For the past few years the Monster Hunter franchise has seen a rapid increase in worldwide popularity. Monster Hunter Rise continued this trend, managing to see huge success while only releasing on two different platforms. In line with previous titles, it was announced that Rise would be seeing an expansion in the form of Sunbreak which planned to bring new story, locales and monsters for hunters to take on in fierce battle. The question therein is if Sunbreak goes far enough?

Following the end of base Rise, a far off land has come under attack by a ferocious monster that hasn't appeared in nearly fifty years. They seek the help of the hero of Kamura village and hope they can assist in the onslaught of monsters causing havoc across the land. This request comes from Dame Fiorayne, sister to the traveling merchant Rondine, who assisted in defending Kamura's hunters from a rogue Lunagaron who appeared in the Shrine Ruins while on a hunt. It seems the dark dragon Malzeno is spreading a blight across the land, but it will take brave hunters to put an end to it once and for all. That is, assuming, it's the only nefarious creature at play here. While Monster Hunter is not a series that puts much focus on its story, Sunbreak actually manages to tie an interesting narrative into the usual slaying the next big monster scenario. It helps that Rise is the first title to truly name its characters instead of referring to them with titles, making them much more memorable in the long run. While the story may not be winning any awards, it puts investment in the endearing cast and gets any hunter pumped up to help out and see the chaos through to the end.

The biggest draw of Monster Hunter itself is, of course, the combat. The heavy action in boss fight after boss fight with a variety of fourteen unique weapon types is the draw. Rise introduced us to switch bind skills and attacks, and Sunbreak has expanded on that in the best of ways and introduced Switch Skill Swap, which at any given moment in combat can change a hunter's main switch skill moveset. This is a fully-customizable feature that allows players to not have to give up their favorite skills in favor for another, or allow them to change on the fly depending on their opponent. It also while in use offers players invincibility frames with a dodge move making it an invaluable asset to any weapon's arsenal. There are also a good handful of new skills that hunters gain through story progression with their individual value depending on the weapons each person enjoys. Regardless it's nice to see this feature expanded upon in new creative ways that feel natural without breaking the flow of gameplay.

Sunbreak adds what every previous Monster Hunter title has in their subsequent expansions, Master Rank, previously known as G Rank. This brings out the hardest quests the titles have to offer and Sunbreak is no exception. In previous titles these expansions would also include a continuation to the single player quests but here that isn't the case and instead we get an entirely new style called Follower Quests. These allow players to go out on a Master Rank level hunt alongside NPCs who have either requested the hunter's help, or of the hunter's choosing depending on the quest. Pre-release it was hard to tell if these would be fun; the fear of terrible AI was high and whether or not they would be good allies or just dead weight. Fortunately that fear has been completely alleviated as these allies are a joy to fight alongside. Not only do they help out with healing and won't take away carts if they fall in battle, they'll actively seek out monsters to ride in order to help during the fight even if they've previously been ridden. Follower Quests replace the single player entirely but are a fun new way to enjoy playing solo, while also offering a meaty variety of quests and solid challenges within those quests. It also just feels great to fight along these named characters we've come to know and love. A wonderful detail is that each character has their own set of weapons that they are good at, so when participating in support surveys and picking two party members to come along, hunters can select between characters and preferred weapons of their choice. Don't want to get knocked around by a long sword? No worries, there's plenty of other weapons to choose from. A wonderful attention to detail is also that the only character capable of using every weapon at his disposal is the iconic Master Utsushi.

Elgado is the main outpost where players gather and hunter together, and it's a wonderfully endearing place. The new music across the board is simply fantastic as per the usual for Monster Hunter and the new locales make a fantastic addition to this title. The Citadel map in particular offers up a lot to explore, while also being a fun map with tons of ways to take down monsters. After the main story is said and done Sunbreak has hunters get new access to a brand new challenge known as Anomaly quests. These have fierce creatures that have become deadly with an affliction that's slowly destroying them and they must be put down before too late. These offer challenging quests that also offer many items that hunters will need in order to max out their gear and some of the most difficult content to take on. This, along with completing other quests to make armor and weapons, creates a fantastic endgame grind that gives players a lot to look towards. The only flaw being how long it takes to increase a hunter's Master Rank, but given how many quests are available and grinding to be done, it ends up going by quickly when not paying attention.

Closing Comments: 

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 fantastic Monster Hunter package who hasn't already picked it up needs to dive into Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak and begin one of the best hunts to date.