Back on 3DS, Capcom was consistently the best developer that managed to get the most out of the hardware with the Monster Hunter main games and Monster Hunter Stories, which I still consider the best looking 3DS game. Since then, Monster Hunter Stories was ported to iOS and Android, and it even made its way to Apple Arcade. The mobile version was massively improved visually and with rock solid performance even on older iPhone and iPad models back then. It was missing some updates that the Japanese release got unfortunately, and lacks controller support to this day. I kept thinking Capcom would just port the mobile version to Switch and PC alongside Monster Hunter Stories 2, but that didn’t happen either.
Fast forward to earlier this year, Capcom announced a remaster of Monster Hunter Stories for PS4, Nintendo Switch, and Steam. This remaster promised improved visuals over the 3DS release, a museum mode, full voice acting, all Japan-exclusive title updates, and added language support. That sounds great of course, but I still thought the improved visuals just meant we would be getting the mobile version on modern consoles and PC. I was wrong. Capcom has gone and improved a few notable aspects of the visuals even on Nintendo Switch compared to the mobile version. Thanks to early access from Capcom, I’ve been playing the remaster of Monster Hunter Stories on Switch, Steam Deck, and PS5 for this preview. I will not be directly comparing the game on platforms here, but will cover how each version feels, and what makes it worth getting even if you own prior releases of Monster Hunter Stories, based on my time with it.
Monster Hunter Stories remaster hands-on preview
If you’re completely new to Monster Hunter Stories, it is an RPG from Marvelous and Capcom that basically floored me on 3DS with its visuals and excellent transition of Monster Hunter mechanics to a monster collecting RPG. In fact, I used to joke about how Monster Hunter Stories on 3DS was better than the Pokemon games on the system. Looking back, not only do I still believe that, but I think Monster Hunter Stories 2 transcended that to become its own fantastic game, but I’ll save my thoughts on Monster Hunter Stories 2 for another article later on. So, Monster Hunter Stories is quite different from mainline Monster Hunter games, but it very much was a great gateway game for a younger audience. Following its 2017 release on 3DS, it saw a mobile release internationally a year later, and basically will have not seen a single new platform release until this PS4, Switch, and Steam version will release next month.
Monster Hunter Stories remaster new features
When I first got access to this remaster, I purposely didn’t play the mobile or 3DS versions until a few days later. I wanted to see how this new version felt out of the box. I thought it looked and played great on my 1440p monitor, but the voice acting was the biggest surprise. It sounds good enough to the point I was surprised it wasn’t included in the original release. It also felt great to play Monster Hunter Stories with a controller after spending a lot of time with the touch version on my iOS devices.
Monster Hunter Stories remaster visual improvements over mobile and 3DS
Visually, I first thought this remaster of Monster Hunter Stories was just the mobile version running on Switch, PS4 (and PS5), and Steam, but adjusted for different aspect ratios and hardware. After then replaying the opening hours across multiple devices, I could see the improvements in the remaster. These range from increased foliage to improved textures and even support for higher frame rates depending on the platform. I’ll have comparisons for the different platform versions closer to launch. For this Monster Hunter Stories remaster hands-on preview, I mainly wanted to confirm that this release isn’t just the mobile version ported like I expected.
Monster Hunter Stories also has a Museum that features music and an art gallery. I can’t show it all for spoiler reasons, but the music is split up into 6 sections. The art gallery features characters, backgrounds, monsters, and other illustrations. This is all accessible from the title screen menu, and you get a spoiler warning before accessing it if you’re new to the world of Monster Hunter Stories.
Before getting into how this remaster feels on each platform, I recommend all those who get the remaster immediately look at the camera options to fix the movement. It feels very sluggish by default. Play around with the settings to make it feel better.
Monster Hunter Stories remaster Nintendo Switch impressions
Monster Hunter Stories on Nintendo Switch is an upgrade over the mobile version in some ways, but the frame rate right now isn’t stable throughout. It basically feels like it is running uncapped with a 60fps target, but it feels a lot better than Monster Hunter Stories 2 did on Switch. It looks excellent on the Switch’s OLED screen and when played docked. Load times are not bad either.
Monster Hunter Stories remaster Steam Deck and PC port impressions
The PC version of Monster Hunter Stories includes a few graphics and display options. You can adjust window mode (windowed, fullscreen, and borderless), resolution (864×486 to 4K), frame rate target (30fps to 144fps), toggle v-sync, toggle anti-aliasing, and adjust shadow quality (low, medium, high). You can also adjust brightness.
On my Steam Deck OLED, Monster Hunter Stories held 90fps very well with everything set to high aside from shadow quality which I turned down from the start. Load times are near-instant. The game supports Steam Cloud, but doesn’t do full 16:10 on the Deck’s screen.
Monster Hunter Stories and Monster Hunter Stories 2 PS5 impressions
I won’t lie. I was disappointed to see Monster Hunter Stories being a PS4 game with no native PS5 release. A native release would’ve allowed for higher resolutions and frame rates. The PS4 version runs at 60fps on my PS5, but it could’ve been crisper. Aside from that, the load times are fast and I have no real complaints with it. The lack of a proper physical release of both games worldwide on PS4 is disappointing though.
I couldn’t obviously test the Monster Hunter Stories 1.20 and 1.30 title updates for this preview. I’m looking forward to digging deeper into this remaster for my full review closer to the game’s launch. Until then, Capcom definitely went above and beyond for this release. I expected just a port of the mobile release with controller support, but this is a lot more than that, and it is fantastic even for those who enjoyed it on 3DS like myself.
