Monster Hunter Stories 2 is coming in 2021 for Nintendo Switch. If you’ve never played the original, now is the perfect time to jump in. With a cutesy blend of fun adventure, monster collecting and great combat, it’s a delightful game still worth playing today. It does stray greatly from the classic Monster Hunter formula but that’s part of its simple charm.
Monster Hunter Stories launched for the Nintendo 3DS in 2016 (2017 for Western countries) and features a hybrid chibi style remiscience of games like Yo-Kai Watch and Pokémon. Rather than hunting and killing monsters, this all-ages spin-off lets you tame monsters and send them into frantic turn-based battles.
It’s an open world adventure with several locales to explore, monster eggs to find and hatch and all-new ‘monsties’ to befriend. Along the way, you’ll meet new villagers, collect ‘poogles’ (cute pigs wearing costumes) and work on improving armour, skills and your relationship with your monsties to conquer the forest wilds and defeat the forces of evil.
The game strikes the perfect balance between open world adventuring and high-speed monstie combat, kicking along the adventure at a rapid pace that never lets up. While the story itself is fairly generic (a dark force is invading the land), it’s easy to get lost in the game’s world thanks to beautiful visuals and a funky cartoonish style.
You’ll start the game in a local village after an attack by the evil Black Blight. It’s here you’ll obtain a piece Kinship Ore which lets you befriend monsters and tame them instantly. As far as JRPGs go, it’s pretty standard fare. You’re sent to explore the wide open world, make friends with monsties and destroy the influence of the Black Blight, a force turning the world’s monsters mad. Along the way, you’ll discover more creatures, upgrade your skills and master a unique rock-paper-scissors-based combat system to defeat increasingly powerful enemies.
But beyond the game’s fantastic combat-slash-exploration system, the best part about Monster Hunter Stories is how gorgeous it looks.
The story takes you far and wide, acrossing glimmering forests, large-scale industrial cities and the dark depths of volcanic valleys.
The Nintendo 3DS is a powerful console, but most games failed to take full advantage of its capabilities. That’s not the case with Monster Hunter Stories. It’s a genuinely stunning game, even on the limited 3DS screen. Colours pop, lines are clean and every locale is an absolute joy to discover. The world of the game is naturally bright and features vivid townships, fields and dungeons filled with corners to discover and new friends to make. It really is one of the best looking 3DS titles around and certainly holds up, even against the superior Nintendo Switch.
It’s also incredibly robust for a spin-off game. The main story should last you a solid 40 hours with the extra collectibles, fighting arenas and egg-stealing mini-games offering several more hours of fun after the main story is over.
The announcement of Monster Hunter Stories 2 is a major surprise for fans of the game. While Capcom has largely been quiet about Monster Hunter since the release of Iceborne, it seemed too much to hope this cute little gem would ever get a follow-up. Now, Monster Hunter Stories is finally getting the sequel it deserves.
If you’ve never played Monster Hunter Stories, now is the time to dive in. While the sequel will likely prep new players for the unique lore and locales of the game’s world, it’s still a fantastic adventure worth diving into. Catch up before the sequel releases in 2021.
You can check out a brand new trailer for Monster Hunter Stories 2 below:
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