Over six years ago, Capcom released Monster Hunter Stories on the Nintendo 3DS. Monster Hunter Stories was a drastic shift in comparison to traditional Monster Hunter, trading its real-time action combat for a turn-based system. On top of introducing an entirely different battle system, Monster Hunter Stories put players in control of a Rider instead of a Hunter, which saw them befriending monsters and riding them, as opposed to simply hunting them down for crafting materials and new armor and weapon designs. Now, Monster Hunter Stories is making a comeback to the Nintendo Switch, PS4, and PC via Steam with remastered visuals and fully-voiced characters on June 14, 2024, and The Best War Games recently spent a little time previewing the game.
There's not a lot new here in terms of content from the original game, at least as far as the preview is concerned. Still, the biggest additions to this version of Monster Hunter Stories are HD visuals, a fully-voiced cast of characters, and a Museum Mode that shows some of the game's original artwork. Even without much "new" content, the remaster of Monster Hunter Stories accomplishes what it set out to do, based on our time with the game.
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The Story of Monster Hunter Stories
The preview included a surprising amount of Monster Hunter Stories' story, leading up to around its halfway mark. Those looking for a traditional Monster Hunter experience likely won't find what they're looking for here, as Monster Hunter Stories takes the DNA of the franchise and flips it on its head. Specifically, rather than focusing on hunting monsters, Monster Hunter Stories is all about befriending monsters. That's not to say there isn't a monster-hunting element to it, as that's where the game's combat comes in, but the sole focus of the narrative is its Pokemon-esque premise.
In Monster Hunter Stories, players assume the role of a Rider, one belonging to a group of outsiders in the world of Monster Hunter who specialize in stealing eggs from Monster Dens and hatching them. Once hatched, these "Monsties" serve as both mounts and partners in combat. The story of Monster Hunter Stories is otherwise fairly typical for a Monster Hunter game: something has gone wrong with the monsters in the region, driving them to commit horrible acts of violence they wouldn't normally commit otherwise. The player is then tasked with uncovering the reason behind these violent attacks and saving the monsters (and the world) in the process.
One of the most significant changes made to the Monster Hunter Stories remaster is the addition of voice acting, which brings the story alive in a way the original couldn't. Navirou, the Felyne who also makes a star appearance in the sequel, is especially entertaining and brings energy to the narrative's cut scenes that the silent player character cannot. If anything, the added voice acting transforms this typical JRPG into more of a playable anime.
Monster Hunter Stories' Pokemon-like Gameplay
Monster Hunter Stories is a true spin-off, being as atypical as possible, even though it shares the same DNA. In a way, Monster Hunter Stories could be considered a tutorial of sorts for the mainline Monster Hunter series, as it introduces many features and mechanics traditional to the series while still being a hugely accessible experience. In fact, the only time Monster Hunter Stories gets difficult is when inadequate time is spent on the game's side quests, since doing those can offer players plenty of experience and materials for upgraded armor and weapons.
Aside from Monster Hunter Stories' narrative, its core gameplay loop is essentially Pokemon with a Monster Hunter skin. Rather than hunting monsters, players are encouraged to seek out Monster Dens and retrieve eggs from the nests inside them. These eggs can then be taken to the Stables and hatched to provide players with Monstie companions of varying types, abilities, and appearances. Riders typically look down on Hunters, as they believe hunting down monsters for sport or personal benefit is inhumane.
Monster Hunter Stories' side quests are fairly standard for Monster Hunter, consisting primarily of fetch and kill quests. They are highly rewarding, however, as doing enough of them before progressing the story can leave players being overpowered for the more powerful monsters that lie in wait ahead of them. Side quests are also a great way to explore the now-vibrant and heavily saturated HD world of Monster Hunter Stories, which has plenty to discover. However, it is worth mentioning that many of the world's most valuable areas require players to recruit Monsties with the traversal mechanics necessary for reaching them. Areas blocked by boulders or only accessible by climbable vines will usually call for players to find a Monstie with that traversal skill and then come back to the area later.
Monster Hunter Stories' Rock-Paper-Scissors Combat
Unlike mainline Monster Hunter, Monster Hunter Stories' combat arguably isn't as much of a priority as its story. In fact, it's often possible to venture into a Monster Den and leave with an egg without ever fighting a single battle. Even so, it's impossible not to spend a significant amount of time in combat, even when solely focusing on the story. With such a light emphasis on combat, it thus makes sense that it would also be highly intuitive and require very little from players in terms of strategic planning.
