With MHR Sunbreak releasing quite soon, Capcom released a free demo for players to try out. And with the Demo having been out for a couple days now, players may be wondering if it was any good. Of course, an analysis of the demo isn’t necessarily analysis for the full game. Regardless, there’s a lot to consider to unpack here in regards to analysis for MHR Sunbreak.
[Related: How to Download MHR Sunbreak Demo Nintendo Switch]
MHR Sunbreak Demo Overview
To start off, there are a total of four quests in the demo. Separated by difficulty, here are all the available quests in the Monster Hunter Rise Sunbreak Demo.
- Slay a Great Izuchi (Beginner)
- Slay a Tetranadon (Intermediate)
- Slay an Astalos (Expert)
- Slay Malzeno (Advanced)
These all provide ample activities and revamps from the base game. For example, Tetranadon has new move sets, making the fight far more engaging than before. Judging just from the Demo, it seems the developers understood the issues with the base game. In essence, Monster Hunter Rise was a little too easy in Monster Hunter standards of hunting. The wire bug made for some very nice changes, but made Rise far less punishing than other entries.
But in the MHR Sunbreak Demo, it’s clear that the the developers are bringing more attention to raising the difficulty curve. Astalos and Malzeno are new to Monster Hunter Rise, with Astalos having made its debut in the past, and Mazleno being a brand new entry. So how are these fights?
New Monsters
Honestly, these fights are amazing. They did a fantastic job to make the fights incredibly punishing and fast, while not in a way where they feel impossible. Therefore, learning the patterns and monster mechanics allows for skilled Monster Hunter veterans to adapt to the fight. And the move trajectories and speeds at which both Astalos and Malzeno perform their attacks make it so a poorly attempted Wire Bug won’t just allow players to avoid everything.
Time to consider the player base. For newer players, they may struggle against these monsters. Especially the Astalos and Malzeno. As a whole, Monster Hunter Rise is known as one of the easiest Monster Hunter games in the series. Therefore, this new jump in difficulty may present a little too hard for newer players. But for the veterans, it’s honestly one of the best additions to the game. Hopefully the rest of the huntable monsters in Sunbreak will hold themselves accountable to the quality of life changes presented in the ones in the demo. And honestly, even more difficulty would be appreciated as well.
Weapon Changes
One of the biggest, most anticipated changes were to the weapons. And though the writer didn’t have a chance to try all the weapons, he did try a handful. For that handful, the writer loved the changes. For example, the Switch Axe now has a counter in its Wire bug attacks. This is huge in regards to increasing the weapon’s versatility. Though the counter isn’t the most intuitive in regards to controls to use, once players understand how to trigger it, the SA counter is incredibly powerful.
Also, the Dual Blades have an aerial move that finally feels substantial in regards to damage. The issue with the wire bug attacks previously for the Dual Blades was their lack of impact, especially compared to other weapon counterparts. But now, the Dual Blade wire bug move flings the user forward, dealing impressive damage while not being overly easy to just spam.
Many members of the community complained about Long Swords receiving too much love, especially in comparison to other weapons in the game. Though this still rings true, data miners discovered that the developers actually nerfed the Long Sword in Monster Hunter Sunbreak. It won’t be nearly enough to counteract the lack of love for weapons like the Lance, but at least it shows that Capcom is listening.
Customization
Something new in Monster Hunter Rise Sunbreak is the ability to switch out the Switch skills mid combat. By going into the camp, players have the option to select and change out switch skills for their specific weapons to their liking. This means players have access to every potential switch skill that they want, so long as they customize them before combat.
Easily, this makes MHR Sunbreak the most customizable Monster Hunter game in the franchise. But having so many various options for combat may realistically break the game, as players often find ways to do so. The community will have to wait until the game releases for more news on this. As a whole though, having customization makes MHR Sunbreak Demo pretty good.
In Conclusion
Not all the equipment sets in the Monster Hunter Rise Sunbreak Demo were built the same. In essence, some of the sets are kind of garbage, and definitely will hurt to play when against the Advanced and Expert level quests. And for those worried about the interface during combat, with the overly cluttered weapon controls, fret not. Players actually have the option of removing that interface, for a more streamlined view.
Hopefully this provided insight to the demo experience. As a whole, the demo was very impressive. The new map is gorgeous, and the monster animations and entries definitely received lots of love. Excitement for the main release is palpable, and sure to bring massive amounts of content for Veterans and Beginners alike.
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