Monster Hunter Rise and for the player to have reached the end-game before its content can be accessed. Sunbreak is a challenging expansion that will put the skills of veteran hunters to the test, though it relies a little too much on revamped monsters from the base game, rather than brand new content of its own.
The story of Sunbreak begins at the end of Monster Hunter Rise, with the player character having risen from novice hunter to the hero of Kamura Village, who stopped the Rampage and slew the mighty Thunder Serpent Narwa. Sunbreak kicks off with a standard hunting mission, ending with the arrival of Lunagaron: a powerful wolf-like monster that is a member of the mythical "Three Lords". The battle is interrupted by Fiorayne, a knight from the Elgado Outpost, who has come to seek the aid of the legendary hunter who saved Kamura. The Three Lords are threatening the land known as the Kingdom, prompting hunters and scientists to gather at the Elgado Outpost to find a way to stop them. The player soon departs to the Elgado Outpost, starting the next stage in their adventure.
Sunbreak adds Master Rank content to Monster Hunter Rise. This means that all of the monsters in the base game have stronger forms that need to be defeated, and they are ed by some brand new monsters, as well as a few returning monsters from different Monster Hunter games, such as Gore Magala from Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate. The Elgado Outpost acts as the new hub and it's a lot more compact than the one in Kamura, though the player can easily zip back to Kamura and complete unfinished Monster Hunter Rise content at any time. In of new content, Sunbreak has added new maps, new endemic lifeforms, new Silkbind moves, the ability to change Silkbind setups on the fly, and new gear.
Sunbreak has the Master Rank quests, which means that nearly all of the monsters from the base game have to be faced again to climb the ranks. By far the biggest change in of difficulty is the speed of the monsters, as they are far faster and more reactive to players' actions in Sunbreak. One of the biggest complaints about Monster Hunter Rise was that the Silkbind and Wirebug moves made the game too easy, as the player could Spider-Mab websling away after being hit, and there were powerful defensive Silkbind moves for shield s that could totally absorb physical attacks. It feels like the difficulty in Sunbreak has been tweaked to address these complaints, as monsters will now perform multi-hit attacks with a long-range to overcome Wirebug escapes, while certain attacks will cancel out the ability to use Wirebugs at all.
Monsters are also more careful about timing their attacks when a defensive Silkbind move is used, leading to some silly moments, where a gargantuan dinosaur-like beast will pull its punch at the last second to stop the player from getting an advantage. This level of challenge can feel cheap at times, but it is effective in making the battles more tense and exciting, as many of the Monster Hunter Rise can no longer be relied upon.
The biggest issue with Sunbreak is that the first half of the game is essentially a retread of Monster Hunter Rise. The player has to fight the same monsters from Monster Hunter Rise, only stronger and with a new move or two. The new maps in the game aren't that much different from the base Monster Hunter Rise maps in of content, and the game still uses the old maps anyway, just with the new endemic lifeforms added in. Those who have played Monster Hunter Rise right before heading into Sunbreak might feel like this content is a bit too familiar and that the new additions feel slight for a paid expansion.
Sunbreak hit its stride in the second half of the game, as the Three Lords are fantastic new additions to the series, with the ice werewolf Lunagaron and the vampiric dragon monster Malzeno having some of the best battles in the game. The returning monsters like Gore Magala, Astalos, and Seregios are also a great fit for Sunbreak. The high-level Master Rank quests prove some amazing battles with epic monsters with some brutally difficult fights against unrelenting foes. It's a shame that Sunbreak didn't launch with more brand new content (though more is planned via post-launch updates), but the new stuff that is here is all top-quality content, and is a great addition to the world of Monster Hunter Rise.
One surprising part of gameplay that has been cut from Sunbreak is Rampage missions. These were tower defense-style quests that were an important part of progression in Monster Hunter Rise. They have been replaced with Follower Quests, where the player takes on missions with NPCs from the story, who act as AI-controlled hunters. This mode was so close to being amazing, as it's the closest thing to a true single-player mode in the Monster Hunter series. The Followers in Sunbreak aren't as good as human players, but they still draw aggro, deal damage, and can use healing items, making them a better choice over hunting alone.
This content would have been incredible if it had been baked into the single-player quests, but the Follower Quests are their own separate entity, save for a few Urgent Quests where characters will show up to help the player. As it stands, the Follower quests are best used for grinding gear in situations where the player is having trouble finding players online, but this mode could have been as great as Final Fantasy XIV's Trust system if it was more tied into the main progression.
Sunbreak is the ideal title for people who thought Monster Hunter Rise was too forgiving and that it gave the player too many options for evading the monsters. The Master Rank quests can be extremely punishing, but Sunbreak is intended for those who have beaten Monster Hunter Rise and are looking for that next level of difficulty. It takes time to hit its stride and the omission of Rampage quests is puzzling, but there is some great new content here that is worth exploring, especially for those who enjoyed the base version of the game.
Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak will be available for Nintendo Switch and PC on June 30, 2022. The original version of Monster Hunter Rise is required to play the expansion. Screen Rant was provided with a digital code for the PC version of the game for the purposes of this review.
