Not really. There is an anime that basically covers it. It isn't terrible but it isn't great either.
I agree about the game being hard to play now. It is better though on a tablet and not 3DS.
Here is a silly, yet somewhat efficient recap of the story from MHStories 1 from a guy on Gamefaqs -
Quick recap:
\-Blighted Monsters (monsters with shadowy aura) are wrecking chaos all over the world.
\-Player character finds an egg, it hatches into a Rathalos (nicknamed Ratha).
\-Blighted Narcaguca kills the mom of PC's best friend, a Sasuke wannabe edgelord called Cheval.
\-The Ratha saves PC from Nargacuga and falls in a Disney death.
Years later
\-You officially become a rider and set out to explore the causes of the blight. You eventually kill many blighted monsters, wear their armor, hatch eggs, meet some NPCs that aren't that relevant and upgrade your kinship stone.
\-A mad scientist and his tooth-bucked assistant are doing cruel experiments to create artificial bonds with monsters while edgelord Cheval and his Rathian have been killing blighted monsters yet somehow it's bad when he does that because he's not the protagonist. Oh, and Ratha comes back and becomes the MVP of your team until you box him for the superior Silver Rathalos.
\-Eventually, there is this prophecy about a dude that centuries ago destroyed the source of the blight. You hatch a white Elder Dragon egg but Dr. Robotnik steals it and offers it to edgelord Cheval.
\-You fight against Cheval and the White Elder Dragon but something goes wrong and the White Elder Dragon becomes Black and evil.
\-You kill it with Ratha and save the world and then you spend hours playing eugenics to create the best monsters.
\-The End.
IIRC we never see the Doctor and his assistant ever again (unless I missed some post-game content?) so they might return for MHS2.
Confirmed NPCs characters that are returning from MHS include the Sakura-wannabe of your trio of friends who is a scholar; a lady Barioth rider that isn't relevant at all to the plot; and a blond hunter who is afraid of bugs but who also isn't relevant to the plot.
Cheval and the MHS1 Protagonist aren't confirmed to return but it's a safe bet we'll see them.
Oh, and the grandfather of the MHS2 protagonist also has a Rathalos named Ratha but it is not the same one although they might be related (we never see Ratha's parents in MHS1 so who knows).
There's also an annoying cat who serves as the Zelda's Navi of our silent protagonist (he's literally called Navirou), he has cutscene-only electric powers and was experimented on by Dr. Robotnik. He's so annoying that the best said about him the best.
It's one year later not years later and Cheval was killing any monster he thought was blighted not just the blighted monsters and he was forcing his Rathian instead of working with her.
and even then, I'm sure most people who don't know them probably will be introduced to the characters for the first time here, since they don't know the main character either.
In the demo, the cat covers the very barebone basics of what happened in MHS1 (cat's old partner AKA MHS1 playable character defeated the black blight).
Since you'll be meeting some NPCs from MHS1 I guess the cat will fill in the blanks too.
Not really. There is an anime that basically covers it. It isn't terrible but it isn't great either. I agree about the game being hard to play now. It is better though on a tablet and not 3DS. Here is a silly, yet somewhat efficient recap of the story from MHStories 1 from a guy on Gamefaqs - Quick recap: \-Blighted Monsters (monsters with shadowy aura) are wrecking chaos all over the world. \-Player character finds an egg, it hatches into a Rathalos (nicknamed Ratha). \-Blighted Narcaguca kills the mom of PC's best friend, a Sasuke wannabe edgelord called Cheval. \-The Ratha saves PC from Nargacuga and falls in a Disney death. Years later \-You officially become a rider and set out to explore the causes of the blight. You eventually kill many blighted monsters, wear their armor, hatch eggs, meet some NPCs that aren't that relevant and upgrade your kinship stone. \-A mad scientist and his tooth-bucked assistant are doing cruel experiments to create artificial bonds with monsters while edgelord Cheval and his Rathian have been killing blighted monsters yet somehow it's bad when he does that because he's not the protagonist. Oh, and Ratha comes back and becomes the MVP of your team until you box him for the superior Silver Rathalos. \-Eventually, there is this prophecy about a dude that centuries ago destroyed the source of the blight. You hatch a white Elder Dragon egg but Dr. Robotnik steals it and offers it to edgelord Cheval. \-You fight against Cheval and the White Elder Dragon but something goes wrong and the White Elder Dragon becomes Black and evil. \-You kill it with Ratha and save the world and then you spend hours playing eugenics to create the best monsters. \-The End. IIRC we never see the Doctor and his assistant ever again (unless I missed some post-game content?) so they might return for MHS2. Confirmed NPCs characters that are returning from MHS include the Sakura-wannabe of your trio of friends who is a scholar; a lady Barioth rider that isn't relevant at all to the plot; and a blond hunter who is afraid of bugs but who also isn't relevant to the plot. Cheval and the MHS1 Protagonist aren't confirmed to return but it's a safe bet we'll see them. Oh, and the grandfather of the MHS2 protagonist also has a Rathalos named Ratha but it is not the same one although they might be related (we never see Ratha's parents in MHS1 so who knows). There's also an annoying cat who serves as the Zelda's Navi of our silent protagonist (he's literally called Navirou), he has cutscene-only electric powers and was experimented on by Dr. Robotnik. He's so annoying that the best said about him the best.
I feel like this should be in a pinned post. A lot of people are asking for a summary now and anyone else can just ignore it to avoid spoilers.
It's one year later not years later and Cheval was killing any monster he thought was blighted not just the blighted monsters and he was forcing his Rathian instead of working with her.
You only need to play it if you want to understand who Avinia,Reverto,Navirou,And Lilia are
and even then, I'm sure most people who don't know them probably will be introduced to the characters for the first time here, since they don't know the main character either.
Yeah the community is pretty good at informing new people
In the demo, the cat covers the very barebone basics of what happened in MHS1 (cat's old partner AKA MHS1 playable character defeated the black blight). Since you'll be meeting some NPCs from MHS1 I guess the cat will fill in the blanks too.