Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak

Monster Hunter Rise Sunbreak is a worthy successor to the base game and improves on it in almost every way.

Still, it doesn’t take away from the fact that for those up to task, Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak delivers. You could say it’s just more of the same but that would be doing this expansion a disservice. Like Monster Hunter World’s Iceborne expansion before it, this is essentially a full game served up as DLC. With its generous number of gameplay improvements and hunting opportunities, it’s an absolute must-have for series veterans. And while it’s still not the most accessible game on the whole, it’s undoubtedly the best starting point for aspiring hunters.

With the inclusion of Sunbreak, Monster Hunter Rise is finally a complete package and it does not disappoint. It's the most fun and varied a Monster Hunter title has been since 4 Ultimate on the 3DS, taking some of the best elements from that title along with Generations Ultimate and the quality-of-life improvements found in Iceborne. The best part is with so much to do it's shocking to realize that even more will come through free updates and it will be exciting to see just what other monsters decide to make a crash landing in Sunbreak throughout the year and into next. Anyone looking for a f...

As it stands, Sunbreak represents the very best of Monster Hunter Rise, recontextualizing the base game through its clever integration of the old and the new. It won’t convert die-hard fans that bounced off of Rise, but for those that loved the changes to the Monster Hunter formula, Sunbreak represents a new high water mark for the series and is an absolute no-brainer for anyone looking to dive back in.

While not quite perfect, Sunbreak confidently brings all of Monster Hunter Rise's best ideas to the next level.

More of a sunset.

Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak is a great expansion to an already good game. You’ll appreciate all the changes and new features added, but it won’t give you a challenge until much later.

Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak won't convert diehard fans of older entries, but it still offers more solid hunting gameplay.

At the end of the day, Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak is loaded with even more content and more ways to play said content. The changes to the weapons, to the gear and the added variety in both monsters and locale, make this an easy recommendation for anyone who enjoys the game and wants reasons to either keep playing or to come back. If you haven’t gotten your fill of hunting monsters yet, Elgado Outpost could surely use your help.

While these wrinkles might make you want to scream at times, they’re part of what makes the series such a unique experience in today's crowded gaming market. At its heart, Monster Hunter is the ur-action game — a delightfully pure boss rush that expects patience, diligence, and a fair degree of tolerance.

Monster Hunter Rise, RPGamer's 2021 Game of the Year, has gotten a big expansion. Sunbreak does a fine job of further elevating the game.

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 terms 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 users that could totally absorb physical attacks. It feels lik...