Recent years have seen Capcom turning Monster Hunter into one of its biggest and most successful properties, and though the series’ mainline games have been primarily responsible for that, its spinoffs have carved out their own niches as well. The Monster Hunter Stories games in particular have their fair share of fans, and will soon be opening the gates for more new players to jump in with an upcoming remastered release of the first game on Switch, PS4, and PC, and a re-release of the second game on PS4. Ahead of those releases, here, we’re going to give you the lowdown on what exactly you should expect from both Monster Hunter Stories games.
WHAT ARE THE STORIES GAMES?
Rather than the action-oriented and loot-driven gameplay of the mainline titles, the Monster Hunter Stories games instead take the form of much more traditional single-player turn-based RPGs. Instead of hunters, in the Stories games, players play as Riders, who tame and befriend monsters before then using them in battles against other Riders. Yep, the Monster Hunter Stories games are essentially Capcom’s take on the Pokemon games. Additionally, unlike the mainline games, the Stories titles are also much more story-driven.
MONSTER HUNTER STORIES 1 STORY DETAILS
Monster Hunter Stories focuses on the journey of the player-named protagonist and an infant Rathalos that they bond with as Rider. Together with other allies and companions, like fellow Riders from your village and Navirou the felyne, you’ll set out on a journey where your primary concern will be to figure out how to deal with the Black Blight, a sickness that is spreading over the entire land.
MONSTER HUNTER STORIES 1 CHARACTER DETAILS
Players will meet a number of key characters throughout their time in Monster Hunter Stories 1. For starters, there’s the aforementioned Navirou, a mysterious, donut-loving, strange-looking felyne that accompanies you throughout your journey. Then there are Lilia and Cheval, two of your closest childhood friends, Avinia, a Rider from another village who travels in the company of a Barioth named Frostfang, and Reverto, a veteran hunter.
MONSTER HUNTER STORIES 2 STORY DETAILS
Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin brings over the vast majority of its predecessor’s gameplay ideas, but it takes us to an entirely new location, focusing on a new cast of characters, and telling its own (mostly) separate story. In Monster Hunter Stories 2, players play as a young Rider who sets out on a journey to unravel the mystery of why Rathalos have been vanishing all over the world. Many of the first game’s core characters also return, including the likes of Navirou, Lilia, Avinia, and Reverto.
MONSTER HUNTER STORIES 2 CHARACTER DETAILS
There are, of course, plenty of new character introductions in Monster Hunter Stories 2 as well. One of the more prominent ones is Razewing Ratha, the Rathalos that you bind with as Rider. Another key character is Ena, a Wyverian girl who once knew your grandfather, legendary Rider Red, before his death, while you’ll also be joined by new allies in the form of Kayna and Alwin, fellow Riders who travel with their bonded Monsties- a Velocidrome named Avmar and a Legiana named Shaulk respectively.
TURN-BASED BATTLES
One of the biggest ways the Monster Hunter Stories games differ from the series’ mainline entries is their combat, which is turn-based here and takes cues from the Pokemon series (as it does in other ways). You, your Monstie, and your enemies all get a turn to attack, with combat primarily revolving around a rock-paper-scizzors-style three-way system of strengths and weaknesses. Each attack can be one of three types- Power (which is stronger than Technical), Technical (which is stronger than Speed), and Speed (which is stronger than Power). When going head-to-head against an enemy, the matchups of your attack types will determine who gets to deal damage. Monstie and Rider can also combine to unleash Double Attacks, which also revolves around attack types.
COLLECTING AND TRAINING MONSTERS
Monster Hunter games primarily task players with hunting down and slaughtering monsters to then use their body parts to craft increasingly more powerful gear, but in the Stories games, your goal is to collect, befriend, and train the monsters (or Monsties, as they’re known to Riders) that you run into. Across both games, you’ll be crossing paths with a number of monsters that series fans will be very familiar with, including the likes of Rathalos, Barioth, Tigrex, Diablos, Nargacuga, Zamtrios, Zinogre, Mizutsune, Teostra, Bazelgeuse, Anjanath, Kulu-Ya-Ku, and many, many others.
BONDS AND KINSHIP SKILLS
As the bond between you and your Monsties grows in Monster Hunter Stories, you’ll gain access to Kinship Skills, which are special, high-powered moves that you can unleash in combat while riding atop your Monstie. Different Monsties will be able to use different Kinship Skills, from Rathalos’ Sky-High Dive, which sees you pummeling your enemy with an explosive, high-speed dive from the sky that incinerates everything in your path, to Tigrex’s Rock Smash, which sees you leaping down from the top of a cliff and crashing into the ground with monstrous force.
WEAPONS
Though weapons and gear aren’t quite as crucial to the core gameplay loop in the Stories games as they are in their mainline counterparts, they do obviously still have an important role to play. In fact, the many weapons and weapon types you’ll be using in Stories 1 and 2 will be quite familiar to you, if you have prior experience with the Monster Hunter stories. The likes of great swords, hammers, hunting horns, and gunlances (among others) can be used in combat, and each comes with their own unique attributes, strengths, and weaknesses.
MONSTIE GENES
Another area where the Monster Hunter Stories games are heavily inspired by Pokemon are how they give each Monstie you encounter their own unique attributes through their own set of genes, so that no two Monsties that you find are ever the exact same. Using the Rite of Channeling, players can transfer genes from one Monstie to another in order to awaken new abilities, allowing you to strengthen your Monsties with a surprising amount of finer control. This, of course, will be on top of earning experience and leveling up through battles, side quests, quests, and more.
NEW VO IN STORIES 1
Monster Hunter Stories 1’s upcoming remaster is bringing with it a number of enhancements, and beyond improved visuals, perhaps the most prominent of them is the addition of full voice acting. Unlike the original game, Monster Hunter Stories’ upcoming remaster will feature both English and Japanese vice tracks for the story’s core cast of characters.
MUSEUM MODE IN STORIES 1
Another key addition in the upcoming Monster Hunter Stories remaster for fans to look forward to is the Museum mode, where you can check out over 200 pieces of previously unreleased artwork, as well as the game’s music. On top of that, you’ll also find plenty of behind-the-scenes insights and comments provided by the game’s development team, offering a deeper look into the game’s setting and its development.
PREVIOUS UPDATES INCLUDED WITH STORIES 1
In the aftermath of Monster Hunter Stories’ original release back in 2016, Capcom released a decent chunk of new content for the game through post-launch updates, including new Monsties, the Tower of Illusion post-game activity, and more. Capcom has confirmed that all of those updates will be included in the upcoming remaster out the gate.
PRICING
As good as they are, the Monster Hunter Stories games are decidedly not mainline big-budget titles, and their pricing will reflect that with their upcoming releases, as well as the fact that they’re both older games now. Monster Hunter Stories, which will launch for PS4, Switch, and PC, will be available for $29.99, while Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin, which is coming to PS4, is going to cost $39.99. A Deluxe Edition will also be available for $49.99.
COLLECTION
Those who haven’t played either of the two Monster Hunter Stories titles will have the opportunity to pick up both of them as a single package. On June 14, Capcom will also release a Collection that will include both games, retailing for $59.99. A Deluxe version of the collection will also be available for $69.99.