Introduction
I couldn’t be more happy with Sunbreak than I am now.
Capcom’s showcase finally aired live on the 13th of June. They had a variety of games and updates to talk about. How good the showcase was is… a topic for another time. But for now, let’s focus on Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak because it very well stole the show along with Resident Evil Village.
After an amazing new trailer showing the variety of the new monsters, they went on to explain what we’ve seen. They also shared some exciting information outside of the trailer. Let’s get into what they had to share with us.
New Map-Jungle
If you’ve seen any of my coverage on Sunbreak’s new information, you’d know the main thing I wanted was more than one map to be revealed. So I was very happy to see that the trailer began with a look at a map returning from Monster Hunter 2, the Jungle. I missed the opportunity to play that game since I started at Monster Hunter Tri, so I’m really looking forward to exploring the area and discovering the endemic life within it.
New/Returning Monsters
During the Capcom showcase they announced 4 new/returning monsters. These monsters are the Espinas, Gore Magala, Daimyo Hermitaur, and the Pyre Rakna Kadaki. In this section I plan to breakdown each of these Monsters and tell you why I look forward to fighting them along with some of the things that I believe can be improved on so lets get started.
Espinas
The first monster we see is a monster returning from the “Monster Hunter Frontier” series, Espinas. The design really does the name justice, with it being covered in many thorns. I also really like how it can be docile but turn violent in the face of possible danger. Initially docile large monsters are always interesting and it’s something I’d love to see more of in the series, so Espinas is a very welcomed addition for me.
Gore Magala
Speaking of welcomed additions, Gore Magala is back as well. I’m sure this is a monster that needs no explanation, so I won’t say much. What I will say is that it looks absolutely amazing in this game. I’d love to see how the armor looks this time around. Maybe we’ll also get Shagaru Magala added as well?
Daimyo Hermitaur
Next up is Daimyo Hermitaur. Ever since Shogun Ceanataur was revealed, it was to be expected that Daimyo Hermitaur would return. I love the new attack it has when it drives its claw into the ground after a sidestep. Speaking of Shogun Ceanataur, we also finally got some in-game footage of the monster in action. It has an attack where it sharpens its long claws before swinging them forward. I definitely expect there to be quests where we have to fight the two at the same time.
Pyre Rakna Kadaki
And finally, there’s a new subspecies, Pyre Rakna Kadaki. To be honest, I’m a bit disappointed with this one. It’s not really the fault of the monster because it looks cool, but this is the third subspecies we’ve gotten with a fiery spin on it. It’s made even worse by the fact that this last one is on a monster that already uses fire. The explosiveness is a nice touch, and the fire traveling along the silk it spits is an amazing looking attack, but I feel like they could’ve just given that attack to the regular Rakna Kadaki in the Master Rank and make its subspecies more unique.
Also, they apparently plan on revealing more monsters before the DLC comes out. That raises quite a few questions, like how much more they plan to show and when they’ll do it, because the DLC drops very soon. Not that I’m complaining, I can’t get enough of Sunbreak news and I’ll always welcome more information, as long as nothing very important gets spoiled. On a side note, the music that played during that trailer is something I need in my life.
Latest Information-The Demo is Real!
Another thing I wanted was a demo for the DLC, but I had zero faith that we’d actually get one. I am so happy to say that I was wrong. Not only are we getting a demo, but it comes out on the 14th, which is today as of writing this. I’m definitely gonna be up all night trying out the new Switch Skills, especially for the Gunner weapons.
In the demo, we have three new quests. The first shown is an expert quest where we can take on Astalos in the new Jungle area (which also had some gameplay footage in the previous trailer). There’s also an intermediate quest where we can fight Tetranadon, and an advanced quest where we can fight Malzeno. There’s also the beginner quest where you can fight the Great Izuchi, and tutorial quests to teach you the basics. There’s a new tutorial quest to teach players how to use the Switch Skill Swap function.
Free Title Updates
This pleasantly surprised me. They’ve mentioned many many times before that we’d have free title updates after Sunbreak launched. While I didn’t have an issue with this at all, I thought it’d be similar to how they’ve released them for the base game with collaborations, so I never understood why they made it a big deal to mention it each time. However, with a new video, they show not only another location, Forlorn Arena, but they also reveal another monster new to Monster Hunter Rise, Lucent Nargacuga.
Along with other rare and special species of monsters, the new monster and map will come out in August. There will also be more free title updates adding new monsters throughout the year, all the way into 2023.
Conclusion
And that’s all there was. Again, how great the whole Capcom showcase was is a different topic. But the nine minutes we got of Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak was amazing all the way through. I really can’t wait until it releases on the 30th of June.
What did you think of what was shown off? Was there anything in particular you were very excited about? Will you be playing the demo? Was there anything else in the entire showcase you enjoyed? I’d love to hear your thoughts.