Each combat has the player character paired with one of their Monsties the Monstie will choose what attack to use, unless given a command for a specific special ability, while the player can choose what type of attack to use, or to switch to a different Monstie, to use items or to use special abilities. Each Monstie has their own unique attacks and they range, from the cool to the hilarious (of particular note is a Rocky-esque training montage where the Monstie is pulling logs through the snow and shadow boxing). Keep landing the correct attack while mounted and that Kinship energy can be used to unleash devastating special attacks. Picking the correct attack awards some Kinship energy and, once enough is collected, the player can mount the Monstie (the term for bonded monsters - a combination of a monster and a bestie.) and perform some stronger attacks. It's obvious on appearance alone for some monsters - huge lumbering Azuros will more often than not rely on Power attacks, while the nimble Raptor-type enemies will often rely on Speed attacks.
A wheel of attacks of Power, Speed, or Technical can be chosen and learning what types of attacks enemy monsters will use is the key to success. It is very basic at its core but there are enough extra elements to keep the combat system fresh and interesting. While the original was a hardcore system of preparing the best possible equipment and then taking hour upon hour fighting a single enemy, Stories delivers a simple turn-based, rock-paper-scissor style system. The battle system is perhaps the biggest departure from the series' history. Jump to a year later, Cheval is now an angst-filled teen, the corruption known as the Black Blight that infected the Nargacuga is spreading through the land, and the player character becomes a Rider before heading off into the world on a grand story, along with his very own Felyne named Navirou, and from here a huge tale begins, one where Riders and Hunters clash where the Black Blight continues to corrupt everything before it and where Chevel becomes a classic anime style rival for the hero. Toothless' bad-ass big brother tears down some buildings, takes out the baby Rathalos, and, during the chaos, manages to destroy the building holding Cheval's family. Surprisingly, they succeed, with the player character able to bond with a Rathalos despite not having a Kinship Stone, a Macguffin that helps bond Rider to monster "Heart to Heart." When they return home, though, a huge shadowy Nargacuga busts into the village. Opening with a trio of friends from this village - the player character, a boy called Cheval, and a girl called Lilia - the three have snuck out of their village into the dangerous wilderness in hopes of finding a monster egg, despite being too young to undergo the "Ritual of Kinship" and bond with their first monster. The story opens in a little village where the inhabitants aren't "Monster Hunters" but rather "Monster Riders." They are a society of people who believe in bonding with monsters, stealing eggs from the wild and raising the creatures to be partners and pets. Instead, Stories spends a huge amount of time setting up the story and the opening few hours are stuffed to bursting with exposition and absolutely gorgeous FMV sequences.
Stories is true to its name, too, as opposed to the usual setup of establishing a world and placing the focus on the hunting, with the story taking a backseat. Despite the drastically different graphics, though, there are enough of the series' signature elements to make it still feel familiar: the same monsters, weapon and armour styles and more. The look and style immediately make a big impression the bright and chibi-esque style looking particularly stunning on the now ageing hardware of the 3DS.
This is immediately noticeable right from the start. Every core element breaks away from established ones, yet still keeps enough identifiable aspects to make it feel part of the MonHan universe. This does not feel like a Monster Hunter game.
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