Monster Hunter Rise Has A Free Switch Online Trial

If you've been curious about the "Monster Hunter" series but haven't been able to check it out yet, now might be your time. The official "Monster Hunter" Twitter account has just announced that "Monster Hunter Rise" is getting a free trial for Nintendo Switch Online members — as in, you can play the whole game, for free, for a limited time.

Both "Rise" and "Monster Hunter World" have made great strides in putting the formerly fairly obscure series under a slightly more mainstream spotlight. In particular, they've become the most approachable of the 11 (if you count "upgraded" versions) that have seen international release so far, with so many small adjustments and quality-of-life improvements that the original games feel downright archaic.

Demos have been available for many of these games over the years, of course, but giving players pre-made characters with specific loadouts, while necessary to speed things along for the sake of a small example of gameplay, doesn't do the experience justice. The best way to understand "Monster Hunter" is to be able to try all the weapon types and explore all the environments looking for all the target behemoths — not just fight one or two select creatures in an enclosed space.

The free trial, which kicks off today (March 11th, 2022) and goes through March 17th, is only available for Switch Online members — sorry, PC users. And for the duration of that week, you get access to "Monster Hunter Rise" in its entirety. Even the sometimes bizarre franchise crossover content.

For all intents and purposes you'll be playing the full game for free, because that's exactly what's happening. You'll be able to make your own character, complete missions for the main single-player campaign, take part in cooperative online hunts with friends and other players, and enjoy every other element the full game has to offer. The only catch is you'll lose free access once the trial period is over.

With that said, all of your save data will remain even after the cutoff date, so if you like what you play enough to buy the full game you won't have to worry about losing any of the progress you made during the trial. Then you can see how much you can accomplish before the "Sunbreak" expansion releases this summer, 2022.