugs is make wiredashing more important in navigating treacherous environments and colossal monsters. Adding a skill requirement ties Wirebugs back into what made Monster Hunter satisfying in the first place, and hopefully Capcom can make good use of them and their future iterations.
Monster Hunter Rise is available now for PC and Switch. The Sunbreak expansion releases on June 30, 2022.
