The third installment in the Monster Hunter Stories series is here. A story driven turn-based spinoff of the Monster Hunter franchise where you aren’t just focused on hunting down the biggest monsters. Instead, the series focuses on riders who build bonds with their monsters.
In this third installment, you are even more focused on saving monster habitats and finding endangered species.
Now that doesn’t mean there is any shortage of combat. The signature giant monsters and giant weapons are still all here. There are still plenty of things to fight between the normal monsters, the feral monsters, and even the invasive species. But now we are getting ahead of ourselves.
Monster Hunter Stories 3 is a story about two conflicting nations during a dark time that threatens not just the kingdoms but also the creatures living among them. Based roughly 200 years after the first two games in the series, our characters face not only the chance of another civil war, but also a darkness falling over the world as they know it. It’s up to our brave rider to find a solution.
You will start out exploring the kingdom of Azuria, your home. You are the leader of the Rangers. A group of riders whose job is to research and maintain the monsters around the kingdom.
One of the ways you will do that is by collecting eggs from monster dens. Once hatched, the monsters can either be added to your party or released back into the wild to grow the species. Releasing the creatures has two effects.
First, it will grow the ecosystem around the kingdom. This means rare monsters that you release will be more commonly found as you are exploring.
The second effect is that the more of a species you release, the higher tier of eggs you will find for that species. That means you can wait and add the higher-tier monsters to your party after you have grown their habitats.
As you release monsters into different habitats, some will even evolve. The result is that you could find a fire-type version of a water-type monster. Not only does its type change, but so does its physical appearance. This is important as elemental types have an effect in combat. It’s certainly not the only feature to keep track of in combat, though.
Combat in Monster Hunter Stories 3 can feel a bit complex as it revolves around several different elements. The foundation is the rock-paper-scissors-like attack triangle, which has been a staple for the series so far.
Power beats technical, technical beats speed, and speed beats power. These are most important when a head-to-head is triggered with the enemy. If you picked the right type, then you will win the head-to-head to do additional damage. Some monsters can change their attack type during combat, making it more difficult to counter.
The next key element of combat is the elemental types. There are six different types. Each has a different effect in combat. All monsters have an elemental type that they use and are resistant to. The same for your weapons and armor. Figuring out what elements a monster is weak against or resistant to can make a big difference in combat.
The last element of combat that I want to talk about is the Wyvernsoul Gauge. This is essentially the monster’s fighting spirit. If you can deplete its soul gauge, then you can stagger it to perform a massive attack.
You can deplete its soul gauge faster by matching your weapon type with a specific part of the monster. For example, blunt weapons usually work better on the head, whereas piercing weapons usually work better on the wings. After a set amount of damage to a particular part, the monster can become stunned and will not attack.
These are all key elements that you have to keep in mind to be successful in combat. On top of that, your monster and your ally, with their monster, will also be engaged in combat alongside you. They perform all of their own actions. During combat, your Kinship Gauge will fill. Once this is full, you can mount your monster and perform even more powerful attacks against your foe.
Once you are able to master these key points of combat, you will be quite successful in most encounters.
The biggest problem you will run into is if the monster you are going up against is a much higher level than you. Both you and your ally each have three hearts. If you or your monster’s health is fully depleted, then you will lose a heart. The same goes for your ally. Once all three of your hearts have been depleted, then you lose. However, if your ally loses all of their hearts, they will only be out for a couple of turns until they recover and rejoin you in the fight. If you can survive that long on your own, that is.
After combat, you will collect resources from the monster you were just fighting. These resources, along with others you pick up while exploring, can be used to build new weapons and armor.
All of the gear that you create is either colored or shaped based on the items that you use to make that gear. For example, some of the clubs look like the heads of some monsters. Giant weapons have always been a staple of the franchise, and it is nice to see them continue here as well.
There is also an incredible amount of customization in the game. All of your armour can have the colors modified. You can even select different armor for your allies.
At the beginning of the game, all of the finite details of your character’s head and face can be set to your liking. And if you grow tired of it, you can even change your character’s face midgame. It’s your character, and you are free to make them look however you want whenever you want.
Monster Hunter Stories 3 continues to go all out with the audio and visuals. All of the characters have great voice acting and are fun to listen to.
The cinematic visuals never get old. I found myself spending a lot of time collecting monsters just so that I could see their different attack animations in combat. Especially each of their kinship abilities. You even get a different kinship ability animation if you use your ability at the same time as your ally.
Luckily, things are not like the old Final Fantasy days, and the rest of the game looks as good as the cinematics. The entire world was stunning and a joy to explore. I enjoyed just gliding around on my monster from time to time just to take in the sights.
Monster Hunter Stories 3 is a great addition to the series and the franchise. I have always been a fan of the visuals and monsters in the Monster Hunter games, but I have never played any of the real-time games because I just don’t like that style of gameplay.
However, if you are like me and didn’t even know there was a turn-based version of the Monster Hunter franchise, then you are definitely going to want to check this one out. Since the story is 200 years after the first two games, you don’t feel like you are really missing anything, and I think that makes it a great place to jump in and experience Monster Hunter for the very first time. This game certainly does not disappoint.
If you are interested in checking the game out for yourself, here is a link to their Steam page. The game is also coming out on Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5, and Xbox.
A review key was provided to us by the developers at Capcom.
