The first signs that Monster Hunter Stories wouldn't set the sales charts on fire came a week prior to the release of the game, when tie-in anime series Monster Hunter Stories: Ride On debuted on Fuji TV. Monster Hunter Stories was perfectly placed for huge success - its failure to find an large audience remains an unsolved mystery In theory, Stories should have ridden the coattails of the main series and introduced the brand to a whole new generation of kids, reaching the kind of demographic that mega-franchises like Pokémon and Dragon Quest enjoyed.
Meanwhile, the mainline Monster Hunter series had graduated from the PlayStation Portable to the 3DS, and Monster Hunter 4 was already one of the most popular games on the device. Pokémon, despite its aging audience, was still going strong. Yo-kai Watch was bigger than ever, and had primed the market for more monster-taming games. Most importantly, it was on the Nintendo 3DS, which had a stranglehold on the kids' market in Japan.įor all intents and purposes, Monster Hunter Stories was the perfect game on the perfect platform, being released at the perfect time. It was Pokémon, but with Monster Hunter's well-known and eclectic roster of dragons, giant bugs, and poison-farting baboons. Monster Hunter Stories was the perfect game on the perfect platform, being released at the perfect time It had an anime tie-in on a popular TV channel. It was colourful, visually striking, and promised a wealth of hidden depth to discover.
And it was a turn-based RPG, meaning it was approachable enough for anyone that couldn't keep up with the reflex-heavy combat of mainline Monster Hunter. It used the same eye-catching monster designs as the ever-popular main series, but let you buddy up with the monsters instead of mutilating them.
It was based on an existing brand that was already immensely popular with a wide age group. When it was announced in 2015, Monster Hunter Stories seemed like the perfect game for the Japanese kids' market.