It's hard to come off the coattails of MHW Iceborne, but this entry is really solid, and does a lot of things better than Iceborne too. My main issue with Rise is that while the combat is flashy and fun, I can't help but feel it makes fighting monsters a little less intimate than before. I've put far less effort into recognizing telegraphed attacks because I'll get by just fine through generous counter windows, wire bug attacks, and some beefy ass hits. I miss the environmental hazards and more grounded approach that previous entries had. Weapons are all extremely powerful, perhaps too powerful, with not a single one being notably outclassed.

That being said, I'm still very glad this exists on its own. It's nice to have a Monster Hunter game that's a bit more like Dynasty Warriors, especially with combat so buttery smooth. Many new creatures are so well designed and fit right in with the old, looking at you Magnamalo. World traversal and wirebug recovery moves also take a lot of the sluggishness away that exists in other games, and I think that's a great choice for this more amped up combat style.

While I prefer the approach earlier entries had to combat more, I still really respect this game because it knows exactly what it is. A fun, flashy, sometimes mindless ARPG with some great creatures and weapons to explore. This is a quality game, it's really a matter of preference between this game's approach and World's approach.

Si ya vieron mi review de Rise, sabrán lo que opino del juego... Aunque incluso teniendo una switch me espere hasta que saliera la versión de PC e incluso en su momento tuve que comprarme una nueva laptop solo para jugarlo y también lo preordene, la diversión no duro más de 3 o 4 meses ya que había hecho todo y más que ofrecía el juego.

Mi hype por la expansión se fue y simplemente pase de él y ni siquiera sabia que monstruos o cosas nuevas traía. No fue sino hasta el mes pasado, mas de 1 año después de la salida de la expansión, que decidí comprarla y... Al principio es cierto que fue mas o menos divertido y me vicie por semanas jugándolo, pero al final no como el juego base, esa diversión no duro mucho y al final se volvio repetitivo y aburrido y ni siquiera menciono el tema de que el online esta muertísimo y las únicas veces donde puedes jugar con alguien son los fin de semana o en la noche.

Al final si considero a Sunbreak como mejor que el juego base, pero tiene el mismo problema que Rise que después de llegar a MR200, tener mi build meta y hacer algunas misiones más de evento, al final se vuelve aburrido, ya que se siente sin contenido real y no hay una razon real para seguir jugandolo...

Tal vez soy yo el problema? Ya MH no es para mí? Incluso juegos como portable 3rd que ni siquiera tiene online oficial ni tampoco rango G al final me le dedique muchas más horas que a Rise (y ni hablar de world que es al que menos jugué).

EDIT 25/4/2024: no he vuelto a tocar Rise ni me interesa, pero viendolo en retrospectiva aunque mantengo lo que dije, he sido un poco duro con Sunbreak y le he subido un poco el score

for sake of comparison, I have 270 hours of total playtime in monster hunter world and I haven't finished g-rank yet but surprisingly I finished sunbreak main campaign in 112h of total playtime, for sure rise + sunbreak is made with portable series mentality, a lot of experimentation and the expansion is far too easy compared to iceborne or gen u due to the companion you can bring while playing solo in the hunt and others features.
it's MH can't go wrong. (thank god there's no more rampage quests)

Talvez esse seja meu Monster Hunter favorito, essa expansão traz toda a simplicidade das hunts que adoro no Rise, mas tira as rampage quests que eu odiava, adiciona os melhores monstros do jogo e novas habilidades ótimas, e um sistema de upgrade para as armas no endgame que te faz querer continuar jogando.

Eu ainda acho o World um jogo melhor, mas me diverti mais com o Rise e ele me prendeu mais, o wirebug deixou tudo mais rapido e dinâmico além de focarem no que mais gosto, lutar contra os montros, deixando as investigações de lado.

Monster Hunter Rise is as solid as ore, albeit as dry the Sandy Plains as the base launch of World was. However, it makes up for it in the post-launch support, as all of these games do. Props to Capcom Division 2 for the foundation they've laid for the series and improved on.

Kamura's Feudal Architecture, the cobble-stone paving, the colorful Sashimono banners all add to the overall aesthetic of the game, one that's greatly appreciated and pits 1-to-1 with Pokke Village as a favorite. This home-yness incremented by the still 1-dimensional but not as vapid cast as the last game cast of this game, the 2 𝑀𝒾𝓈𝓉𝓇𝑒𝓈𝓈𝑒𝓈 Hinoa & Minoto being best gals, fite me. All of it lends toward the best mood and art direction in the series, beating out the rather bland, at least in my opinion, I know I know jalapeño popper take, jurassic direction of World that MH7 (not 6, fuck y’all, Rise is 6!) will also have.

So too are the maps teaming with with life thrice over, of all trophic levels. Life that gives to an ecology that feels alive, even if it isn’t truly alive. All beset with that life not just being set-dressing, but aiding/ailing in moment to moment gameplay. Stone Lizards that drop Spheres, stat boosting Spiri-birds, Great Izuchi calling on a pack of Smaller Izuchi to gank you dank swords style, or Icy Tundras where you'll face upon Lagombi who'll lead you into a pit infested with those STINGY BASTARDS... gripe aside.

