Fans of the Monster Hunter series know that one of the most important elements to the games' progression is the gear that is craftable after defeating a new monster. While beating a monster offers some fulfillment in itself, crafting a new weapon or some new armor in Monster Hunter makes the experience even more rewarding.
One of the newest monsters to join the series is the leviathan Almudron, who was shown off in the most recent trailer for Monster Hunter Rise. Almudron is, in a way, the opposite of Mizutsune, the bubble fox leviathan that, like its name suggests, uses bubbles to fight. Almudron on the other hand, uses mud to attack hunters.
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Given Almudron's brown aesthetic, one would be forgiven for expecting the gear to follow suit. However, the gear has tones of blacks, yellows, and reds. The video confirming this aesthetic belongs to Almudron also confirms that the hammer being used in the last Monster Hunter Rise trailer belongs to Almudron.
That hammer was shaped like a wheel or tire, and based on that, as well as the armor just shown, it appears that Capcom may have decided to go with an oil aesthetic instead of a mud aesthetic for the gear. That said, the armor does also harken somewhat back to Stygian Zinogre and Brachydios gear. It has a similar color scheme and animal-like design to the Sytigian Zinogre gear and has almost a Power Rangers aesthetic like the Brachydios gear.
Both the male and female armor sets have the animal aesthetic with claws on the gauntlets, but the female armor takes it a bit farther with what seems to be cat ears on the helmet. The Palamute and Palico armor are also shown with the former looking almost like a motorcycle with the latter being a bit more mystical.
Monster Hunter Rise will be released on March 26, 2021 for the Nintendo Switch.