No monster hunting in 'Monster Hunter Stories' for 3DS

Monster Hunter Stories Egg — A "Monster Rider" finds an egg in "Monster Hunter: Stories" http://www.mh-stories.jp/

Capcom has unveiled more details about “Monster Hunter: Stories,” a spinoff from the successful monster-hunting series for the Nintendo 3DS. Unlike most “Monster Hunter” games, however, “Stories” will not involve any form of monster hunting, although it will take place in the same universe as the other games in the series. “Monster Hunter: Stories” will focus on a different side of the world where humans and monsters are allies.

Players will control a male or female “Monster Rider,” people who form bonds with the various creatures in the game and fight alongside them. This is a different from the original “Monster Hunter” games where players have to hunt down and kill monsters for equipment and survival for their respective village.

According to Kotaku, “Monster Hunter: Stories” will have a more traditional story featuring a lead who ventures around the world and gets caught in an adventure he or she didn’t plan for. Other games from the “Monster Hunter” series don’t really have plots and instead focus on survival, hunting and multiplayer.

Another drastic change from the original “Monster Hunter” game is the combat system, which ditches the original action-oriented approach and goes for a turn-based menu system instead. This only confirms the more traditional approach for the spinoff and it seems like the game won’t have any multiplayer support.

Gematsu reports that players can find Otomon eggs and bring them to the village. This feature is new to the series and will have players gaining new monster allies. It’s never clear as to which monsters the player will get, which is part of the surpise and the fun in the game.

“Monster Hunter: Stories will be coming to Japan sometime in 2016 for the Nintendo 3DS. No definitive release date was given for the anticipated spinoff, so it seems like fans will have to wait a while before one is given.

So far, there’s no confirmation on the game getting a worldwide release. Given how popular the rest of the “Monster Hunter” games have proven to be, it’s possible that “Monster Hunter: Stories” will eventually get a Western release, though it may take a while.