Monster Hunter Stories' combat is essentially one big game of Rock, Paper, Scissors; specifically, the main combat loop involves choosing between one of three different attack types: Power, Speed, and Technical. These three attacks function similarly to Pokemon's elemental affinity system, in that each attack type has a strength and weakness. For example, Power attacks are strong against Technical attacks and weak against Speed attacks, whereas Speed attacks are strong against Power attacks and weak against Technical attacks. When battling, players need to predict what type of attack the enemy will be using and then use the type of attack that the enemy's attack is weak to. While it's possible to learn what attack types monsters prefer, they often change their patterns, especially as players begin encountering more challenging monsters.
When players attack a monster that is targeting them, they will enter a Head-to-Head with that monster. If the player's attack is strong against the monster's, they will deal more damage to the monster and take less in return; if the Head-to-Head is a stalemate, both the player and the monster will receive the same amount of damage; and if the player's attack is weak against the monster's, the player will take more damage and the monster will take less. If players can manage to win three consecutive Head-to-Heads, the monster will become downed and unable to take any action for one turn, but this can also happen to the player and their Monsties.
Players also have access to a variety of special skills in Monster Hunter Stories' combat, like Resting to recover HP, increasing an ally's attack, or dealing special damage to an enemy. As players perform actions alongside their Monsties, their Kinship with that Monstie will increase, granting them points toward their Kinship Charge that they can spend on special skills during battle. Once a player's Kinship Charge reaches a high enough amount, players can then ride their Monstie and perform special, powerful Kinship attacks. Finally, upon reaching a certain part of the story, players will be able to use Synergy Effects, which activate upon wearing equipment that matches the Monstie brought into battle. Synergy Effects decrease the Kinship Charge cost of ordering them to perform combat actions.
Monster Hunter Stories' Gear and Monstie Progression
For the most part, Monster Hunter Stories' gear progression works similarly to mainline Monster Hunter games, although gear takes a bit of a backseat to Monstie progression in this game. Gear progression in Monster Hunter Stories is massively simplified to be more commonplace for a more typical RPG, giving players less customization in their builds in exchange for a much simpler system that makes gear easily replaceable. In the end, it comes down to preferring which piece of gear has better stats than the rest.
Monster Hunter Stories' main form of progression takes into account the game's premise of befriending monsters. Alongside the regular loop of finding eggs and hatching them to produce Monsties, players can eventually participate in the Rite of Channeling, a special system that allows players to customize their Monsties to suit their battle needs. In the Rite of Channeling, Monsties can be "absorbed" into other Monsties to transfer their genes over and therefore their skills. This can not only change the appearance of Monsties but also their elemental skills.
Based on our time with Monster Hunter Stories during the hands-on preview, everything that made the original game the experience that it was is still there. Additionally, the extensive amount of time we got to spend with the game during the preview also likely meant we saw most of what the full game would offer. Despite Monster Hunter Stories' age, the addition of remastered visuals and voices for each of the game's characters may be more than enough to pull in modern audiences, even those unfamiliar with the Monster Hunter franchise.
Monster Hunter Stories releases on Nintendo Switch, PS4, and PC on June 14, 2024.
Monster Hunter Stories
- Released
- October 8, 2016
WHERE TO PLAY
Monster Hunter Stories is an RPG that takes the world of Monster Hunter and expands upon it in new and exciting ways! No longer are you hunting monsters, but raising them! In this deep story featuring heroes known as Monster Riders, you will live alongside monsters and form lifelong bonds with them.
STORY
As the hero of the story, you were born in a village of Riders who raise monsters for a living. You’ll overcome trials and tribulations as you grow as a Rider, and leave your village to embark on an adventure. Your destination: the world of Hunters, who make their living by hunting monsters. Although their lifestyles are vastly different, you must learn to live and work together with Hunters, and in turn, bring the world of Hunters and Riders ever closer.
Things take a dark turn as a calamity known as the Black Blight appears, threatening the entire world and upending peaceful lives that were taken for granted... Both Riders and Hunters alike will be put to the test in order to challenge this threat.
The keys to saving the world are the Kinship Stone and its hidden power, along with the truth of the “Legend of Redan,” which describes the long-kept secret of the Riders’ origins! Along your epic journey, you will discover the true meaning of Kinship, which grows as your bonds deepen! A story of friendship and triumph await you—ride on into the world of Monster Hunter Stories!
- ESRB
- Everyone 10+ / Crude Humor, Fantasy Violence, Mild Language, Users Interact
- Developer(s)
- Capcom, Marvelous
- Publisher(s)
- Capcom, Nintendo
- Engine
- MT Framework
- Franchise
- Monster Hunter
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo 3DS, PC, Android, iOS
- Genre(s)
- RPG, Action-Adventure
- How Long To Beat
- 36 hours
