For me, and having replayed both games lately from start to finish, i'd say: World/Iceborne for immersion, detail, impressive and grounded maps Rise: Extremely fun to navigate and wirebug across, turns the bits in between the fighting into a completely different game. I prefer World by far though. It's more grounded, and feels like a real ecosystem. Rise removes too many standard monster behaviours for my liking (like rathian no longer coming to check on her stolen eggs)
I miss the greater number of monster interactions with the environment! I remember spending so much time just idly hiding from the monster and just seeing what it would do
@@BakeNation_MH this is it chief. It felt like the more you stood around doing nothing, the more the world moved around you. I hate how the Rise monsters all aggro to you instantly and also how they wyvern ride run from area to area. Derpy as hell, and pulls me out of the game.
Rise's endemic life just standing/floating around in exactly the same spot every time not even pretending to be more than passive power ups honestly made me so sad after interacting so much with World's creatures.
@@ToasTFresh i think it's for a reason though. They kept the switch's battery life and portability in mind when they made rise. They had to speed it up without sacrificing too much and they succeeded. The next Nintendo console will likely have something like world or better if it's still portable and they don't go for a stay at home console
They definitely feel tamer as compared to the ones in World, and the colors are not as vibrant, per se, either. Being designed for the switch probably had a great impact in terms of trying to create these maps feel full enough while also not being too large.
Something I agree on, actually. I think rise's maps would benefit greatly if they made maps clash a bit better. Monster hunter's old maps were darker and grittier primarily due to older systems. However they could make maps more gritty and some more vibrant and some more bland. Doing this could help make up for the simple designs of the maps. Also give us more goddamn variety than "Desert, forest, icy place, volcanic place" What about a forest, or a proper tundra, what about a mountainous region. And this could be SO MUCH MORE if they just brought back swimming. Imagine if we went to like some tropical biome by boat but on the way the boat can be hit and we would fall into the water to potentially be attacked by idk, lagaicriss. Or Ludorth, something MORE that monster hunter can improve on. I would LOVE to see this like ship graveyard and us fighting a KRAKEN like monster.
@@John-ii6he isn’t shrine a mountain map? A bunch of mountains you can climb, with the real big mountain in the middle that goes really high up? I don’t see anything wrong with having classic biomes as maps. It makes it easier to figure out where to put monsters and it’s always cool to hunt from a desert in one quest and a snowy field the next. Now that it is mentioned, some maps in 4 did happen to have some nice contrast in here and there which rise barely has. But maybe it’s because it’s trying to emulate the more muted maps of Tri? Don’t remember too well the maps from tri so I can’t tell Worlds maps were absolutely beautiful (except for the dessert one lol) but they had a bit of a problem of trying to find where to put the monsters (“legiana? Uhhhh, coral reef?”)
As much as I appreciate world's level of detail on a technical level, I could never shake off the feeling of being in a diorama, always surrounded by "walls" and never feeling like the maps expanded past the playable areas. Wildspire waste being the biggest offender, that giant rock wall in zone 8, but also being able to get a view of the entire map from the peak only for it to be a mess of low-def rock formations and some water with no real shape or artistic cohesion. I love world more than any other MH game, but I really miss the vistas of the older games, maps like Ancestral Steppe, Misty Peaks, Primal Forest, all felt like they were part of an expanding world, and I fear that in chasing high graphical fidelity we're losing a lot of atmosphere.
I feel the same way, especially when I think of the Deserted Island. That map is my favorite out of them all, and it looks so expansive and grandiose, and the music along with it makes it even better. Something about the whole atmosphere of that map gets me every time
I agree with a lot of what you’re saying, however I think the conclusion of it being caused by the push for graphical fidelity is misguided. To me, the cramped feeling of the maps seems to be caused by the seamless aspect of MHW. For example, think back to maps like Frozen Seaway. It was this big map with a hefty amount of verticality that was cool to explore, however if you pay attention you’ll notice that between most zones are long, boring paths and corridors. If that map didn’t have zone transitions it would be a pain in the ass to explore thanks to the long, boring stretches. It seems to me like the World team wanted to avoid having a map structure like that because it would feel very unnatural (and boring to travel between zones) and as a result the maps shrunk a bit to shorten the zone connectors. The old maps were clearly not designed with people traveling through them in real time in mind (which isn’t necessarily a bad thing) so they tend to have much larger scale to them. Like just imagine how much it would suck to have to climb up to the top of Ruined Pinnacle without zone transitions. I for one would never want to do that. Hence, more condensed maps for World.
@@willg1439 I agree with you to an extent. They could definitely take a lot more creative liberties in the older games because of the zone transitions, and they needed to find a way to fix it in World. But in my opinion, World isn't nearly as seamless as it first may seem, yeah there are no loading screens, but in turn you get walls surrounding the player at all times so the game only has to load a small section of the map at once, and the transition hallways are still there, but the loading/unloading of areas isn't as obvious anymore. I think the World team could've made the maps a bit bigger, you get like 5 camps in each area anyway so traversal isn't an issue. But they can't make them open, not with the amount of "stuff" it has to load. I think Rise did a really good job with the presentation of the maps, specially with how beautifully they translated Sandy Plains into an open area, they really kept the open feel of the old games, and it's a direct result of the team not being constrained by the need to deliver high graphical fidelity, and just focus on the map design.
I prefer World over Rise because in Rise it felt more like an arena that’s tailored to your needs. Rather, World felt like I was put in the monster’s home turf, that they live and thrive in every day. It forces you to get creative by thinking of all the way you can turn your negative surroundings into a new way of obliterating a monster.
As a OG player since ps2, I'm used to the whole arena like map, but as I progress into other MH games I started to want more then just hunting and crafting. mhtri and mh4u was when I started to want better maps and beautiful details because during tht time, thy had the best maps, not sure if people notice but if u explore mhtri/mh3u or mh4/mh4u u can see tht they tried to make the map beautiful, lively, and added small details to the designs of the rocks, trees, water, walls, water...etc. Thats why I love MHW maps, which for me are 100x btter then rise, yes its arcadis and its literally a hack n slash but for me, I prefer to admire then hack an slash
My only problem with World's maps is getting lost. Especially gathering quests are a thousand times more pleasant in Rise. Other than that, though, I really liked them. The sheer diversity and stuff to explore blew me away and I can't say I relate to your issue with the slopes. Maybe it's just because I started with World and didn't know anything different but they never bothered me. (Don't worry, I know you meant that as more of a personal/subjective thing than an objective flaw in design.) I just really liked how much you had to consider the environment around you in World. You always had to make sure that the monster wouldn't corner you or push you off a ledge, they were hard to navigate, they were a challenge but just as much, they were an outstretched hand just waiting to be taken so it could help you up to gain an edge over the monster. World and Iceborn were all about taking the environment into consideration at all time and that was definitely lost to a degree in Rise. Whether that is good or bad is purely subjective. I personally liked MHW/IB a little better. (Though Rampage quests also play a big part in that.)
The slopes were definitely just a personal problem, but they don't retract much at all from the overall experience of the maps themselves. Worlds maps were much more exuberant and lusher while Rise seemed to try and mesh the old-school maps with the aspects that World brought with it, and it missed in some marks such as feeling like an ecosystem which is one of the biggest factors that made the maps of World so special.
I personally like the feeling of getting lost because it always made sense for what areas you were in. Like all the maps had spots where you could get easily lost and that was because they were always cave-like systems or the densest part of the jungle. Like the ancient forest clip he showed is the worst spot in that map if you fuck up the vine jumps and i feel like that makes a lot of sense considering where you are. I can definitely see it being annoying to feel lost, but it feels like that was the intent for every area where you experience moments of feeling lost
@@flame24dragon I mean yeah, it makes sense, but not getting to the monster in time to loot during a co-op hunt just because you died towards the end and couldn't find your way back because your stupid scoutflies felt threatened by that stupid Jagras that looked at you for two damn seconds really isn't fun. Not that I'd know since this clearly hasn't ever happened to me. I'm a professional and never get lost.
@@Gankstomper idk, i never felt like my time is being wasted because the camps were normally in good spots so if i ever got lost i just teleport. I'm all about efficiency and not wasting time, and im always bothered by it, but world didnt do that to me. Also, i cant relate on the loading screen thing because ssd so idk
Honestly, I know this technically isn't a "map" issue, but I kind of count it. With the other games, you actually for the most part had to hunt down the monsters, vs with rise as soon as you join the quest it shows you where the the monster is. Now, the actual reason I bring this up is because I think it's a bit counter intuitive to the games design. You have less reason to actually take the side routes and get more endemic life and spiribirds when you can easily make it to the monster. This is even more prevalent because instead of actually traversing the map, you can teleport to the closes camp and then run from there. In one way this does make it much easier to traverse the map, which is part of the whole point of the map being the way it is. But I feel like it takes away from the spiribirds and other parts of traversing the map. Not fully, but I feel like it at least dampens it. One of my favorite parts of rise is that on every map I have a route I take to each area of the map that I get a lot of spiribirds buffs while also making my way across the map.
I also dislike being able to see where a monster is at all times, it just doesn't seem right. I also find the camps pretty lame, and don't like utilizing them that much. While they make the game more appreciative of your time, it sort of removed part of the whole experience that was Monster Hunter
@@BakeNation_MH my friends always ask why I run to the monster instead of teleporting to the closest camp, and I always tell them I just like doing it that way . I prefer to feel like I'm actually hunting the monster. I don't normally complain about quality of life changes and whatnot, but this is pretty extreme. I like being able to find the monster, not just knowing where it's at. It doesn't feel natural.
@@BakeNation_MH I always got the impression from the huge vistas we see in the backgrounds that we travel a significant distance to hunt monsters so we can't afford to take more than we need, not to mention we need to take the monster, dead or alive, back with us. The camp makes it feel like we're taking our whole house with us in some kind of clown car caravan. I got like 100 weapons, who the hell is carrying those? The cat?
@@EmperorSigismund lol, we joke about that all the time. We theorized it would be a better idea and make more sense to simply pick a single weapon before going out on a quest that you could swap between mid-hunt, not have your whole arsenal available to you
@@BakeNation_MH I always forget I can go back to camp, and end up playing the game old style anyway. I still can't get used to the radial menu, I alwasy accidentaly select the wrong stuff. I just have these old habits that are really hard to change. The sub camps i'm ok with, but I like running through the map in rise so I hardly use them.
Personally I like the World Maps more, simply because it felt like an actual ecosystem and stuff like that. The only issue I had was how cluttered it felt sometimes like very congested. I like the rise maps because they are open kind of like the old MH games but to me feels way more bland than world. The wire bug exploration helps a lot though still fun.
I been playing rise and download world after playing it years ago on the ps4 so i can play with some friends. God, combat in rise is very good, and the maps are good cause they remain me of the old ones but with better graphics. Then playing World yes, the quality of the maps are beyond insane, they look super good, but the main issue is the combat. Ancient forest is a massive pain in the ass, in reality every map but that one in particular. With the anounce of the new MH for 2025 i hope to have a mix of both, graphics from world and plain terrain like rise for combat.
Ehh... rise took a focus to much on the combat and it shows in the maps. Part of the reason rise is TOO EASY is because they made the combat way to good for hunters. It was literally unfair to the monsters. I hope G-rank/Master Rank will fix this by making those monsters INTERACT with your wirebugs. Give them skills we've NEVER seen to make our combat harder. (especially you, rajaang.)
@@John-ii6he I think its mostly because we're so used to Worlds master ranks difficulty, especially rajang in master rank sense his attack patterns were omega randomized, in the old games before world and rise his attacks had a pattern and it was predictable to see what he'll do id you can memorize his attacks and get him into an attack loop
While I do like Rise's maps better, in no small part due to wirebugs making exploration a joy, world's do feel more immersive. Although both have stinkers, especially the Ancient Forest.
