Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin

Genre: Turn-Based Monster Collecting JRPG

Players: 1-4 Co-Op / Competitive (Local Wireless / Online)

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Review:

(Note: Included in Monster Hunter Stories Deluxe Collection, along with Monster Hunter Stories.)

When the first Monster Hunter Stories game was released on the Nintendo 3DS in 2017, it was a very different take on the franchise – more family-friendly, more colorful and cartoony, more plot-focused, and most notably, making use of a turn-based JRPG with monster collecting elements as opposed to the mainline series’ Action-RPG gameplay. And while it was generally well-received, it didn’t make an particularly large impact, especially when compared to the release of the mega-successful Monster Hunter World, which released early the next year.

It seems history is repeating itself again in 2021, with the sequel to Monster Hunter Stories, Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin, seeing release on Nintendo Switch and PC… and largely being overshadowed by the impressive and inventive Monster Hunter Rise, released just a few months prior that same year.

Judging by the presentation, it’s a bit easy to see why. While Monster Hunter Stories 2 still looks quite good, it is far less impressive than its big brother, once again making use of more colorful, cartoony visuals. Don’t get me wrong, the character models here are still gorgeous, the environments still look quite nice, but it feels like a step down after Monster Hunter Rise. Monster Hunter Stories 2 also once again features a story aimed more toward younger audiences, and direction and voice acting that ranges from fairly stereotypical anime-style fare to embarrassingly juvenile anime-style fare (I’m looking at you, Navirou). And while the typical JRPG-style soundtrack here is decent, it’s not especially memorable.

As for the gameplay, the focus on turn-based combat has made this a game series that some call “Monster Hunter for people who don’t like Monster Hunter”, although I don’t think that’s entirely fair. You can absolutely see many of Monster Hunter’s mechanics translated here – players still gather materials, craft,and upgrade equipment in a manner similar to the mainline games. However, this time players generally don’t need fast reflexes to take on the beasts they hunt (occasional quick-time event notwithstanding).

The Monster-Collecting element of this game is an interesting direction to go with the series, especially in that the game’s focus on befriending monsters rather than just slaughtering them for parts makes for another great way to distinguish this series from the mainline games. Having said that, you don’t have direct control over your monsters (called “monsties” when they’re friendly), which cuts down on much of the strategy that other Monster Collecting games like Pokemon are known for. On top of that, where Pokemon features a pretty complex network of elemental affinities, much of Monster Hunter Stories 2 comes down to its rock-paper-scissors system of “power attack”, “technical attack” and “speed attack”.

Another frustration is the way this game handles multiplayer – it is unlocked by completing a quest a fair amount into the game, something that isn’t really made clear to the player. You could easily go through the entire game without even knowing it had multiplayer support. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to test this feature, but I don’t see it changing my thoughts on the quality of the rest of this game.

Again, I’ll stress that what’s here is all still quite good, polished, and works well. If you’re a fan of Turn-Based Monster Collecting JRPGs looking to dip your toe into the Monster Hunter universe, this is a great place to start. It’s just hard not to feel like this game is largely overshadowed both by the mainline Monster Hunter franchise and by the Pokemon franchise. If that doesn’t bother you so much, you may find this game still warrants a look.

tl;dr – Monster Hunter Stories 2 is a more family-friendly take on the Monster Hunter franchise that takes the series into the realm of Turn-Based Monster Collecting JRPGs. It’s a solid game in many respects, but as a Monster Hunter game it’s overshadowed by Monster Hunter Rise, and as a Monster Collecting RPG it can’t quite compete with Pokemon. However, if you’re a fan of both franchises looking for an interesting take on the Monster Hunter universe, or want to try your hand at a Monster Hunter game that doesn’t require cat-like reflexes, this game may be one you’ll want to look into.

Grade: B-

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