Monster Hunter Rise is coming to PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X (along with both Xbox and PC Game Pass) on January 20, 2023, which means it will technically be one of the best games of the year for a third year in a row.
Rise was originally released on Switch in 2021 and came to PC in 2022, just in time for the incredible Sunbreak expansion. Sunbreak is still going strong, and it will continue to receive major updates even after the new console ports drop next month. The big DLC will also come to the new consoles in spring 2023, hopefully with all released title updates ready to go.
I said last year – wait, no, that was this year, and this July at that, holy shit – that I couldn't get enough of Rise and Sunbreak even after 120 hours, and my play time has since passed 200 hours on PC. Guess what? I still can't get enough. I log in hungrily to play every title update, and they're always great. The best decision Capcom's ever made is making it easier to hunt with your favorite NPCs in follower quests that feel like offline multiplayer, and this feature was greatly expanded just last month.
The latest update is also absolute catnip for min-max nerds like me because it makes getting the best charms – accessories with randomly rolled skills – much easier and less of an RNG nightmare. The ceiling for ideal armor sets keeps getting higher and higher, but the new monsters kick so much ass that I never feel overpowered. I'm not a massive fan of some of the Risen Elder Dragons, but we've got Chaotic Gore Magala back, baby, so you won't hear any complaints from me.
The steadily escalating power curve of Rise is also mirroring rising stakes for the background narrative, and everything seems to be pointing to a future update delivering an explosive sendoff in the vein of World and Iceborne's mega-bosses. I missed out on the super-endgame stuff in Iceborne because I was busy with other games, but Sunbreak has become a recurring favorite for me, and I'm excited to stick around for all the boss fights still to come.
I loved Monster Hunter Rise in 2021, I loved Sunbreak in 2022, and I'm going to keep offering my time at the altar of monster hunting in 2023. The game's only getting better, so if you're on PlayStation or Xbox, don't worry about being late to the party. Now is the best time to start.
A new Monster Hunter game is in the works at the Pokemon Unite studio.
