Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak review: great expansion, familiar monsters

Monster Hunter Rise: SunbreakIt is simply more of the exact same.

This would ordinarily be from someone who calls. Monster Hunter Rise It is one of my favorite games on Switch. You can also find it on Switch. Sunbreak It is Eventually another great expansion for another great Monster Hunter game, but it’s a little too interested in the ground it’s already tread.

It’s almost like Monster Hunter RiseIt was before that. Sunbreak’s quests are broken up into ranks. Instead of High and Low rank, however Sunrise The Master Rank is more challenging. In order to increase my Master Rank — unlocking Urgent Quests that progress the story — I need to prove my worth to the in-game characters by choosing from a variety of non-urgent hunts.

While the Urgent story quests usually introduce a beast that’s new to SunbreakMy quests include hunting returning monsters like Pukei Pukei or Aknosom. Sunbreak is a late-game expansion, so it’s frustrating as hell that I’m still fighting monsters I already fought twice during the main game. That’s not to mention the many times I farmed them in the year leading up to SunbreakThey were also the hunted at various times. Rise Came to the PC. At this point, I’m tired of the original game’s roster. It took me a while to reach this point, however. Sunbreak It still waits for its turn before rewarding me with new cool stuff.

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So each time one of these old beasts came up as a quest option, I couldn’t help but roll my eyes and pick the monster I was least sick of. Sure, Monster Hunter is all about grinding for gear and perfecting the hunt — but new challenges are what I want from expansions. In the beginning Sunbreak It is very sparse on the new experiences.

Despite the early hunts’ familiarity, SunbreakDoes You can increase the difficulty by increasing it. In Sunbreak’s Master Rank, even the more innocuous monsters managed to take one or two of my three lives, forcing me to buckle down or risk a failed quest. It is actually quite unlikely Rise’s main campaign, Sunrise’s Please check back later hunts were difficult enough that I failed three of them — my first failures since the uber-hard Monster Hunter World: Iceborne.

It’s to Sunbreak’s great credit that I almost never felt like the game had robbed me when the screen went black and my Palico carted me away. Master Rank Monsters can inflict a staggering amount of damage in a single attack, and that caught me by surprise. It was clear to me when I was making dangerous or foolish plays. Each time a beast sent me flying and I attempted to counterattack rather than heal, I felt my elbows tense up, hoping the beast wouldn’t punish my greed. It did, more often than not.

But, still. SunbreakCombating unfamiliar creatures makes this difficulty curve feel the most natural. It’s no coincidence that my three failed hunts were all against new monsters that I’d never faced before. Not because of the learning curve, mind you, but because I didn’t mind playing overly aggressively, failing, and facing the unfamiliar Garangolm or Lunagaron again. However, the thought of fighting an even more challenging Rajang than what I was used to made me happy. Rise’s campaign? I’d rather elongate the hunt to 30 minutes and play passively than have to start over again, adopting a more boring but far safer play style.

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It’s a shame that Sunbreak It is extremely exhausting during its initial hours because every new monster is an adventure to hunt. The rock-like Garangolm has elemental fists that I can break apart with my hammer, and the two new crustacean-like monsters move in unpredictable patterns because… well, they’re crabs. And of course, the vampire-like flagship monster, Malzeno, offers a satisfying challenge that’s kept me nervous but invigorated during each of our encounters — like a flying version of one of my favorite Monster Hunter hunts, Rise’s flagship monster, Magnamalo.

There are so many great brawls Sunbreak, it’s frustrating that it falls victim to one of the biggest villains in AAA video games: bloat. I’d much rather see Sunbreak Offer This campaign is shorter and more focused on new monsters. It also gives me the opportunity to take on Master Rank characters from the original roster. Instead, I was busy bashing old foes in the early hours of the expansion, so that I could move on to the more important stuff. Playing was easy. SunriseFeels like unwrapping an exhilarating present that has been wrapped with too much tape.

Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak On June 30, the following information will be available WindowsPC and Nintendo Switch. Capcom gave us a pre-release downloading code to review the game on PC. Vox Media is an affiliate partner. Although these partnerships do not impact editorial content, Vox Media could earn commissions when products are purchased through affiliate links. Find out more. additional information about Polygon’s ethics policy here.