I cannot complain about my job in the slightest as I love everything about it from writing my reviews, editing videos, and of course, playing games. But if there is one thing that has been affected by my decision to take a gap year to try to make it in the world of Journalism and YouTube, it’s how little time I get to play Monster Hunter these days. Thankfully, Monster Hunter Stories released this week, and as a huge fan of the world of Monster Hunter, I have been looking forward to sinking into the couch and revisiting this 3DS remake. What’s it Like? Gather some herbs, put on your riding spurs, and saddle up as I review Monster Hunter Stories on Nintendo Switch.
Before we ride off into the sunset, would you mind liking and subscribing to my YouTube channel? It’s the best way that smaller outlets like What’s It Like can be found, and I can’t thank you enough for doing so. I also want to thank the people who shouted a Ko-fi, which allowed me to purchase this game for review. I’m very humbled by your wonderful support.
Monster Hunter Stories was released back in 2016 in a surprising Monster Collectathon RPG adventure that many people dismissed as jumping aboard the Pokemon Train but, this would be an unfair comparison. Instead, Monster Hunter Stories fleshes out a world from a different perspective from what we are used to in the Monster Hunter Universe, where Monsters, or Monsties, can be friends to fight alongside, instead of prey to hunt. Throughout your journey, you will encounter some familiar faces (or teeth in this case) which you can battle, and collect to create a party of Monsties while you uncover the mysteries of the Black Shroud, an evil force spreading throughout the world. It’s a more light-hearted approach to the traditional mainstream series, and instead of an endless series of hunts, it follows a more linear progression and story… but this isn’t a bad thing.
Despite the linear progress, the game is still a fairly open world, allowing you to explore every nook and cranny at your leisure to gather crafting materials and of course, collect specific Monstie eggs. You can stack up on quests in town, of which many are repeatable, and go about battling, gathering, and exploring. Littered throughout the world are monster dens that contain eggs that you can steal to hatch and raise to add to your party, allowing you to build a unique team. These Monsties also have special overworld abilities like jumping, flying, and smashing rocks, similar to the Pokemon series utility moves. The interesting departure from the Pokemon series, however, is that when in battle, you only have your lead monster to fight with and are unable to switch to a different one until back out in the world screen. While this may sound limiting, it creates an interesting strategy for building your team to compensate for enemies’ elemental types when heading into battle. There are a few mechanics that unlock during the course of the game that allows for further customisations, allowing you to stick with the Monsters you truly love, despite the elemental restrictions they may appear to have when first acquiring them.
Combat is turn-based and consists of stylish action sequences spurred on by the rock-paper-scissors combat dynamic. You choose speed, technical, or power attacks when going up against your opponent. You have limited control over your Monstie who will choose one of these attacks depending on its style. This is where I found one of the most interesting aspects of the game comes into play… Bond. You see, occasionally, your Monstie will mimic you and Switch up style, or alternatively, your Monstie might switch its style and it’s up to you to decide if you want to follow suit. Picking the same attack style that counters your opponent will result in a double attack, allowing you to build your bond. These points can be saved to ride your Monstie in combat or give it specific commands. Riding allows you to pick the attack style for the both of you and allows you to not only gain the advantage but access powerful Rider moves that act as summons. It’s so satisfying when you and your Monstie synch up and start landing some hard-hitting combos, sometimes even toppling your enemy and landing some big critical hits. Littered in the action are also power struggles, which a mini-games like tapping a button to overpower your enemy, or rotating the right stick to use fire breath. Winning these mini-battles awards valuable bond points and can change the tide of battle, making each bout feel exciting.
While at first, you may feel like you’re dominating the role of being a master rider, there will be times when you bite off more than you can chew, and sections of the story that will make you feel like you ran headfirst into a Bulldrome, requiring you to take stock, do some side quests, and upgrade your gear. This can result in spending an hour going back to grind to catch up if you are the type to try to blast through the story, but even my worst case of being out-leveled was fixed in an hour of gameplay thanks to repeatable and focused secondary quests. I did find that when continuing from a failed battle doesn’t restore your hearts, meaning you have to rest in town or find a Meowster encampment to restore them.
Graphically, I personally think the game looks great due to the vibrant art style. Sure, the models may look lower poly, but they suit the comic and cartoon nature of the game style, especially in combat. Those who look closely will see some 2D artifacts around, which may appear jarring to Rise and World veterans who have been spoiled by highly detailed models and locales, but Monster Hunter Stories drew me in with its bright palette. It performs well in both docked and handheld modes, with no noticeable issues that I came across in my time with the game. For my vision-impaired Monster Riders, there are no accessibility options, but as mentioned before, the game is bright and colourful, and has a high contrast of colours. As always, I recommend further research to find out if Monster Hunter Stories suits you.
There are a plethora of new additions to this remaster, including all of the DLC (With the exception of the limited Zelda DLC) Japanese and English voice acting, music jukebox, and plenty of concept art to treat your eyes to, best kept as a treat until after you finish the game. While I thought it might be hard to revisit the first game after thoroughly enjoying the second, it surprisingly doesn’t feel like a backward step, although there are some relics from the 3DS age left over like smaller areas and frequent loading screens.
At $45 AUD, Monster Hunter Stories is a decent price for a huge adventure that will last you around 40 hours. There’s plenty to collect, explore, find, and upgrade while completing the main quest, and there’s plenty more post-game content in DLC monster battles when you’re done.
Monster Hunter Stories is a fantastic adventure that further fleshes out the world of Monster Hunter with an engaging story that shows a different perspective from the hunt. Its mechanics may seem shallow on the surface, but uncover a surprisingly deep, and most importantly, fun battle system that’s over the top, stylish, and addictive. Despite some frequent loading screens and graphical artifacts, Capcom has done an amazing job bringing this 3DS title to the Switch, finally allowing those who started with Stories 2 to see where it all began, and will hopefully bring even more players into this fantastic franchise.
So, What’s it Like? Monster Hunter Stories is like Pokemon, crossed with Monster Hunter.
