Games of the Year

RPGFan Games of the Year 2022: Best DLC

GOTY 2022 Best DLC Monster Hunter Rise Sunbreak

Winner: Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak

Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak is, quite possibly, the ultimate DLC. It adds new locales, new monsters, new mechanics, new weapons, new armor, and, best of all: new difficulty. It also offers a whole new story, great new characters, and a dizzying array of new features for every type of hunter out there. Taking NPCs out on solo hunts ensures every hunter has the support they need, and the addition of an Investigation-like system (ala Monster Hunter World: Iceborne) scratches the itch for repeatable, semi-random content. Yet the best part of Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak is everything it fixes from the base game. Encounters are challenging, build variety is wildly diverse, and the weapons’ movesets feel like the closest to perfect they have ever been. Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak makes Rise one of the best Monster Hunter games to date, and it paints a very bright future for the series.

by Des Miller


Runner-Up: Boyfriend Dungeon: Secret Weapons

The Secret Weapons DLC provides an opportunity to return to the compelling and surprisingly addicting world of Boyfriend Dungeon while meeting new potential suitors, battling through a brand-new dungeon, discovering additional story scenes, and hearing awesome new music tracks. Fans of Boyfriend Dungeon will undoubtedly say “Yes, please!” to this DLC! Secret Weapons probably won’t change anyone’s opinion if they weren’t fans of the base game, but the DLC provides additional content for those smitten with the idea of developing rapports with their sentient weapons, and newcomers curious about the visual novel/dungeon crawler/dating sim hybrid. Best of all? Secret Weapons is a free DLC expansion!

by Audra Bowling


Readers’ Choice: Best DLC

Winner: Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak

Runner-Up: Stranger of Paradise Final Fantasy Origin

Des Miller

Des Miller

Des is a reviews editor, writer, and resident horror fan. He has a fondness for overlooked, emotionally impactful, and mechanically complex games - hence his love for tri-Ace and Gust. When he's not spending hours crafting in Atelier or preaching about Valkyrie Profile, he can usually be found playing scary games in the dark. With headphones. As they should be played.