As someone who loves to watch nature documentaries since I was a child, I 100% prefer World maps over any of the other games' maps. It allowed these monsters to just be animals when you're not fighting them. They're not just bosses for the player to kill in order to progress. These monsters demand you to respect them when you encroach in their territory, and even the map tells you that. This isn't your playground, this is nature. That's really cool to me. I don't mind being lost or the other annoyances with World's maps at all, because those only made it more memorable to me. It really made me feel like I'm just a dude trying my best to not get killed because of my surroundings. The way the maps take away some control from me is the type of challenge I didn't know I appreciated. You gotta adapt on the fly, not just with the monster you're fighting, but also the ground you're standing on. And yeah, I know it sounds masochistic and I'm probably in the minority, but I just really love World's maps, especially Ancient Forest. Kind of a shame, they scrapped the original version (the one they showed in the tech demo), because that map looked fun to explore as well.
Yes! Another Ancient Forest lover! ^^ part of the fun of exploration for me is learning a complex environment, and making it *mine.* I enjoyed getting lost in World's maps because I would find new hidden areas or helpful materials, and once I did enough quests there I started to learn what was where and could go places intentionally rather than just end up in them, which is unexpectedly fulfilling. Game maps where I can run through them once and immediately know my way around are no fun imo.
I think the World maps are awful boss arenas. Sometimes you have to fight the arena itself more than that boss (looking at you teostra with the random fire pillars popping up) or sometimes the attacks just blend into the environment. Ancient Forest is trash. I also REALLY hated chasing monsters around in ancient forest. I also hate ledges canceling your animations. Rise maps maybe consistently wider and flatter but I'd much rather fight monsters there.
While the maps in world are visually impressive I dislike them from a gameply standpoint. They are cluttered and hard to navigate witch makes tracking monsters a chore. The lack of landmarks in the persuit of realism also dosnt help that fact. I wastly prefer Rises new take on the old map design. In the end its just a matter of personal taste
@@randomcommenter3726 i really dislike how thise stupid bugs look. It feels like im on a leash and they are super distracting. Im not sayin ghe was Rise handles monster tracking is perfect (it would be so much better if every monster was marked with a ? At the start of a hunt) but I just find it more enjoyable
@@thesupreme8062 I think that Rise would be a much better game without monster tracking. I mean, the new mechanics are made to improve the exploration just by being simplified to moving from point A to point B, and ruining the surprise element
For visuals... World > Rise For functionality... Rise > World I prefer Rise maps overall. They're small and compact, but dense and easy to traverse... with the removal of invisible walls between corridors and areas (save for the actual area borders and a few odd instances). The Rise maps are probably smaller than World's, but they have much more playable surface area. At least it feels like it. Not to mention, the fewer visual clutter (like excessive vegetation or extreme slopes). Also... immersion is nice and all, but I stopped caring about that after my first MH game. I mean... I still care about it, but I'd choose gameplay over it. Let's face it... after a couple hundred of hours, you just run straight to the monster anyway to get to the meat of the game. Even the game itself stops caring by just automatically marking the monsters after collecting enough tracks and shit.
I would definitely choose gameplay over immersion as well. think the biggest thing for me and liking maps is how well the monster works within the map and how well the map feels to be in. Immersion is more of an afterthought, per se
World's maps have that special touch of fine details spread throughout. I can spend hours just wandering the maps and watching the monsters interact with the environment around them. The maps truly feel alive and real. Of course, there is the biggest issue which is traversal and map complexity. The maps are a pain to navigate and have so many different ways to get from one place to another I just end up getting lost. Rise on the other hand, is a much better improvement to the tedious and janky map layouts of World. They are relatively flat where the combat happens (thank gog), and somewhat simple between the areas. One thing that is lacking, however, is that charm World had with its maps: the interactions. Rise's maps feel devoid of life, and while the endemic life prove useful in battle, it seems that's all they were made for in the grand scheme of things. While the monsters do have some interactions with the map, it isn't nearly the same as with World's. When I played World, I would constantly go out on expeditions and spend hours and hours exploring the maps, following and observing monsters, "birdwatching", fishing, and overall relaxing in the maps. Sometimes I didn't even hunt any monsters. With Rise? I cannot recall a single time where I've done that. Rise's maps are an improvement to World's layout, but a downgrade in the ecosystems. I also think that overall, the maps in Rise are visually bland in color and it looks almost empty, whereas World had arguably too much going on in its maps. I think that for the next games, they take what they've learned with the map layout and mobility of Rise and pair it with the in depth world of, well, World.
I have to agree, I love the flatter maps for combat, but Rise definitely lost out with many other aspects that made the maps of World feel so immersive. Hopefully MH6 can combine the best of these two games to create the best maps we have yet to see!
Rise has way better maps if you like fighting monsters. If you like looking around, world is better. Personally i like fighting monsters, non-flat zones are hot garbage every single time. This goes double for world; theres a good reason everyone ends up spamming arena quests instead of actually going out to hunt.
Based takes, good points, probably agree something about rises maps reminds me of freedom unites areas, clean zones, nice views, just you and a ten ton lizard duking it out.
2 ปีที่แล้ว +8
I think world maps are better but sometimes they feel too big when you faint returning takes too long , Rise maps are smaller and not detailed as world maps but sometimes rises maps feels better to play.
RIse's maps certainly make it easier for you to get back into the fight. You can faint, and within the next like 10 seconds, you can be back at the monster already (depending on where it is)
Honestly, i like the smaller maps. Big maps have you waste SO MUCH TIME getting around them and areas the monsters won't fight you in, this was an issue even before World. Not every game NEEDS to be open world. I've played since Tri though, so my idea on the level design is happier for condensed maps. I'm not going to compare them graphically as frankly any maps on beefer machines will always be better looking and have more in them - it's a given. The only thing that makes me sad about returning Tri maps is the water sections feel like they're missing something without the underwater areas. The desert map in Rise got reworked beautifully though... god running around that back in Tri was a nightmare... but a fun one... unless you were chasing something that FLIES, then all bets were off🤣.
appearance-wise: World. It's ALIVE. It feels real, the thickness of the forest, the height and atmosphere of Coral Highlands, everything feels alive. Mechanics-wise: Rise. They brought back the classic arena-style areas with more flat terrain and easy-to-navigate maps. Can't choose which one I'd rather stay in because World is beautiful but up to this day, I still haven't memorized the first map
I always appreciated more that world in general seemed to favor the ecosystem and the monsters over the player, forcing you to 'adapt or cart'. The little inconveniences like getting lost, fighting in unfavorable territory, having other monsters vibe check you out of no where, it all feels very intentionally 'this is not human territory, you're in monster territory. YOU have to learn to take your disadvantages and turn them into advantages'. The monsters are not cattle to slaughter, humans are NOT the apex predator here. Hell, the motto of mhw is "use everything at your disposal, that's how we hunt in the new world". This is compounded with the fact that many grievances can be remedied by truly prepared and experienced hunters, very few problems are without a fix the player can do. This is coming from me, someone who knows the ancient forest top to bottom, all the common monster spawns, where they like to fight and where they don't, and its my favorite map in the game.
Both maps I've had a weird occurrence where a very low tier monsters fight end game monsters and kick their butts. There was a time a Uragaan DUG to escape the bloodthirsty Dodogama who toppled it twice as I was in an expedition. And in Rise I saw a Great Izuchi kick a Valstrax's butt with his immense tail swiping.
World’s maps are very intricately designed with a ton of shortcuts and links between areas while Rise’s feels more open and empty. Because of the wirebug and the great wirebug, maps don’t have to compensate by providing many shortcuts to hard to reach areas, making exploration a lot more flexible, but less satisfying imo. Credit where it’s due Rise does have shortcuts, but I feel like they’re heavily reliant on the great wire bugs and not the overall geometry of the play area. Exceptions do exist, but these exceptions aren’t placed well to maximize use (unlike the many shortcuts from camps in world that I use all the time).
This is something i think is very clearly an intentional disparity - Throughout all of the games up until GenU, the maps we hunt on are special hunting grounds designated by the Hunter's Guild where they would lure troublesome monsters in for quests to be handed out to hunters, which is why we see maps coming back time and time again between different games, even now in Rise. World, on the other hand, is exactly that: a new world. It's plastered all over the game. This is a newly discovered land, completely unexplored and filled with all sorts of new monsters the Guild had no idea even existed. Now, let's translate that into the maps: a hand picked area, selected by teams of researches specifically to have monsters be hunted in, with plenty of flat ground and streamlined pathways between each area; versus a piece of uncharted land brimming with wildlife in their natural habitat, with little to no preparation made for hunters venturing out in the wild. Does it not make sense that MHW's maps are so wild and all over the place? Take what you will from what that means to gameplay, but my little freedom unite heart skipped a beat when i got to the top of the tree in the Ancient Forest and saw a view of the ENTIRE map below me, after 20 minutes of climbing and exploring. And don't get me started on the Dalamadur skeleton. I understand these lore bits aren't enough to justify things as they are completely, afterall maps were made like that back then for technical limitations more than anything. But it puts into perspective as to why MHW's maps are so different from what MH was all about back then, and why even if they were a little confusing and clunky at times. The way I see it, both games' map styles serve different purposes, and putting one up against another isn't exactly how we should look at it.
Depends on the person...for me...World/IB's maps were way too large and overly complex for my liking. Even with a map I can't say how many times I got lost in that stupid giant tree, or Hoarfrost...or that Guiding Lands. With Rise, the maps are smaller, and more straightforward. Plus one of the maps was a remake of my favorite map from Tri, which is a bonus. lol (Sandy Plains)
I would boil it down to World Maps are what i'd want in an adventure game where the primary goal is exploration, whereas Rise Maps are what i'd prefer in an in-depth action game where i can focus more on myself and my enemy.
I know this is an unpopular take, but I really liked that Worlds maps were more complex to navigate. To me rises maps feel less alive and way less interesting, but they offer smoother gameplay, which kind of is rises focus.
I do love that ecosystem tbh almost more than the fights. Ima give it to World, but only because World's maps were designed with something different altogether in mind. On the other hand, I do agree the maps of Rise are way easier to traverse, because I swear I get lost AF even with a map in almost all of the maps in world (which as an ecosystem enjoyer, I actually kind of like). Finally, I love the wire bugs and ease of exploration in Rise more than in World though, and my I would get a heart attack of joy if we ever got to see a world type map with the exploratorability of Rise.
Oh man, the slope complaint. Definitely my least favorite part of world maps. Seemingly flat areas or even moving up inclines can trigger sliding, and its especially annoying with hammer. Elders recess area 8 was awful at this. Fighting AT velkhana and trying to move between the ice rings was painful if you started sliding while charging. Ledges at the very least are easy to work around and noticable
World maps looked good, but that was the only thing they had going for them. From a gameplay perspective, they were cluttered and messy, made things hard to see, and were awful to navigate. You could also delete 90% of areas from each map and it wouldnt effect gameplay, because World was so scripted that monsters could only go to very specific spots (this is seen the most with the Coral Highalnds, almost nothing can go to the lower left area of the Highlands). With Rise, maps are well designed from a gameplay perspective, and are very grounded. You're able to see everything, monsters can go anywhere (fighting a Mizu at the top right nest was wild), and really just go straight into hunting.
This is what i want to say, The clear difference from world to rise and it's maps are honest down grades but the UPGRADE that would be nice to see in a game like MHGU. I hope sunbreak if it adds more than just the citadel as a map makes it more like an actual ecosystem. The reason why is because the maps after being so detailed taking a nose dive feels pretty weird. So what they could do is make open areas slightly less flat and make make some areas have more than two layers (not a need, just saying in some cases this could be an interesting map design.) keep open areas to fight in, add more area traps to take advantage of (epidemic wasp storm anyone? And maybe if you have honey and you can throw it at a monster for them to do damage, or maybe for I.G it could be on extract shots.) And lastly make SOME areas more detailed that way the monsters and players get to see the life more. Also hide the monsters on the minimap, it ruins the immersion and in rise it makes no sense. I think what they should do is have the cohoot passively follow you and it would fly out and lead you. In this you could use the wirebugs to make good use of the map to get to point A and B quicker, maybe some routes ONLY accessible for those SKILLED with the parkour with wirebugs.
