Monster Hunter Stories 3 preview: just as grand and complex as MH Wilds

For a long time, I just couldn’t wrap my head around Monster Hunter. With its flood of complex systems and overwhelming UI, Capcom’s action RPG series felt completely foreign to me in a way that few games do. It wasn’t until I played 2021’s Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin that I began to see the light. Yes, the kid-friendly, turn-based RPG was a completely different beast than 2018’s mainline Monster Hunter World, but it still helped me understand the underlying fundamentals of the series in clear and intimidating terms. I’ve since graduated to the mainline games, but I’ve always appreciated the role Stories plays for the series.