When Capcom released Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin on the Nintendo Switch in 2021, there may have been some who said, “Wait, there was the first game?” It’s worth remembering that the original release of Monster Hunter Stories came at the end of the 3DS era; it was actually released after The Switch launched in 2017. So it would be understandable if a lot of gamers missed it in a way that its sequel – on Nintendo’s current and dominant system – didn’t.
Now we have Monster Hunter Stories on Switch to fix that and ensure Nintendo fans have both stories readily available. It is also welcome; while these RPGs for kids in the series don’t push the boundaries of the genre or even add much to the IP’s impressive global reach, they’re a nice introduction to a franchise that’s traditionally quite challenging. This first entry also comes with some improvements, but also feels unashamedly like the 3DS original, which isn’t always a good thing.
Let’s get one thing straight, if you’re hoping for a major remaster effort from the 3DS title, you might be a little disappointed. Extras are the voice acting – which is extremely over the top, sometimes fun and occasionally screechy – and a museum area where you can look at some nice art and listen to music. Capcom also cleaned up some aspects and the outputs are either portable or docked in crisp HD, but this really it looks like a 3DS game. We’ve got those familiar angles and sharp geometry, some blurry elements on action shots when watching on a big TV, and some old school animations and facial expressions. The latter, by the way, are very charming – thanks to the cartoonish but serious performances of our virtual heroes, we found the cutscenes irresistible at times. This old school aspect hit us in the feels and made us root for the characters.
Still, be prepared to accept the simplistic visuals in this one, much more so than the sequel. On the plus side, this game doesn’t share the sometimes brutal performance issues of its successor, nor should it, given the simplicity of the graphics. This means that our impressions of the performance are slightly worse than in our preview; unfortunately, some of the later and more open areas suffer from a slowdown that’s more noticeable (or maybe just more distracting) when docked. This is disappointing and shouldn’t be – we suspect this will be due to the engine used for the original as can not be due to graphical complexity — but that’s ultimately not too much of a problem.
So what is the Monster Hunter Stories experience like for the uninitiated? Well, it’s a light and relatively breezy take on the RPG genre for young players or those of us who just want to relax while occasionally having our hearts tugged by a lovable hero. You will explore, complete and lots of quests, you collect and fight. The turn-based combat here uses a rock-paper-scissors format, although there’s a fair amount of strategy involved that should keep you engaged; for each fight you must not only learn the enemy’s patterns, but use your team of ‘Monties’ to triumph. You’ll land the right combos, “ride” your Monstie for extra effect, and even pull off fun and outrageous super moves. It’s a good time, albeit one that is rarely taxing.
Our only notable criticism of the battle system concerns some old-fashioned design that requires the occasional frantic button-mashing or stick-wielding. That’s a little disappointing if you’re plagued by accessibility issues – we couldn’t find a way to change them in the settings – and frankly, we could ruin those notoriously bad Joy-Con controllers. If you’re playing this one, go for a professional controller or 3rd party Joy-Cons.
The world itself is pretty big, all things considered, and such is the game’s relatively easy difficulty (until some later boss battles) that you can either move from one narrative to another, or spend dozens of hours vacuuming up all side quests and challenges. There’s plenty of bang for your buck, and whatever your approach, the simple story still has its strong moments. Maybe it was the over-tired state of this scribe or nostalgia for the series, but some of the storytelling – done in this cute style – was rather touching. Young players in particular can get a lot out of the story told, as the themes of caring for and protecting creatures, trying to maintain balance in the world, and empathy are as valuable as ever.
It’s also worth noting that as simplistic a look as Monster Hunter is, it has plenty of depth for those looking to customize. There are tons of items and buffs to find, and as you progress, more layers of meta-gameplay appear. Not only do you collect eggs and upgrade your team of Monsties, but you can undergo a “Rite of Channeling” to upgrade your buddies or send other Monsties on expeditions to gain resources. There’s a deep Monsterpedia, tons of crafting options, and a variety of weapons and armor to acquire. You don’t necessarily need to go too deep into these areas to beat the game, but it’s nice for those who want to get into the rough.
Finally, there’s an online battle mode if you want it really i want to get into it – we tried testing to check but no one was online, unsurprisingly. This also felt like a minor addition in the sequel, but it’s a nice feature for those excited by the prospect. It all adds up to what is an overall great package.
However, we couldn’t shake the feeling, even as we enjoyed the game, that the limitations of the original 3DS hardware really stand out and have not been resolved in a substantial way. It’s not just the basic visuals, but also aspects of the design that could and should have been improved. There are small annoyances and bugs, such as oddly laggy response when picking up items while riding Monstia, or clipping enemies and environments to extreme degrees at times. None of this hurts the overall experience, but it also feels very much like a 3DS port, a throwback tweaked in a simple way and shifted to very different hardware.
Throw in surprising drops in performance and we have a beautiful game full of charm but showing its age.
Conclusion
Monster Hunter Stories, like its sequel on Switch, has some hardware issues; in this case, the issues are more related to the 3DS-era design hangover and simplistic porting. Still, putting these issues aside, we still have a charming and enjoyable experience, whether for young gamers or young RPG / Monster Hunter fans. You can take or leave all that classic MH depth, and it won’t take long to master the combat mechanics, but this is a game with enough silliness and serious storytelling to deserve a second chance.