Back at the start of January, Capcom announced that the game would be getting a free ’limited time’ demo allowing players to ’try before they buy’ when it comes to the latest installment of the long-running franchise. The Rise demo arrived on January 8 on the Switch eShop (weighing in at ~1.6GB) and was playable until February 1. During that time, it turns out, Capcom managed to harvest some pretty interesting information about player habits in the monster-slaying title. All 14 weapon types were available to use across four quests in the demo, and despite the full roster of items being selectable, it seems the majority of players gravitated towards the Long Sword. As per a tweet from the Japanese developer, 19.1% of players opted for the huge blade – nearly a fifth of all players. That makes sense, really; it’s quite beginner-friendly and has good range for poking beasts from a (relatively safe) distance. Another slasher-friendly weapon, the Great Sword, came second: 9.7% of players armed themselves with that. It’s more technical, sure, but the Great Sword can dish out some devastating damage if you land a good hit with a full charge. In third was the game’s buff-giving, Bard-friendly Hunting Horn, which 9.6% of players picked up before heading into the Shrine Ruins to take down some unfriendly beasts. The weapons that didn’t quite make the cut were the Sword and Shield, Dual Blades, Hammer, Lance, Gunlance, Switch Axe, Charge Blade, Insect Glaive, Light Bowgun, Heavy Bowgun, and Bow. Maybe they’ll be more popular in the final game. Monster Hunter Rise is a Switch exclusive, but recent leaks suggested we’ll be seeing it on PC at some point. It’s due for release on the Switch on March 26, and if you’re really into the series and the game, you can check out the Monster Hunter Rise-themed Switch coming to Europe and Japan.
