With the upcoming release ofMonster Hunter Rise: Sunbreakon consoles beyond Switch, many players are excited to finally test their mettle against the expanded roster of monsters. Monsters like Seregios, Espinas, and Astalos finally make their appearance in the current generation ofMonster Huntergames through Sunbreak.With a bevy of new gameplay mechanics and an entirely new tier of hunter ranks to work through,Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreakhas proven to be a worthy successor to the critically-acclaimedMonster Hunter WorldDLC, Iceborne.
Still,Monster Hunter Worldremains the best-selling entry in the franchise, having sold over 18 million copies to-date. It breathed new life into the franchise, and although Capcom has essentially sunset its support forMonster Hunter Worldin favor ofRise,Worldwould benefit from incorporating some of thenew monsters introduced in the latestMonster Huntertitle.Capcom doubled down on player accessibility inRise,butWorldstill serves as a great opportunity for Capcom to introduce players to these new monsters.
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Introducing New Players to the Monster Hunter Series
Historically,Monster Huntergames were not particularly popular outside of Japan. While each new entry has drawn substantial crowds in its home country, it wasn’t untilMonster Hunter Worldthat the series saw significant success abroad.Worldintroduced the series to a much larger demographicowing to its modernized art direction and focus on accessibility.
This new direction allowedMonster Hunter Worldto quickly climb the rankings, and Iceborne capitalized onWorld’s success by doubling down on features that made the original title appealing. Even so,Monster Hunter Worldremained true to the spirit of its predecessors, with increasingly difficult monsters that use unforgiving mechanics culminating in the release of Fatalis as the “final boss” of the game. GivenMonster Hunter Risewent in its own direction with unique mechanics all its own, players are clamoring for aproper sequel toMonster Hunter World.
Incorporating New Challenges from Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak
Monster Hunter Risecontinued to push the envelope with a greater emphasis on accessibility. No longer did players need to navigate arcane multiplayer menus and sit through unskippable cinematics before teaming up with friends. The art direction was simplified compared toWorld,a necessary concession for releasing the game exclusively on Nintendo Switch. This decision also allowed players with lower-end PCs to get in on the fun once that port hit. There’s a good case to be made for the introduction of moreMonster Hunter Worldmonsters like Nergigante inRiseas its content updates continue rolling out.
But the fact remains thatWorldholds the title of best-selling entry in theMonster Hunterseries, and despite the fact thatRisehas since released on PlayStation and Xbox consoles too, its art direction is hardly taking advantage of the massive graphical processing power offered by current-gen consoles. As a result, many players still preferMonster Hunter World’s realistic graphics and more grounded gameplay.
This is the core of the argument for introducingRise’s monsters intoWorld.Such a move would combine the best of both worlds - the ever-increasing amount of content fromRisewith the mechanics and graphical fidelity ofWorld -to satisfy players on both sides of the aisle. Until Capcom releases a new entry in theMonster Hunterseries with an uncompromising focus on current-gen consoles, players will need to continue fightingSunbreak’s new roster of monstersat a lower resolution.
Monster Hunter Riseis available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
