Monster Hunter Stories Announced For 3DS

 

Capcom have announced the newest entry in the Monster Hunter series. Set to release exclusively for the Nintendo 3DS, this new title is looking to take the series in starkly different direction than what we have come to expect from the franchise.

Monster Hunter Stories was announced at a Monster Hunter event this past weekend in Japan, with a trailer and specific details on the game also being revealed. The trailer doesn’t show any gameplay, but gives us a detailed look at the new light hearted and cutesy visual style we can expect from the full game.

Instead of playing as the established hunters, players will take on the role of a rider. As shown in the trailer, riders can tame a range of creatures and use them to travel across the open-world and take the fight to other, more fearsome creatures. This could very well translate into a completely different style of gameplay, especially when taking the chibi-esque art style into account.

The idea of taming adorable monsters and exploring a luscious world certainly sounds fun, but will such a diversion from the franchises’ roots bode well with hardcore fans? Monster Hunter Stories is set to release in Japan in 2016, with no word yet on a western release.