Capcom featured Monster Hunter Rise prominently at Tokyo Game Show, with not one, but two 20-minute gameplay demos with developer commentary. After that showcase, we had the opportunity to interview Monster Hunter Rise producer Ryozo Tsujimoto and director Yasunori Ichinose, and learned even more.

Here is some of the most important new information about Monster Hunter Rise for the Nintendo Switch, from skippable cutscenes to how Capcom is handling Nintendo Switch Online.

1. The New Normal Naming Convention

This is more of a big picture detail, but you should know Monster Hunter games with subheads, like World and Rise, are the new norm.

Tsujimoto said each new game is based around a specific theme or concept, and they decided that it would be better to give new Monster Hunters a title that reflects their focus – for example, World’s introduction of large, open areas, and Rise’s emphasis on verticality.

Specifically, I asked if Rise and World were examples of a new normal naming convention, and if we were done with numbered Monster Hunters. Tsujimoto responded with: “Yeah… Each new game is based around a specific theme or concept, and we decided that it would be better for the players to understand what kind of, what the game is about, if we give the game a title that reflects what it's about rather than just a number. So yes, we will be doing this in the future as well."

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2. Rise Is “Very Much Its Own Unique Thing”

Though it has shared similarities with Monster Hunter World, Tsujimoto and Ichinose insisted it’s “very much its own unique thing” and “not just a carbon copy of World.”

“If you try out the game, I'm sure you will notice that it is very much its own unique thing,” Ichinose said. “We have some of the same quality of life improvements [as Monster Hunter World], but it is very much focused on the Switch as a platform.”

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As for whether Rise “feels” more like World or a more classic Monster Hunter like Generations, Ichinose said "there are elements from Generations and from World, but, [Rise is] going to have its own unique, new things as well. Some of which we are not allowed to talk about yet. So there's a lot to look forward to."

Ichinose also said that Rise will certainly feel like a Monster Hunter, and every game in the series has to meet those standards as not to alienate fans. With that in mind, any experience from any past game, whether it's World, Generations, or an older Monster Hunter game, will prepare you for a new game in the series.

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3. Single-Player and Multiplayer Quests are Separated

If you’ve only played Monster Hunter World, you'll be used to the idea that all key quests can be completed either solo or with friends. But in previous Monster Hunters, there was a separation between the two playstyles, with single-player quests accepted in the “Village Hub” and multiplayer quests accepted in a “Gathering Hub”-like location.

4. Monster Hunter Rise’s Cutscenes Can Be Skipped

In Monster Hunter Rise, cutscenes are skippable in both multiplayer and single-player. This means they will no longer create a barrier to joining multiplayer quests, like they did in World.

“We made sure not to put too many restrictions on that,” Ichinose explained. “...So, you can play with anyone you want. The only restrictions that are in place are your Hunter Rank [your character level in multiplayer].”

Thankfully, you will always be able to rewatch these cutscenes at your leisure, even if you do choose to skip them initially.

5. No, Monster Hunter Rise Is Not Inspired by The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

In Monster Hunter Rise you can climb and explore pretty freely, so it’s not hard to make comparisons to another familiar and explosively popular Nintendo Switch game. I’m sure Ichinose and Tsujimoto have heard this comparison quite a bit already, because they burst out laughing when I asked if Rise was inspired at all by The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. But contrary to what people might think, Breath of the Wild isn’t the inspiration behind Rise, as the team has wanted to create a Monster Hunter with a lot more freedom of movement ever since they completed Generations – which was released in 2015 for the Nintendo 3DS.

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“[Monster Hunter games] already had a lot of exploration elements to them, and we basically wanted to build on that. We wanted to give the player even more freedom to move around,” Ichinose said.  “Just moving around alone is going to be a lot more fun in this game.”

As far as how this freedom of movement affects combat, I was told “it doesn’t mean that you have to use the Wirebug during the battle, but monsters’ attacks have different variations, and depending on where the hunter is, there are monsters that will change their attack methods.”

6. All About the Wirebug (and More Surprises to Come)

Also unlike Hunter Arts, these Wirebug attacks are not customizable.  However – here comes the exciting part – there are other new elements regarding actions that they can't talk about yet. They said to please look forward to that. (And as a bonus detail about combat, they told me there would be no armor skills that augment the Wirebug’s abilities.)

7. Icons Are Being Adapted to Suit the Nintendo Switch’s Small Screen

I must admit, I didn't actually notice this myself, but I did see plenty of buzz around it online – and like me, the director and producer were surprised that so many people were talking about it:  the change in the antidote icon. In previous Monster Hunter games, the antidote icon looked exactly like a potion except it was blue. However, in Monster Hunter Rise it has a totally different shape. This is because they are adapting some icons to be more legible on the smaller screen of the Switch. As a result, they've been looking over existing icons and fixing them to suit the Switch as necessary, like Bowgun ammo as well.

