Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin - Review

Getting two entries, within the same game series, in one year is almost unheard of, sure you might get two Mario games, but that is more the exception, given just how many genres he stars in. Monster Hunter on the other hand, has long been a series where the games happen every few years and when they do, they are more hardcore hunting titles. But what happens when Capcom releases a second Monster Hunter game, one based on a series that didn’t set the world on fire, when it first came around; is this a case of a Zinogre striking twice, or is this just too much of a good thing?

The story is that you are a rider to be, among the people of Hakolo Island, this is what most people want to be, you however have a boost in getting there, you are the grandchild of Red, a legendary rider. One night, during a celebration, the sky turns red as beams of light erupt from the ground, while you and the rest of the village are watching this, a girl is running from hunters in the forest, after being gifted an egg from a Rathalos. While the events don’t keep you on Hakolo Island for long, the story just barely manages to keep things interesting beyond that premise, you have to go out and find out what is going on, and more importantly, how it can be stopped. Along the way you will meet Navirou, who acts as your mouthpiece, given your character is silent and together, you will venture out, with other folks at times, in order to solve the mystery and discover what the Wings of Ruin might be about.

The problem with the story is that it keeps getting itself side-tracked, with everyone you meet, telling you how much you remind them of your grandpa and how he was amazing. It feels that is more about your journey to discover his life’s work, rather than solving the threat of the missing Rathalos and while there are times when the game pushes things forward, there are also side stories that constantly get in the way and most of them are required, in order to move the main story along. The story is basic, it does what it needs to do, but as you have no control over the direction it goes, you are just along for the ride and having Navirou take command and agree to things or just in general speak up for you, is just annoying, this is an RPG, where there is less of a role to play and more of a role to placate.

Leaving the story aside, the gameplay is mostly entertaining and while the game does its best to constantly treat you like a child, the core gameplay will not care in the slightest and if you go into fights unprepared, you will get wrecked. But before that, this is still a Monster Hunter game, so you will also spend a lot of time upgrading armour and weapons, crafting new ones on occasion and collecting resources to allow that to occur. A lot of that comes from the items being out in the world, like stones, gems and bones, but as with any Monster Hunter game, you need to get a lot of the materials from defeating monsters and that is where the battling system comes into play and there is a lot in this.

The battle system breaks down into two parts, a rock/paper/scissors component and a secondary level of targeting where your attacks will land and each is something you have to be aware of at all times, failure to consider one will get your butt handed to you. You and your Monstie, the friendly monsters that you can use, can attack in one of three ways, with a power attack, a technical one, or a speed attack and depending on the one the enemy monster is using, you can deal some damage to them, draw against each other, or get destroyed. While you are choosing what attack to use, your Monstie and other battle mates are also choosing their attacks, should you select the same attack type as someone else on your side, you can get a special kinship attacking going, which can deal some big damage. Each attack you do make, even if they are unsuccessful, you will earn points, you can use these points to attack with skills, which have other benefits, but if you let the gauge fill up, you will be allowed to ride your Monstie and can deal out some massive damage.

The catch with all of that is that it is more random than skill based, yes if you select a speed attack, but if the enemy has selected a technical, you will lose the encounter, but that is only if the game puts you in a head-to-head moment, rather than just a regular attack. The same can be said for when you execute a kinship attack, there is no way to trigger it, the game will just decide it on its own, your Monstie can be pointing at the same enemy as you, with the same attack type to be used and nothing happens, or it can. With how often you will be in battles, the system really gets frustrating very quickly, and constantly having the game choose to do something or not, is not helpful, when you are stuck, waiting to get past a story fight, in order to proceed. It is not all bad of course, you can spot when a monster changes its behaviour, meaning if it was always using speed attacks before, once angry enough, it will now use a different type.

The other aspect of the battles, especially when battling the much larger monsters, is that of targeted attacks, meaning you can aim for their head, tail or wings, if they have those parts. The reason for this, is that if a monster shoots point from its tail, if you disable it, then it can’t do that, meaning you won’t have to worry about poison going forward. The catch is that each part of a monster, will take damage from all weapon types, but will take more from one category over the rest, so if you are aiming for the body of a hard-shelled monster, a piercing weapon may not be the best option. Again, like above though if the monster has multiple points that you can target, you might focus on the head, where as the rest of your party, might focus on the claws and there is no way for you to tell them to target something else, you just have to grin and bare it.

