Monster Hunter Rise PC vs Switch: What has changed?

Monster Hunter Rise was first released on Nintendo Switch in March last year. Considering it was made for what’s essentially a portable system, it was understandably a step down from the home console's predecessor, Monster Hunter World; so criticism was geared towards it on the visual front.

Despite that, it made up for lower graphical prowess with improved features, more vertically open environments and a shift to a newer engine.

After a year of exclusivity on Nintendo’s hybrid device, Monster Hunter Rise is finally on PC (via Steam). On that occasion, Digital Foundry released a video highlighting the differences between the two versions of this critically acclaimed JRPG.

Given developer Capcom’s recent track record, Monster Hunter Rise should be in reasonably good hands. So here’s an overview of all the good and bad changes.

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Monster Hunter Rise on PC steps up to the competition

For starters, Monster Hunter Rise runs on the RE Engine - Capcom’s in-house tech that was first utilized by Resident Evil 7 and Devil May Cry 5. Monster Hunter Rise was already a beauty even on the Nvidia Tegra X1-driven Nintendo Switch, and its artistic appeal is sharpened even further on PC.

Character models - both human and beast - look impeccable, with their high-resolution texture work/fur shaders, PBR (physically based rendering) materials and lighting being the stars of the show.

Monster Hunter Rise shines on Nintendo Switch (Screenshot from Monter Hunter Rise by Digital Foundry)

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The nitty-gritty about Visuals

The Nintendo Switch version runs at a native resolution of 1344x756 when docked and 960x540 when in handheld mode. On the other hand, the PC can scale to any resolution the target rig supports. Textures, in general, see a noticeable bump on PC in some areas, and so do a suite of other options: ambient occlusion (AO), texture filtering etc.

LOD (level of detail) sees a respectable boost on PC, with more assets being rendered at a distance on PC over Switch. Shadows are also much cleaner and smoother, and trees cast swaying animations for the shadows on PC (while remaining static on Switch)

Surprisingly, reflections on the Switch version use SSR (Screen Space Reflections) for reflections, maintained on PC Animation work, are the same across both platforms.

However, the 50% lower rate for the distant animations on Switch (a CPU saving measure) has been fixed on PC - meaning, the animations of the moving animals in the distance refresh at the same rate as target FPS (frames per second).

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A handful of stumbles

The PC version boasts many improvements (Screenshot from Monster Hunter Rise by Digital Foundry)

Certain elements have not been changed, though, likely due to technical limitations. The player character still clips through ground object meshes. The shallow water areas also looked rather bland on Switch. They showcase basic water splashes and no ripples at all, perhaps due to memory limitations (since the Switch has a total of 4 GB RAM).

However, it looks like the character is running through mud, which carries over to PC. Same for some textures, like the flat ground or cloth textures. While AO and shadows have improved, they exhibit minor but rare artefacts not seen on Switch (especially for max shadows).

Moving on to performance, the game is capped at 30 FPS on Switch and runs at a locked 30 vast majority of the time. On PC, frame rates are uncapped. However, it is interesting to note that the main menu and a few cutscenes are capped at 30 and exhibit occasional judder from uneven frame pacing.

This is an issue that arises on Switch during gameplay too. But overall, 60 FPS and above drastically improve gameplay fluidity, especially for one as fast-paced as Monster Hunter Rise.

Capcom seems to have delivered a competent port that takes advantage of target hardware well, and players can expect to see continued support for it for a while.

The game is available for purchase for $60 on both Nintendo Switch and PC, with the Sunbreak DLC expansion to follow in the future. A demo is also available for players to test the game before buying.