I completely agree with having the monsters being hidden on the map, it feels really lame just being able to see them at all times. I also like the idea of using the Cohoot as a guide! The Cohoot doesn't really do much, and this would give it a much bigger role that it really eneds
I do prefer World map over Rise , having a world that looks like an arena is useless when arena are a thing in the game. I do prefet having to learn how to adapt my fighting style to the environment, having to explore , feeling like a hunter in a dangerous world etc. Anyway i want to feel like a hunter not just like a boss rusher, and thats why my first hours into world were amazing and why i didn't like the ice and ancient/lava zone in world :x
I think they should being back palumutes next monster hunter and go bigger with the maps and the palamutes should elevate the traveling issues and maybe add more grappling hook spots too. Rise map designs don’t really encourage me to explore like world mostly due to the fact the monster is visible and you just make a b-line towards it
yea, I can agree with this. Worlds maps are much fuller and more detailed which made me want to go off adventuring to see what I could find. The only reason I really go to explore the maps of Rise is either searching for the relic records or finding where the endemic life is, other than that there is no reason.
That’s the same flawed design philosophy that got open world games saturated with map markers. Design a map well and you don’t need the game to guide you; you should already be guided by an invisible hand with good level design and recognizable landmarks. I get lost constantly in the Ancient Forest and the scoutflies don’t help much, because at the end of the day the actual conveyance of the map design isn’t good.
@@MailmanSSB For me is the other way arround, i can turn off the UI of the game and i would still be able to locate myself anywhere in that florest, and that is what made it better for me, it took time, but i got used to the area and its shorlinks. That part of learning the map, it is soo great.
The areas that you didn't like in World were surprisingly, my favourite areas to fight in. Maybe its just how I play. I also like how some of the areas are tight while others are wide. I mean, we always have arenas to fight in if we want flat areas. I like how the game requires us to play in different environments and as much as I hate fighting in Ancient Forests, I like that the game pushes me to have some fights there just to change up my own pace.
Sloped combat areas are definitely a preference thing, and for my personal tastes, I do not like them because they interrupt my plan of attack sometimes.
I appreciate your opinion and take on both the maps of World and Rise. It's just one small element to the debate (which I really think there shouldn't be) which is supposedly better, World or Rise. I personally think that these 2 games should not be compared because it's a matter of personal preference and experience. Both World and Rise accomplish what they set out to do in their own way and I think it's great that we have both games.
I love and hate both types of maps. World maps are extremely cluttered and an actual MAZE to navigate, but they look beautiful and so realistic, taking full advantage of the tech used. Rise maps are pretty bland and boring when you don't fight monsters, but on the other hand, traversing them and fighting in them FEELS right, especially with the movement options rise gives. So, in conclusion they both have their pros and cons, and their shiners and stinkers, but they both are good ways to develop a map
This is pretty much the same sentiment I would use. Worlds maps are much more alive and colorful but feel very cluttered. Rise, on the other hand, is much less lively and has more stale coloration, but I much prefer fighting on those maps.
No matter how many times I traveled through the Ancient Forest there were always times were I would get lost. I love World's maps more for their beauty and I love Rise's maps more for their openess and ease of traversal.
World is a monster hunter game, Rise is a monster fighter game. Both are fine for what they are, but it's really hard to beat World maps and ecosystem. It feels magical, especially for the first time. Rise maps look like from a Playstation 2 game.
The maps are cool in World, but imo traversing them was a fucking chore and just not my cup of tea. Just an absolute task to climb the ancient forest map only to have to climb down 3 mins later. Yeah, everything looks great, but the gameplay is so annoying just having to run for a third of your hunt. Rise environments are scaled down to be more viable gameplay experiences, and imo the superior design. I'm here to hunt monsters, not run around in a forest. Still prefer World overall btw, but man I can't stand the locales 😂
Wait people get lost in the ancient forest?! Well I'd say world has better maps, I say rise is way too flat and slopes in rise never cause my hammer air-spin. Edit: I hope I'm not the only one questioning what maps certain monsters in rise got put in, all the copy and paste lazy turf-wars, monsters not moving around living their lives but standing there doing nothing. Does anyone know what happened to chase themes?
I like world more because it feels like an actual jungle or an actual desert with canyons, I learned how to traverse the map using the mini map or wondering around.
I only played 3U, 4U, Gen, and Iceborne. So I lack the full Picture of all the Maps in the Serie, but if I could choose, I say 3U has by fare the best Maps. Other realy good Maps per Game include, Old Swamp, Deserted Island, Misty Peaks, and Jurassic Frontier in Gen, Dunes, Primal Forrest, and maybe Frozen Seaway in 4U, all the Maps of 3U, except Tundra, and Flooded Forrest in 3U, especially the great, great Volcano, and Worlds Guidingland, and Hoafrost. That are all the Maps I consider God Tier.
Based on my experience, I loved the first couple quests in a new map in World, liking every subsequent visit less or straight up avoiding to traverse certain zones that I hated. While more spectacular than anything ever seen in MH, World's maps lack the ease of navigation and readability that makes Rise's (or even older games') maps so comfortable and accomodating to farm for hundreds of hours
I'd assume that the players who started in World will likely prefer World's maps more since that's what they started with and were used to. As for those who started pre-gen 5, I feel they will likely enjoy Rise maps more because they feel more like an old-school experience, especially with the Flooded Forest and Sandy Plains. However, this is just a generalization and obviously is not true for every individual.
@@BakeNation_MH Nor really. I started playing in MH3U and even compared to the 3DS games, Rise maps are a big let down. Have you ever played MH4U? The maps were vibrant, memorable and well designed. Rise maps are barren arenas devoid of color and interesting topography.
@@danielfurtado8625 I have played 4U, and honestly, the only maps that I really like are Heaven's mount and ancestral steppe, but I don't like any of the other ones that much.
the thing i like about rise's maps is that it feels EXACTLY like the old MH maps, but just bumped up for today's generation of players, it doesn't have fancy ass shit, just enough to make it fair to fight the monsters
I do not like World’s maps. Yeah “ecosystem” whatever compared to Rise but it is not a good area to fight. I spent half the time fighting the map (ledges, slopes, falling, etc) instead of the monsters I do wish that Rise had a more expansive scene beyond where you fought. Playing a little of GU and they managed to capture such wide landscapes which I love. Makes you feel like the world is huge
I loved MHW design more even though it is quite a clutter, but it felt more like I'm actually hunting a monsters. Hunting isn't just fight them head to head, but to utilize surrounding environment, and avoiding the hazard that can effected you. You're not fighting just a monster but an environment. I've playing MH since Freedom unite, and in MH world its the first time that I felt like it is hunting and not fighting another videogame boss. Rise old school maps felt so much more for a player to fight monster head on, so much more easier to see and to navigate yet it made me care about it less due to how easy for me to navigate all I remembered is pretty much a wide plain or waste land type area because that's where you've fought a monster, but in world I can remembered the detail map even if it's complex and clutter, detail has a distinct look to it. It felt more alive and we did utilized a lot of map interaction unique to individual area to our advantages compared to a bunch of wired bug you can collect in rise, it's just not worth remembering for me . Pretty much I'm really appreciate old school style, but in my opinion World is a definition of a Monster hunting. It's not just outsmarting monster by using your tools and technique, It's also utilizing your surrounding to hunt and dominate them at right time.
My usual go-to trick to the getting in lost in the Ancient Forest problem is by fast traveling or fascastering to the closest camp on the target monster's vicinity and bactrack from there Not exactly an efficient method but still helps lessen the frustration though
I'm a big fan of hidey-holes and hidden areas, and World's maps really scratched that itch for me. There are neat places like that in Rise, especially with the relic records and endemic life (I'm a fan of scavenger hunts and found those to be a blast,) but Rise loses out on immersion. I can't just chill crouched at the edge of a zone because no matter how far away a monster is, once it's in the same area it aggros; I also miss being able to watch the monsters just do their thing, and World's natural traps (i.e vines, the breaking dam,) were easier to trigger. Due to travel being much quicker with the wirebug, Rise also has less camps to discover. This isn't really a problem, and the wirebug is very fun, but I did enjoy discovering camp locations in World and going on quests to unlock them. It was a nice treat that varied the rewards and broke the monster->materials->equipment->monster loop. I barely use the additional camps in Rise anyway, since you can't select them before leaving on the quest.
world maps are amazing to see, i absolutely agree but an atrocious nightmare to play in my world experies was mostly 15 minutes quests, 13 minutes of searching and reaching the target, 2 minutes of brutally stunlocking the monster without letting him literally doing a single move yes, i came to world later, i played low and high rank with the clutch claw available, i'm aware but still, not a pleasing experience at all
World is just the greatest game of the series for me. It was too immersive and I sunk almost 1000 hours in that game, the only game to ever make me do that. MHW all the way!
the biggest problem rise have is they show the monster since the start of the hunt, i personally think if they just remove that visibility, zoom in the map a little bit more not as close as WORLD which is by 1 area but not the whole map either, let say per 2-3 area, that will fix the 'hunting' experience most has in rise, also I hate getting lost in WORLD, you can say this that do this do that, I KNOW, but I personally not good at finding a a route (think me as Zoro in One Piece, yeah that bad) so I appreciated the simplicity of rise where everything is connected, the only time i get lost in Rise is in Citadel, yeah that one a small tunnel where we can found yellow spider.
The issue of monster going from one player to another was made in concrete by gore magala and other from mh4u due to an area in the steppe with many cliffs. Also as a hammer user the ancient forest slope is a haven for my folk. Great video btw! Very well organized. I agree with it all basically. Happy hunting!
I never found those jank spots on rise.😅 I do use the aim with the wirebug to go higher, so i never had the problem. I really enjoy the rise ones. I hate getting hit by a monsters and dropping 2 levels n world. Super annoying. It's also labyrinthine to find out which layer the monster flew to. Too much pain. Also, i must point out rise maps have these interesting lost places that normally don't see use but are really interesting to explore such as the pyramid or the temple ruins in the jungle maps. The jungle also had a huge tree in the middle that is easily missable if you b line to the monsters. I was always in aww when i found these secret places on the maps. Also, it was rewarding cause i was getting buffs.
I love the designs of World’s map much better, but they get absolutely exhausting and tedious to trek through once you get familiar with them. They drag things out way too much. I prefer the quick and clean design of Rise’s maps.
I prefer World bc the maps felt like their own characters with unique environmental traps, hidden areas(broken ship), movement mechanics (vines, deep snow, tree canopies). Sloped areas helped me as a hammer main and often were the most fun. Rise maps did a little bit with the environment i.e. desert crabs, reflections, a small hidden temple. But they largely feel like the limited maps in handheld games, which tend to be bland. And the fishing is just boring in Rise. I'm including it as a map flaw bc it's a good time to show off bits of map like they did with the shoreline in Ancient Forest or the Vale's acid water. Rise's fishing spots are always huddled in a corner facing rocks. Whee.
World's Maps visually, Knocks Rise out of the park with the lush environments, the wildlife and the more grounded feel of them make you feel like your apart of a living breathing world, but playing on them is a different story, way too many small areas and hallways that monsters absolutely love to go to makes fighting them very awkward and uncomfortable at times and feel like a maze at times like in maps like Ancient Forest for example with most of the areas being either small forest areas or narrow hallways with barely any room to fight monsters in and Monsters sometimes have a nasty habit of leaving when you just reached them and decide to go all the way across the map, (PTSD Flashbacks to Ancient Forest Rathalos hunt ). Some world maps aren't as heavily affected by this for example maps like Wildspire Waste and Hoarfrost Reach with not as many hallways or small areas in them and monsters have a tendency to go to the bigger more flat areas in those maps. Rise maps may not be as visually stunning as world's maps, a lot of the environments in rise are either wide open fields with barely any instances of wild life besides the occasional small monster, permabuffer, wirebug or rare endemic life that occasionally appears. A lot of the maps in rise have A high mount of verticality on them and with the wirebugs allowing you to zip across the air makes it very fun just to navigate through each map to find any useful endemic life or secrets in them and the many great wirebugs allow you to go to point a, to point B in a matter of seconds. but with the wide fields that Rise makes it way more comfortable to fight things in. Conclusion: World maps are nice to explore in but fighting in them is very claustrophobic, Rise maps are better suited for fighting monsters in but doesn't have much going on in them. In my personal opinion, I prefer Rise maps with their flat and open areas with almost no distractions makes fighting monsters more enjoyable for me. Long story short: World maps are safaris and Rise maps are Battlegrounds.