When you are not in battles, which is not often, there are a few other parts to the game that you will want to look into, of course, collecting eggs and raising Monstie’s is at the core of that. Getting eggs is not that hard of a challenge, getting good eggs, however, can prove to be elusive because even a well-protected den, might not have good eggs waiting at the end. The den’s themselves are all over the place, you will spot a handful each time you enter any one of the half-dozen locations that you can wander through. Some of the den’s are short, maybe an open space near the start and then the nest at the back, sometimes they are much larger and filled with many monsters. Then of course there are the golden monster dens, which will randomly appear on the map when you enter them, while the regular ones are in the same spot each time, these will appear in a different spot, each time you visit and while they might repeat, it isn’t something you should bet on. Sometimes getting an egg will require you to fight a monster at the end of the den, but it will also allow you to sneak up on a sleeping monster and as long as you don’t touch it, you can dig up an egg and then amscray.

Getting eggs is important for two reasons, the first is that you will need to build up a team of Monstie’s that you can take into battles and as each of them will specialist in one of the three attack types, if you have a team comprised of only strong, then any speed-based monster you encounter will decimate you more often than not. The Monstie’s also have unique abilities that you can make use of, when not in battles, the Velocidrome you get near the start can jump across certain gaps, where are there are others later on that can climb, break rocks and more. The second reason and one that could consume you, if you don’t pay attention is that of the Right of Channelling, which allows you to basically manipulate the monster dna, by taking an ability from one and transferring it to another. There are some rules here, like you need space in your receiving monsters skill grid and any monster you remove a skill from, is released back into the wild, so if you have favourite, you had best be sure you don’t take a skill from them. As your Monstie’s level up, you will be rewarded with new skills and new slots, so while you may not go back and forth into the system, once in, you can spend a lot of time, creating a Monstie that suits you.

None of that takes into consideration the multitude of side quests that are available, these can range from taking down a set number of a specific monster, or collecting a random assortment of items, the fun part is that you can have a number of them active at once, so if you are going to grind some levels, you can easily knock a few quests off at once. The catch with the collecting quests is that some items are harder to obtain in some areas, so you will need to travel the world, in order to discover the best place for them and then complete the quest. When the constant grind of battles, which can thankfully be sped up, becomes a bit much, the side quests that don’t require fighting, will become a lifeline for your sanity.

One aspect of the game that is hard to miss, is the cel-shaded presentation, the game looks a real treat from the moment your custom character appears, even with the ability to have heterochromia, two different eye colours, should you choose. When you encounter monsters in battle, or even just as they wander the many expansive locales, you will be able to tell which one is which, because apart from cel-shading, they look just the same as they do in other games. The many characters that you meet, from the humans to the feline, all look great in this style and even though you will meet a number of characters, it is easy enough to keep track of who is who, though unless you are like me and somehow create a character that looks like another one, just with some slight colouring differences. The only real exception to the amazing look, is that of Navirou, and that can be attributed to the fact that he is unique, whereas everyone else, from the monsters to the humans all look similar to others of their kind, he does not and there for stands out.

He sadly also stands out in another capacity and that is the god-awful voice that he uses to speak, it isn’t horrible when he is calm or being sympathetic to others, but more often than not, he is yelling, carrying on and deciding that his best bed, which is you, is the best ever and everyone needs to know it. As I said earlier, your character is mute, which means he acts as the player voice, asking questions that you character might be inclined to what to know the answers to, but as he is the one to always talk, from the start of the adventure through to the end, he is so irritating. Most of the other folks that speak are fine, some feel like they are a little off centre from what you think they should sound like, but for the most part, they all fit their roles and the world properly. Going in, I knew I would enjoy the music for the game and that was proven to be true, even when battles entered the double digits in the turn counter, the music never felt like it was repeating. When you enter a new locale for the first time, you will get a nice overview of the land, complete with a great piece of music, so if they release the soundtrack later, I will be all over it.

Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin is an odd game, it looks like a kids cartoon, the story has as much depth as one and the characters are stereotypical of most content aimed at younger kids, but the gameplay requires advanced skills, if you want any chance of succeeding. Going into battles, either willingly or being forced in by the story, will test even the most frequent of RPG players with a layer of randomness that is hard pressed to enjoy. The constant grinding that you will need to do, in order to have any chance of pushing forward, will wear you down, thankfully the side quests and ability to manipulate your Monstie’s does provide a nice distraction. But when it comes down to it, if the Monster Hunter name weren’t attached, this would be nothing more than a generic monster themed RPG, with a weak story, annoying as heck sidekick and a grind that is just not worth the effort.

The Score

7.5

Review code provided by Capcom

The Pros

+World is expansive, with a half dozen major zones and countless smaller ones, plus infinite dens to explore

+The battle system has many layers of depth to discover, which if you can pay attention to everything, does have potential…

The Cons

-… but it is sadly overshadowed by a layer of randomness, that is hard to understand and will constantly frustrate you

-Being forced to grind in battles, in order to progress the story is an old school mechanic that has no place in a modern game