Which MH should I pick as a complete beginner: World or Rise?

[wedge]

As a complete beginner - never played a MH game before, have almost no idea about the franchise tbh - which Monster Hunter game should I pick first: World + Iceborne or Rise + Sunbreak?

I watched some videos about these games but mostly comparing them for veterans. But from what I gathered, World is more immersive and slow pace, while Rise is a bit faster-pick-up-and-play-on-the-go something like that.

I'm more interested about the overall mechanics and not about which one is better graphically for example - I know Rise comes from the Switch.

I'm leaning more towards World because I know it was the first MH for a lot of people and is generally considered better than Rise, but also seen very positive reviews about Rise that made me confused about which one should I pick up first.

[Quick edit]
I know at some point I'll prolly pick up and play both, so it's really a question of "where to start".

[Suzaku]

I'd say start with World. Rise does have a few QOL and gameplay changes that feels bad if you go backwards.

That said, I feel that World is just the superior game in nearly every other aspect. Immersion, combat feel, sound design, graphical fidelity, music, endgame loop, difficulty, hitboxes, and more.

[Gerbera]

World will give a somewhat better idea of what the series (well at least the mainline titles) is about in terms of its gameplay so start with that.

[XYAB]

Which ever one you pick, you might start to hate another one. Like I’m too MHW brained to enjoy MHR.

World is easier and better for beginners. Rise’s monsters are a lot more aggressive compared to world, as the hunters have stronger tools and abilities.

World also has better graphics. The monsters are gigantic as well, so you get the thrill of fighting big ass dragons. My first complaint about MHR is why are we hunting brids and bears, even monsters appeared in world are smaller in Rise.

Rise allows customization of weapons’ moveset, offers alternative play style to each weapon.

World’s online experience with strangers isn’t fabulous but okay, while Rise’s is straight up terrible.
In World, you are allocated to a random lobby with a cap of 16 players. You can join the quests that members in this lobby are doing, or join the SOS quest. SOS doesn’t limit to the lobby, you can join as long as someone sends an SOS signal. You can also see the members and quests before joining any online quest.
In Rise, you always need to join a lobby manually, and the players cap in a lobby is only 4. Also, you can’t see the quests and the people in the quests before joining them, and you are randomly assigned to a quest when playing with strangers.

If you enjoy overall mechanics, Rise is your way to go. Wirebugs are introduced in Rise, which provide mobility and weapon abilities. You can use it to maneuver around the map like Spider-Man or recover from a knockdown immediately. They can also be used as special attack called silkbind arts, these arts vary depending on the weapon. Each weapon starts with two arts in the beginning, and more arts are available later in the game.

[KaoBoi]

play World if you want a more traditional experience of MonHun series w/c is quite hardcore but a preferred experience for me

i don't like Rise but tbf it is popular to certain type of gamers w/ an arcade hack-slash vibe like DMC w/c is exciting but deviates from the traditional MonHun

if you playing both then just decide by coin toss lol

[Blunette]

Rise is a lot faster paced and has certain mechanics that are probably not going to leave that game (Wirebugs, Switch Skills), but it's very pick-up-and-play due to being designed primarily for the Switch. World is slower paced (unskippable cutscenes and tutorials ahoy) but has a far better online. Sure, most Monster Hunter lobbies are 4 player if I remember right but sometimes it's nice to have a lobby that spans the ranking spectrum so you can actually pick and choose quests a bit.

Personally I've been mostly focused on World (offed Fatalis solo, picked on arch-tempered Velkhana over and over for armor, stuck waiting on KT to come back since missed doing that...) but I might go back to Rise. But for my two cents, World does a better job of 'teaching' Monster Hunter to someone who hasn't dabbled in it before.

By the way, my biggest advice no matter what game you pick up: Customize your Radial Menu and your Item Loadout. Make sure you get something that's nice and comfy while still snappy so you don't have to fuss with the Item Bar too much. Personally I like keeping all the consumables on one tab while all the situational things on another, but you do whatever you like. It'll help SO much once you get a setup that you don't need to finagle too much with.

[ominumi]

Sunbreak has a demo. Go download that. See if you enjoy the monster hunter combat first. Kill each large monsters more than 3 times each. If you get tired of fighting the same monsters over and over, this series isn't for you. If you still have to urge to keep hunting, welcome aboard to monhun.

[ErzPaladin]

MH3U

[Deadly Dan]

I'd also say world for the reasons others have pointed out. Another benefit is, when you're done with World, Wilds should already be content complete and in a way better state than now.

[PyroShark_]

The thing I would say about Rise is that it is very fast paced compared to other Monster Hunter games. The Hunters and Monsters got some serious speed boosts which is fine and all given the tools given to you but it might be a little challenging for a very first impression. I did really like Rise and I have no qualms about playing it, but if I had the choice between playing either or I would pick World.

[wedge]

Originally posted by ErzPaladin:

MH3U

I'd start with GU if I could to be honest, but "not on Steam" thing. Can't grab a Switch right now.
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Thanks everyone for answers so far! Really the kind of opinions I was looking for.

Both games sound really cool in their own way. I thought this was going to be an easier decision but... I think I'm gonna start with World and then pick Rise.

Sound like I really can't go wrong with World, even if I end up enjoying Rise more later.

[Knavenformed]

World
While Rise is more like an older Monster Hunter game, it does become a bit of a min-max Monster Fighter at a point.
World focuses more on immersion and exploration, and it just has a more grand feel for your first MH.

[ZexxCrine]

id say world. rise is probably the most fun for me even if its slightly less challenging out of the two, but rise has a BUNCH of mechanics and having to learn all those mechanics at once in rise would probably be brutal. better to build up a knowledge base and some fundamentals in world.

[General Zod ™]

Games dead, nobody left playing world. No more help available. I am just stuck on a boss. Looks like, was a great game at some point but today, it's empty.

[PyroShark_]

Originally posted by General Zod ™:

Games dead, nobody left playing world. No more help available. I am just stuck on a boss. Looks like, was a great game at some point but today, it's empty.

If you are having trouble you can always make a post on the forums asking for help. There are people that look at posts everyday and add people to help them. If you want I could help you as well.

[Blunette]

Originally posted by General Zod ™:

Games dead, nobody left playing world. No more help available. I am just stuck on a boss. Looks like, was a great game at some point but today, it's empty.

I see at least 2-3 full lobbies of 16 every day and about a dozen other lobbies with fewer folks on at any given time. World's not dead quite yet. Rise on the other hand is.... Rougher with the matchmaking....

Seriously, you have to answer SOS calls on a specific quest rather than having a list available of who's calling out, it's a nightmare....