Monster Hunter Rise has proven to be a welcome continuation of the IP's global growth in popularity, following the breakout mainstream success of 2018's Monster Hunter: World and its Iceborne expansion on non-Nintendo platforms. Rise itself brought some interesting evolutions from World, retaining more of the quirky charm we loved in previous generations on platforms like 3DS, Wii and Wii U, while shaking up the formula for the better (well, in this writer's opinion, anyway). It delivered load-free open zones, faster traversal and verticality, and new mechanics to give combat a fast-paced, stylish feel.
It was relatively easy, though, by Monster Hunter standards. Not only did Capcom do some welcome streamlining of the 'grind', but a lot of encounters barring a small number of exceptions were more manageable and less terrifying than perhaps expected. This was partly due to new movement and mechanics improving our abilities, but we can also be guilty of forgetting that Rise was the 'base' game.
In the West on 3DS and Wii U, we typically got the 'base + expansion' game as one delayed localised release, so all the content and challenge was there from the start. With the arrival of Sunbreak we're now in-step with our fellow Japanese hunters (largely thanks to Capcom's successful gamble and strong sales of World), and we get our 'massive expansion' to take the hunt to another level. Sunbreak achieves its goals, and helps us remember that Monster Hunter is bloomin' hard.
Even accessing Sunbreak requires you to get all the way to the middle 'ending' of the core campaign, a point where you unlock the initial ranking system. This is really to prepare you for the challenge, as the natural grind should ensure you jump into the new content with reasonable gear. Capcom has been generous, though, serving up some free content to help players along that have rushed through the base game. Sunbreak's introduction is rather nicely done, too, and we had that strange feeling of wanting to see the story after its classy opening. In a Monster Hunter game. We didn't expect that.
After initial pleasantries you make your way to Elgado, a lovely new area with the vibe of a Mediterranean port. The new cast of characters were immediately likeable, even if the story can still be loosely summarised as 'that monster on the cover is making other monsters mad, and that's bad'. Yet the familiar progression through quests does have some twists, with particular nods to make single players feel more welcome. While Rise had a slightly messy separation of solo and group quests, here there's just one board, and it feels utterly seamless and well-balanced whether solo or in a group. We eventually swapped between both approaches on a whim and it was still equally enjoyable; that's more like it.
While the earliest quests see you revisiting old foes in familiar locales, this is the 'Master Rank', which in the old days was 'that difficult endgame bit' for us Western players in those complete localised releases. Immediately you'll notice that it takes longer to slay the monster, it'll be more frequently enraged, and it may even bust out more deadly versions of attacks. After a handful of early quests that go smoothly, the difficulty starts to ramp up and you'll have to get used to fainting even if you've prepared properly.
A headliner addition that gives even offline play a multiplayer feel is 'follower quests', in which NPCs join you on the hunt. Initially these help drive the story, but eventually they unlock in plentiful supply and you'll be off hunting with a variety of chums. Whether hunting with one character or choosing from the cast for a team of three, it's a fun wrinkle to the formula, not to mention the fact these virtual friends distract the monsters from munching on your backside while you try to heal.
The AI is pretty darn good, too, and the only misstep is that as you progress the follower quests start to mirror 'Key Quests' more closely, but don't actually count towards your tally for progressing the story. A slight annoyance, but repeated hunts of monsters really are part of the experience anyway when you're trying to unlock awesome gear. In addition, actually doing the Follower quests (and other side quests that pop up) gives you some pretty valuable rewards in the form of new weapon and armour recipes. They're well worth doing.
Sunbreak adds a lot of mechanical tweaks too. The heavily publicised Switch Skill Swap ability is indeed cool, though as the game gets tougher and we're running for our lives, we often forget it's there. The UI now has handy button reminders that aren't as invasive during gameplay as screenshots may suggest. There are new skills for your Palico buddies to master, new moves for all the weapons, fresh and fabulously fashionable armour sets, along with all sorts of tweaks to customisation that can keep dedicated players intrigued. Even if you only loosely dive into the additional depth on offer, it's all smartly implemented.
Which brings us to the big additions — locales and monsters. As mentioned above, it takes a while for the new monsters or variations to truly show up, but they're fantastic when they do make an appearance. The locales are among our favourites too — the popular return of Jungle has impressive hidden depths if you snoop around near its temple, and the new 'Citadel' environment is among our favourites ever in the series. It's no secret if you pay attention to the name or any advertising that it's going for a bit of a horror 'Dracula' vibe, and it really nails that style. Some of the skylines and environmental detail in Citadel are an absolute delight.
