Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin Review

Wings of Ruin does not shy away from confronting decades-old genre tropes and techniques as a role-playing game. The setting, the monsters, and the general environment remind us more of Nintendo-centric MH games of recent generations than of the 3DS world, and it's a title that begins with an understanding of the monsters "ticking behavior and introduces familiar objects and their effects. Knowing the monsters from previous games firsthand helps a little with the first encounters, and the system tutorial is practical enough to make the game accessible to every player.

Nevertheless, the IPs universe and the intricacies of its monsters are important factors, and the genre is much better suited to understanding complex worlds than a traditional role-playing game.

Apart from slow cooperative quests, the bottom line is that Monster Hunter Stories 2 is the interface between Monster Hunter series and action JRPG genre of turn-based battles, and should delight fans of both. You won't get a convincing, coherent story with deep twists, but the suspense is enough to enjoy classic Monster Hunter attractions and the different styles of Monster Hunter Rising and Monster Hunter World. The fun side story is great, and the Monster Hunters game world is on the rise, offering fans new and old different perspectives on the game world and tapping into the collecting game - games like Pokemon - to open options for your style of play.

Monster Hunter Stories 2 is brighter, more colorful and as detailed as Monster Hunter Rising. What makes this game more reminiscent of Pokemon than a traditional monster hunter title is the way it plays in Nintendo's Monster Catch series. Monster Hunter Stories lets you focus your attacks on specific monster parts to stun them and stop their attacks, unlike Monster Hunter Rise and other games in the main series.

The story series is about an action fight against a turn-based system. Monster Hunter Stories 2 has a more tactical approach than other games, allowing you to choose attacks and support moves in turn-based encounters. Unlike the Mainline series, all encounters in Monster Hunter: Stories 2 are turn-based.

This fold makes battles more enjoyable, and the game has some nice quality-of-life features such as the ability to quickly advance animations at the end of battles with low-level opponents to mitigate anger. With their combat skills, Tigrex can perform certain actions when riding across the field and help reach inaccessible areas (Yian Kut Ku, for example, can smash rocks that block Tigrex's path, or climb over ivy-covered walls). When players encounter a Tigrex for the first time, veterans will know that it uses a speed attack.

Everything looks smooth in the fight, but I struggled to keep up with the natural pace of the fight in some scenarios. The graphics are not too strenuous, but the Framerate Switch is a puzzle in itself, and turbulent framerates have continued since the release of the games.

Wings of Ruin is more detailed and extensive thanks to the jump from 3DS to Switch. The story is richer, builds on the unique relationships and enriches the story of the series. For example, the tension between hunter and rider is emphasized and the background of humans and Wyverians is somewhat extended.

The real story is nothing to write home about, and for those who didn't like the original Monster Hunter gameplay or didn't find anything to look forward to, I know that. I think Capcom knew that the content that would be announced in the coming months would have nothing to do with the story but it is the additional monsters of Monster Hunter Rising and the combat partners of Monster Hunter Stories 2 that should be the main attraction. It is a warm kind of game, with funny character designs, engaging voice and beautiful views, and when it gets hot, I always want to meet new monasteries and visit old and new friends.

I love the majority of monster designs, and it helps that I know many of them from playing through Monster Hunter World and its DLC. When I enter a new area, I can spend hours finding new monsters to hatch and fight, there are a lot more re-skins I like, and there are a lot more Capcom Expert DLC post-game, so I'm sure the team will diversify and grow over the next year.

If you're not in town, you can drive your monsties from one of Wings of Ruins "six main nodes to dozens of other side areas, collect materials, fight monsters, explore caves, find eggs to hatch, and more with as many party members as possible. Explore open areas to complete quests and endless streams of distracting, shiny objects in the form of new monsters, craft materials, rare and challenging royal monsters, treasure chests, monster caves, and alluring golden rare monster caves. Some areas are more general, such as beach areas, ice rinks and volcanic areas, but they are all great to look forward to, even if you switch to a weaker console.

In the Pokemon part of Wings of Ruin, players venture into caves to catch breeding monsters. Together with riders, they will collect eggs to raise them into monsters.

Battles come alive with speed lines, great attack effects, and a fun special attack for monster drivers called Kinship. Riders become friends with monsters when they put them in their pants out of necessity, leading to party-building mechanics similar to Pokemon, but instead of monsters they are your beasts, which of course have different values such as elemental strength, weakness and abilities.

You play as the grandchild of Red, the famous horseman of the monster, a trivialization of the titular monster of the series. Battles with monsties are turn-based, with a few mechanics to determine the winner.

The story begins with the mass disappearance of Rathalo from the world, and a large pit appears, which emits a strange pink light. The kittens turn out to be the legendary white Rathalo, the black wing called Razewe and the Ratha, called the wings of ruin, which will bring about the end of the world. The driver, an annoying felyne named Navirou, embarks on the adventure of a lifetime, and the players can enjoy every step of it.