Monster Hunter has always been a video game franchise that has been kept shut behind doors of difficulty and complexity. These games are notoriously hard and require a lot of learning of the mechanics and the weapon systems to master. However, all of that changed a few years ago when Capcom launched its biggest Monster Hunter game yet called Monster Hunter World. Released in 2018, 3 years before Monster Hunter Rise, World changed the gaming landscape and brought the franchise into the mainstream limelight. It streamlined a lot of complex game mechanics and thus lowered the barrier to entry. The gear was simplified, the monsters were easier to understand and the world was more expansive than it had ever been.
Not only that but Monster Hunter World also made its way to Xbox Game Pass a few months after release, further boosting its player base. All of these things combined resulted in Monster Hunter World becoming an absolute behemoth of a game and selling over 20 million units, which is something unheard of for the franchise. However, while many thought that World would be the end-all-be-all platform for Monster Hunter that would get consistent updates and go on for a decade or so, we didn’t have to wait much longer for the next big thing.
Since Monster Hunter World was only available on Xbox, PlayStation, and PC, there wasn’t really anything out there for Nintendo fans. And, while a lot of people believe that the Nintendo Switch was simply not powerful enough to run Monster Hunter World, others also believed that Nintendo and Capcom are working together to brew something of their own. And, the latter was indeed true as a brand-new Monster Hunter game called Monster Hunter Rise was indeed in the works for the Nintendo Switch.
Monster Hunter Rise promised to take the accessibility and simplicity aspect of World to a whole new degree and bring casual players into the franchise. With its simplified game mechanics like the monster appearing on the minimap and some much-needed quality of life improvements, Monster Hunter Rise was everything that fans of the franchise wanted. It had an exceptionally attractive art style, a great variety of monsters, fantastic weapon variety, rideable pets, and much more. And, while Monster Hunter Rise is technically not a successor to World, it sure does feel like one.
Naturally, with a Monster Hunter game being as well-received as Monster Hunter Rise, fans who weren’t a part of Nintendo’s ecosystem also wanted the game on other platforms. So, it was only a matter of time until Monster Hunter Rise made its way to platforms other than Nintendo. And, that it did as Capcom released Monster Hunter Rise on PC via Steam while still keeping it console exclusive to the Nintendo Switch for now. The PC release for Monster Hunter Rise was met with an overwhelmingly positive response and it arguably became the definitive Monster Hunter experience for a lot of people, even rising above World.
Monster Hunter Rise Performance Issues
Monster Hunter Rise is a direct PC port from the Nintendo Switch and we know that the Switch is not a particularly powerful machine. So, in theory, the game should run smooth like butter on even budget builds. And, the system requirements for the game indicate that as well. However, curiously some Monster Hunter Rise PC players have been having trouble with the stability of the game and are facing performance issues like Low FPS, framerate dips, lag, stutters, freezes, and in some extreme circumstances, even crashes.
These issues are known to pop up more on older machines with integrated GPUs like Intel HD. This is because even when there are issues for the higher graphics cards and machines, they can usually brute force their way through. Capcom is probably hard at work to release optimization patches to improve these anomalies. However, we have no idea when those updates might come out or even if they will fix these issues. So, if you are someone who is experiencing performance or server connectivity issues in Monster Hunter Rise, it can be a bummer to have to wait for an update. Thankfully though, there are still a few things you can try that can improve the performance of Monster Hunter Rise on PC.
Monster Hunter Rise PC Specification Requirements
As mentioned above, Monster Hunter Rise is a Nintendo Switch game and the PC port does not have any additional graphical enhancements meaning that it is not demanding at all. In fact, even those with relatively newer integrated GPUs from Intel and AMD should be able to run Monster Hunter Rise on lower settings without any issues. However, if you wish to run the game on higher graphical settings at resolutions higher than 1080p, you would still need a decent relatively recent GPU. And of course, running the game at Ultra 4K is a whole another level of requirement.
Minimum System Requirements
These system specifications are good enough to run the game on low settings at a resolution of 1080p with 30 FPS.
- Operating System: Windows 10 （64-bit）
- Processor: Intel® Core™ i3-4130 or Core™ i5-3470 or AMD FX™-6100
- Memory: 8 GB RAM
- Graphics: NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 1030 (DDR4) or AMD Radeon™ RX 550
- DirectX: Version 12
- Network: Broadband Internet connection
- Storage: 23 GB available space
Recommended System Requirements
These system specifications are good enough to run the game on average/medium settings at a resolution of 1080p with 30 FPS.
- Operating System: Windows 10 （64-bit）
- Processor: Intel® Core™ i5-4460 or AMD FX™-8300
- Memory: 8 GB RAM
- Graphics: NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1060 (VRAM 3GB) or AMD Radeon™ RX 570 (VRAM 4GB)
- DirectX: Version 12
- Network: Broadband Internet connection
- Storage: 23 GB available space
1. Force Monster Hunter Rise to use Dedicated GPU:
Monster Hunter Rise is not a particularly demanding game, as we have already established above. The game can even run on modern laptops without any dedicated graphics card. This means that even if you run the game on your integrated GPU, it will still run without any hiccups, only the performance will be hindered. So, gone are the days when a game would straight up refuse to boot up on an integrated GPU.
As a result, detecting when the game is not running on your dedicated GPU can be hard. However, this is one of the biggest reasons for a sudden decrease in performance. Most laptops come with built-in battery saver features that allow apps to run on integrated GPU to save battery. You shouldn’t really do that with games though unless you’re playing some less graphically intense titles. Thankfully, there is a way to force the dedicated graphics card usage for a particular game or all games on your laptop/PC. All you have to do is follow these steps:
NVIDIA Users:
If you have an NVIDIA GPU in your gaming laptop, open the NVIDIA Control Panel by right-clicking on the desktop and changing these settings:
- Select the Manage 3D Options tab and choose application settings. You’ll be presented with a lot of applications on your PC. Find Monster Hunter Rise and select that. If you wish to apply this setting to all of your games, select Global Settings instead.
- If the game is not available in the list, you can manually add it by hitting the browse button and looking for the executable file in the installation folder.
- Once selected, choose the high-performance option under power settings.
AMD Users:
If you have an AMD Radeon graphics card in your gaming laptop, open the AMD Radeon Control Panel by right-clicking the empty desktop and follow these steps:
- Head into the System tab.
- Once you’re in, choose the Switchable graphics option.
- Now, find Monster Hunter Rise in the game list. If the game is not present, you can hit browse and look for the executable file in the installation folder.
- Once added to the list, select Monster Hunter Rise and choose the High-Performance option from the drop-down menu.
- Restart the game for these changes to take effect.
Monster Hunter Rise is out now on Nintendo Switch and PC. You can check it out right here.