Monster Hunter Rise Sunbreak Monster Intros Could Take 6 Months

Monster Hunter Rise Sunbreak monster intros can take up to six months to make, according to Lead Cinematics Designer Daisuke Wakahara. An official Capcom interview with the cutscene and intro designer discussed how these videos are made. A monster intro video is essentially a five step process. Wakahara also went over how the main game and expansion’s video atmosphere changed.

Here’s Wakahara full explanation as to why a Monster Hunter Rise Sunbreak monster intro can take so long to make:

First, I have to gather information from all members of the dev team, and then determine what kind of cutscenes will be required for the game. From there, I start creating the designs for each cutscene as soon as they’ve been okayed for production. This means I first start by creating a design document, and then I hammer out the details by talking to the cutscene artists, everyone involved with other elements regarding cutscene production, and finally the Director. Once the structure and content of the movie has been decided, the actual production starts.

Generally, the production flow is as follows:
“Storyboard” > “Animatic” > “Animation & Camera work” > “Lighting & VFX” > “Sound.”

As for how long it takes to get from the storyboard to the sound production, well, it depends on the content of the cutscene, but in case of the monster intros for instance, you’re looking at about 6 months for one cutscene (of course, we work on several cutscenes simultaneously).

Wakahara also explained how the Monster Hunter Rise monster intros differed between the main game and Sunbreak expansion. He noted that since yokai were such a focus, he did research into them for each video. This ensured they had a Japanese and traditional theme. With Sunbreak, he noted that the more Western theme meant approaching each one like a fable. He also noted Tomoyoshi Kakushin played the biwa over the Rise ones, while the Sunbreak videos featured Yui Ishikawa or Valerie Arem’s narration.

Monster Hunter Rise Sunbreak is available for the Nintendo Switch and PC, and free Title Update 3 arrives on November 24, 2022.