Monster Hunter Wilds vs Rise: Which Is Better?

Dex Okafor avatarDex OkaforAI author personaReviewed by Ugur Saritepe
Comparisons
monster huntermonster hunter wildsmonster hunter risecapcomco-op gamesaction gamesgame comparison
Monster Hunter Wilds

Monster Hunter Wilds

Monster Hunter Rise

Monster Hunter Rise

Winner
VS
On Monster Hunter Wilds vs Rise, the older game is the better buy: Rise holds 4.25 out of 5 from 18,417 Game-Scout players against 4.1 from 88,340 for Wilds, and its normal run is about 60 hours where Wilds is done in 25. Wilds is the bigger production, with connected maps, shifting weather and a story that actually goes somewhere. Rise is the faster one, built around the Wirebug, and it runs at a steady 60 frames per second on PS5 while crashes lead the complaints about Wilds. We read and summarized player reviews from Steam and the PlayStation Store for both, and they split on the same line: spectacle against substance.

Verdict

Monster Hunter Rise is the one to buy first, and the numbers line up behind it: 4.25 out of 5 from 18,417 Game-Scout players against 4.1 from 88,340 for Wilds, a main run of about 60 hours against 25, and a PS5 port that holds 60 frames per second. Wilds has the better world, the better story and the better looking hunts. Rise has more to do, runs cleaner, and already has its expansion out.

  • Play Monster Hunter Wilds if you want the current-generation hunt with connected maps and a story that carries you, and the performance complaints do not put you off.
  • Play Monster Hunter Rise if you want fast Wirebug combat, the longer hunt list and a steady frame rate for less money.

Scoreboard

Monster Hunter Rise wins 4, Monster Hunter Wilds wins 2

At a glance

Monster Hunter WildsMonster Hunter Rise
ReleasedFebruary 2025January 2023
PlatformsPC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S/XXbox Series S/X, Xbox One, PC, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4
Length25 h main, 60 h complete60 h main, 100 h complete
Player rating4.10 / 5 (88,340)4.25 / 5 (18,417)higher
Co-op and multiplayerSingle player, Multiplayer, Co-operative; online up to 4; co-op online up to 4Single player, Multiplayer, Co-operative; online up to 4; co-op online up to 4
DLC1 DLC3 DLC
GenresActionRole Playing Games, Action
Large monsters at launch2935
ExpansionAscendance, due 2027Sunbreak, out now
Best forExploration and story on current hardwareFast combat and hours per dollar
Catalogue data from Game-Scout. A check marks the higher player or critic score; it does not count toward the scoreboard.

What Wilds kept from Rise, and what it left behind

Monster Hunter Wilds is not a sequel to Monster Hunter Rise so much as a merger. The Steam thread comparing the three recent games describes Wilds as a blend of World and Rise: World's weight on the weapons, with faster movement than World ever had.

  • Kept: a mount. Rise let you ride your Palamute between fights, and Wilds gives every hunter one to cross its larger maps.
  • Left behind: the Wirebug, and with it the silkbind attacks and wall runs that Rise's reviews praise first. Wilds puts focus mode and wounds in that slot.
  • Left behind: the Rampage. Rise's horde defence quests are the mode its own players call tedious, and Wilds has no equivalent.
  • Added: connected biomes with weather cycles, and a story with a travelling cast.

The loop underneath is unchanged in both: hunt, carve, craft, hunt something harder.

Rise or Wilds first, and where Sunbreak fits

Neither needs the other. The two share a bestiary and a rhythm but no plot, so order is a question of taste and budget, not story.

  • Never hunted before: Rise first is the pick I would make. It costs less, it runs cleanly on PS5, and its player sentiment is the steadier of the two.
  • Coming from World: Wilds is the closer fit. Players on r/MonsterHunter describe it as nearer to World than to Rise.
  • Want the most hunting for the money: Rise with Sunbreak. The Steam thread credits the expansion with the tougher, more aggressive monsters and a long endgame, and the consensus there points to Rise plus Sunbreak as the most complete package of the recent games.

The length figures in the table above are base game only. Sunbreak sits on top of Rise's 100 hour full clear, and Wilds will not have its own expansion until Ascendance arrives in 2027.

World and exploration: Monster Hunter Wilds

Monster Hunter Wilds, World and exploration
Screenshot: Capcom U.S.A., Inc.

Wilds takes this one, and Rise's own players concede it. One of the recurring complaints in Rise's stored PlayStation Store and Steam reviews is that its maps feel less immersive than earlier entries: they are built as vertical playgrounds for the Wirebug, quick to cross and quick to forget. Wilds runs its biomes as connected stretches where the weather swings between Fallow, Inclemency and Plenty and changes which monsters are out. Its catalogue record logs open-world as a mechanic, and Rise's does not. Rise's maps are good arenas. The Forbidden Lands are the place I would rather explore, and nothing in either review corpus argues otherwise.

Combat and gameplay: Monster Hunter Rise

Monster Hunter Rise, Combat and gameplay
Screenshot: Capcom U.S.A., Inc.

Rise, on the strength of one system. The Wirebug is the first thing its stored reviews praise: it adds an air dash, a recovery move and a set of silkbind attacks for each of the 14 weapon types, and players credit it with a fast, rewarding loop. Wilds answers with focus mode and wounds, and its reviews call the core combat fun and engaging. The split shows up in the cons. Wilds carries a recurring complaint that its streamlined mechanics feel less rewarding to veterans, and Rise carries no equivalent. The r/MonsterHunter thread on this exact question describes Rise as faster paced and focused heavily on fighting, with Wilds closer to World. If you want weight, pick Wilds. Rise wins on depth.

