Capcom’s latest Monster Hunter game, Monster Hunter Rise released in March 2021 with a fairly good reception from series fans and newcomers, alike. The MonsterHunter series has always had a niche audience, but the latest title was aimed at making the game more accessible for everyone.
Though Monster Hunter Rise is smaller in size and content compared to its predecessor, Monster Hunter World, it still has a vast world full of unique monsters, and Capcom looks to be adding even more to this world with the Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak expansion. The developer recently announced that this expansion will include three free title updates for 2022, with more to come next year.
What to Expect from Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak
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Capcom announced Sunbreak as a huge expansion to go along with Monster Hunter Rise, which aims to provide players with a slue of new and improved content. The base expansion is scheduled to launch on June 30, and with it, new features, weapon balances, and more endemic life to aid the hunters in battle.
The most notable additions coming to the expansion are the story-led follower quests and new combat abilities such as the Silkbind attacks, switch skill swap, and swap evade, all of which will allow players to even further customize the attacks of each of the 14 weapons. In addition to new abilities, Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak is introducing a new difficulty level with Master Rank Quests, which will be sure to challenge Monster Hunter veterans.
The expansion also includes new locales to traverse and explore. The Citadel is a new area centered around an old castle that features a variety of different biomes, from forests to frost-covered landscapes. The trailer shown with the announcement highlighted the Jungle area which is ripe with thick greenery and waterside beaches, all of which are sure to bring new monsters and wildlife.
And, of course, Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak is introducing new varieties of monsters to fight. The Capcom Showcase highlighted the Gore Magala, Espinas, and Daimyo Hermitaur, all of whom look just as fierce and unique as every other monster in the series, and the update roadmap promised to introduce even more monsters and locales in the coming months after the expansion releases.
Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak Free Updates
The first round of updates coming to Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak is scheduled for August, just about a month after the expansion launches. This first free title update will include several more monsters and a rare monster that series regulars should be familiar with, Lucent Nargacuga, who first appeared in Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate. Along with the new monsters, the update will add special species monsters and another new locale, Forlorn Arena.
The next series of free title updates have not been as specific as the August update, but Capcom confirms that one is scheduled for Fall and the next is set for a Winter release date. Each of the other updates also promises to include more rare species and subspecies of monsters along with powered-up monsters.
If the updates follow the same trend, they will likely include some familiar monsters as well as introducing some new varieties to the Monster Hunter series. Though Capcom has not given any further details, the roadmap does state that more free title updates will continue into 2023, the developer will likely include more information closer to the release of each update.
Capcom also announced that a demo for Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak will be available as of June 14, which will allow players to partake in four quests before the release of the full expansion. This demo also includes training quests for players who may be new to the series and would like to experience it for the first time through Sunbreak.
Monster Hunter Rise is available now for PC and Switch. Sunbreak launches on June 30, 2022.
