Fans don't have much longer to wait for Monster Hunter Rise, the newest entry in the series. While it was only announced back in September, it's on track to release for Nintendo Switch in a couple of months. Earlier today, to help prepare players for the release, Capcom held a digital event that showed some new footage and went into a bit more detail about some of its features.
For instance, the new Wirebug mechanic, which looks to be taking the place of the grappling hook from Monster Hunter World. The initial reveal trailer showed hunters zooming about the place with the Wirebug and Capcom has provided a short primer on how exactly it will work.
The Wirebug can be used in several different ways depending on whether the player is on the ground, in the air, has their weapon drawn, or sheathed, but all of its actions are tied to the ZL button. The Wirebug offers a variety of mobility options that can make traversal easier, like zipping from the ground to air or even suspending in midair before deciding which direction to jump towards.
It can also be used to help players climb up walls. Much like in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, climbing walls will deplete the player's stamina, but using the Wirebug can save stamina usage and start a wall run to help scale particularly tall structures and the like.
In battle, players can use Silkbind attacks, which use the Wirebug to perform different moves to damage a target monster. The attacks will also vary depending on which weapon is equipped. For example, one-handed sword users will perform a flurry of quick slices, whereas hammer users will launch themselves into the air before slamming back down.
The important thing to note is that Wirebugs aren't an infinite resource. Judging by the footage, players will likely begin Monster Hunter Rise with two Wirebugs, and any Wirebug actions require one to be used up. Fortunately, the Wirebugs will be restocked automatically after a certain period of time, so it's not like players will need to constantly forage for them or something.
This could also mean that players will gradually unlock more Wirebugs, allowing more moves to be performed one after the other and further improve mobility options.
Currently, Monster Hunter Rise is only scheduled for a Switch release. However, leaked Capcom data that was stolen as part of a security breach suggests that it'll be a timed exclusive and eventually be released on PC as well.
Regardless, Rise is shaping up to be another well-received entry in the franchise, as opposed to the live-action Monster Hunter movie, which has received mixed to negative reviews from critics.
Monster Hunter Rise releases on Nintendo Switch on March 26th.
