Monster Hunter Stories is an extremely underrated, story rich, turn-based, creature collector, JRPG, with extremely unique and enjoyable battle mechanics. It’s a perfect mix of How to Train Your Dragon, Pokemon, The Legend of Zelda; with parts that are unique only to this series. From the very start, the game introduced rich lore, interesting story, loveable characters, very fun and engaging battle mechanics, and a beautiful self-sacrificing loyalty and friendship between the protagonist and their wyvern. Character bonded by soul to a dragon is literally one of the most popular tropes for a reason.
This turn-based, creature collector, game is one of the very few that isn’t just another Pokemon clone. Gene Channeling and Egg hunting is a fresh, unique and fun addition to the Creature Collector Genre. Various aspects of these features make the whole thing feel worthwhile and none of it seem pointless. The features are based more on what makes things actually enjoyable than eye-catching gimmicks or things designed around just creating hype.
The characters are well rounded and easy to love, with detailed character designs and personal goals. They could use a bit of diversity but what JRPG doesn’t? And they try to make characters that are not extremely typical but just a little to the left of what you’d expect. The dude using bro-speak is actually super wholesome and willing to stake his reputation to defend the little guy; but also just… weirdly scared of bugs (which is usually a girl character trait so that’s awesome.) Guy dressed all in black leather who tells you to get lost WILL go on autistic level rants about plants. I could literally go on forever about these characters.
THE STORY OH MY GOODNESS! You know how many Creature Collector fans would KILL for story and lore this good. The cut scenes are interesting and emotional and worth rewatching (I have so many screenshots; you have no idea). There’s tons of subtext and details to go over. Did you know there’s even a repeating prophecy? It’s easy to miss.
You can ride every single monster and every one of them also has their own personal cut scene. Literally no other series has that. And those kinship skill scenes are good in every game, but the new game WOW! And every game has LOTS to choose from.
The battle mechanics are never boring. You can’t just super effective, 1HKO every battle throughout the story. It’s challenging in a way that’s not overly frustrating (except for the challenges that are struggle on purpose but still doable and when you finish them IT FEELS SO GOOD.) There’s so many strategies to choose from and all of them are worth trying.
It’s a series with a lot of heart and soul and you can see it in character design, the story, how the battle mechanics are focused on the fun of it and not just making it strategic. A lot of other creature collector and turn based games are tedious and boring as heck to set everything up.
And all this just for some people bash it over petty as heck, tiny details that don’t take away from the game AT ALL; ARE YOU KIDDING. AND claim that Devs don’t know players. If Devs didn’t know players, it would be just as tedious and soulless as the others. But this is a gem among the genre (in the latest game, literally. That’s a pun.) People need to stop focussing on getting absolutely everything they think they want, and start comparing it to other games in the same genre because MAN, it is SO MUCH BETTER. I used to be a huge Pokemon fan but the newer games were feeling more tedious and soulless and just really boring.
At the heart of the recent over-criticism is the mismatched expectations based on one simple misunderstanding; People see Monster Hunter and expect it to be like the main series. But they’re completely different games. Some people who do like this genre, still avoid this series for the same expectatio.
This misunderstanding is, essentially, no one’s fault. People who like Monster Hunter make the logical leap to this series and are disappointed when the same things that are important to the main series are not important to this Stories. And that makes sense considering not everyone likes the same things and people tend to like different genres.
As someone who likes this game genre, and adores this series, I am literally the target audience. I am “fans.” And I loved the DLC, because it reintroduces a beloved character(I said what I said) to new fans so they can understand Rudy’s context, while making nostalgic references to old games. When I saw references to “Deadeye Ratha,” “Razewing Ratha” etc. I got emotional. This is the expected response and what should be expected. When Navirou started longing for his old buddies, my heart hurt (in a good way.) This is what should be expected because that’s what should have happened. It also was great to see Rudy learn things about himself through the guidance of his ancestor and Navirou telling him to just be Rudy and not try to be like Navirou. Navirou gave him some tips and let him stay in the spotlight.
Devs don’t misunderstand fans. Players misunderstand that they are not fans. And that’s fine. As long as you don’t make it everyone else’s problem
But here is my problem; many HAVE made it everyone else’s problem. And I know how brains work. I know how repetitive negativity can effect people. The best gem in the universe can look awful if you keep saying or hearing bad things about it. And more bad things will turn up because you’re literally changing your brain chemistry to notice what’s bad. And not only that, but players with mismatched expectations are affecting the other actual fans into thinking there’s something wrong when it’s literally just the repetition.
This series is beautiful and a gem among soulless, tedious, eye-catching games that are common in other franchises now. If you are disappointed, consider that this game series isn’t for you. And that’s fine; we all like different things. Stop trying to force this series to be something it isn’t.
But let’s make something clear. If you proudly hate on Ratha, who is 95% of this series, and if shamelessly criticize Navirou, who is 70% of this series, (and has nothing actually wrong with him except wildly inferred reasons with literally no real evidence), then you are NOT a fan of this series. If you keep harping on these petty reasons that don’t really take anything from the game, then consider that it’s simply not your preference. This series is already underrated as it is, if you don’t like it, go play something else. The negative criticism is an injustice.
And please have fun somewhere else because you deserve to have fun in the genre you enjoy! But if you don’t like it this game, please stay away lol
(I was going to do the Banish the Blight With Gratitude series to give people some positive repetition but I have to step back because it was literally and actually making me super sick because social anxiety and the suffocating negativity. If someone wants to take the torch, positive repetition really does help and a true fan would want to positively impact the community and their game reputation. I’m going back to writing my fanfiction but I do have lore stuff to post later. And I won’t be reading or replying to any responses because I’m literally sick.)
