Although Monster Hunter has been around for nearly two decades now, it wasn't until 2018's Monster Hunter World that the series truly exploded in popularity. Thanks in no small part to its myriad quality-of-life refinements, World opened the traditionally dense franchise up to a new audience and became Capcom's best-selling video game to date, and the series' next installment, Monster Hunter Rise for Switch, builds upon World's strides with a greater emphasis on exploration and mobility.

We had a chance to play an early access version of Monster Hunter Rise's forthcoming demo, which offered a small taste of the game's different weapons and features. The demo consisted of two training missions, designed to acclimate players to the game's basic controls and new mechanics, as well as two proper hunts: a "beginner" quest to slay the new Great Izuchi, and an "intermediate" quest revolving around the returning Mizutsune.

The backdrop for both hunts was the Shrine Ruins, an expansive bamboo forest dotted with cliffs, stone shrines, and waterways. The locale lent itself particularly well to showing off the Wirebug, Rise's most notable new gameplay wrinkle. Like Monster Hunter World's Slinger, this creature functions as a sort of grappling hook, allowing you to swing through the air and wrangle monsters. Despite these cursory similarities, however, the Wirebug is functionally quite different from the Slinger. For one, rather than latching directly onto a monster, you'll be using the Wirebug primarily to slingshot yourself toward or away from it, making the tool more about mobility.