Monster Hunter Rise was an instant hit and met with critical acclaim when released for the Nintendo Switch in 2021.
Capcom was praised for the new gameplay mechanics that made Rise the most accessible title in the series.
Looking to capitalise on the first year of success Capcom is finally releasing the long-awaited massive expansion Monster Hunter Rise Sunbreak.
The majority of past Monster Hunter games have received DLC that offered more than just new monsters or enhancements.
Monster Hunter World: Iceborne set the standard on how great an expansion can really be if executed correctly.
Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak takes place straight after the final battle with Ibushi and Narwa.
As the Rampage has been stopped, peace has returned to Kamura and the protagonist is hailed a hero in the village.
However peaceful times are short-lived as a strange new monster arrives, which the protagonist is unable to defeat.
Luckily they are aided by a knight called Fiorayne, who just happens to be Rondine's sister.
Once they manage to vanquish the monster, Fiorayne reveals she is from Elgado and that she has come to Kamura to recruit the protagonist to help her people defeat the mysterious new monster called Malzeno.
After accepting this quest they all sail to Elgado embarking on a new adventure.
Sunbreak’s story does a great job at expanding the lore within Monster Hunter Rise, without saturating it with unnecessary additions.
This new story arc serves as a great prompt for players to dive back into the game with a host of endearing characters, new locales and menacing monsters.
Even if you’re not here for the story, it’s still one of the big highlights of Sunbreak.
Visually Sunbreak retains the fantastic visuals from Rise and looks simply stunning, especially on the new OLED model.
Sunbreak does feature a new hub called the Elgado Outpost which is situated on a different continent from Kamura and it clearly shows.
Elgado locations and inhabitants feature designs that look like they're taking inspiration from 16th Century Europe.
Everything looks that more regal while still keeping in tone with Monster Hunter’s traditional aesthetic.
The developers have done an amazing job at crafting another engaging fantastical world for fans to get sucked into.
Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak will see hunters take on a new set of quests within the land of Elgado, that feature a mix of new and old monsters.
The first set of new quests are called Master Rank quests, which work in a similar fashion to the High and Low-rank quests.
Players will now have to increase their Master Rank alongside their Hunter Rank, but completing quests from either will grant experience points for both which is great.
The Master Rank quests are significantly more difficult than the High-Rank quests, with monsters being much more aggressive with new attack patterns.
After playing the first campaign for over one hundred hours, I was thoroughly impressed with how differently each of the monsters behaved compared to their Karuma counterparts.
Even the likes of Kulu-Ya-Ku or Tetranadon will have you rethinking your strategy that was used to originally take them down.
It’s simply exhilarating and makes grinding through the different Master Ranks less of a chore as there are so many new experiences.
Some of the new monsters are spectacular nightmares that can be worse than Valstrax and that’s not a small feat at all.
Sunbreak has many other new features but one of the main inclusion is the Follower Collab Quest.
These quests allow players to take on monsters with an A.I. controlled character, who does everything from setting traps, monster riding, and performing emotes and gestures to name a few.
It’s pretty impressive how clever each of the characters is during a hunt without any assistance or input commands from the player.
This fantastic mode allows players to not only work with some interesting characters but learn more about them during the quest through their witty banter
The quest themselves aren’t really that difficult but they add a bit of flavour to the traditional gaming loop.
A lot of the existing systems have been given some tweak or another helping to elevate the overall experience.
Sunbreak introduces the Switch Skill Swap system that allows players to swap different loadouts on the fly.
This is an amazing inclusion as it allows players to go into battle with two different play styles, dramatically increasing their strategic capabilities.
The only issue is that the different styles are now listed on the screen during hunts which just feels unnecessary.
Of course, this can be deactivated, but I wish the UI was much more subtle or smaller if players opt to use it.
There are new Wirebugs and other endemic lifeforms situated within each level that also expand the hunters' strategic possibilities.
Like the Starburst bug or Spearsquid who both deal large amounts of damage to monsters when the right situation conditions are met.
Sunbreak also has some nice quality of life changes that will affect how weapons are used or even how you arrange Dango’s for ultimate effectiveness.
Nothing strays too far from what was available in the base game, but the improvements feel like the right form of progression.
Palamutes and Palicoes customisation has been refined alongside their recon abilities, which now play a much bigger role in active hunts.
Players will notice how Sunbreak has dialled back all the Rampage features with literally no new updates to the system or hunts.
The Rampage skill system has also been removed from weapons and replaced with the Rampage Decorations system, which only shares the name.
I don’t think the whole Rampage side of Monster Hunter was bad as it definitely broke up the traditional gaming loop.
However, it was pretty hit and miss with some of the hunts feeling drawn out.
Verdict 4/5
Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak does a great job of building upon some of Rise’s gaming mechanics.
Some may find it a shame or even weird that the heavily advertised Rampage didn’t receive any updates, however, Sunbreak is huge and feels like it could be a full game on its own with the new features being enough to bring back players for a long time.
Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak is out now for the Nintendo Switch and PC