Whether battling remixes of tough monsters, new monsters to this game or those that are brand new to the franchise, it's some of the most exciting hunting we can remember. The monsters look scary, animate beautifully, and seem to really get excited when you're flattened and struggling to recover. It's tough and we've had quest failures, especially when playing with strangers online, and we've had solo runs where we've frantically captured the monster on low health and our final 'faint'. It's all more frenzied in general, too — we've seen multiple examples of three big monsters converging on one spot to have a scrap while we take the chance to watch and sharpen our trusty Insect Glaive. It's marvellous stuff.
It's the sort of difficult, unrelenting action that makes you genuinely exhale in relief when it's done. For those who want Monster Hunter to challenge them, Sunbreak steps up.
Pleasingly, it also remains a showcase of technical wizardry, whether playing docked or handheld. We still feel Rise + Sunbreak shine best as a portable marvel, but the game looks excellent on the TV as well. Performance is a very solid 30fps for the most part, though one section of Flooded Forest is still a bit of a bottleneck. Audio is fantastic too; the Sunbreak soundtrack is phenomenal. Whether relaxing in Elgado or battling a monster, it's easy to get swept away.
Conclusion
Sunbreak is a success in multiple ways, with enough that's new or different to make it a must-have expansion for Monster Hunter Rise fans. New mechanics and content are enjoyable, the challenge is turned up, and it's still an audiovisual treat. It's a welcome reminder that there's nothing else quite like Capcom's monster-slaying franchise, and even in moments where it's 'just more of the same but harder', that's still more than enough.
Now excuse us as we get back to the hunt. That fashionable armour isn't going to craft itself.
Comments 29
June's been a wonderful month full of great releases. As I got my hands on Fire Emblem: Three Hopes, I'll be playing that first, but this expansion is definitely on my wishlist to play later this year!
Played over the weekend; the new locations are marvelous and the new monsters a joy to fight. A technical marvel for Switch indeed, and it looks stunning on the go!
Looks to be yet another incredible addition for Monster Hunter fans up there with Iceborne. Literally the only other turn-off I could possibly see is with it's monstrous file size for Switch standards. Apart from that though? Fantastic stuff.
Between this and Klonoa, my summer is set!
Just finished the main campaign a bit ago and man was it fun. Definitely the best final boss in the series. You're all in for a treat!
Just started it last night and felt that first urgent (by myself) was over way too fast. I did faint once pretty early on as it grabbed me and chucked me in the air then pounched. My GS also feels better to use in this version.
While I'm enjoying this expansion a lot, I'm afraid I still disagree on the difficulty aspect, it's anything but that.
Hopefully it ramps up the later I progress in g ran- I mean master rank.
Its been amazing, playing it all weekend and it fixes many of the issues i had with the base game. Love the new Insect Glaive's with its new game changing Kinsect's, the weapon has really grown in power with the expansion.
The crown of an exceptional month for Switch releases. I'll be playing this one slowly for months.
@tabris95 I agree, I was in total awe the whole time!
Once I finish the main game I would eventually get this expansion. Just had to get a new microSD to prepare for it.
Absolutely brilliant expansion. The difficulty has got me rethinking my load out again, causing me to fall in love with the grind all over again.
Monster Hunter Rise Sunbreak is easily my new favorite Monster Hunter game, and Rise was already on par with World as one of my favorite games of all time.
Not to mention Portal Companion Collection- 2 other GOATs I've been trying to get on handheld for 10 years now. It feels like I just got hammered with multiple games that fall in my Top 10 Ever list.
I'm savoring every moment of Sunbreak. Every last juicy quest. Not rushing through it. Too good for that. I'm doing every quest in the game, one by one. Just beat the mid-MR2 Urgent Quest and a couple more after. Currently sporting the Blood Orange Bishaten armor set + Switch Axe.
Though I did commit to use a new weapon this game- Great Sword. I was using the Daimyo Hermitaur armor + Greatsword but there wasn't an Orangaten GS to craft. I'll switch back to GS on the next armor set I craft.
Instant classic. Will surely be a timeless masterpiece talked about for years to come when Switch is long gone as a legacy platform.
