Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak – Will this be the best expansion in the series?

It’s no secret that I really like Monster Hunter: Rise: In addition to putting in 100+ hours of gameplay on Switch, I’m starting to play the newest addition to the action RPG franchise more intently, especially this year Earlier on PC.

Granted, it doesn’t have the depth (or breadth) of Monster Hunter: World, but Rising does everything I want from the series; it brings new monsters, it gives me new moves to learn , it gave me a whole new playground for diving around, blowing things up, and running away. No wonder it managed to ship 5 million units in a week, right?

With Sunbreak, it looks like we’ve got it all again. If you’ve played Monster Hunter for a while, you’ll get used to Capcom’s rhythm in major releases: we get a base game, and then a big expansion. The expansion brings new levels, new hunts, new items and new challenges. Monster Hunter’s last big expansion comes in the form of Monster Hunter: World’s Iceborne — and it extends the life of the game in a very meaningful way.

You can expect the same from Sunbreak. From yesterday’s blowout demo alone, we know we’re getting a lot of impressive stuff right off the bat. The Switch Skill Swap ability, Follower quests, Vampire New Elder Dragon, Malzenom are all in the headlines – along with enhanced existing monsters, returning beasts that 3DS players will enjoy, and many more unique life elements.

I’m personally very excited about Flying Wyvern Seregios, also known as “Thousand Blades,” returning from Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate in Sunbreak. Fast and deadly, the wyvern uses numerous high-flying maneuvers and a body covered in blade scales to exploit the offensive and defensive properties of its claws. Moving fast to counter its maneuverability – while also trying to keep yourself alive while suffering a horrific “bleed” – is no mean feat. I’m happy to be able to fight this battle without having to rely on the odd little controller nugget that the new 3DS loves so much.

As far as the new monster is concerned, we must have a sharp weapon ready, and that is the Elder Dragon Malzeno. This curious beast commands a swarm of parasitic entities that capture and absorb the energy of their prey.I guess that means we all need very careful When we fought Malzeno, other monsters roamed the battlefield. If the fight drags on long enough, it could evolve into a “more terrifying form”, and I think the pacing of this fight will be very different from what we’re used to in Rise.

Between its parasitic companions sucking other mobs and the “blood plague” it can stack on us as players, these hunts will result in a lot of carts before people really understand how to do it properly. OK That’s the challenge these expansions are very capable of introducing.

When it comes to being well-armed, there’s no point in strengthening the adversary we face if we’re halfway through it ourselves, does it? Enter the toggle skill swap ability. In a nutshell, this allows you to set up different toggle skills in your loadout – and you can hot-swap between those skills while hunting.

If you find yourself under attack while performing a Switch Skill Swap, you can perform a Swap Evade in any direction Special attacks were even canceled to avoid danger. We’ve briefly covered these in the trailer (below), but Capcom promises to show off more — one for each weapon type — with a set of short films on May 16.

Until then, I’ll reserve my thoughts, but from what we’ve seen so far, it looks like they’re going to be a game changer again! – Just like Silkbind Attacks did in the base version of Rise. Expect awkward time windows, press about eight buttons at a time, and memorize more inputs for your mental monster-hunting process. Even the idea of ​​”pulling” a fancier sword/shield string excites me.

Finally, we’ve also seen some very meaningful updates to the game’s single-player content. Follower quests are solo hunts that allow you to accept and complete quests from your favorite story characters – each offering some sort of unique reward. Each follower has their own specialties and will even help you by restoring health, placing traps and even riding monsters.

The names of Fiorayne, Luchika, Jae, Admiral Galleus and Master Arlow have been checked so far, but I imagine there will be more in the final game…even one for each weapon. That makes sense, right? These quests look great for players who are shy about entering the lobby but still want to experience the sheer fun of Monster Hunter with multiplayer — and it also gives online-obsessed reasons to pursue more Solo adventure. Everyone is a winner (except monsters).

These extensions are a smart move for Capcom. Iceborne alone brought in 5 million sales for the publisher, which is a decent chase for the base game’s 15 million sales in 2020.

It stands to reason that Sunbreak will do it again – of course, with fewer platforms available (PC and Switch won’t see the same numbers as Xbox, PlayStation and PC), but even then you can see that Capcom cares a lot about this very favorable A graphable series, and there is no expectation that the quality of the expansion will be any less than top-notch.

As of June 2021, Monster Hunter has shipped a ridiculous 75 million units over its lifetime. I think it makes perfect sense for Sunbreak alone to add a few million decorations to that number. Like the runaway Magnamalo, this series can’t be stopped.