I’ve played a bit. I have yet to see the long-term hook, though. With Pokemon Go they have the obvious hook of completing your Pokedex, but MH doesn’t have that as a main activity (at least to the degree of Pokemon).
I’m not getting deep into it because I don’t think it’ll be around very long.
Rise is indeed a different beast entirely. It plays much faster, especially with the addition of Wirebugs for whipping around the environments through the air. Palamute riding is also a game-changer. I tell people that Rise is much more “playable” than past installments.