At this point, everyone knows what Monster Hunter is. What first started as an ultra-popular multiplayer series in Japan is now a worldwide phenomenon. Sometime before Capcom had released Monster Hunter World and turned the series into an international hit, they released a spin-off for the 3DS called Monster Hunter Stories. Now eight years removed from that initial release, Monster Hunter Stories has received a remaster, bringing with it many improvements.
Man’s Best Friend?
On the outskirts of civilization, there rests a place called Hakum Village. Rather than hunt monsters and make boots out of their skins like the rest of the world, the people of Hakum Village live in harmony with monsters. Those who are adept at controlling and bonding with monsters are dubbed Riders, defenders of Hakum Village. While an illustrious and well-respected position, Riders may never leave Hakum Village once they are formally enlisted as one. This is because, to the rest of the world, Riders are seen as little more than an anomaly.
I commend them for taking a rather dramatic approach to the sudden shift in how monsters are treated between this and the main games. It would have been easy to just say that this was a new universe where monsters are treated differently, but that’s not what happened here. Instead, Monster Hunter Stories aims to tell a surprisingly compelling tale about humanity’s role in the balance of natural forces. Choosing to have the player character explicitly be a child instead of an adult helps to enhance this. I’d say that the main theme of the story is that, if one wishes to change the world for the better, one must first broaden their own. This means going to new places, meeting new people to understand their ways of life, and having a willingness to have one’s beliefs challenged.
This is naturally reflected in the tension between Hunters and Riders. One is a group that culls monsters for a living, and the other is a group that raises them and calls them “monsties” (monster besties). Since this is an RPG aimed at children, the conflict is displayed with relative simplicity, but it still hits all the necessary notes. When first riding into a new town, the townsfolk will fear you and your monsters, and there’s a certain satisfaction in slowly overturning that opinion over time.
Kids and Their Monsters
Monster Hunter has always had an element of goofiness and humor to it. From talking cats, to toilet humor, and many of the monsters themselves being silly, it helps to balance out the bleak elements of the series well. Monster Hunter Stories, however, is a far more comedic game from the word go. While it was something usually left to the side in the main games, it’s practically at the forefront here. Monster Hunter Stories is a game that’s a little bit too desperate to want to make you laugh, and that winds up in the writing tripping over itself at times. There’s plenty of character drama here, too, and the humor can and does get in the way of that.
Very early on in the game, a central character’s mother is killed in a monster attack. For the next little while, the game takes on a somewhat more somber mood and the atmosphere is quite good. That atmosphere is then immediately undercut with the introduction of Navirou, a talking cat who will almost assuredly make you sick of cat puns. I don’t even dislike Navirou as a character, but he is representative of the story’s hesitance to fully take itself seriously when necessary. It’s this hesitance that keeps the story from being as good as I feel it could be, even if I do think the end result is still decent. To Monster Hunter Stories’ credit, there were many moments where the humor did land and I rolled on the floor laughing. However, I do feel that a little restraint could have gone a long way.
It’s a more whimsical image of the Monster Hunter world, and I think that itself makes this game worthwhile for fans of the mainline series. This has its drawbacks in how it affects the story, but it’s still refreshing after the mainline games have only gotten more serious with time. It’s a nice glimpse into what the series could be like if it chose to embrace a different side of itself.
Let’s Explore
Monster Hunter Stories’ structure is similar to its mainline brother. While in town, you can stock up on items, talk to NPCs, and accept quests. Afterwards, you’re let loose into one of several open zone areas and are free to explore them to your heart’s content. You’re additionally not put on a timer unlike the main games, so feel free to stop and sniff the roses if it suits your fancy. Within these zones, there are lots of monsters to fight, things to find, and little pigs to find that are scattered across secret areas. You’ll need specific sorts of monsters to reach certain areas on each map. A swimming monster is needed to traverse water, a flying monster is needed for high places, and monsters that excel at jumping are needed to cross gaps. It’s similar to Pokémon’s HM system, although these abilities are innate to each monster.
With this in mind, it’s important to consider what monsters to have on your team when exploring an area. The monster roster overall is quite strong, containing many fan-favorite monsters across its first four generations. From Nargacuga, to Lagiacrus, to Zinogre and more, you won’t be hurting to find a favorite or three to fill out a slot on your team. As a longtime fan of the series, there were so many monsters I loved that I had difficulty figuring out who to keep and who to bench. New to this version of the game are a handful of monsters that were originally Japan-only. Now you can add the likes of Teostra and Kushala Daora to your team, provided you can defeat them first.
Overall, the structure of Monster Hunter Stories feels familiar, but different all the same. It still maintains that tried and true loop of questing, getting rewarded, and making new armor to get stronger and take on tougher foes. Yet the added wrinkles of environmental hazards and team building give the player more to consider when strategizing. For the series’ first foray into this formula, it’s a rousing success.
Ride On
Monster Hunter Stories uses a new turn-based battle system, combining elements of Monster Hunter with the likes of Pokémon and a bit of Shin Megami Tensei. In battle, your player character and one Monstie out of six will fight together. You can’t assume direct control over your monster, so your actions and strategies need to synchronize appropriately. Foresight and a diverse team are key to winning most battles, as you need to be prepared for anything.
