There are two sides to Monster Hunter Rise Sunbreak: the first explores the lush jungle, searching for snails, collecting insects and chasing off small monsters. On the other side of Sun Break, hunters fall to the ground and get their keystars trampled by ravenous red-eyed monkeys. Or a huge dragon with rhino horns might one-shot you with a charge (inflicting poison).

It's a cute aspect of Monster Hunter that hunters are "stunned" when KO'd by huge raging monsters in a game built around brutal movements and a nature redolent with teeth and claws. Don't worry, it all works out. The real twist is that each mission has a limited number of continues, and after three "carts" (being taken back to base on a cat stretcher), you have to restart. 2022, after 40 minutes of hitting the wall, because you took an extra shot or made a screw-up, you have to do it all over again. It's a strange feeling to hit the wall for 40 minutes and then have to do it all over again because you took an extra shot or screwed up.

Monster Hunter Rise was released on Switch in early 2021, with a PC version coming out this January (read our review here). More in the lineage of older handheld titles than the singing and dancing Monster Hunter: World, Rise is a veritable cornucopia of weapons to try, monsters to hunt, and loot to pack (and sometimes wear) in boxes. The player's movement has also been greatly improved, making area travel seamless and more serene than the previous single-player experience.

I'm not saying that Rise is an easy game by any means. However, it is a game that most players will be able to finish, saving the real nuisances for the post-campaign hunts (one of the characteristics of Monster Hunter games is that there tend to be multiple points at which you can call it over). Also, the training wheels have really come off, as the series traditionally stops at the "High Rank" hunt, which progresses to "G Rank" and later "Master Rank".

"Monster Hunter Rise: Sun Break" is a paradisiacal addendum and a cold-hearted corrective to accommodate the more serene players of "Rise." It's geared toward the hardcore and is aimed at you almost from the get-go.

Sunbreak's opening, however, leaves something to be desired. The Hermitaurus subspecies that appears in this expansion is a crab-like enemy. While there are a few new moves and a new rise battle, this is an extremely familiar monster, and one that is not encountered.

This theme goes on longer than it should. Hunters are quickly promoted to Master rank at Sun Break, but they don't really encounter the new monsters until they are ready to be promoted to Master rank 3. However, the full-priced expansion ...... is full of fights with new monsters that only replace the palette of old monsters. Not as exciting as one might expect.

One change that was introduced almost immediately was the "switch skill swap," which basically allows you to bring two different switch skills (like special moves) into battle. This basically allows you to bring two different switch skills (meaning special moves) into battle. At first this is just a convenience, and comes with a custom-made animation that can be shifted into Dodge. Later, it becomes further woven into the hunting style by acquiring buffs that are triggered when switching skills, allowing for overkill and minimizing downtime, such as weapon sharpening.

Skill switching is something that is symbolic of Sun Break as a whole. This is a small change, but as you play more and more, it becomes apparent how much hunting improves. I mainly use a gunlance, and my switch skills are so different that I'm a bit set in my ways, but this adds a dynamism that allows me to see what is really useful against a certain monster and deploy it. This expansion means that it completes an already great hunting experience.

There are only five truly "new" monsters added to the Rise with Sunbreak, and several of them have appeared in older titles, including Espinas. However, Espinas is a good example of what SunBreak is really going for. You won't encounter this monster until Master Rank 4, at which point you should say goodbye to your mother and get all your worldly affairs in order.

Espinas is like Diablos' big, mean brother. He is a huge dragon that lunges at you repeatedly, with huge wings to dodge lazily and terrifyingly large horns that will always one-shot you. There is no fancy moveset, it just lunges at you over and over again until it catches you. This means that even if you get hit and somehow survive, you have to heal and recover from the poison while it continues to dash like Usain Bolt. Frequent stuns. Espinas hates me and I hate it.

Sun Break holds back much of what it has. New switch skills are not unlocked until master rank 4, and it is around that time that we start to see new monsters in action. Capcom may not have brought quantity in this regard, but they did bring quality.

The five new monsters feel stingy, especially the late fight and Marzeno shows absolute fireworks. This elder dragon hosts a horde of vampire moths, which can infest while hunters fly around blasting fireballs, shattering the ground, and windmilling the elements around them. Oh, and they can warp. Get the stretcher ready.

The Elder Dragon is my favorite battle in the series. Capcom's designers make you feel like the entire world around you is reacting to their presence, and Marzeno is truly a terrifying force of nature. Their armor set is also incredible, and they have added a "Blood Rite" skill that heals when you hit a broken monster part.

When faced with such a terrifying disadvantage, Sun Break offers the player a helping hand: it's followers. Normally, players can go hunting with their animal companions, but Sun Break also features fellow hunters who participate in side missions, as well as the knight Fiorain, who joins them in major story quests.

Fiorain is like a godsend and one of the best companions Capcom has ever introduced to the series. Come to think of it, she is better than some human players I know. Fiorain adds a whole new element to the series and may be an indication of where Capcom is headed in the future with regard to single-player.

The new environments seem denser than the vanilla version of "Rise," but this may be due to the expansion's addition of smaller creatures and unique elements, such as two new wire bugs. Both are mount-specific, one making the "Punisher" attack more deadly and the other increasing the drop rate from fighting monsters. In line with this, I felt that at master rank, the monsters seemed to be much more aggressive with each other than they were in the base game, but this is just my feeling.

Another aspect of Sun Break that is sealed until you face a monster like Marzenos is the secret armor set, mate, master rank layered armor ...... It is the plethora of things that have been added, including things that seem like fluff, but are very important to certain players. If you like the traditional Monster Hunter endgame, this series offers the same customization and minimax as before.

Monster Hunter Rise is the best this series has ever done, and Sun Break is just as good. It is also tougher, but feels like the right decision. For fans of the series, I might give it a 10. While it is true that the new elements are less thrilling, some of the additions are more important than they appear, and basically serve as a proper endgame to an already sprawling experience. It is more of a sunset than a sunbreak.