Capcom has confirmed the latest crossover character from its archives to feature in Monster Hunter Rise will be Amaterasu, the wolf-like goddess of the sun from its classic adventure game, Ōkami.
- READ MORE: ‘Monster Hunter Stories 2’ review: a stunning RPG world that the Switch struggles to tame
Amaterasu will appear in Monster Hunter Rise on July 30. However, from the trailer Capcom released to announce her arrival, it doesn’t seem as though she’ll actually be a distinct character. Rather, the “Ammy Costume” will be a layered armour set for the player’s canine Palamute companion in-game – essentially a skin.
The Amaterasu visual will be an event quest reward, though details on the quest and how to acquire it haven’t been revealed yet.
Awooo~
The Sun Goddess Amaterasu heads to Kamura to restore nature's balance.
#MHRise x @OkamiOfficial collab coming July 30. pic.twitter.com/UYHHqgJqMH
— Monster Hunter (@monsterhunter) July 27, 2021
As the Palamutes in Monster Hunter Rise can be ridden as mounts, allowing players to zoom across the world with no stamina cost, even a simple change of aesthetic will mean being able to race around on a literal goddess.
Amaterasu first appeared in 2006, in the original PS2 release of Ōkami. Developed by Capcom’s Clover Studio and directed by Hideki Kamiya – his last game at Capcom before co-founding Platinum Games – the game blended Japanese mythology and Sumi-e artistic inspiration, pairing them with gameplay similar to The Legend of Zelda.
What made Ōkami really stand out though was its ‘Celestial Brush’ mechanic, allowing players to paint directly into the game world to use Amaterasu’s abilities.
The feature was put to more literal use when the game was ported to the Wii, making use of the Wii Remote’s motion controls to paint with a flick of the hand. Later ports to PS3 and the Switch allowed similar techniques, thanks to the PlayStation Move and Joy-Con controllers, respectively.
The Ōkami crossover in Monster Hunter Rise is the second in a series of planned “Capcom Collab” DLC releases. The first arrived in June 2021, adding a layered armour set for a Palico – Monster Hunter’s cat-like companions – based on Monster Hunter Stories 2.
The next collaboration is due in August 2021, with the fourth and fifth sets due to arrive in “Fall 2021”. The contents and characters of these crossovers have yet to be revealed.
Monster Hunter Rise is currently exclusive to Nintendo Switch, but a PC release has been confirmed for the first half of 2022.
Elsewhere, Capcom is focusing on another of its classic franchises, with the announcement that its mobile fighting game Street Fighter: Duel will be getting an international release. The game had previously been exclusive to China.
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