Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin Preview

When you see the name Monster Hunter, you are probably thinking of the action RPGs that have you playing as a hunter, trapping and killing large monsters around the world based on quests that they are given in the game. Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin is a lot different than the main series. The premise in this title is quite simple: you play as a young Rider who steals eggs from monsters, hatches them, and becomes buddies with the hatchling. You will give your Monster Bestie referred to as a “Monstie” gave it a snazzy name and ride them around the overworld, battling against other monsters and stealing eggs to build your Monstie team. Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin mixes RPG and Pokémon-like elements to make this Stories spin-off series unique from the other games in the franchise.

The first thing you will notice when you start playing is that the visuals in Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin are different from the style that you normally see in titles from this franchise. Instead of a more realistic art style, the characters feel more cute and anime-like than in the core series. The colour palette of the game is more vibrant and varied compared to the main series; even the Monsties that you hatch from eggs and the other ones you do battle with have a colourful look to them. When you begin, your first task is to create your Rider. You select if you want to be male or female, and once that is done, the fun starts. There are a huge number of customisations you can choose from to make this Rider your own: between face shapes, pages of hairstyles and colours, the look of the eyes and their colours, smiles, expressions, and make-up. One of my favourite selections was the character voice; you get to pick which one you want your Rider to have from three choices. To go along with these visuals, we have a soundtrack that makes you feel like you are on a grand adventure; it's full of energy and fits with the aesthetic of the game quite well.

The story takes place on a mountainous island called Hakolo. In the village of Muhana, a festival is going on, complete with fire dancers, drums, dancing, and elaborate masks. Suddenly, we see a hooded girl running through the forest being chased by a green orb of light. She stops when she sees a monster (Rathalos) on the ground, breathing heavily. It has a red and blue egg that it pushes towards the girl. Suddenly, hunters show up and start shooting arrows at it. The monster breathes fire and takes them all down before flying off. The girl runs away, clutching the egg. We see the monster fly off in the sky with a bunch of other Rathalos. Why are they all leaving, and who will protect the island since its monster protector is gone?

Apparently, a report of the Razwing Ratha monster being spotted on the island is what brought the soldiers there. This beast is also known to have the “Wings of Ruin," thus the title, that brought chaos and destruction to the island of Hakolo long ago. You learn that the guardian Rathalos was your grandfather Red's Monstie long ago. You volunteer to help the Riders look into the disappearance of Guardian Ratha and discover what caused all the red light flashes and coloured water the night of the festival.

Control-wise, Monster Hunter Stories 2 is the same as many other RPGs. Playing on a gamepad, you move with one thumbstick while the other controls the camera. The left face button is used to mount your Monstie, while the right button performs your monster's special ability, like jumping. In the top right corner of the screen, you see a minimap that guides you to your next objective with a bright, orange marker. Your current objectives are shown on the right, and they will be checked off once you complete them.

While you are walking around and exploring, follow the orange marker on the play screen; this will lead you to your next quest. It is very large and would be hard to miss, so it’s pretty obvious to know where you should go. Your first quest is to find your first Monstie by finding and collecting an egg to hatch. This sounds easy, but there are a lot of monsters that you will need to battle against before you find the nest. This is a quest you will be doing many times as you explore the world of Monster Hunter!

My first egg was a Kulu-Ya-Ku, and when it hatched, I named it Birdo. Now that you are a Rider you can accept jobs from the Quest Board posted in town. Once you select one, it will be added to your subquests, and if you complete them, you earn experience points, items, and zenny (the in-game currency). Subquests can come directly from villagers you meet, like finding mushrooms for the boy who is scared of the dark. Once your task is complete, you need to go back to the board or tell the person you spoke with about it to get your reward.

The battles in Monster Hunter Stories 2 are turn-based instead of you running up to a monster and attacking, like in an action RPG. When you are in a fight, you have three different types of attacks that you can use. The battle is set up like a paper-rock-scissors match, where one type is strong and weak against the other. Power beats Technical, Technical beats Speed, and Speed beats Power. You will be fighting alongside your Monstie; they control their own attacks for the most part, and the only time you will make the decision for them is if you are riding on their back.

If you attack a foe that is targeting you, a head-to-head is triggered. If you win, the opponent will take significant damage, and your kinship gauge will fill a large amount. A battle line will show you who the enemy is going to be attacking next. If you and your Monstie both use attacks with a type advantage, then you will perform a double attack that deals a lot of damage, boosts your kinship, and cancels the enemy attack. Once the kinship gauge is filled, you can unleash a powerful skill by using some of this charge.

The Results screen shows how many experience and bonus award points you earned for things like head-to-head attacks, duo finishes, if you are undefeated, and skilled hunter awards. The total number of bonus points is placed on a meter, showing how many points you earned along with your rank. All the Monsties on your team will earn XP and level up, not just the one that you used in battle. On the right-hand side of the screen, you will see all the materials you gained by defeating the monsters. One of the big differences between this title and the other games in the Monster Hunter series is that you do not carve materials from the monsters that you kill; instead, you are just rewarded with them at the end of the battle. Spoils like Aptonoth Tail, Raw Meat, Scales, Larinoth Hide, Konchu Shells, Monster Bones, or even internal organs like a flame sac, which is filled with flammable powder. Some of these are used to trade in for money, like quality meat, whereas you grill raw meat to use in combo recipes. This change is good for players like me who don’t have a desire to cut things off of their kill.

You will take all these materials to the smithy located in each village you visit. They will be able to use these items to upgrade the armour and weapons that you already have or create new items for you. Forging new gear is a lot easier in Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin than in the other games in the franchise, as all you need to do is make sure that you have all the materials that the smithy requires and pay the fee. A list of the materials you can use to craft that item is displayed; each type is worth a different amount of points. Select which combinations of items you want to use to get to the required number. I opted to use the items that were easier to find; they were worth fewer points, but since I had a lot of the same items, it made more sense. If you want to skip the whole crafting thing, that is fine, the smithy does have a selection of premade weapons and armour that you can purchase outright.

In the village, there is also a place to buy items to replenish HP or to heal ailments like poison. The nice thing is that while exploring, you can pick up items like herbs that are used to replenish your health, so you won’t need to spend your money (Zenny) to purchase them. Just be sure to grab all the resources you can while you are out searching for eggs and completing tasks.

Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin is for players who want an experience that is more lighthearted and charming than the original titles in the series that are aimed at a younger audience. I like how the harvesting system was changed to just being rewarded with the materials instead of having to retrieve them myself. Its story may not be the most original, but it is accessible to players new to or returning to the series. This isn't your average Monster Hunter game, but its mix of RPG and Pokémon-like elements makes it worth checking out. However, I will warn you that the fights can feel repetitive after a while, and sometimes while in a fight, it’s tricky to determine the best type of attack that will be the most effective to use against your enemy!

I can't wait to see how Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin evolves when the full game is released!