Monster Hunter Stories is a 3DS RPG spinoff of the Monster Hunter series. Players take the role of Monster Riders, who participate in turn-based battles against wild monsters alongside their tamed "Monsties." The game received two waves of amiibo figures in Japan, featuring the standard male and female protagonists, the Felyne Navirou, and a few other side characters. Especially notable is that (barring Navirou) all the amiibo consist of a rider and a mount, which are all interchangeable with each other. While the localized version claims amiibo compatibility, there has been no announcement of the amiibo releasing outside of Japan. The game launches in North America and Europe on September 8. A free demo is currently available to download; players can transfer their progress from the demo to the full game. (note that it takes OVER 4000 BLOCKS) I've never enjoyed the demos I've tried of previous Monster Hunter games, but Stories has been a lot of fun--even if I can't figure out monster battle patterns very well--and I'm really looking forward to the full release.
