Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin Reviews
For all it’s charm and mechanical depth, Wings of Ruin only just manages to fly.
While it’s your typical ‘Monster Hunter’ game, you can also tame and ride them all while enjoying this adventure RPG. The battle system is turn based and the intensity that the original Monster Hunter had has been well translated into this iteration as well. While there is a keyword of ‘Stories’ in the game’s title, it was a little ironic that the characters weren’t highlighted as much which made it feel awkward to focus on the story itself.
Review in Korean | Read full review
Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin is very much so a Monster Hunter game. Its main focus still falls on the core loop of battling monsters, gathering materials, and using them to craft badass gear suited for different situations. Infused with a rock-paper-scissors turn-based combat system and creature collection elements, it does, nevertheless, provide a different spin on things that adds extra reasons to sink your teeth into its inherent grind.
Overall, Monster Hunter Stories 2 is a fine game. It does nothing offensive while still having some great mechanics thrown in. The story is decent, the combat is fun, but can get a little long in the tooth and the overall progression system was fine albeit a bit one note after a while. Monster Hunter fans can have a fun time with it while old school RPG fans will get more out of the mechanics of the combat mixed with the rite of channeling that can really get the maximum stat boosts going. It has it’s pacing issues here and there with the combat and the quest progression, but overall, these are minor compared to the sheer amount of things you can do while still raising the best team of Monsties you can make.
What Monster Hunter Stories as a whole truly offers is an expansive look into the Monster Hunter universe through a more welcoming lens. It’s not as deep (in ways that both hurt and help its case), but that’s by design. Just know what you’re getting into and you should have a fun time with Monster Hunter Stories 2.
In any case, we are faced with two good RPGs, which represent an ideal entry point for the new generations both in the universe of turn-based JRPGs and in that of Monster Hunter.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin it's a little more than a "more of the same". The story, like the Monsties, are fun and engaging, but don't expect a masterpiece unless you're an hardcore Monster Hunter fan.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Monster Hunter Stories 2 turns out to be a good JRPG that will delight fans of the saga, especially those willing to turn a blind eye to its undeniable ease and a narrative held back by avalanches of fetch quests and a disappointing protagonist. Those who have played the first game should keep in mind that this is a more of the same, with all the pros and cons that this entails.
Review in Italian | Read full review
This game could easily be dubbed a Pokémon clone. The gameplay differs greatly from the main series, but easily holds its own. Sporting five very different zones, a compelling story and gameplay that should be immediately recognizable, this game fits all new hunters-to-be. Graphics are adequate and load-times are abundant but pretty quick thanks to the SSD drives and power of modern consoles.
Review in Dutch | Read full review
Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin accomplishes exactly what a solid sequel should. Everything from the graphics to the game mechanics has been upgraded or tuned in various ways to create a smoother yet new experience. Improved fidelity, stronger ease-of-play, more cohesive maps, and battle adjustments make Monster Hunter Stories 2 a more modern feeling game while unabashedly still being a proper Monster Hunter AND RPG experience.
Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin continues what was started in the first game, and elevates it to new heights. What was once a side attraction could well become the staple, as Wings of Ruin is simply an excellent RPG.
Monster Hunter Stories 2 is the perfect cozy game for any Monster Hunter fan, or any cozy game fan, for that matter. It is wholesome, simple, and fun. An incredible story would have made this game even better, but it is still an excellent experience regardless.
The Monster Hunter Stories Collection for PlayStation delivers around 70 to 80 hours of pleasant gameplay with fine round-based combat and a motivating character system. The remastered version of part 1 increases the experience by some nice visual improvements and benefits a lot from the totally new voiceover. It’s not on eye level with current productions, but that does not affect the atmosphere too much. The second part Wings of Ruin is still the better game with a richer world and a more complex combat system. But if you already played it on a PC or Switch, you do not experience much new. In total, the Monster Hunter Stories Collection is a rich compilation of two games, you should play if you like the Monster Hunter series and round based combat.
Review in German | Read full review
Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin is a more ambitious effort than its predecessor and it brings us a vast, open world, with a gorgeous art style, a great combat system, heavy emphasis on the plot and a great variety of creatures to capture. The experience is far from perfect, though, as its technical performance doesn't always go as expected. On top of that, the game world feels rather empty, despite this being more ambitious than the first game. Regardless of that, it's a very welcome addition to the Nintendo Switch offer on monster capture games.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
"In grandfather's footsteps."
Review in Finnish | Read full review
Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin is a great and appealing offer for both Monster Hunter and JRPG fans in general. The combats are always intense, the narrative is captivating, and despite implementing so many complex systems and game mechanics, it manages to do it in such a balanced way that it manages to provide an intuitive and pleasurable experience. It's a pity the myriad of technical problems and some artificial intelligence problems hampered this experience, which is still highly recommendable.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin is another strong title in the series' collection, giving something different to its fans, while rushing to offer clever twists that will refresh its formula.
Review in Greek | Read full review
Monster Hunter Stories 2 is a great game thanks to its impressive combat system. The real star of the show however is the lively world that keeps you entertained throughout. Even though the Switch might not capable of the prettiest graphics, the game still looks great. It comes with a price however as the framerate is not that good.
Review in Dutch | Read full review
Monster Hunter Stories 2 certainly isn’t a perfect game, the story is paced awkwardly, the voice acting is dry and it’s mostly a stripped-back Monster Hunter experience that not every Monster Hunter fan will want to play. Where Monster Hunter truly succeeds is in making the combat captivating, the story charming and the monsties fun to collect and manage. If you’re both a Monster Hunter fan and a JRPG fan, or just someone looking to scratch that Pokemon itch, Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin is just the game you’re looking for.