Monster Hunter Rise is a year and a half old at this point with its expansion Monster Hunter Rise Sunbreak doing a lot to add to the base game. After playing for more than 280 hours and hundreds of hunts solo, with friends and online I can confidently say that Monster Hunter Rise + Sunbreak is lodged between Monster Hunter World and Monster Hunter Tri as my favourite monster hunter titles.
What I liked in Monster Hunter Rise Sunbreak
The setting of the base game in the Japan-themed Kamakura town was glorious. I was sold within hours as I wrote more than a year ago in my first impressions post. The expansion then changed to a Euro-centric medieval setting in Elgado with a captivating cast of new characters including the first gaming bae to threaten my devotion to Samus Aran – Fiorayne.
The wirebug, palamute and bump in speed on the game might make going back to the slower speed of previous monster hunter titles hard but you can understand what the developers’ thoughts were with the game being on a portable system. The new monsters were all great with Malzeno, Goss Harag, Magnamalo, Aknosom, Garangolm and many other new monsters being well received due to great designs.
What I Didn’t like in Monster Hunter Rise + Sunbreak
Graphics overall wasn’t the issue but I didn’t like the lack of detail on the monsters. I know it was a hardware limitation but monsters like Anjanath lost so much of their luster and looked underwhelming. Boy am I glad they dropped the underwhelming “Rampage” mechanic in the Sunbreak expansion as in my opinion and experience it got boring fast. The story is never the main pillar of Monster Hunter games but I still wish the story could get me to care about these characters – Maybe not on the level of an Elden Ring but come on Capcom surprise us in the next Monster Hunter game, please?
Loading ...What’s next for Monster Hunter?
Speaking of the next Monster Hunter game. There are rumblings that the next one might come out as early as next year for the latest consoles. I expect a beautiful game in the vein of Monster Hunter World and would be willing to wait until 2024 to play it. For now, I will continue to enjoy Monster Hunter Rise Sunbreak with friends (join my discord!). Free title update 2 has just come out with more updates planned in the coming months. Let me know your thoughts on Monster Rise Sunbreak and your expectations for the Next Monster Hunter game @Jamaipanese