I am pretty much in the same boat as you. I think World's maps are much more vibrant, alive, and immersive, but the maps of Rise are so much more preferably suited for combat which is what I would weigh greater than a lush environment. I think all the maps are great (except maybe the Ancient Forest), but I think I like the ones of Rise slightly more.
If you like bonking monsters and getting bonked in return, rise is for you. If you like to roleplay as an overpowered caveman with guns during the jurassic period, world is the way to go. Both games' map designs are both good and fucked up in their own ways and they cater almost a different niche of monster hunting from one to another
functionally, yes. rise does a great job with what it had to use, and promotes use of it's new mechanics via the environments you hunt in. but visually and mechanically. no, not even close. it's not really a fair comparison.. world was made for the latest console generation on release. rise was developed for a hand held with less processing power then most new phones. it's like comparing mario 64 with galaxy.. one is impressive considering context, the other is just impressive.
by traversity rise feels so much better but coooome on if we're talking abt just abt every aspect and the immersion World just wins by a major landslide
Rise for sure, as an old world player the arenas just feel right to me. Sucks that to accommodate the smaller map the world feels smaller in general. MH World... never really took to it. Immersion as a hunter came in other aspects that have been drastically reduced as part of "QOL", not really interaction with the environment. Rise is about right in terms of environmental interaction, I feel. It's just missing a brighter color palette outside of town.
My bigger issue with rise is that game kinda FORCES you to traverse them because of the spiribird system. In later fights, unless you wish to be one shot, you have to take a detour. In my eyes it's a flaw rather than a positive. Similar case with the relic messages - some of them were straight up painful to find. And these things would have alone made World, in my eyes, better, despite how cramped it can be. And then worlds maps ecosystems, like you brought up, immersiveness to level i never felt before in the series, something that a bit lacked in gen and gen U. Atmosphere in mh games is what i really love and putting too much focus on the "defeat boss" aspect of the hunt much lowers that immersion for me.
I've never played World. As a rule, I prefer Rise's maps. I always say that Rise is old school Monster Hunter, pushed to its logical conclusion. It's an evolution of 4U's style of map, with higher verticality overall, and removing the loading zones between maps is just awesome. Rise is my first Monster Hunter game, but after having played some of 4U and GU, I really do think Rise's maps are perfect for retaining that old school charm. Rise is 100% a love letter to the older Monster Hunter games. And there seems to be even more love for those games in Sunbreak. (Seregios! Astalos! More Leviathans! Amphibians! Yes please!)
Rise maps absolutely capture that old school feel that the maps had pre-fifth gen, and that's one reason why I have such an affinity with them as compared to the ones of World
I love using the environment against the monster in MHW. The snow avalanches, big rock falling on top of the monster, the icicles falling, etc. I'm still playing MHW. I have Rise/Sunbreak, the game is easy. There are times that it's better to play offline.
I prefer World. Rise' open map is nice, but it's too small and limited by switch's performance to put in more details. The need for making it wirebug friendly also makes the map feels more like a Sonic parkour level (we literally have those static collection bugs stuff), very arcady. Overall they both have their flaws. I definitely would like World map to be more flattened out and scenic too.
Even after over a collective 1000 hours in World and Iceborne between both PS4 and PC, I still get lost in that same area of the ancient forest lmao. Ancient Forest might actually be my least favorite map in Monster Hunter, period, especially as the first map in the game. It's big, it has multiple layers that vaguely connect with each other, and the little transitional areas between each main "room" is so dense and over-complicated that it's stupid easy to get lost in. I imagine their entire design philosophy with it is to teach players about using the scoutflies in order to navigate your way out of confusing areas, but when the scoutflies barely work half the time, the entire teaching moment fails. I feel like all of the other maps in World are perfectly fine (sans the sheer verticality of Coral Highlands and its stupid mushroom hopping segment near the peak), but Ancient Forest is just so overdesigned to a point where it feels counter-intuitive as a first map. On the other hand, the Shrine Ruins is an absolutely perfect teaching area. The area is straight-forward and laid out in a simple, approachable manner. It's the only map in the game that only has 1 layer, and each room transitions into each other cleanly, with simple "hallways" connecting them. However, the Shrine Ruins is open enough and littered with little collectibles just out of reach that practically scream at the player to utilize the wirebug and forge their own path through the map. This whole design philosophy stays true throughout all of the other maps in the game. Chances are, if you see a cliff, you can scale it. And if that cliff is high enough, you'll probably find a goodie at the top.
I still prefer Rise map design than World. Don't get me wrong, World is great but I just used to Arena like map and feel more comfortable navigating around map and fighting monsters in Rise than World.
I think with time, I like Rises map less and less. Not bad, still enjoyable. But I really prefer World and older games for a few reasons. My biggest gripe with Rise, is the maps scales. People say World's monster scaled, but thats not accurate. Actually I think its Hunter scaled and Rise is monster scaled. Rises much more open map desgin accomodates for bigger monsters with much more varied and fast movesets (I doubt an Aknosoom would be fun in the ancient forest). Worlds maps are desgined with monster ecology in mind but that doesn't mean its scaled entierly around them. But what's the problem with this in Rise? Well Palamutes. When we talk about player scale. World is scaled for Hunters, Rise is scaled for Palamutes. It may not feel like it but Rise maps are wayyyyy bigger than World. You only notice it once you unequip palamutes that the maps are ridiculously big to traverse on foot vs any other game in the whole series. As someone who prefers bringing 2 palicos, this makes a lot of hunts drag because I have to haul myself everywhere on foot, even with wirebugs its very slow. Plus the maps are flat, too flat, with a lot less personality than even older games. 3rd Gen and 4th gen have some genuinely gorgeous maps, look at the Flooded Forest in 3U or Portable 3rd vs Rise. Rise has to be all seemless, which doesn't allow as much color diversity and absurdly unquie locales. But with loading zones, the devs didn't have to account for the maps making sense, so the maps were much more stylized zone to zone, sometimes having completely different color pallets from zone to zone. It made maps much more stylized. But with the introduction of Ariel combat in 4. Arenas could be much more diverse in arena desgin, some are flat while some are very vertical to encourage mounting. World expanded on this with sliding, but yes it does get in the way at times. I think I'd like Rises maps more if they weren't so huge without palamutes, the maps while being monster scaled, could do a bit better in encouraging environmental use. Wallrunning should've been a slam dunk for expanding our options, but theres so little reason to use it with jank Ariel hitboxes from monsters, and the fact we got rid of mounting for Wyvern riding. It's great we can do it, but theres so little reason to use it. I feel like we can get a middle ground for the next game that gets it just right, but Rise kinda swings far into just being way too open and flat for its own good. I think 4th gen has my favorite maps gameplay wise due to the verticality for arena desgin, followed by World. 3rd then is after that because god some maps like Misty Peaks, Flooded Forest or the Tundra ooze so much personality. Rise just isn't as interesting gameplay wise for me in map desgin being too open and too huge on foot, while having very lackluster visuals due to their lighting and open huge maps. I really dislike the volcano in Rise, it clashes so hard in the game vs something like the desert.
Rise's maps are better. World's maps are typically just a series of rooms connected by a convoluted mess of hallways, cluttered by an over-abundance of geometry that makes spaces too cramped for the dynamics of MH's combat to be fully expressed. Rise's maps are designed like a geographical location that may actually exist, and traversing them is far more interesting and engaging because Rise actually has gameplay mechanics designed for mobility and environmental traversal. World has the Wedge Beetle and vents and that's about it. But in the end, supporting gameplay is always the goal, so whichever best supports the gameplay is better, and that would be Rise.
I find rise map very bland I really love world's map but both is a good and really fun game I totally understand thta rise is made for switch so of course the map and graphics won't be that detailed as world
World has fun maps to explore but annoying to fight in while Rise has batter maps for combat with less to explore. I would have to say I prefer Rises maps cause while I did find it fun to explore Worlds maps and catch creatures for my room. Gameplay is my biggest concern for any game and when I start to get annoyed fighting a Monster not for the Monster but the arena I'm fighting it in, I'm going to see it as a lesser experience.
When it came to World, I would spend some time walking around seeing what there is to find. With Rise, I would try to explore every bit of the map since its small enough, and easier to traverse. This helped immensely in having a sort of designated path I would take to collect endemic life on my way to the monster when it left a room
I prefer World map better because well I am more of a take-it-slow player While all of my friends are fighting Alatreon and Fatalis, I am there collecting insects and watching wyverns hunting their prey As stated by all comments before, World's map is pretty hard to navigate, and even me who always go around here and there observing, could get lost, esp in Ancient Forest While scout flies are pretty helpful, sometimes they r just like "LOOK AT THAT DIRECTION YOU D***A**" I actually wish I could play Rise, but it was too expensive to purchase, so I will just wait for the next installment, hopefully the next installment could be played using controller.
In my opinion: Yes and no. Visually and in terms of the way you and monsters interact with the environment, World’s maps are FAR better. In terms of size and maneuverability, Rise takes the cake.
after playing world all of the other monster hunters wish they had worlds level of design. Rise maps feel painfully empty and like a bunch of assets mushed together
For me, and having replayed both games lately from start to finish, i'd say:
World/Iceborne for immersion, detail, impressive and grounded maps
Rise: Extremely fun to navigate and wirebug across, turns the bits in between the fighting into a completely different game.
I prefer World by far though. It's more grounded, and feels like a real ecosystem. Rise removes too many standard monster behaviours for my liking (like rathian no longer coming to check on her stolen eggs)
I miss the greater number of monster interactions with the environment! I remember spending so much time just idly hiding from the monster and just seeing what it would do
@@BakeNation_MH Same! It was so fantastic and fascinating for me to watch them doing things a normal animal would do in real life
@@BakeNation_MH this is it chief. It felt like the more you stood around doing nothing, the more the world moved around you. I hate how the Rise monsters all aggro to you instantly and also how they wyvern ride run from area to area. Derpy as hell, and pulls me out of the game.
Rise's endemic life just standing/floating around in exactly the same spot every time not even pretending to be more than passive power ups honestly made me so sad after interacting so much with World's creatures.
@@ToasTFresh i think it's for a reason though. They kept the switch's battery life and portability in mind when they made rise. They had to speed it up without sacrificing too much and they succeeded. The next Nintendo console will likely have something like world or better if it's still portable and they don't go for a stay at home console
In conclusion:
World's maps are made for the monster.
Rise's maps are made for the player.
Not a bad take. But i saw the Rathalos walk through a wall in this video. Just say'in. 😂
I find rises maps to be bland in overall colour, it feels like the map is the same colour/texture throughout
They definitely feel tamer as compared to the ones in World, and the colors are not as vibrant, per se, either. Being designed for the switch probably had a great impact in terms of trying to create these maps feel full enough while also not being too large.
@@BakeNation_MH the textures for the ground are also similar throughout the map
Something I agree on, actually. I think rise's maps would benefit greatly if they made maps clash a bit better. Monster hunter's old maps were darker and grittier primarily due to older systems. However they could make maps more gritty and some more vibrant and some more bland.
Doing this could help make up for the simple designs of the maps.
Also give us more goddamn variety than "Desert, forest, icy place, volcanic place"
What about a forest, or a proper tundra, what about a mountainous region. And this could be SO MUCH MORE if they just brought back swimming.
Imagine if we went to like some tropical biome by boat but on the way the boat can be hit and we would fall into the water to potentially be attacked by idk, lagaicriss. Or Ludorth, something MORE that monster hunter can improve on.
I would LOVE to see this like ship graveyard and us fighting a KRAKEN like monster.
@@John-ii6he isn’t shrine a mountain map? A bunch of mountains you can climb, with the real big mountain in the middle that goes really high up?
I don’t see anything wrong with having classic biomes as maps. It makes it easier to figure out where to put monsters and it’s always cool to hunt from a desert in one quest and a snowy field the next.
Now that it is mentioned, some maps in 4 did happen to have some nice contrast in here and there which rise barely has. But maybe it’s because it’s trying to emulate the more muted maps of Tri? Don’t remember too well the maps from tri so I can’t tell
Worlds maps were absolutely beautiful (except for the dessert one lol) but they had a bit of a problem of trying to find where to put the monsters (“legiana? Uhhhh, coral reef?”)