@Pillowpants too many to keep track of here, in backlog hell
MR4 & so far a blast! Agree with everything said above. Difficultly hasn’t caught up to me yet as I’m still running my HR armor but expect it to eventually ramp up
Is there any meaning to purchase DLC while I am still in the early stage of the original game?
Sunbreak made me put aside my Steam Deck (I know MHRise + Sunbreak is on Steam but I'd already pumped hundreds of hours into the Switch version and I hunt with friends online). It's addictive as all heck. I've only gotten to MR3 so far but I'm loving the new additions. I'm especially happy with the weapon changes...most notably, they brought back my beloved Crouching (Siege) fire for HBG. It's heavily nerfed for sure with an overheat mechanic, but it makes a welcome addition to the arsenal and, combined with charged shots, it makes HBG the best its ever been. Rocking that Hermitaur armor also turns HBG into a walking tank that almost can't be staggered. It's so much fun.
I can't wait to get to the new endgame. I'm looking forward to fighting old favorites Astalos and Seregios, and seeing what awaits.
@Kulhy No, buy it when you reach 7⭐️ in Hub. It's worth it, but not until you reach that point.
this expansion is getting alot of solid reviews except for ign who cant do reviews right especially abusing the number 7 as of late but anyways cant wait to download this on my next paycheck.
If I had one nitpick, I suppose it would be that it takes a bit to get to some of the new monsters. In Iceborne, you fight Beotodus and Banbaro as practically your first two monsters. In Sunbreak, it takes a bit to get to some of the new monsters.
That said, Lunagaron and Garangolm are both incredibly solid additions, and I haven't fought the flagship Malzeno yet. Some of the monsters have several new moves added to their Master Rank versions (Goss Harag now mains Sword and Shield instead of Dual Blades). The new Switch Skills and the ability to swap between multiple skills really add some new gameplay, and I'm loving the expansion so far.
@JaxonH I've been trying to resist the temptation to purchase Rise and this expansion - too many games on the go already, you see - but your comments do not make this easy to do!
@parkinho
Oh I know the feeling. But imo, this isn't a game to skip on. Neither is Portal Companion Collection. Games like this only come a few times every generation.
@PerishSong
Ya. But you do fight Daimyo Hermitaur right away, and then Orange Bishaten for MR1 to MR2 urgent. I'm actually glad they kept as many as possible back loaded. The fewer wasted slots in early tier the better. But it was good they had a couple at least.
I plan on waiting till the last update before I play it. I don't like live games, as much as I thought I would. I hate going back to games and relearning them every few months. Let me play all the content and then move on please.
No physical complete on cart release, no purchase. They should have made it a Torna-like release.
Love the game, currently, I'm MR 5, and man, you really feel the difference, had to create new armor and upgrade my great sword to keep up. As always, Rajang is a pain (for me hehe), and Malzeno lived up to the hype, (with a badass armor to farm).
I am currently MR3. Taking my time working through the game, as I am thoroughly enjoying my time with Sunbreak so far! I really enjoy the follower hunts, for when I want to hunt offline but not feel like I'm just running around alone. The difficulty is already higher than it was in Rise base game. The new monsters, including the variants I've fought so far are all so good! My only real complaint, if I had any, is that I am a bow main. The armor sets in MANY instances just don't really do much for bow users. I'm really only on my second new armor set, and it took getting up to Rakna-kadaki to get it. However, I am LOVING the new armor designs. I cannot wait to fashion hunt in Sunbreak! Some of the new bows I'm not exactly taken with, but the upgrades to the older bows I have are just glorious! There is so much good that can be said about Sunbreak!
Initially I was a bit skeptical with it being a pricey for some DLC, just started digging into the game and it really does improve on the base game in just about every way. The difficulty really has been upped, old monsters have new bags of tricks…they really are trying to kill you this time around. Looking forward to getting deeper into this expansion, Capcom has done a great job supporting the franchise.
Sunbreak has been a blast; as for difficulty, I can’t say it’s been hard - even when I just had base Rise endgame armor, but maybe I’ve honed my dual blade skills at the point of starting as well? Either way, I’ve unlocked my first MR level cap, and am helping a friend finish base game while both HR and MR are steadily increasing, and getting all my cool new elemental weapons, which, I’ve gotta say, there are some standouts.
The Citadel locale is just so cool that it makes this worth it.
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