I've been watching speedrunning for a few years, and after picking up and playing Monster Hunter Stories when it came out i decided i would love to run it. I've never speedrun (speedran?) before and was wondering if anyone had any tips for finding routes and making things work, and i noticed the game wasnt particularily active so if anyone wants to join me, by all means, lets get this game going

Welcome to the forum! Hopefully, someone who has experienced speedrunning the game would be able to help you out.

greetings! the monster hunter community would be more than happy to help you out im sure. the game on its own might not be well know but the series most certainly is. you can talk to other members of the monster hunter series here. https://discord.gg/0yZI24kE0c7BH3Lr

I was going to direct you to the Monster Hunter Stories forum, but you beat me there. It looks like you found a game in desperate need of routing and trick finding! Good luck!

Welcome to the forum :) as Lumous said above those players having played the game you're being into a lot would be able to help you out, no matter what video game you're playing. And there are plenty of people accomplished in speedrunning the games over here, so you can always keep learning from them if you have any doubts / questions about certain in-game tricks.