@@Ritsu362 Can confirm that they remind me strongly of Tri maps, particularly Flooded Forest, Sandy Plains, and Lava Caverns (to a certain extent).
As much as I appreciate world's level of detail on a technical level, I could never shake off the feeling of being in a diorama, always surrounded by "walls" and never feeling like the maps expanded past the playable areas. Wildspire waste being the biggest offender, that giant rock wall in zone 8, but also being able to get a view of the entire map from the peak only for it to be a mess of low-def rock formations and some water with no real shape or artistic cohesion. I love world more than any other MH game, but I really miss the vistas of the older games, maps like Ancestral Steppe, Misty Peaks, Primal Forest, all felt like they were part of an expanding world, and I fear that in chasing high graphical fidelity we're losing a lot of atmosphere.
I feel the same way, especially when I think of the Deserted Island. That map is my favorite out of them all, and it looks so expansive and grandiose, and the music along with it makes it even better. Something about the whole atmosphere of that map gets me every time
@@BakeNation_MH D. Island is one of my favorites too, 3rd gen was something else.
I agree with a lot of what you’re saying, however I think the conclusion of it being caused by the push for graphical fidelity is misguided. To me, the cramped feeling of the maps seems to be caused by the seamless aspect of MHW. For example, think back to maps like Frozen Seaway. It was this big map with a hefty amount of verticality that was cool to explore, however if you pay attention you’ll notice that between most zones are long, boring paths and corridors. If that map didn’t have zone transitions it would be a pain in the ass to explore thanks to the long, boring stretches. It seems to me like the World team wanted to avoid having a map structure like that because it would feel very unnatural (and boring to travel between zones) and as a result the maps shrunk a bit to shorten the zone connectors. The old maps were clearly not designed with people traveling through them in real time in mind (which isn’t necessarily a bad thing) so they tend to have much larger scale to them. Like just imagine how much it would suck to have to climb up to the top of Ruined Pinnacle without zone transitions. I for one would never want to do that. Hence, more condensed maps for World.
@@willg1439 I agree with you to an extent. They could definitely take a lot more creative liberties in the older games because of the zone transitions, and they needed to find a way to fix it in World. But in my opinion, World isn't nearly as seamless as it first may seem, yeah there are no loading screens, but in turn you get walls surrounding the player at all times so the game only has to load a small section of the map at once, and the transition hallways are still there, but the loading/unloading of areas isn't as obvious anymore. I think the World team could've made the maps a bit bigger, you get like 5 camps in each area anyway so traversal isn't an issue. But they can't make them open, not with the amount of "stuff" it has to load.
I think Rise did a really good job with the presentation of the maps, specially with how beautifully they translated Sandy Plains into an open area, they really kept the open feel of the old games, and it's a direct result of the team not being constrained by the need to deliver high graphical fidelity, and just focus on the map design.
I prefer World over Rise because in Rise it felt more like an arena that’s tailored to your needs. Rather, World felt like I was put in the monster’s home turf, that they live and thrive in every day. It forces you to get creative by thinking of all the way you can turn your negative surroundings into a new way of obliterating a monster.
As a OG player since ps2, I'm used to the whole arena like map, but as I progress into other MH games I started to want more then just hunting and crafting. mhtri and mh4u was when I started to want better maps and beautiful details because during tht time, thy had the best maps, not sure if people notice but if u explore mhtri/mh3u or mh4/mh4u u can see tht they tried to make the map beautiful, lively, and added small details to the designs of the rocks, trees, water, walls, water...etc. Thats why I love MHW maps, which for me are 100x btter then rise, yes its arcadis and its literally a hack n slash but for me, I prefer to admire then hack an slash
My only problem with World's maps is getting lost. Especially gathering quests are a thousand times more pleasant in Rise. Other than that, though, I really liked them. The sheer diversity and stuff to explore blew me away and I can't say I relate to your issue with the slopes. Maybe it's just because I started with World and didn't know anything different but they never bothered me. (Don't worry, I know you meant that as more of a personal/subjective thing than an objective flaw in design.) I just really liked how much you had to consider the environment around you in World. You always had to make sure that the monster wouldn't corner you or push you off a ledge, they were hard to navigate, they were a challenge but just as much, they were an outstretched hand just waiting to be taken so it could help you up to gain an edge over the monster. World and Iceborn were all about taking the environment into consideration at all time and that was definitely lost to a degree in Rise. Whether that is good or bad is purely subjective. I personally liked MHW/IB a little better. (Though Rampage quests also play a big part in that.)
The slopes were definitely just a personal problem, but they don't retract much at all from the overall experience of the maps themselves.
Worlds maps were much more exuberant and lusher while Rise seemed to try and mesh the old-school maps with the aspects that World brought with it, and it missed in some marks such as feeling like an ecosystem which is one of the biggest factors that made the maps of World so special.
I personally like the feeling of getting lost because it always made sense for what areas you were in. Like all the maps had spots where you could get easily lost and that was because they were always cave-like systems or the densest part of the jungle. Like the ancient forest clip he showed is the worst spot in that map if you fuck up the vine jumps and i feel like that makes a lot of sense considering where you are.
I can definitely see it being annoying to feel lost, but it feels like that was the intent for every area where you experience moments of feeling lost
@@flame24dragon I mean yeah, it makes sense, but not getting to the monster in time to loot during a co-op hunt just because you died towards the end and couldn't find your way back because your stupid scoutflies felt threatened by that stupid Jagras that looked at you for two damn seconds really isn't fun. Not that I'd know since this clearly hasn't ever happened to me. I'm a professional and never get lost.
@@flame24dragon It feels like my time is being wasted. Which is already a problem with World due to long load times and unskippable cutscenes.
@@Gankstomper idk, i never felt like my time is being wasted because the camps were normally in good spots so if i ever got lost i just teleport. I'm all about efficiency and not wasting time, and im always bothered by it, but world didnt do that to me. Also, i cant relate on the loading screen thing because ssd so idk
To say it in the words of MaxOr:
"I know Rise is a great game but... this looks like an excellent Gary's-Mod-Map!"
I’m just gonna flat out and say it . Hell no, world’s maps were so alive and massive. Rise is missing that feeling that world maps have.
One of the things I'm most excited about Sunbreak is that the colors look more vibrant than in the base game.
Honestly, I know this technically isn't a "map" issue, but I kind of count it. With the other games, you actually for the most part had to hunt down the monsters, vs with rise as soon as you join the quest it shows you where the the monster is. Now, the actual reason I bring this up is because I think it's a bit counter intuitive to the games design. You have less reason to actually take the side routes and get more endemic life and spiribirds when you can easily make it to the monster. This is even more prevalent because instead of actually traversing the map, you can teleport to the closes camp and then run from there. In one way this does make it much easier to traverse the map, which is part of the whole point of the map being the way it is. But I feel like it takes away from the spiribirds and other parts of traversing the map. Not fully, but I feel like it at least dampens it. One of my favorite parts of rise is that on every map I have a route I take to each area of the map that I get a lot of spiribirds buffs while also making my way across the map.
I also dislike being able to see where a monster is at all times, it just doesn't seem right. I also find the camps pretty lame, and don't like utilizing them that much. While they make the game more appreciative of your time, it sort of removed part of the whole experience that was Monster Hunter
@@BakeNation_MH my friends always ask why I run to the monster instead of teleporting to the closest camp, and I always tell them I just like doing it that way . I prefer to feel like I'm actually hunting the monster. I don't normally complain about quality of life changes and whatnot, but this is pretty extreme. I like being able to find the monster, not just knowing where it's at. It doesn't feel natural.
@@BakeNation_MH I always got the impression from the huge vistas we see in the backgrounds that we travel a significant distance to hunt monsters so we can't afford to take more than we need, not to mention we need to take the monster, dead or alive, back with us. The camp makes it feel like we're taking our whole house with us in some kind of clown car caravan. I got like 100 weapons, who the hell is carrying those? The cat?
@@EmperorSigismund lol, we joke about that all the time. We theorized it would be a better idea and make more sense to simply pick a single weapon before going out on a quest that you could swap between mid-hunt, not have your whole arsenal available to you
@@BakeNation_MH I always forget I can go back to camp, and end up playing the game old style anyway. I still can't get used to the radial menu, I alwasy accidentaly select the wrong stuff. I just have these old habits that are really hard to change. The sub camps i'm ok with, but I like running through the map in rise so I hardly use them.
Personally I like the World Maps more, simply because it felt like an actual ecosystem and stuff like that. The only issue I had was how cluttered it felt sometimes like very congested.
I like the rise maps because they are open kind of like the old MH games but to me feels way more bland than world. The wire bug exploration helps a lot though still fun.
If they could find a sweet spot between World and Rise, hot damn that game would be great
I been playing rise and download world after playing it years ago on the ps4 so i can play with some friends.
God, combat in rise is very good, and the maps are good cause they remain me of the old ones but with better graphics. Then playing World yes, the quality of the maps are beyond insane, they look super good, but the main issue is the combat. Ancient forest is a massive pain in the ass, in reality every map but that one in particular.
With the anounce of the new MH for 2025 i hope to have a mix of both, graphics from world and plain terrain like rise for combat.
Well hey, Rise, you're going with efficacity and simplicity. World, you're going with looks and ambiance. There's no real winner here~
Precisely!
We all know the og first mh map is the true perfect one lol
Ehh... rise took a focus to much on the combat and it shows in the maps. Part of the reason rise is TOO EASY is because they made the combat way to good for hunters. It was literally unfair to the monsters. I hope G-rank/Master Rank will fix this by making those monsters INTERACT with your wirebugs. Give them skills we've NEVER seen to make our combat harder.
(especially you, rajaang.)
@@John-ii6he I think its mostly because we're so used to Worlds master ranks difficulty, especially rajang in master rank sense his attack patterns were omega randomized, in the old games before world and rise his attacks had a pattern and it was predictable to see what he'll do id you can memorize his attacks and get him into an attack loop
@@diothevampire3250 you mean forest and hills cause if so that map kinda bland
if you feel lost in world, just mark something on the map and it will mark you the way to go, for the couple of time you are lost this is sooo useful
Wow, I never thought of this! Thanks for the tip
Sometimes i mark something thats like 2 layes below or above so i get lost
While I do like Rise's maps better, in no small part due to wirebugs making exploration a joy, world's do feel more immersive. Although both have stinkers, especially the Ancient Forest.
I love ancient forest tbh. There are so many shortcuts and ways around the map that even to this day i still find new paths
As someone who loves to watch nature documentaries since I was a child, I 100% prefer World maps over any of the other games' maps. It allowed these monsters to just be animals when you're not fighting them. They're not just bosses for the player to kill in order to progress. These monsters demand you to respect them when you encroach in their territory, and even the map tells you that. This isn't your playground, this is nature. That's really cool to me.
I don't mind being lost or the other annoyances with World's maps at all, because those only made it more memorable to me. It really made me feel like I'm just a dude trying my best to not get killed because of my surroundings. The way the maps take away some control from me is the type of challenge I didn't know I appreciated. You gotta adapt on the fly, not just with the monster you're fighting, but also the ground you're standing on.
And yeah, I know it sounds masochistic and I'm probably in the minority, but I just really love World's maps, especially Ancient Forest. Kind of a shame, they scrapped the original version (the one they showed in the tech demo), because that map looked fun to explore as well.
Yes! Another Ancient Forest lover! ^^ part of the fun of exploration for me is learning a complex environment, and making it *mine.* I enjoyed getting lost in World's maps because I would find new hidden areas or helpful materials, and once I did enough quests there I started to learn what was where and could go places intentionally rather than just end up in them, which is unexpectedly fulfilling. Game maps where I can run through them once and immediately know my way around are no fun imo.
I think the World maps are awful boss arenas. Sometimes you have to fight the arena itself more than that boss (looking at you teostra with the random fire pillars popping up) or sometimes the attacks just blend into the environment. Ancient Forest is trash. I also REALLY hated chasing monsters around in ancient forest. I also hate ledges canceling your animations.
Rise maps maybe consistently wider and flatter but I'd much rather fight monsters there.