When facing other monsters, you’ll see a line indicating which party member they’ll be targeting. Deciding to go on the offensive will trigger a Head-to-Head, where you’ll both attack at the same time. This uses a Rock-Paper-Scissors style system, and while both parties take damage in head-to-heads, how much damage is determined by whether you predict things correctly. If both you and your Monstie predict correctly, you’ll trigger a Double Attack, dealing even more damage and completely nullifying the enemy’s turn. That’s all well and good, but the main issue with this system is that what attack type the monster uses becomes erratic after the first turn. There aren’t any good tells indicating what kind of attack a monster will use next, so it’s essentially guesswork after a while.
There are ways to overcome and mitigate this, but it was a constant (if relatively minor) annoyance when I found the rest of the battle system to be a lot of fun. This prediction is also used to increase one’s Kinship Level. If a Kinship Level is high enough, you can use Ride On to strengthen your monstie and assume direct control over them. It’s a nice little marriage of themes and mechanics, and it’s satisfying to take control of a hulking monster that’s far stronger than me. Each monster also comes with its own unique Kinship Attacks, basically this game’s Limit Breaks or S-Crafts. With these, you can turn the tide of battle or save them for when you’ve downed a monster and can deal guaranteed Critical damage. It’s another good layer of decision-making to combat.
Scrambling for Eggs
To turn a monster into a “Monstie”, you essentially have to raise it from birth. This means sneaking into a monster’s den and stealing eggs from their parents’ nest. Putting aside the questionable ethics of this, it’s a pretty fun process to actually play. To open up a monster den, you have to defeat a monster in battle and see if they run away. You can throw a paintball at them mid-battle to up the chances of this. Once their den opens up, you peruse through a short mini-dungeon until you can find their egg nest. From there, you’re on a timer to gather items and grab the right egg that suits you. Spend too much time in their den and you’ll be treated to fighting that same monster again, only this time it’s stronger and more desperate.
Eggs themselves can give the monsters different properties, such as more attack power or more hit points. These properties, called Genes, can then be transferred onto other monsters through a feature called the Rite of Channeling. Even whole elements can be transferred onto different monsters with the right Genes. Have your snow bunny spit fire if that’s what pleases you. The customization on display here is immense, though I’ll admit that I didn’t use it terribly much. This is something meant for players who enjoy PvP and stuff like Pokémon breeding, which it does a great job at.
Overall, egg gathering and filling out the Monsterpedia is a lot of fun. While I am the type who prefers to find six monsters and stick with them for the whole playthrough, there is a ton of appeal in simply gathering monsters for the sake of it.
Remastering Overview
Monster Hunter Stories has received quite the overhaul in its transition to HD hardware. It runs at an uncapped framerate, is a full 1080p resolution, and textures have been upscaled as well. One of the things this remaster really demonstrates is how good the original game already looked. Thanks to a more anime-like, cel-shaded approach to the artstyle, it has aged especially gracefully. If I didn’t know any better, I wouldn’t have even assumed that this was originally a 3DS game to begin with. With more subtle enhancements to lighting and character expression, it’s allowed to shine better than before.
A lot of animations are lifted directly from the mainline games, such as attack animations and most monster animations. That’s fine since those animations are already excellent, but the real highlight are the Kinship Attacks. Each monster species has a unique Kinship Attack, and they’re all animated with a great sense of pomp and even some humor. Nargacuga has a slick-looking attack where it slices up its opponents in the dark of night, meanwhile Brachydios winds up a punch while flashing back to its training montage straight out of Rocky. It conveys a sort of personality you would never expect out of the monsters otherwise, and it’s all the better for that.
Adding onto this is the addition of full English and Japanese voice acting, with the cast from Stories 2 reprising their roles here. Like in that game, the voice work here is largely excellent and helps the game’s humor to land better. Some cutscenes already had fairly elaborate lip-syncing to begin with, so voice acting helps to make things feel more natural. Monster Hunter Stories has quite a lot more dialogue than the mainline games, so this keeps things engaging.
Verdict
Monster Hunter Stories is a solid RPG made better by a top-class remastering effort. The work in bringing the game over to new hardware shows how much the original 3DS release punched above its own weight. Some of the game’s more innate problems like combat frustrations are still there, but ultimately I would say it’s still one well worth your time. It’s an especially solid RPG for beginners and fans of the series itching to see it in a new light.
MONSTER HUNTER STORIES IS RECOMMENDED
If you are looking for another JRPG, you might want to check out our review of Granblue Fantasy: Relink or Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince.
Many thanks go to Capcom for a Nintendo Switch review code for Monster Hunter Stories.
A hobbyist who took up the pen to write about their favorite pastime: games. While a lover of many genres, Isaiah Parker specializes in Platformers, RPGs, and competitive multiplayer titles. The easiest way into his heart is to have great core gameplay mechanics. Self-proclaimed world’s biggest Sonic fan. Follow him @ZinogreVolt
