When I reviewed Monster Hunter Rise on PS5 earlier this year, I mentioned how the only disappointment was it releasing without Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak available at the same time. Having finished the base game and done some of the postgame on PS5, I went back to my main saves on Switch and PC to continue grinding and doing the events. I just assumed that Capcom would eventually bring Sunbreak to PlayStation and Xbox once all the title updates were done later in the year. I was wrong, and Capcom is releasing Sunbreak this week for PlayStation and Xbox, and it will be two major updates behind the PC and Switch versions. In this Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak PS5 review, I’m going to cover the state of Monster Hunter Rise on PS5, whether it is worth jumping in now, and what PS5 players have to look forward to over the coming months.
Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak on PS5 is the third time I’ve played the expansion for review now. I covered it on both Switch and Steam for its original launch last year. We even awarded Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak our overall Game of the Year for 2022. If you haven’t played Sunbreak on a prior system, I’d recommend reading my review of the expansion on PC here, Steam Deck performance review here, and Nintendo Switch review here to know more about the core experience. I’m not going to spend much time covering those aspects in this review. While Sunbreak was already amazing last year at launch, the free title updates have only made it better, and launching with 13.0.0 means PS5, Xbox, and PS4 players are getting a much better Sunbreak experience from the get go.
In its current state, the few complaints I had with Sunbreak’s campaign from launch still apply here. The pace at which new monsters are introduced to players is too slow. Sunbreak brings in Master Rank, and while the new moves and difficulty of existing monsters is great, the pacing could’ve been better for the early parts of the game. The new and returning monsters in Sunbreak are all excellent. Even the variants are great. Despite this expansion being nearly a year old, I will not be spoiling the final boss. I’ll just say that it is quite the spectacle.
In terms of content and updates, Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak on PS5 is at version 13.0.0 as of this writing. This means it includes Title Update 1, Title Update 2, and Title Update 3 with a plethora of event quests up to whatever Switch and PC had as of February this year. This means it arrives with more monsters, mechanics, quests, fixes, and adjustments than the initial Sunbreak release. With updates, Capcom improved what was already a good postgame, and expanded on all the good aspects of Sunbreak. Title Update 3 in particular featuring Chaotic Gore Magala and more felt like Capcom was catering to players like myself who spent a ton of time with Sunbreak, rather than just adding new content for those who finished the main story and dropped the game. Striking the balance between bringing content for casual and hardcore players is hard, but I’ve been very pleased with how Capcom has handled Sunbreak since launch including the two updates that PS5, PS4, and Xbox players are yet to get.
I also wanted to comment on the online experience in Monster Hunter Rise across all platforms. While I couldn’t test it pre-release in January, having now spent a few months with Monster Hunter Rise (the base game) on PS5, I’ve been surprised at how active the playerbase is at almost all times of the day. Matchmaking is super fast even for late game hunts, events, and some of the postgame I’ve been doing before getting review code for Sunbreak on PS5. In a lot of ways, my online experience on PS5 has been as good as the one on Switch with how quickly I’m able to find hunts and have people join my quests. Both of these are massively better than things on Steam where I only really play online if my friends want to play. I barely find anyone online when trying to join specific quests.
It is unfortunate that Capcom couldn’t release Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak on PlayStation and Xbox platforms with Title Update 5 included. Barring that, I have no complaints with Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak on PS5. PlayStation owners are getting one of Capcom’s best games ever here, and those who skipped Monster Hunter Rise to buy it with the expansion are getting an even better deal. I’m looking forward to playing the various postgame quests, events, and taking on more of the Risen Elder Dragons with everyone when the expansion goes live for all on April 28 on both PlayStation and Xbox platforms.
Note: This review focuses on the current state of Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak on PS5 and covers what players need to know. For a full review of Sunbreak itself, check out our detailed review here.
