In 2017, Capcom released Monster Hunter Stories, a game that many overlooked due simply to the fact it was tied to the dying Nintendo 3DS in the Switch Era. It had its flaws, mostly due to a seemingly random combat system that punished players for not knowing very specific patterns, as well as the Monster customization options essentially being locked away until the end game. Let’s not even mention the terrible 3DS resolution. Despite this, Monster Hunter Stories was modern Capcom‘s respectable first stab at the Pokemon clone genre.

Fortunately, the lower than expected sales of this first entry didn’t doom the spin-off to oblivion. Some fine tuning of the combat mechanics, a slightly more matured story, a more palatable art direction, and some HD graphics slapped on to boot, and Capcom would have a Pokemon clone capable of generating decent sales. But they didn’t stop there…