8. NintenDon’t Voice Chat

Speaking of adapting for the Nintendo Switch (and unfortunately moving on to the “not so hype” part of this list),  there will be no voice chat on the Nintendo Switch or on the Switch mobile app. This is pretty much the norm when it comes to Nintendo Switch games, however I can't help but be a bit disappointed. When asked to elaborate as to why, they said they "cannot comment on Nintendo Switch hardware features."

Instead, you will be able to input messages, create quick commands, post stickers, and use gestures in order to communicate with your fellow hunters. Capcom also confirmed a Nintendo Switch Online subscription would be required to play online multiplayer.

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9. Prowler Mode Is Not Returning

Finally, one final bit of mildly disappointing news we learned is that the Prowler mode, which let you play as a felyne in Generations, will not be returning in Monster Hunter Rise. But hey, at least you can play with your adorable Palicos and Palamutes by your side instead!

Of course, we learned a ton more than that during the gameplay videos shown at Tokyo Game Show – like how you won't need paintballs or scout flies to track monsters in Rise. You can read more about what we learned during TGS in Monster Hunter Rise: Gameplay Shows Off New Abilities, Combat and More or watch in the presentation above.

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As I played The Solitaire Conspiracy, I couldn’t help but wonder what other classics of tabletop gaming would benefit from the treatment that the solo card game receives here. Story-driven checkers? Chess with hero characters? Mancala with a leaderboard? The latest project from Bithell Games reimagines solitaire as a means of espionage. And while the FMV story that frames each hand is pretty predictable, the mechanical ramifications of this conceit make for a fantastic take on the traditional card game.

You are an unwitting spy, kidnapped and put to work by Protega, an intel organization working outside the confines of any nation’s government. Protega is represented to you by Kinda Funny’s Greg Miller as Jim Ratio, your handler and constant companion throughout the campaign. Ratio tells you that you need to take down a mysterious figure called Solitaire, who has shut down Protega’s means of communication with their operatives out in the field. It’s your mission to regain control of this spy network.

Your spy work plays out through games of solitaire. According to the credits, the versions of the game that The Solitaire Conspiracy takes inspiration from are Beleaguered Castle and Streets and Alleys. These variants are less popular than Klondike or Spider, to be sure, but they’re intuitive enough and easy to pick up. The board is made up of three columns, each with four rows. In the central column, you place the ace for each suit that’s currently in play, then build on it until you reach the King. You draw these cards from the outer columns, where the cards are dealt in piles. Unlike in some other popular solitaire variants, you can only move one card at a time, rather than picking up the furthest consecutive card in and moving the stack. But, you can move each card to any pile, regardless of suit, as long as the numeric value on the card is lower than the topmost card on the desired pile. These core rules are fairly simple, and will be easy to pick up for anyone who’s played a hand or two of solitaire before. But that simplicity provides a solid framework for Bithell Games to use as it builds out its unique, hero-based take on solitaire.

As I played The Solitaire Conspiracy, I couldn’t help but wonder what other classics of tabletop gaming would benefit from the treatment that the solo card game receives here. Story-driven checkers? Chess with hero characters? Mancala with a leaderboard? The latest project from Bithell Games reimagines solitaire as a means of espionage. And while the FMV story that frames each hand is pretty predictable, the mechanical ramifications of this conceit make for a fantastic take on the traditional card game.

You are an unwitting spy, kidnapped and put to work by Protega, an intel organization working outside the confines of any nation’s government. Protega is represented to you by Kinda Funny’s Greg Miller as Jim Ratio, your handler and constant companion throughout the campaign. Ratio tells you that you need to take down a mysterious figure called Solitaire, who has shut down Protega’s means of communication with their operatives out in the field. It’s your mission to regain control of this spy network.

Your spy work plays out through games of solitaire. According to the credits, the versions of the game that The Solitaire Conspiracy takes inspiration from are Beleaguered Castle and Streets and Alleys. These variants are less popular than Klondike or Spider, to be sure, but they’re intuitive enough and easy to pick up. The board is made up of three columns, each with four rows. In the central column, you place the ace for each suit that’s currently in play, then build on it until you reach the King. You draw these cards from the outer columns, where the cards are dealt in piles. Unlike in some other popular solitaire variants, you can only move one card at a time, rather than picking up the furthest consecutive card in and moving the stack. But, you can move each card to any pile, regardless of suit, as long as the numeric value on the card is lower than the topmost card on the desired pile. These core rules are fairly simple, and will be easy to pick up for anyone who’s played a hand or two of solitaire before. But that simplicity provides a solid framework for Bithell Games to use as it builds out its unique, hero-based take on solitaire.