Long-time Monster Hunter fans who have been looking forward to the upcoming Monster Hunter Rise will be glad to know that Capcom removed one mechanic of the game that, for the longest time, has been a cause for worry for many players.
More specifically, unlike the previous games in the series, Monster Hunter Rise won’t require hot drinks if players want to explore freezing areas in the game. Monster Hunter Rise director Yasunori Ichinose said in a tweet that based on his personal research, the in-game item that gets easily forgotten about the most during a hunt is the hot drinks.
We don’t know for sure if Ichinose did some kind of informal survey to reach this conclusion, or if he personally keeps forgetting to purchase hot drinks, but we can’t deny that there’s some semblance of truth to his statement. Out of all the items in the Monster Hunter franchise, hot drinks aren’t exactly the most useful.
They’re only used for one thing, and that’s to ensure that the player’s Monster Hunter character doesn’t freeze when hunting in areas with extremely cold temperatures. Asides from the fact that they’re only useful for one thing, they’re only needed for certain maps as well.
For instance, in Monster Hunter World: Iceborne, hot drinks were only useful in one place—the Hoarfrost Reach. So, it doesn’t come as a surprise that they’re not exactly the first things players would think of before heading off to a hunt. If Monster Hunter Rise still utilized these hot drinks, the new icy region called The Frost Islands probably would have required these items, too.
ディレクターの一瀬です。
言うタイミングがあんまりなさそうなので、プチ情報を。
すでに寒冷群島が公開されましたが…今作モンスターハンターライズでは、クエストにもっていく忘れものＮｏ.１？（個人調べ）のホットドリンクがなくなりました。雑貨屋に売ってないからと探さなくて大丈夫です。 pic.twitter.com/d8dkE3EGjM
— モンスターハンターライズ公式 (@MH_Rise_JP) January 27, 2021
If, for instance, a player heads over to Hoarfrost Reach or any other cold location in the prior titles and forgets to bring a hot drink with them, the overall stamina cap of the hunter would drastically decrease.
This was a big deal in Monster Hunter World: Iceborne, specifically, because this game’s stamina cap didn’t decrease as quickly as the other previous titles. As such, the only way that players got to experience a significant decrease is when they’d forget to drink a hot drink before the hunt.
That being said, fans now wonder if the same fate awaits Monster Hunter’s cold drinks. Will Capcom decide to remove cold drinks from Monster Hunter Rise as well? Cold drinks essentially worked the same way as hot drinks did, albeit in reverse. When going into areas with fiery temperatures, players had to drink a cold drink to balance out the hunter’s stats. Although if forgotten, the hunter’s health would decrease instead of their overall stamina cap.
On the other hand, it’s worth remembering that cold drinks are useful for other things too, such as protecting hunters from the scorching heat of either the Elder Dragons Teostra and Lunastra. As such, it’s possible that Capcom will retain the cold drinks as long as these enemies will remain in the franchise.
The Nintendo Switch-exclusive Monster Hunter Rise is set to launch on March 26, 2021. So if the developer will make any more significant changes such as this, we’re sure to know before long.
