izigame.me

A 10/10 Masterpiece With The ONE Feature That Makes It BETTER Than Its Sequel (MHS2)

Introduction:
I mean... What can I say? Where do I even begin? Having played over 300 hours and also 100%-ing this game, it shouldn't surprise you that I... absolutely... LOVE this game! In fact, this is my 2nd time playing it after its original release on the 3DS back in 2017 and even then it was my personal GOTY 2017 for that particular year.
The following are Pros and Cons (Cons? HA!) that I can say during my playthrough of this game:
Pros:
1) BIGGEST/GREATEST feature of this game... Monstie element change: THIS right here, ladies and gentlemen, is what makes the original (MHS1) 10 TRILLION TIMES BETTER than its sequel (MHS2). This feature (which was STUPIDLY removed by Capcom in the sequel MHS2) is what resulted in me playing this game for over 300 hours which allows you to customize your monsties by FULLY changing their base element (Fire/Water/Thunder/Ice/Dragon) while also giving them a nice appearance color change and a different elemental "Kinship Skill" to go with their new altered element.
Because of this feature, I was encouraged to capture multiples of the same monstie and spend hours and hours changing their base element and giving them other monstie skills that suit their new element (which is something that was SEVERELY MISSING from the sequel MHS2) and I cannot stress how much fun this experience was for me throughout the 300+ hours I spent with this game. Furthermore, examples include a Fire/Ice/Dragon Brute Tigrex , a Dragon/Thunder Seregios (even though Seregios dislikes Thunder element) as well as fulfilling my long 3DS dream of owning a FIRE ELEMENT KUSHALA DAORA (who was exclusive to the Japanese version back on the 3DS). Another great thing about this feature is being able to change "Non-element" monsties (like Nargacuga, Arzuros, Velocidrome, etc...) and thereby making them WAY MORE USEFUL than being stuck with being a "non-element" monstie for the entirety of the game (which is something the sequel MHS2 SEVERELY SUFFERED FROM with all the "non-element" monsties it had, which made raising them BORING and DISCOURAGING because I couldn't change their base element into something more cooler/useful).
I can go on and on about why this feature is such an AWESOME feature that makes M.H. Stories SO UNIQUE compared to other "monster-raising" games (e.g. Pokemon, Digimon, Monster Rancher, etc.....), but I will stop here and just say that "monstie element change" is the No. 1 GREATEST feature that this franchise has ever had (and the one feature Capcom should DEFINITELY BRING BACK/KEEP in future entries of this franchise).
2) Gorgeous/colorful towns and battle backgrounds (favorites being "Hakum Village" location and "Babda Rainforest" battle background) which make the overall experience so pleasant and memorable (unlike the BORING battle backgrounds in the sequel MHS2 that were "colorless" and overall "forgetful" compared to MHS1).
3) Great town/battle music (favorites being "Hakum Village" town theme and "Severe Challenge" aka Kirin boss battle theme) that are SO CHARMING/MEMORABLE and you NEVER get tired of listening to them no matter how many times they play over and over again.
4) A colorful cast of lovable characters as well as many cool playable monsties throughout the game. (I recommend playing using "Japanese voice-acting with English subtitles" because the character voices are WAY BETTER in Japanese, ESPECIALLY Navirou)
5) A simple but still charming story that can be enjoyed by both old and young players.
Cons:
NONE that had any impact on my overall enjoyment of the game, personally-speaking.
Ratings:
Monster Hunter Stories 1 (Remastered): A 10/10 masterpiece that was a blast to play and did NOT need any "fixing/modification" of its existing systems (ESPECIALLY the "Rite of Channeling" and "monster element-changing" systems) for its sequel (MHS2).

Monster Hunter Stories 2: A 6/10 disappointment that failed to bring back its STRONGEST/MOST UNIQUE FEATURES that people loved about it from the first MHS game. For me details, see my negative review of MHS2 through the following link:
(Link: https://steamcommunity.com/id/infinity_master/recommended/1277400?snr=1_5_9__402)
(P.S: Capcom, if you are listening, please take note of all these points and re-consider re-adding the "Monstie element-changing" feature back before starting the development of Monster Hunter Stories 3 one day in the future. That's all).