While the maps in world are visually impressive I dislike them from a gameply standpoint. They are cluttered and hard to navigate witch makes tracking monsters a chore. The lack of landmarks in the persuit of realism also dosnt help that fact. I wastly prefer Rises new take on the old map design. In the end its just a matter of personal taste
Well you have tracking bug in world though, I spend quite a bit of time searching monster in rise when it goes to a cave or underground area
@@randomcommenter3726 i really dislike how thise stupid bugs look. It feels like im on a leash and they are super distracting. Im not sayin ghe was Rise handles monster tracking is perfect (it would be so much better if every monster was marked with a ? At the start of a hunt) but I just find it more enjoyable
@@plebugen9659 ah yes the way rises handles tracking, you mean removing it?
@@thesupreme8062 I think that Rise would be a much better game without monster tracking.
I mean, the new mechanics are made to improve the exploration just by being simplified to moving from point A to point B, and ruining the surprise element
@@rodrigoandrade8586 there is no exploration in rise the maps are so hollow that there really isn't anything to see
For visuals...
World > Rise
For functionality...
Rise > World
I prefer Rise maps overall. They're small and compact, but dense and easy to traverse... with the removal of invisible walls between corridors and areas (save for the actual area borders and a few odd instances). The Rise maps are probably smaller than World's, but they have much more playable surface area. At least it feels like it. Not to mention, the fewer visual clutter (like excessive vegetation or extreme slopes). Also... immersion is nice and all, but I stopped caring about that after my first MH game. I mean... I still care about it, but I'd choose gameplay over it. Let's face it... after a couple hundred of hours, you just run straight to the monster anyway to get to the meat of the game. Even the game itself stops caring by just automatically marking the monsters after collecting enough tracks and shit.
I would definitely choose gameplay over immersion as well. think the biggest thing for me and liking maps is how well the monster works within the map and how well the map feels to be in. Immersion is more of an afterthought, per se
World's maps have that special touch of fine details spread throughout. I can spend hours just wandering the maps and watching the monsters interact with the environment around them. The maps truly feel alive and real. Of course, there is the biggest issue which is traversal and map complexity. The maps are a pain to navigate and have so many different ways to get from one place to another I just end up getting lost.
Rise on the other hand, is a much better improvement to the tedious and janky map layouts of World. They are relatively flat where the combat happens (thank gog), and somewhat simple between the areas. One thing that is lacking, however, is that charm World had with its maps: the interactions. Rise's maps feel devoid of life, and while the endemic life prove useful in battle, it seems that's all they were made for in the grand scheme of things. While the monsters do have some interactions with the map, it isn't nearly the same as with World's.
When I played World, I would constantly go out on expeditions and spend hours and hours exploring the maps, following and observing monsters, "birdwatching", fishing, and overall relaxing in the maps. Sometimes I didn't even hunt any monsters. With Rise? I cannot recall a single time where I've done that. Rise's maps are an improvement to World's layout, but a downgrade in the ecosystems. I also think that overall, the maps in Rise are visually bland in color and it looks almost empty, whereas World had arguably too much going on in its maps. I think that for the next games, they take what they've learned with the map layout and mobility of Rise and pair it with the in depth world of, well, World.
I have to agree, I love the flatter maps for combat, but Rise definitely lost out with many other aspects that made the maps of World feel so immersive. Hopefully MH6 can combine the best of these two games to create the best maps we have yet to see!
Rise has way better maps if you like fighting monsters. If you like looking around, world is better.
Personally i like fighting monsters, non-flat zones are hot garbage every single time. This goes double for world; theres a good reason everyone ends up spamming arena quests instead of actually going out to hunt.
Based takes, good points, probably agree something about rises maps reminds me of freedom unites areas, clean zones, nice views, just you and a ten ton lizard duking it out.
I think world maps are better but sometimes they feel too big when you faint returning takes too long , Rise maps are smaller and not detailed as world maps but sometimes rises maps feels better to play.
RIse's maps certainly make it easier for you to get back into the fight. You can faint, and within the next like 10 seconds, you can be back at the monster already (depending on where it is)
Honestly, i like the smaller maps. Big maps have you waste SO MUCH TIME getting around them and areas the monsters won't fight you in, this was an issue even before World. Not every game NEEDS to be open world. I've played since Tri though, so my idea on the level design is happier for condensed maps. I'm not going to compare them graphically as frankly any maps on beefer machines will always be better looking and have more in them - it's a given. The only thing that makes me sad about returning Tri maps is the water sections feel like they're missing something without the underwater areas. The desert map in Rise got reworked beautifully though... god running around that back in Tri was a nightmare... but a fun one... unless you were chasing something that FLIES, then all bets were off🤣.
appearance-wise: World. It's ALIVE. It feels real, the thickness of the forest, the height and atmosphere of Coral Highlands, everything feels alive.
Mechanics-wise: Rise. They brought back the classic arena-style areas with more flat terrain and easy-to-navigate maps.
Can't choose which one I'd rather stay in because World is beautiful but up to this day, I still haven't memorized the first map
I always appreciated more that world in general seemed to favor the ecosystem and the monsters over the player, forcing you to 'adapt or cart'.
The little inconveniences like getting lost, fighting in unfavorable territory, having other monsters vibe check you out of no where, it all feels very intentionally 'this is not human territory, you're in monster territory. YOU have to learn to take your disadvantages and turn them into advantages'. The monsters are not cattle to slaughter, humans are NOT the apex predator here.
Hell, the motto of mhw is "use everything at your disposal, that's how we hunt in the new world". This is compounded with the fact that many grievances can be remedied by truly prepared and experienced hunters, very few problems are without a fix the player can do. This is coming from me, someone who knows the ancient forest top to bottom, all the common monster spawns, where they like to fight and where they don't, and its my favorite map in the game.
Big respect for the Ancient Forest being your favorite map and learning the ins and outs of it top to bottom
Both maps I've had a weird occurrence where a very low tier monsters fight end game monsters and kick their butts.
There was a time a Uragaan DUG to escape the bloodthirsty Dodogama who toppled it twice as I was in an expedition.
And in Rise I saw a Great Izuchi kick a Valstrax's butt with his immense tail swiping.
World’s maps are very intricately designed with a ton of shortcuts and links between areas while Rise’s feels more open and empty. Because of the wirebug and the great wirebug, maps don’t have to compensate by providing many shortcuts to hard to reach areas, making exploration a lot more flexible, but less satisfying imo.
Credit where it’s due Rise does have shortcuts, but I feel like they’re heavily reliant on the great wire bugs and not the overall geometry of the play area. Exceptions do exist, but these exceptions aren’t placed well to maximize use (unlike the many shortcuts from camps in world that I use all the time).
This is something i think is very clearly an intentional disparity - Throughout all of the games up until GenU, the maps we hunt on are special hunting grounds designated by the Hunter's Guild where they would lure troublesome monsters in for quests to be handed out to hunters, which is why we see maps coming back time and time again between different games, even now in Rise. World, on the other hand, is exactly that: a new world. It's plastered all over the game. This is a newly discovered land, completely unexplored and filled with all sorts of new monsters the Guild had no idea even existed.
Now, let's translate that into the maps: a hand picked area, selected by teams of researches specifically to have monsters be hunted in, with plenty of flat ground and streamlined pathways between each area; versus a piece of uncharted land brimming with wildlife in their natural habitat, with little to no preparation made for hunters venturing out in the wild.
Does it not make sense that MHW's maps are so wild and all over the place? Take what you will from what that means to gameplay, but my little freedom unite heart skipped a beat when i got to the top of the tree in the Ancient Forest and saw a view of the ENTIRE map below me, after 20 minutes of climbing and exploring. And don't get me started on the Dalamadur skeleton.
I understand these lore bits aren't enough to justify things as they are completely, afterall maps were made like that back then for technical limitations more than anything. But it puts into perspective as to why MHW's maps are so different from what MH was all about back then, and why even if they were a little confusing and clunky at times. The way I see it, both games' map styles serve different purposes, and putting one up against another isn't exactly how we should look at it.
Depends on the person...for me...World/IB's maps were way too large and overly complex for my liking. Even with a map I can't say how many times I got lost in that stupid giant tree, or Hoarfrost...or that Guiding Lands.
With Rise, the maps are smaller, and more straightforward. Plus one of the maps was a remake of my favorite map from Tri, which is a bonus. lol (Sandy Plains)
I would boil it down to World Maps are what i'd want in an adventure game where the primary goal is exploration, whereas Rise Maps are what i'd prefer in an in-depth action game where i can focus more on myself and my enemy.
I know this is an unpopular take, but I really liked that Worlds maps were more complex to navigate. To me rises maps feel less alive and way less interesting, but they offer smoother gameplay, which kind of is rises focus.
I do love that ecosystem tbh almost more than the fights. Ima give it to World, but only because World's maps were designed with something different altogether in mind.
On the other hand, I do agree the maps of Rise are way easier to traverse, because I swear I get lost AF even with a map in almost all of the maps in world (which as an ecosystem enjoyer, I actually kind of like).
Finally, I love the wire bugs and ease of exploration in Rise more than in World though, and my I would get a heart attack of joy if we ever got to see a world type map with the exploratorability of Rise.
That's what my biggest hope is for MH6. We get the traversable maps that we have in Rise combined with the more lush and alive maps from World.
Can we just appreciate the fact that Monster Hunter is completely in it's own league, that it's best competition is itself!
Oh man, the slope complaint. Definitely my least favorite part of world maps. Seemingly flat areas or even moving up inclines can trigger sliding, and its especially annoying with hammer. Elders recess area 8 was awful at this. Fighting AT velkhana and trying to move between the ice rings was painful if you started sliding while charging. Ledges at the very least are easy to work around and noticable
Oh definitely! Velkhana only amplified my hatred towards slopes causing me to initiate a sliding attack, I remember this happening a good amount lol
A real hammer user would never complain about getting easy spin-2-wins
clearly you don't play hammer
World maps looked good, but that was the only thing they had going for them. From a gameplay perspective, they were cluttered and messy, made things hard to see, and were awful to navigate. You could also delete 90% of areas from each map and it wouldnt effect gameplay, because World was so scripted that monsters could only go to very specific spots (this is seen the most with the Coral Highalnds, almost nothing can go to the lower left area of the Highlands).
With Rise, maps are well designed from a gameplay perspective, and are very grounded. You're able to see everything, monsters can go anywhere (fighting a Mizu at the top right nest was wild), and really just go straight into hunting.
I like worlds feel. Like I feel like a survivalist rather than a hunter, understanding the ferocious nature in this hellish place
I prefer Rises Maps, but World also has great Maps i had a lot of fun exploreing in both games.
Both maps have their ups and downs and are fun to explore, but I must agree that I as well prefer the maps of Rise to World
This is what i want to say,
The clear difference from world to rise and it's maps are honest down grades but the UPGRADE that would be nice to see in a game like MHGU.
I hope sunbreak if it adds more than just the citadel as a map makes it more like an actual ecosystem. The reason why is because the maps after being so detailed taking a nose dive feels pretty weird.
So what they could do is make open areas slightly less flat and make make some areas have more than two layers (not a need, just saying in some cases this could be an interesting map design.)
keep open areas to fight in, add more area traps to take advantage of (epidemic wasp storm anyone? And maybe if you have honey and you can throw it at a monster for them to do damage, or maybe for I.G it could be on extract shots.)
And lastly make SOME areas more detailed that way the monsters and players get to see the life more.
Also hide the monsters on the minimap, it ruins the immersion and in rise it makes no sense.
I think what they should do is have the cohoot passively follow you and it would fly out and lead you.
In this you could use the wirebugs to make good use of the map to get to point A and B quicker, maybe some routes ONLY accessible for those SKILLED with the parkour with wirebugs.
I completely agree with having the monsters being hidden on the map, it feels really lame just being able to see them at all times. I also like the idea of using the Cohoot as a guide! The Cohoot doesn't really do much, and this would give it a much bigger role that it really eneds
I do prefer World map over Rise , having a world that looks like an arena is useless when arena are a thing in the game.
I do prefet having to learn how to adapt my fighting style to the environment, having to explore , feeling like a hunter in a dangerous world etc.
