Monster Hunter, without the hunt
Monster Hunter Stories, raising monsters instead of hunting them
- Critic score
- 81
- Player rating
- 4.4/5
- Main story
- 33.5 h
- Genre
- JRPG, Adventure, Action
First released on 3DS, then brought to PS4 in 2024, Monster Hunter Stories takes Capcom's universe and turns it upside down: here you do not track monsters, you hatch them and fight alongside them.
The hero comes from a village of Riders, a community that lives with monsters instead of hunting them. When a creature infected by the Black Blight attacks the village, he sets out to understand where this corruption that drives monsters mad is coming from.
The premise owes something to Pokémon: you raid nests, steal eggs and hatch them into Monsties, who become companions and mounts. Each species has its own traversal abilities — jumping, swimming, climbing — and its own combat skills. A ritual lets you transfer genes from one monster to another to build custom combinations.
Combat is turn-based, a first for the series, and rests on a three-way rock-paper-scissors between power, speed and technical attacks. Reading which type an enemy is about to use is the key, and the series' big monsters switch patterns mid-fight. Easy to grasp, more subtle than it looks.
The tone is that of a cartoon, colourful and without grimness, which makes it a very good entry point to the series for younger players or anyone who finds Monster Hunter too rough. The PS4 version adds Japanese voices and a gallery, without touching the game itself.
Count on around thirty hours for the story, far more to complete your collection. The sequel, Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin, more ambitious and darker, is in the catalog as well.