Did A Major Monster Hunter: Rise Detail Just Leak?
Monster Hunter: Rise's release date is on the not-to-distant horizon, but beyond the details provided in September's surprise announcement trailer, there's a lot fans still don't know about the upcoming Switch exclusive. That said, files leaked by hackers during the recent cyber attack on Capcom have shed light on many of the company's upcoming launches. Among the illicitly-gained information, for example, is the possible release date of the much-anticipated Resident Evil 8: Village.
One Twitter user, a self-described Monster Hunter researcher and dataminer, has unearthed a potentially key piece of information regarding Monster Hunter: Rise. By piecing together unreleased marketing clips and sound files, user AsteriskAmpersand has compiled a list of monsters that may be included in the game.
The list features a few no-brainers, such as the franchise icon Rathalos. Having appeared in every single release since the series began, including spin-offs, its inclusion in Rise was more or less guaranteed. Several monsters introduced in 2018's Monster Hunter: World, such as the fire breathing T-Rex Anjanath, are also due to make a swift reappearance.
Fans will likely be pretty pleased to have the chance to do battle with monsters that haven't been featured in Monster Hunter games for a few years, including the leech-mouthed Khezu or the wombat Lagombi. Most interesting of all, however, are the leaked names of a number of new beasties.
Here's the full list:
- Lagombi
- Khezu
- Barioth
- Kulu Ya-Ku
- Tigrex
- Yorogumo (new monster)
- Rathalos
- Anjanath
- Barroth
- Rajang
- Chameleos
- a "weasel" (new monster)
- a "Namahage bear" (new monster)
In case placeholder names like "weasel" didn't tip you off, this shouldn't be thought of as a complete list by any means. And, like all leaks, it should be taken with a healthy dose of skepticism. Looking a little more closely at those new monster names might reveal some details you probably missed, however. Namahage, for example, is the name of an "ogre-like demon" in Japanese folklore. Yorogumo, meanwhile, closely resembles the word JorÅgumo, the name of a Japanese spider demon that can take on the form of a beautiful woman.
Monster: Hunter Rise is due to release for Switch on March 26, 2021. It promises plenty of new features, with vertical elements providing more ways to explore the game's environments, along with rideable wolf pals: the canine counterpart to the always lovable Palicoes. 2021 should be a very good year for Monster Hunter fans with access to a Nintendo Switch, as not one but two games are on the way. The mainline Monster Hunter: Rise will be followed in the summer by the spinoff Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin, the sequel to a beloved cult classic.
Before that, however, fans will have to face the Monster Hunter movie coming out next month. It's unclear if it will repeat the mistakes of other video game film adaptations, but early warning signs suggest it could be a monster-sized disappointment.