Anyway i want to feel like a hunter not just like a boss rusher, and thats why my first hours into world were amazing and why i didn't like the ice and ancient/lava zone in world :x
I think they should being back palumutes next monster hunter and go bigger with the maps and the palamutes should elevate the traveling issues and maybe add more grappling hook spots too. Rise map designs don’t really encourage me to explore like world mostly due to the fact the monster is visible and you just make a b-line towards it
yea, I can agree with this. Worlds maps are much fuller and more detailed which made me want to go off adventuring to see what I could find. The only reason I really go to explore the maps of Rise is either searching for the relic records or finding where the endemic life is, other than that there is no reason.
Honestly can't believe people can dislike World's maps because it's "too detailed" and you keep "getting lost"
That's why they got scoutflies :)
That’s the same flawed design philosophy that got open world games saturated with map markers. Design a map well and you don’t need the game to guide you; you should already be guided by an invisible hand with good level design and recognizable landmarks. I get lost constantly in the Ancient Forest and the scoutflies don’t help much, because at the end of the day the actual conveyance of the map design isn’t good.
@@MailmanSSB For me is the other way arround, i can turn off the UI of the game and i would still be able to locate myself anywhere in that florest, and that is what made it better for me, it took time, but i got used to the area and its shorlinks. That part of learning the map, it is soo great.
The areas that you didn't like in World were surprisingly, my favourite areas to fight in. Maybe its just how I play. I also like how some of the areas are tight while others are wide. I mean, we always have arenas to fight in if we want flat areas. I like how the game requires us to play in different environments and as much as I hate fighting in Ancient Forests, I like that the game pushes me to have some fights there just to change up my own pace.
Sloped combat areas are definitely a preference thing, and for my personal tastes, I do not like them because they interrupt my plan of attack sometimes.
I appreciate your opinion and take on both the maps of World and Rise. It's just one small element to the debate (which I really think there shouldn't be) which is supposedly better, World or Rise.
I personally think that these 2 games should not be compared because it's a matter of personal preference and experience. Both World and Rise accomplish what they set out to do in their own way and I think it's great that we have both games.
I love and hate both types of maps. World maps are extremely cluttered and an actual MAZE to navigate, but they look beautiful and so realistic, taking full advantage of the tech used. Rise maps are pretty bland and boring when you don't fight monsters, but on the other hand, traversing them and fighting in them FEELS right, especially with the movement options rise gives. So, in conclusion they both have their pros and cons, and their shiners and stinkers, but they both are good ways to develop a map
This is pretty much the same sentiment I would use. Worlds maps are much more alive and colorful but feel very cluttered. Rise, on the other hand, is much less lively and has more stale coloration, but I much prefer fighting on those maps.
Worlds maps are sick
No matter how many times I traveled through the Ancient Forest there were always times were I would get lost.
I love World's maps more for their beauty and I love Rise's maps more for their openess and ease of traversal.
World is a monster hunter game, Rise is a monster fighter game. Both are fine for what they are, but it's really hard to beat World maps and ecosystem. It feels magical, especially for the first time. Rise maps look like from a Playstation 2 game.
Compared to the classic games even World isn't a Monster Hunter game.
The maps are cool in World, but imo traversing them was a fucking chore and just not my cup of tea. Just an absolute task to climb the ancient forest map only to have to climb down 3 mins later.
Yeah, everything looks great, but the gameplay is so annoying just having to run for a third of your hunt. Rise environments are scaled down to be more viable gameplay experiences, and imo the superior design. I'm here to hunt monsters, not run around in a forest.
Still prefer World overall btw, but man I can't stand the locales 😂
Just goes to show that each game has their own set of strengths and weaknesses
Wait people get lost in the ancient forest?! Well I'd say world has better maps, I say rise is way too flat and slopes in rise never cause my hammer air-spin.
Edit: I hope I'm not the only one questioning what maps certain monsters in rise got put in, all the copy and paste lazy turf-wars, monsters not moving around living their lives but standing there doing nothing. Does anyone know what happened to chase themes?
I like world more because it feels like an actual jungle or an actual desert with canyons, I learned how to traverse the map using the mini map or wondering around.
I usually go around my map and find places that look like camp spots and I unlock them asap, lets me see the map and also get fast travel
I only played 3U, 4U, Gen, and Iceborne. So I lack the full Picture of all the Maps in the Serie, but if I could choose, I say 3U has by fare the best Maps.
Other realy good Maps per Game include, Old Swamp, Deserted Island, Misty Peaks, and Jurassic Frontier in Gen, Dunes, Primal Forrest, and maybe Frozen Seaway in 4U, all the Maps of 3U, except Tundra, and Flooded Forrest in 3U, especially the great, great Volcano, and Worlds Guidingland, and Hoafrost.
That are all the Maps I consider God Tier.
So long as Deserted Island is God Tier, all is well :P
I prefer the Rise maps because I like being able to see the entire map on my screen again.
Based on my experience, I loved the first couple quests in a new map in World, liking every subsequent visit less or straight up avoiding to traverse certain zones that I hated.
While more spectacular than anything ever seen in MH, World's maps lack the ease of navigation and readability that makes Rise's (or even older games') maps so comfortable and accomodating to farm for hundreds of hours
I absolutely feel the same way. World's maps were more of a nuisance after running in them hours after of farming.
World's maps are more detailed and immersive, while Rise's maps are fun to explore and easy to navigate
It depends on your preferences at the end
I'd assume that the players who started in World will likely prefer World's maps more since that's what they started with and were used to. As for those who started pre-gen 5, I feel they will likely enjoy Rise maps more because they feel more like an old-school experience, especially with the Flooded Forest and Sandy Plains.
However, this is just a generalization and obviously is not true for every individual.
@@BakeNation_MH Nor really. I started playing in MH3U and even compared to the 3DS games, Rise maps are a big let down. Have you ever played MH4U? The maps were vibrant, memorable and well designed. Rise maps are barren arenas devoid of color and interesting topography.
@@danielfurtado8625 I have played 4U, and honestly, the only maps that I really like are Heaven's mount and ancestral steppe, but I don't like any of the other ones that much.
the thing i like about rise's maps is that it feels EXACTLY like the old MH maps, but just bumped up for today's generation of players, it doesn't have fancy ass shit, just enough to make it fair to fight the monsters
This is how I feel towards them, and since I started with 3U, I feel an even greater sense of likeliness towards the Flooded Forest and Sandy Plains
I do not like World’s maps. Yeah “ecosystem” whatever compared to Rise but it is not a good area to fight. I spent half the time fighting the map (ledges, slopes, falling, etc) instead of the monsters
I do wish that Rise had a more expansive scene beyond where you fought. Playing a little of GU and they managed to capture such wide landscapes which I love. Makes you feel like the world is huge
I loved MHW design more even though it is quite a clutter, but it felt more like I'm actually hunting a monsters. Hunting isn't just fight them head to head, but to utilize surrounding environment, and avoiding the hazard that can effected you. You're not fighting just a monster but an environment. I've playing MH since Freedom unite, and in MH world its the first time that I felt like it is hunting and not fighting another videogame boss. Rise old school maps felt so much more for a player to fight monster head on, so much more easier to see and to navigate yet it made me care about it less due to how easy for me to navigate all I remembered is pretty much a wide plain or waste land type area because that's where you've fought a monster, but in world I can remembered the detail map even if it's complex and clutter, detail has a distinct look to it. It felt more alive and we did utilized a lot of map interaction unique to individual area to our advantages compared to a bunch of wired bug you can collect in rise, it's just not worth remembering for me . Pretty much I'm really appreciate old school style, but in my opinion World is a definition of a Monster hunting. It's not just outsmarting monster by using your tools and technique, It's also utilizing your surrounding to hunt and dominate them at right time.
I hope in the next MHW they give you the option to set up environmental traps before the actual fight.
My usual go-to trick to the getting in lost in the Ancient Forest problem is by fast traveling or fascastering to the closest camp on the target monster's vicinity and bactrack from there
Not exactly an efficient method but still helps lessen the frustration though
I'm a big fan of hidey-holes and hidden areas, and World's maps really scratched that itch for me. There are neat places like that in Rise, especially with the relic records and endemic life (I'm a fan of scavenger hunts and found those to be a blast,) but Rise loses out on immersion. I can't just chill crouched at the edge of a zone because no matter how far away a monster is, once it's in the same area it aggros; I also miss being able to watch the monsters just do their thing, and World's natural traps (i.e vines, the breaking dam,) were easier to trigger.
Due to travel being much quicker with the wirebug, Rise also has less camps to discover. This isn't really a problem, and the wirebug is very fun, but I did enjoy discovering camp locations in World and going on quests to unlock them. It was a nice treat that varied the rewards and broke the monster->materials->equipment->monster loop. I barely use the additional camps in Rise anyway, since you can't select them before leaving on the quest.
It's so annoying in Rise when you are on top of a cliff, and all the way down that cliff the monster sees you and starts trying to attack you.
world maps are amazing to see, i absolutely agree
but an atrocious nightmare to play in
my world experies was mostly 15 minutes quests, 13 minutes of searching and reaching the target, 2 minutes of brutally stunlocking the monster without letting him literally doing a single move
yes, i came to world later, i played low and high rank with the clutch claw available, i'm aware
but still, not a pleasing experience at all
World is just the greatest game of the series for me. It was too immersive and I sunk almost 1000 hours in that game, the only game to ever make me do that. MHW all the way!
the biggest problem rise have is they show the monster since the start of the hunt, i personally think if they just remove that visibility, zoom in the map a little bit more not as close as WORLD which is by 1 area but not the whole map either, let say per 2-3 area, that will fix the 'hunting' experience most has in rise, also I hate getting lost in WORLD, you can say this that do this do that, I KNOW, but I personally not good at finding a a route (think me as Zoro in One Piece, yeah that bad) so I appreciated the simplicity of rise where everything is connected, the only time i get lost in Rise is in Citadel, yeah that one a small tunnel where we can found yellow spider.
I know exactly which tunnel you are referring to, and I agree, that thing is a bit confusing lol
The issue of monster going from one player to another was made in concrete by gore magala and other from mh4u due to an area in the steppe with many cliffs. Also as a hammer user the ancient forest slope is a haven for my folk. Great video btw! Very well organized. I agree with it all basically. Happy hunting!
Thanks! :)
Also, that room in the Ancestral Steppe was soooo bad for the monsters going from one level to the next lol.
@@BakeNation_MH ikr
As a GS main i HATE rooms with a bunch of slopes. JUST LET ME POSITION PROPERLY GODDAMN IT
I never found those jank spots on rise.😅 I do use the aim with the wirebug to go higher, so i never had the problem.
I really enjoy the rise ones. I hate getting hit by a monsters and dropping 2 levels n world. Super annoying. It's also labyrinthine to find out which layer the monster flew to. Too much pain.
Also, i must point out rise maps have these interesting lost places that normally don't see use but are really interesting to explore such as the pyramid or the temple ruins in the jungle maps. The jungle also had a huge tree in the middle that is easily missable if you b line to the monsters. I was always in aww when i found these secret places on the maps. Also, it was rewarding cause i was getting buffs.
I love the designs of World’s map much better, but they get absolutely exhausting and tedious to trek through once you get familiar with them. They drag things out way too much. I prefer the quick and clean design of Rise’s maps.
Fair enough!
I prefer World bc the maps felt like their own characters with unique environmental traps, hidden areas(broken ship), movement mechanics (vines, deep snow, tree canopies). Sloped areas helped me as a hammer main and often were the most fun. Rise maps did a little bit with the environment i.e. desert crabs, reflections, a small hidden temple. But they largely feel like the limited maps in handheld games, which tend to be bland. And the fishing is just boring in Rise. I'm including it as a map flaw bc it's a good time to show off bits of map like they did with the shoreline in Ancient Forest or the Vale's acid water. Rise's fishing spots are always huddled in a corner facing rocks. Whee.