Herein, you're to be fixated on the staple gameplay loop of Monster Hunter that you either couldn't get into or never got tired of, no in-between, slaying monsters and accruing all manner of Pelts, Fangs, Horns, or other bodily features via an actually well balanced RNG Loot system that's woven with an Upgrade system that's divided by Armor Sphere spending and deck allotting, usually to three slots per armor variant max all available at the Smithy after certain HR levels are reached, all while new Silkbind moves for your weapon of choice open, Camp-grounds from a previous expedition are opened, you deck your buddies out with the same set as you or a different set hey maybe you're into fashion hunter, no knock against ya, and they push you along to grind s'more.

Oh right Silkbinds, so it's a Feux-Hunter Art system where you get one or two special moves depending on what class you're into, which changes up gameplay lots and adds more depth and breadth to a game that already has it in spades. As an Insect Glaive main I really like that I get to do a spinny move that finally looks different than the spinny move I've been accustomed to since the damn thing was introduced in 4, I was stuck with the Tetraseal for a while and the range sucks but Diving Wyvern's a fucking GODSEND, AAAAND the Kinsect recall that nets you two buffs instead of one kind of broke the game in a really good way for me. Can’t speak for mains of other weapons as each one has a meta and I only dabbled in such stuff like the Hunting Horn and heard from long-time mains that it got downgraded, but point is the game has sooooooooooo much player choice it's insane

And as an Impromptu bookend to this review since I'm a bad writer and don't know how to review games, the game has soooooooooo much player choice it's insane… But no really, give Monster Hunter Rise a go. It’s never been a better time to get into the franchise, which is coming from a vet that started at Tri on the Wii back in the olden days. With such a polished, streamlined, and fun game that honors the series legacy, it's a hardy ass recommendation from me, a nobody on the internet. Buy the game basically, it's really good, and it applies to every monster hunter game ever too, this is a review of every game in the series if you look at it that way. Grab three buddies and go slay a Rathalos or something. Thanks for reading if and when you do or did.

Yeah baby, MONSTER HUNTER!

Rise, depending on who you ask, was a pretty good experience, but didn't offer a lot for people wanting to sink time into a new monster hunter. There are many people that, at the time, wanted to jump back to world, and used the disparity in content between the games to herald their supremacy of world>rise (which, is a wholly unfair comparison at the time since rise didn't have an expansion). so, with sunbreak being announced, and now fully released, how does it stand up to the monster that was world + iceborne?

WOOOOOOO ITS SO GOOD LIKE HOLY SHIT, two new maps that were fantastic additions to rise's (admittedly) very average base map roster, a BOMBASTIC monster cast with honest to god NO horrible fights (yes, even magma almudron). All the weapons got fancy shmancy new wirebug moves, and i think sunbreak is the closest a game has ever been to have every weapon be strong and balanced at endgame (lance being the biggest exception, with some others im surely forgetting). The post-game update cycle also didnt have the issue that Iceborne's had where each update made the last one's builds irrelevant, but instead would bring either lots or no changes depending on what weapon you used. I'm mixed on this, as I think it's probably better for the game, but I also mained Gunlance for sunbreak and didn't see ANY build/meta changes until like... the second to last update.

Despite my rating, I still don't think sunbreak is perfect. backloggd doesnt have a 4.9/5 option so I just gotta round up. The endgame grind, while it's probably one of the better monster hunter ones, still really doesn't serve a purpose other than "fight bigger and badder versions of existing monsters" and hardcore min-maxxing your sets. It also feels like player power creep hit SERIOUS levels here, to a point where I feel like we need a refresh with MH Wilds so we don't hit god level powers. As much as I loved wirebugs they absolutely need to stay in this title.

The WORST thing sunbreak did, hands down, isnt an issue with the game itself: this game brought out the ugliest people from both sides of the monster hunter fandom, with World Defenders and Rise Defenders at eachothers throats 24/7 about which game is better. People claim to be super hardcore MH fans and then act VILE online anytime the game they don't like is brought up. I then challenge you to think, would a true fan not love every child, even the ugly ones? But still, online discussion of any monster hunter past GU is pretty much ruined due to how loud these people are and it's honestly pretty rough. I hark back to the days when the MH fandom was less toxic before World came out (i wont say it was all sunshine and rainbows lol) but, such is the burden of popularity.

I can't talk enough about how much fun I had with Sunbreak. If you thought base Rise was just okay, and that it could've been a bit better in some places, this expansion 100% fills those holes. If you're afraid to hop into Rise because of how used you are to World, get out of your comfort zone a little bit. You're missing some seriously good monsters here.

This game sucks because it's not kino. In all seriousness, this game is not a bad Monster Hunter, those exist and this game is way far above them. If we're being real and I am allowed to stash away my hate-boner for Rise for a moment, the game genuinely isn't bad. It's actually got some really great things going for it, the problem is they didn't fucking finish the game again so it sucks if you had gotten it when it came out. It's balance is better than 4U's and XX's for sure but, those are not high bars to clear. Wirebugs still suck, the progression sucks, the "difficulty" is built around AoEs and instant-kill moves to "compensate" for how busted and overtuned they made the player characters, it has too many MMO elements bc they want to replace Frontier for some reason, you know that game that failed for being fucking ass. At least it has a respectable (although far, far from perfect) monster roster and the skill meta isn't that fucked. No Fatalis armor bullshit. The charm system sucks, and the augmentation is the worst thing the franchise has done, above Hyper monsters and the Temporal Mantle. 1 in 7.6 billion odds to get what you want? Fuck you.