Capcom is preparing hunters for new challenges, with a new showcase for Monster Hunter Rise Sunbreak
Overnight Capcom hosted a direct.. I mean a Digital Event all about Monster Hunter Rise Sunbreak, where they delivered some big news about the upcoming paid expansion, launching on June 30 for both Switch and PC, first up was a new trailer.
In the trailer players get their first glimpse at a few new monsters, as well as more information about the big bad and if that wasn’t enough, Skill Switching was shown off and CPU boosted hunts, so lets break it all down, starting with the biggest monster of them all.
The game already features some insane beasts to hunt, but while they are dangerous, none are quite so deadl as the Elder Dragon Malzeno, which has the capacity to bring entire kingdoms crumbling down. Malzeno commands a mysterious swarm of parasitic entities that capture and then absorb the energy of their prey. When engaging directly in combat, the Elder Dragon attacks with an elegance and ferocity worthy of its inspiration, the vampire. Once it inflicts its prey with the “bloodblight” status, the two begin a duel to determine whose life force will run out first. Should the hunter fail, Malzeno evolves into an even more terrible form to wreak havoc on their surviving foes.
That is not the only dangerous new addition to these new lands, as a creature known as the “thousand-edged dragon”, the Flying Wyvern Seregios is making a triumphant return. This incredibly territorial combatant is known for its high-flying manoeuvres and incredibly sharp Bladescales coating its body. Hunters caught unaware when Seregios sheds its scales run the risk of receiving the “bleed” status, so they should keep their weapons sharp and their wits sharper.
In addition to returning monsters receiving new abilities and behaviours when appearing in Master Rank quests, two new subspecies for monsters introduced in Monster Hunter Rise will be arriving in the expansion. The newly unveiled Aurora Somnacanth releases a constant chilling mist that threatens to freeze anything that gets too close. This adaptation allows it to smoothly glide across ice to strike prey, and exhale a powerful ice breath. Magma Almudron on the other hand, prefers the intense heat of the Lava Caverns, and augments its attacks with molten stone to overwhelm any would-be hunters.
In order to meet these calamitous forces head-on, hunters who arrive at Elgado Outpost will need to find new ways to approach combat. While Kamura village is renowned for its unique Wirebug techniques, including Silkbind Attacks and Wyvern Riding, hunters summoned to the Kingdom will learn new Switch Skills and also have the ability to use the new Switch Skill Swap ability. Switch Skill Swap enables hunters to assign Switch Skills to two different loadouts which can be changed on the fly during a hunt.
The added flexibility of choosing which skills are best for any situation allows a practiced hunter to overcome almost any obstacle. Hunters who find themselves under attack while performing a Switch Skill Swap can also perform a Swap Evade in any direction to avoid danger, or reposition for a continued assault.
Finally, what was hinted at in the end of the trailer were the new Follower Quests and in these single player hunts, players can take on quests with their favourite story characters. Each Follower has their own specialization, and will even assist players by recovering their health, placing traps, and even riding monsters to turn the tide of battle. Members of Elgado Outpost such as Fiorayne, Luchika, Jae, Admiral Galleus, and Master Arlow will be accessible as Followers, in addition to members of Kamura Village such as Hinoa and Minoto. Players will unlock Followers as they progress through the story, and can even earn exclusive rewards for completing Follower Quests.
If you want to learn more about each of the above topics, you can watch the entire presentation below, it goes for around 15 minutes and does include the trailer from above, so if you have already seen that, you can save a few.
Finally, there is some good news for anyone who missed out on the Switch Pro Controller last year, that featured the Monster Hunter Rise Gold print, as a new Sunbreak DLC themed Pro Controller is coming. Featuring Malzeno on it, complete with the bloodblight attack, the new controller colouring is Silver, which would pair very nicely with the Gold print from last year, should you want both. The controller is set to release the same day as the DLC, with users able to buy it direct from Nintendo here, or at selected retailers. RRP for it is $109.95