World's Maps visually, Knocks Rise out of the park with the lush environments, the wildlife and the more grounded feel of them make you feel like your apart of a living breathing world, but playing on them is a different story, way too many small areas and hallways that monsters absolutely love to go to makes fighting them very awkward and uncomfortable at times and feel like a maze at times like in maps like Ancient Forest for example with most of the areas being either small forest areas or narrow hallways with barely any room to fight monsters in and Monsters sometimes have a nasty habit of leaving when you just reached them and decide to go all the way across the map, (PTSD Flashbacks to Ancient Forest Rathalos hunt ). Some world maps aren't as heavily affected by this for example maps like Wildspire Waste and Hoarfrost Reach with not as many hallways or small areas in them and monsters have a tendency to go to the bigger more flat areas in those maps.
Rise maps may not be as visually stunning as world's maps, a lot of the environments in rise are either wide open fields with barely any instances of wild life besides the occasional small monster, permabuffer, wirebug or rare endemic life that occasionally appears. A lot of the maps in rise have A high mount of verticality on them and with the wirebugs allowing you to zip across the air makes it very fun just to navigate through each map to find any useful endemic life or secrets in them and the many great wirebugs allow you to go to point a, to point B in a matter of seconds. but with the wide fields that Rise makes it way more comfortable to fight things in.
Conclusion: World maps are nice to explore in but fighting in them is very claustrophobic, Rise maps are better suited for fighting monsters in but doesn't have much going on in them. In my personal opinion, I prefer Rise maps with their flat and open areas with almost no distractions makes fighting monsters more enjoyable for me.
Long story short: World maps are safaris and Rise maps are Battlegrounds.
I am pretty much in the same boat as you. I think World's maps are much more vibrant, alive, and immersive, but the maps of Rise are so much more preferably suited for combat which is what I would weigh greater than a lush environment. I think all the maps are great (except maybe the Ancient Forest), but I think I like the ones of Rise slightly more.
Room 9 in the ancient forest is my favorite bcuz you can do the spinning bludgeon almost every time to do massive damage
I prefer:
1) Ancient forest from world
2) Coral highlands from world
3) Sandy plains from rise
4) Rotten thing from world
5) Volcano from rise
Coral Highlands is one of the best maps ever, but I love the traversal of the maps in MH rise
If you like bonking monsters and getting bonked in return, rise is for you. If you like to roleplay as an overpowered caveman with guns during the jurassic period, world is the way to go. Both games' map designs are both good and fucked up in their own ways and they cater almost a different niche of monster hunting from one to another
functionally, yes. rise does a great job with what it had to use, and promotes use of it's new mechanics via the environments you hunt in. but visually and mechanically. no, not even close. it's not really a fair comparison.. world was made for the latest console generation on release. rise was developed for a hand held with less processing power then most new phones. it's like comparing mario 64 with galaxy.. one is impressive considering context, the other is just impressive.
by traversity rise feels so much better but coooome on if we're talking abt just abt every aspect and the immersion World just wins by a major landslide
I must say, I do love the traversability that Rise has to offer, but the maps of World are more vast, lush, and alive than the ones of Rise.
Rise for sure, as an old world player the arenas just feel right to me. Sucks that to accommodate the smaller map the world feels smaller in general.
MH World... never really took to it. Immersion as a hunter came in other aspects that have been drastically reduced as part of "QOL", not really interaction with the environment. Rise is about right in terms of environmental interaction, I feel. It's just missing a brighter color palette outside of town.
I can completely agree. As an old-gen hunter as well, the more arena-like maps are what I was used to and loved.
10:03 wow so cool you dont even need to HUNT anymore xD
Loved the video! *-*
My bigger issue with rise is that game kinda FORCES you to traverse them because of the spiribird system. In later fights, unless you wish to be one shot, you have to take a detour. In my eyes it's a flaw rather than a positive. Similar case with the relic messages - some of them were straight up painful to find. And these things would have alone made World, in my eyes, better, despite how cramped it can be. And then worlds maps ecosystems, like you brought up, immersiveness to level i never felt before in the series, something that a bit lacked in gen and gen U.
Atmosphere in mh games is what i really love and putting too much focus on the "defeat boss" aspect of the hunt much lowers that immersion for me.
I've never played World.
As a rule, I prefer Rise's maps.
I always say that Rise is old school Monster Hunter, pushed to its logical conclusion. It's an evolution of 4U's style of map, with higher verticality overall, and removing the loading zones between maps is just awesome.
Rise is my first Monster Hunter game, but after having played some of 4U and GU, I really do think Rise's maps are perfect for retaining that old school charm.
Rise is 100% a love letter to the older Monster Hunter games. And there seems to be even more love for those games in Sunbreak. (Seregios! Astalos! More Leviathans! Amphibians! Yes please!)
Rise maps absolutely capture that old school feel that the maps had pre-fifth gen, and that's one reason why I have such an affinity with them as compared to the ones of World
I love the slope and ledges
I love using the environment against the monster in MHW. The snow avalanches, big rock falling on top of the monster, the icicles falling, etc. I'm still playing MHW. I have Rise/Sunbreak, the game is easy. There are times that it's better to play offline.
I prefer World.
Rise' open map is nice, but it's too small and limited by switch's performance to put in more details. The need for making it wirebug friendly also makes the map feels more like a Sonic parkour level (we literally have those static collection bugs stuff), very arcady.
Overall they both have their flaws. I definitely would like World map to be more flattened out and scenic too.
The maps feel like a sonic parkour level, and we have a sonic Collab where we just run around collecting rings. Perfect
@@BakeNation_MH lol how can I forget that
Even after over a collective 1000 hours in World and Iceborne between both PS4 and PC, I still get lost in that same area of the ancient forest lmao. Ancient Forest might actually be my least favorite map in Monster Hunter, period, especially as the first map in the game. It's big, it has multiple layers that vaguely connect with each other, and the little transitional areas between each main "room" is so dense and over-complicated that it's stupid easy to get lost in. I imagine their entire design philosophy with it is to teach players about using the scoutflies in order to navigate your way out of confusing areas, but when the scoutflies barely work half the time, the entire teaching moment fails. I feel like all of the other maps in World are perfectly fine (sans the sheer verticality of Coral Highlands and its stupid mushroom hopping segment near the peak), but Ancient Forest is just so overdesigned to a point where it feels counter-intuitive as a first map.
On the other hand, the Shrine Ruins is an absolutely perfect teaching area. The area is straight-forward and laid out in a simple, approachable manner. It's the only map in the game that only has 1 layer, and each room transitions into each other cleanly, with simple "hallways" connecting them. However, the Shrine Ruins is open enough and littered with little collectibles just out of reach that practically scream at the player to utilize the wirebug and forge their own path through the map. This whole design philosophy stays true throughout all of the other maps in the game. Chances are, if you see a cliff, you can scale it. And if that cliff is high enough, you'll probably find a goodie at the top.
Ancient Forest is, without a doubt, one of my least favorites, if not my least favorite map in all of MH
I still prefer Rise map design than World. Don't get me wrong, World is great but I just used to Arena like map and feel more comfortable navigating around map and fighting monsters in Rise than World.
I think with time, I like Rises map less and less. Not bad, still enjoyable. But I really prefer World and older games for a few reasons.
My biggest gripe with Rise, is the maps scales. People say World's monster scaled, but thats not accurate. Actually I think its Hunter scaled and Rise is monster scaled. Rises much more open map desgin accomodates for bigger monsters with much more varied and fast movesets (I doubt an Aknosoom would be fun in the ancient forest). Worlds maps are desgined with monster ecology in mind but that doesn't mean its scaled entierly around them.
But what's the problem with this in Rise? Well Palamutes. When we talk about player scale. World is scaled for Hunters, Rise is scaled for Palamutes. It may not feel like it but Rise maps are wayyyyy bigger than World. You only notice it once you unequip palamutes that the maps are ridiculously big to traverse on foot vs any other game in the whole series. As someone who prefers bringing 2 palicos, this makes a lot of hunts drag because I have to haul myself everywhere on foot, even with wirebugs its very slow.
Plus the maps are flat, too flat, with a lot less personality than even older games. 3rd Gen and 4th gen have some genuinely gorgeous maps, look at the Flooded Forest in 3U or Portable 3rd vs Rise. Rise has to be all seemless, which doesn't allow as much color diversity and absurdly unquie locales. But with loading zones, the devs didn't have to account for the maps making sense, so the maps were much more stylized zone to zone, sometimes having completely different color pallets from zone to zone. It made maps much more stylized.
But with the introduction of Ariel combat in 4. Arenas could be much more diverse in arena desgin, some are flat while some are very vertical to encourage mounting. World expanded on this with sliding, but yes it does get in the way at times.
I think I'd like Rises maps more if they weren't so huge without palamutes, the maps while being monster scaled, could do a bit better in encouraging environmental use. Wallrunning should've been a slam dunk for expanding our options, but theres so little reason to use it with jank Ariel hitboxes from monsters, and the fact we got rid of mounting for Wyvern riding.
It's great we can do it, but theres so little reason to use it. I feel like we can get a middle ground for the next game that gets it just right, but Rise kinda swings far into just being way too open and flat for its own good.
I think 4th gen has my favorite maps gameplay wise due to the verticality for arena desgin, followed by World. 3rd then is after that because god some maps like Misty Peaks, Flooded Forest or the Tundra ooze so much personality. Rise just isn't as interesting gameplay wise for me in map desgin being too open and too huge on foot, while having very lackluster visuals due to their lighting and open huge maps. I really dislike the volcano in Rise, it clashes so hard in the game vs something like the desert.
Rise's maps are better. World's maps are typically just a series of rooms connected by a convoluted mess of hallways, cluttered by an over-abundance of geometry that makes spaces too cramped for the dynamics of MH's combat to be fully expressed.
Rise's maps are designed like a geographical location that may actually exist, and traversing them is far more interesting and engaging because Rise actually has gameplay mechanics designed for mobility and environmental traversal. World has the Wedge Beetle and vents and that's about it.
But in the end, supporting gameplay is always the goal, so whichever best supports the gameplay is better, and that would be Rise.
I have +300 hours playing MHW and still getting lost in the ancient forest lol
I have about 830 hours and I also get lost lol
I find rise map very bland I really love world's map but both is a good and really fun game I totally understand thta rise is made for switch so of course the map and graphics won't be that detailed as world
My hope is that MH6 meshes the best of both the maps of Rise and World together because each have their own seperate advantages over the other.
World has fun maps to explore but annoying to fight in while Rise has batter maps for combat with less to explore. I would have to say I prefer Rises maps cause while I did find it fun to explore Worlds maps and catch creatures for my room. Gameplay is my biggest concern for any game and when I start to get annoyed fighting a Monster not for the Monster but the arena I'm fighting it in, I'm going to see it as a lesser experience.
Rise had me explore for hours to discover everything in a map. World on the other hand is meh to explore.
When it came to World, I would spend some time walking around seeing what there is to find. With Rise, I would try to explore every bit of the map since its small enough, and easier to traverse. This helped immensely in having a sort of designated path I would take to collect endemic life on my way to the monster when it left a room
for me rise maps are just arenas to fight thats it.
This is a pretty fair opinion, even some arena quests themselves take place in some of the maps!
Rise is better for combat and World is better for acting like a real ecosystem.
I just started world and I really like taking 7 hours to get from one side of the map to the other 😞
I prefer World map better because well I am more of a take-it-slow player
While all of my friends are fighting Alatreon and Fatalis, I am there collecting insects and watching wyverns hunting their prey
As stated by all comments before, World's map is pretty hard to navigate, and even me who always go around here and there observing, could get lost, esp in Ancient Forest
While scout flies are pretty helpful, sometimes they r just like "LOOK AT THAT DIRECTION YOU D***A**"
I actually wish I could play Rise, but it was too expensive to purchase, so I will just wait for the next installment, hopefully the next installment could be played using controller.
I swear sometimes the scoutflies take me the exact opposite direction I want to go and make me take a much more convoluted route than is necessary.
Rise = maps
World = mazes
In my opinion: Yes and no.
Visually and in terms of the way you and monsters interact with the environment, World’s maps are FAR better.
In terms of size and maneuverability, Rise takes the cake.
Each one has their own advantages and disadvantages, and I think I like that diversity between them.
6:20 he didnt like part 9 of forest while showing him using a Hammer .... BRUH
after playing world all of the other monster hunters wish they had worlds level of design. Rise maps feel painfully empty and like a bunch of assets mushed together