Nintendo kicked off its September 2021 Direct with the announcement of Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak, a paid DLC expansion for the hit title coming to both Switch and PC next year. After that, Capcom highlighted Monster Hunter Rise and Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin during its Tokyo Game Show block, with highlights including Rise's official PC launch date and more details about Sunbreak.
While Capcom did not provide a price tag for the "massive expansion," it confirmed players will be leaving Kamura Village for a new base of operations with access to locales like ominous castle ruins: home of the expansion's flagship monster, the elder dragon Malzeno. Older monsters are also confirmed to be returning for Sunbreak, with Shogun Ceanataur being revealed at Tokyo Game Show 2021. The massive and deadly blue hermit crab has been a fan-favorite since its introduction in Monster Hunter 2, and there's room to grow its popularity now.
Shogun Ceanataur's History in Monster Hunter
Those who picked up Monster Hunter Rise as their first experience with the franchise may not understand the appeal of a giant blue crab by itself, but what makes the Carapaceon classification as a whole stand out is that many members wear the skulls of other monsters as their shell. The pink Daimyo Hermitaur, another introduced in Monster Hunter 2, is perhaps the most distinctive for wearing a Monoblos skull; which allows it to attack by thrusting its unicorn-like horn up from underground.
Shogun Ceanataur, by contrast, wears much smaller shells that can be broken and replaced (seen in the Tokyo Game Show trailer when one shell fakes-out a Royal Ludroth). Sometimes these are more generic swirly snail shells, but other times it wears the heads of Wyverns such as the stone-armored Gravios. Variants sport trophies from even more monsters, such as Plum Daimyo Hermitaur wearing a Diablos skull or Generations Ultimate's deviant Rustrazor Ceanataur wearing the Tyrannosaurus-inspired Glavenus' skull.
Monster skull shells are not the only distinctive feature for Shogun Ceanataur. Its main form of attack is lashing out at hunters using its sickle-shaped claws, which in games like Monster Hunter Generations can inflict the bleeding status. It also launches beams of water like its close relative Daimyo Hermitaur, and can attach itself to the ceiling. For the trouble of hunting this Carapaceon, hunters have previously been able to build armor with Sharpness and Expert, increasing one's weapon sharpness retention and critical hit rate.
Why Shogun Ceanataur is Perfect for Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak
Because Shogun Ceanataur has such a long history in the Monster Hunter franchise, going back to 2006, it makes sense to use the Carapaceon as a way to draw fans into buying Sunbreak upon release. It's actually surprising it wasn't included in the base game. Monster Hunter Rise focused much of its art direction and monster roster on traditional Japanese imagery and yokai, so not including a swordsman-inspired crab literally named after ancient Japanese military leaders feels like a missed opportunity.
Another reason Shogun Ceanataur seems like a perfect fit for Rise is how it would fit into the game's increased focus on monster interactions across open-world maps. The Turf War feature returned from Monster Hunter World, seeing monsters occassionally do battle with one another if they meet in the field. Shogun Ceanataur is generally considered to be an aggressive, territorial monster that is easy to imagine getting into sparring matches.
Beyond that, Shogun Ceanataur pilfering monster skulls to wear could be symbiotic with Rise's flagship monster, Magnamalo. The malicious Wyvern is known for leaving a trail of bodies behind and taking advantage of the Rampages which affect Kamura Village. Shogun Ceanataur could take advantage of this too, wearing the skull of monsters like Anjanath, or even Magnamalo itself to bring a more vicious look akin to Rustrazor's Glavenus. It would be fun to see Capcom do more with this monster, and given a "Master Rank" will be added in Sunbreak it's likely there will be a lot more surprises to anticipate.
Monster Hunter Rise is available now on Switch, with a PC port releasing January 12, 2022. Sunbreak releases summer 2022.