Monster Hunter Stories 2 is releasing very soon, and fans are clamoring for the franchise’s latest instalment. It’s a series with a deep lore, and 18 entries. It’s led to potential buyers asking one question: do I need to play Monster Hunter Stories 1 before 2?
Do you need to play Monster Hunter Stories 1 before 2?
We’ve got good news – you don’t need to have played Monster Hunter Stories 1 to play, or understand, its upcoming sequel.
The Monster Hunter Stories games function as their own mini franchise, a spin-off of the mainline Monster Hunter games. As a result of this, they’re more self-contained – even from each other. The first game focuses on Cheval, who is a Rider instead of a Hunter. Her adventure in that game will be completely separate to that found in the upcoming game. In fact, the Monster Hunter Stories games are hugely different to mainline Monster Hunter releases. While they are usually real-time action games, the Stories sub-series has a turn-based format for combat.
Equally, this means that Monster Hunter Stories 2 has its own entirely separate plot. This one focuses on a Rider called Red, who investigates the disappearance of Rathalos, a type of in-universe Wyvern. From what we know so far, there’s no place in the story where you’ll need to know about Cheval and her adventures in Monster Hunter Stories. Of course, with games as expansive in scope as these, we can’t rule out some small nods to the previous entry. That said, it won’t be anything too big – and it certainly won’t alienate newcomers to the series from having a good time. Nintendo have suggested that there will be cross-play with the most recent Monster Hunter game, Rise, but this seems totally detached from the previous Stories game.
In other news, the Nintendo Switch OLED was confirmed today. It’s got a unique color scheme, a new display, but no new exclusive games.
