Monster Hunter Stories Review

<p>A world full of small villages&comma; colorful characters and wondrous monsters await&period; <em>Monster Hunter Stories<&sol;em> is the first game in the entire <em>MH<&sol;em> franchise that allows the player to raise monsters and battle alongside them&period; Collecting eggs&comma; searching for poogies &lpar;little pigs in cute costumes&rpar; and exploring a wide world alongside monsters are all pieces that make <em>Stories<&sol;em> such a refreshing treat for long time monster hunters&period; From the art style&comma; full story&comma; character design&comma; battle system and ability to ride monsters&comma; this new game features an incredible experience that stands out from the entire franchise&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Riders are those born with a gift to bond with monsters and partner with them&period; Starting out in a peaceful and colorful village&comma; you create an avatar that will be your link to the wide world of monsters&period; As you progress in the story&comma; you will be tasked with various quests that lead you to new areas and villages&period; Colorful NPCs will ask the player to complete tasks from collecting types of plants or other materials to battling a monster that is causing problems&period;  An enormous improvement in<em> Stories<&sol;em> is the ability to take on several quests at once&period; Up to 30 sub-quests may be registered at any time allowing more flexibility in completing quests while exploring&period; Instead of choosing a single quest to complete&comma; taking on as many sub quests that are activated leads to a smoother progression&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;129699" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-129699" style&equals;"width&colon; 400px" class&equals;"wp-caption aligncenter"><img class&equals;"size-full wp-image-129699" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2017&sol;09&sol;17150759&sol;3DS&lowbar;MonsterHunterStories&lowbar;screen&lowbar;03&period;jpg" alt&equals;"" width&equals;"400" height&equals;"480" &sol;><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-129699" class&equals;"wp-caption-text">Monster Hunter Stories &sol; Nintendo<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<p>While exploring lands outside your home village&comma; riders come across caves called Monster Dens&period; These Dens hold monsters&comma; items and occasionally treasure&period; Inside the Den&comma; after traveling through the entire cave&comma; you will come across the egg nest&period; You will have a few chances to pick up an egg and your little felyne friend Navirou &&num;8211&semi; will tell if the monster inside smells boring or not&period; The pattern on the egg shell lets the player know the type of Monstie &lpar;Monsters that become your Besties&rpar; that is inside&period; Collecting eggs whenever possible is the best way to build up your monster collection&period; You may have up to 200 monsters in the stables but only six in your party&period; Every monster and monster hybrid has their own unique talents that arise from their genes&period; Collecting egg shell pieces and reassembling an entire egg will grant the rider a Monstie that contains various skills not naturally born to them&period; It&&num;8217&semi;s a fun extra that makes searching through each den well worth the time&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The Kinship Stone is what gives a person ability to bond with a monster&comma; also known as a Monstie&comma; and work along side them&period; While in a battle&comma; the stone will level up and allow your avatar to &&num;8220&semi;Ride-On&&num;8221&semi; and use a Kinship Skill to deal large amount of damage&period; This is the best part of the battle system&period; The animation gives a sense of true companionship between the avatar and the monster&period; Every monster you fight against have their own type of moves&period; It is up to you to determine a move for your rider to fight with on your turn&period; Power&comma; Speed and Technical are options that allow your character to fight&period; Instead&comma; you may opt to use items to heal or buff your next move&period; Your Monstie attacks on their own will yet riders may offer them a special item or after raising the Kinship level&comma; give them a command&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;129700" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-129700" style&equals;"width&colon; 400px" class&equals;"wp-caption aligncenter"><img class&equals;"size-full wp-image-129700" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2017&sol;09&sol;17150827&sol;3DS&lowbar;MonsterHunterStories&lowbar;screen&lowbar;02&period;jpg" alt&equals;"" width&equals;"400" height&equals;"480" &sol;><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-129700" class&equals;"wp-caption-text">Monster Hunter Stories &sol; Nintendo<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<p>DLC for the <em>MH<&sol;em> franchise has been full of free goodies for the Nintendo 3DS releases&period; Game &sol;anime collaboration quests and special <em>MH<&sol;em> quests are always fun to download and try out&period; For the latest North American released 3DS game&comma; <a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;capcom&period;com&sol;us&sol;"><strong>Capcom<&sol;strong><&sol;a> is still offering fun new quests and helpful item packs as long as players download them from the main menu or through a helpful felyne from town&period; Unfortunately&comma; the Online Mode feels lonesome compared to previous MH games&period; Players are limited to stickers as a means for communication&period; Although the stickers you start out with and eventually earn are adorable&comma; the lack of ability to communicate about monsters&comma; armor&comma; quests etc makes the mode a bit sad&period; One of the best parts of <em>MH<&sol;em> games is to speak with fellow players and learn more about the game&period; The likely reason communication is limited to pre-set stickers is because <em>Stories<&sol;em> is meant for players of all ages to enjoy in a peaceful internet environment&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;129701" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-129701" style&equals;"width&colon; 400px" class&equals;"wp-caption aligncenter"><img class&equals;"size-full wp-image-129701" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2017&sol;09&sol;17150929&sol;3DS&lowbar;MonsterHunterStories&lowbar;screen&lowbar;01&period;jpg" alt&equals;"" width&equals;"400" height&equals;"480" &sol;><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-129701" class&equals;"wp-caption-text">Monster Hunter Stories &sol; Nintendo<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<p>Teens and adults shouldn&&num;8217&semi;t shy away from this title though&period; There is so much to enjoy from the adorable art style to the exploration of areas&period; Just having the ability to take on several quests and complete them in one outing is a wonderful relief&period; The cute anime characters perfectly work with this new way of battling in turn-based style&period; Plus&comma; there are more close-ups of your character in the cutscenes featuring their armor making the overall story experience personable&period; Seasoned monster hunters and new riders should all feel encouraged to join in <em>Monster Hunter Stories&period; <&sol;em>It is a dream to finally play a <em>MH<&sol;em> game that allows players to train and battle alongside Monsties&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; center&semi;"><strong>A code was provided by Nintendo for the purpose of this review&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;