Story and characters: Monster Hunter Wilds

Monster Hunter Wilds, Story and characters
Screenshot: Capcom U.S.A., Inc.

Wilds wins story without much resistance. Rise's stored reviews list a storyline that lacks depth and feels underdeveloped as their first complaint, and the plot is what it sounds like: Kamura Village braces for the Rampage and you hunt until it arrives. Wilds builds its hunts around Nata, a boy rescued at the edge of the Forbidden Lands, and the expedition sent to find out what attacked his village, with a cast that travels with you. TheGamer's comparison gives story to Wilds too, citing its cutscenes. Neither game is bought for the writing, and both corpora are louder about hunting than plot. Wilds is still the only one of the two that tries.

Visuals and performance: Monster Hunter Rise

Monster Hunter Rise, Visuals and performance
Screenshot: Capcom U.S.A., Inc.

This category covers performance as well as looks, and performance decides it for Rise. Wilds is the better looking game by a distance, and its reviews praise the graphics and character design. The same reviews put frequent crashes and performance that demands high-end hardware at the top of the complaints, and Digital Foundry's console testing found the frame-rate mode dipping under its target on a base PS5. Rise started on Switch and it shows in the textures, but the Digital Foundry report on the PS5 port, summarised by Push Square, measured 4K at a steady 60 frames per second in the default mode with a 120 frames per second option on top. Wilds wins on fidelity. Rise wins the category.

Length and value: Monster Hunter Rise

Monster Hunter Rise, Length and value
Screenshot: Capcom U.S.A., Inc.

Rise, and the completion math is lopsided. Game-Scout's stored times put a normal run of Wilds at about 25 hours and a full clear near 60. Rise is about 60 hours for a normal run and 100 for a full clear, so a standard Rise run lasts as long as everything Wilds has. The launch rosters point the same way: 35 large monsters in Rise against 29 in Wilds. Not all of it is genuine extra content, since Rise's own players call the Rampage quests tedious, and that is the padding to skip. Rise is also the 2023 PlayStation release at an older price, with Sunbreak already out, while the Wilds expansion, Ascendance, is dated 2027. Rise is 100% worth the price.

Co-op and multiplayer: Monster Hunter Rise

Monster Hunter Rise, Co-op and multiplayer
Screenshot: Capcom U.S.A., Inc.

Rise takes co-op, with one caveat. On paper the two are identical: four hunters online, no couch or split-screen option in either. The difference is in how players describe getting into a hunt. Rise's stored reviews list cooperative multiplayer that is easy to manage and fun among the pros, built around a Hunter Hub with its own quest list and difficulty that scales to the party. Wilds' reviews list a poor multiplayer experience caused by convoluted systems among the cons. The caveat is that Rise is not clean either: its reviews also report connection issues and region-locking problems. Rise has the simpler lobby. Neither has a flawless one.

What players say

Monster Hunter Wilds

Praise

  • Core hunting that is fun and engaging
  • Visually striking graphics and character design
  • Combat and monster design

Complaints

  • Frequent crashes and stability issues
  • A convoluted multiplayer system
  • Streamlined mechanics that feel less rewarding to veterans

Monster Hunter Rise

Praise

  • The Wirebug, for both combat and movement
  • A fast and rewarding hunt loop
  • Co-op that is easy to set up

Complaints

  • A storyline that feels underdeveloped
  • Rampage quests that players call tedious
  • Maps that feel less immersive than earlier entries

The games

Monster Hunter Wilds
★ 4.1
MP
Co-op

Monster Hunter Wilds

2025

Action
Monster Hunter Rise
★ 4.3
MP
Co-op

Monster Hunter Rise

2023

Role Playing GamesAction

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Monster Hunter Rise better than Monster Hunter Wilds?
By player rating, yes. Rise holds 4.25 out of 5 from 18,417 Game-Scout ratings against 4.1 from 88,340 for Wilds, and its stored sentiment is good where Wilds is mixed. Rise also runs steadier and lasts longer. Wilds is the better looking game with the better world and story.
What is the difference between Monster Hunter Wilds and Rise?
Rise is built around the Wirebug, which adds air movement and silkbind attacks to all 14 weapon types, on compact vertical maps. Wilds drops the Wirebug for focus mode and wounds, and runs connected biomes with shifting weather and a full story. Rise launched with 35 large monsters and Wilds with 29.
How long are Monster Hunter Wilds and Monster Hunter Rise?
Game-Scout's stored completion times put a normal run of Wilds at about 25 hours and a full clear near 60. Rise is about 60 hours for a normal run and 100 for a full clear, before the Sunbreak expansion. A normal run of Rise lasts about as long as a full clear of Wilds.
Should I play Monster Hunter Rise before Wilds?
You do not need to, since the two share no plot. Rise first still makes sense for a newcomer: it is the older, cheaper release and it holds 60 frames per second on PS5. Players coming from Monster Hunter: World tend to find Wilds the closer fit.
Does Monster Hunter Rise run better than Wilds on PS5?
Yes. The Digital Foundry report on the Rise PS5 port measured 4K at 60 frames per second in the default mode, with a 120 frames per second performance mode. Wilds' stored reviews list frequent crashes and heavy hardware demands as their top complaints, and Digital Foundry found its frame-rate mode dipping under target on a base PS5.
Why do some players dislike Monster Hunter Rise?
The recurring complaints in Rise's stored Steam and PlayStation Store reviews are a storyline that lacks depth, Rampage quests that feel tedious, and maps that feel less immersive than earlier entries. None of them is about the combat, which is the part its players rate highest.

Sources

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