I don't think it's unbelievable that Monster Hunter Rise is running on a standard Switch, but a lot of folks are skeptical. Well, producer RyÅzÅ Tsujimoto recently spoke to Eurogamer to clear the air on that.
According to Tsujimoto, everything we saw these past few weeks was running on a standard Switch. When asked about a potential Switch Pro, he stated: "Well, obviously we have no idea whatsoever what the plans would be in that direction, but even at the moment you actually have two different Switch hardwares you're targeting - you've got the the original Switch which has the docking mode, so that's something we've already borne in mind to make sure that the game isn't making any undue assumptions on the hardware owned by the player."
"That direction" that he's referring to is a Switch Pro. While it could happen at some point (or he's bound to an NDA), Monster Hunter Rise was in development for way longer than the Pro would have been in the works. Tsujimoto also clarifies that Rise has been in the works for "about four years," and the company specifically asked the director of Monster Hunter Generations to make a title "for the next portable," which would eventually be the Switch.
He cites porting the RE Engine to Switch as a "new challenge," but given that it is a first-party engine after all, the developers know those challenges inside and out and were able to adapt. Tsujimoto says that in the end, they hit a target of "a comfortable 30 frames per second."
So basically, it was tough to get working, but they did end up finishing the job. While that stable framerate is still up for debate in the final version, Capcom seems to have "figured out" the Switch at this point.
Monster Hunter Rise looks like it'll be the best of both worlds [Nintendo]
