Joshua Platt (platticus)

Eternals is a very different movie than most mcu outings recently. It works as both an origin story and a world building exercise, and to that end it does both pretty decently. Your mileage may vary on how interesting that concept is, but if you have the patience for it the movie is actually quite good. Individual characters stand out enough to have personalities without necessarily hogging the spotlight and the plot twist towards the end is insane. The trailers had me feeling very “meh” about the movie, particularly Angelina Jolie but once you get to understand the character’s individual arcs, it all works together in a compelling way. Just go in with the expectation that this movie is a slow boil. The payoff at the end is worth it.

I love the quality of life changes and new features. The graphics are pretty good considering it’s a switch title. The gameplay is better than ever. The wire bug and switch skills really add a new layer of depth to an already deep combat system. The palamute makes chasing after the monsters much more enjoyable. The music is strongest in the village setting. The battle soundtracks are a little underwhelming, lacking the percussion and overall atmosphere of Iceborne. The monster lineup is also a little lacking considering it’s brand new, but this will improve over time as updates are continuously added. One aspect I didn’t really like is the rampage battles. They don’t add anything outside of being there for the sake of the story. The tower defense mechanic feels almost tacked on. Monster hunter games have never really been strong in the storyline department, but coming from iceborne, rise feels very bare bones. “The village has a rampage going on, therefore go kill monsters” is a good a justification as any, but it feels a little one note. Overall my gripes with the game don’t affect the enjoyment I got from it. I look forward to it being fleshed out in future updates. If you’re a fan of world it’s probably worth checking out rise as well.