Monster Hunter Rise PC: A Technical Disaster

Capcom's latest release is a chart-topper, currently ranking 6th on Steam's most-played list. However, this success is overshadowed by widespread criticism of its technical performance on PC. Digital Foundry's in-depth analysis confirms these concerns, revealing a deeply flawed PC port.

Their findings paint a troubling picture. Shader pre-compilation times are excessively long, ranging from 9 minutes on a high-end 9800X3D system to over 30 minutes on a Ryzen 3600. Texture quality is disappointingly low, even at the "High" setting. Significant frame time spikes plague gameplay, even on an RTX 4060 at 1440p with balanced DLSS. Even the more powerful RTX 4070 struggles, producing noticeably poor textures.

Users with 8GB GPUs are advised to reduce texture quality to "Medium" to alleviate stuttering and frame time spikes. Yet, even this compromise results in subpar visuals. Rapid camera movements consistently cause noticeable frame drops, although these are less severe with slower movements. Crucially, the frame time issues persist regardless of texture quality.

Digital Foundry's Alex Battaglia points to inefficient data streaming as the primary culprit. This places excessive strain on the GPU during decompression, particularly impacting budget graphics cards and leading to jarring frame time spikes. He strongly discourages the game for 8GB GPU owners and expresses reservations even about higher-end cards like the RTX 4070.

Intel GPU users face an even steeper challenge. The Arc 770, for instance, manages only 15-20 frames per second, accompanied by missing textures and other visual artifacts. While high-end systems can partially mitigate these issues, smooth gameplay remains elusive. Optimizing settings proves nearly impossible without sacrificing significant visual fidelity.