Newsletter
  • Guides
  • Previews
    • Indie Games
    • PS4
    • PC
    • Xbox One
    • Nintendo Switch
    • Nintendo 3DS
    • PS Vita
    • PS3
    • Xbox 360
    • Wii U
  • Site Info
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Staff Directory
    • Join Our Team
    • Privacy Policy
      • Cookies Policy
    • RSS Feeds
    • Social Media
      • Youtube
      • Facebook
      • Twitter
      • Twitch
      • Instagram
      • Tumblr
      • Linkedin
      • Pinterest
      • Discord
  • Discord
  • Store
  • Logitech G
  • green man gaming
  • Affiliates
    • GAMIVO.com
    • Logitech
    • Astro Gaming
    • Nord VPN
    • Best Buy
    • Namecheap Hosting
    • Blue Mic
    • Ultimate Ears
    • Jaybird
Wednesday, March 29, 2023
BG
  • News
    • All
    • Esports
    • Interviews

    Wanted: Dead Enemies and Bosses Explained Video

    8 Minutes of New Atomic Heart Gameplay

    Chance to make money with valorant?

    Valorant, CS: GO, Dota 2 – Just Online Games or an Opportunity to Make Money on Bets?

    Amazon Luna Games Coming in February

    Wanted: Dead Finishers Explained Video

    Current CS:GO Team Rankings! What’s the Best Team at the Moment?

    Wanted: Dead Shows New Combat Gameplay For A Bloody Valentines Day

    Eminence in Shadow Mobile RPG Gets New Trailer, Available Now

    Crunchyroll Announces 8-Bit Adventure Gam Hime’s Quest

    Trending Tags

    • Top Stories
    • PlayStation
    • Xbox
    • Nintendo
    • Retro Games
    • Mobile Games
    • Indie Games
    • Square Enix
    • Sony
    • Microsoft
    • PAX
    • EGX
    • Gamescom
    • Rockstar Games
    • Electronic Arts
    • Activision Blizzard
    • E3 Expo
  • Reviews
    • All
    • Flash Game Reviews
    • Google Stadia
    • Indie Game Reviews
    • Mobile Game Reviews
    • Nintendo 3DS Reviews
    • Nintendo Switch Reviews
    • PC Reviews
    • PS Vita Reviews
    • PS3 Reviews
    • PS4 Reviews
    • PS5 Reviews
    • Retro Game Reviews
    • Reviews RoundUP
    • Xbox 360 Reviews
    • Xbox One Reviews

    No More Heroes 3 PS4 Review

    Neptunia: Sisters vs Sisters PS4 Review

    Wanted: Dead Review

    The Legend of Heroes Trails From Zero

    The Legend of Heroes: Trails From Zero PC Review

    Amnesia: Memories + Later x Crowd Review

    Dusk Diver 2 PS5 Review

    Yurukill: The Culmination Games

    Yurukill: The Calumniation Games Nintendo Switch Review

    Matchpoint Tennis Championships Live Review

    Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II Nintendo Switch Review

    Trending Tags

    • Resident Evil
    • Call of Duty
    • Final Fantasy
    • Destiny
    • Borderlands
    • Halo
    • The Elder Scrolls
    • Fortnite
    • PUBG
    • Bioshock
    • The Witcher
  • Opinion
    • All
    • Second Opinion

    Manga Review: Summertime Rendering Volumes 2 & 3

    buying, szelling, and trading csgo skins

    What To Expect When Buying, Selling, & Trading CS: GO Skins

    What Are the Best Ways to Gear Up in Retail WOW?

    Chance to make money with valorant?

    Valorant, CS: GO, Dota 2 – Just Online Games or an Opportunity to Make Money on Bets?

    megaways vs regular slot machines

    Are Megaways Better Than Regular Slots?

    Current CS:GO Team Rankings! What’s the Best Team at the Moment?

    game night with friends tips for success

    Top Tips for Games Night Success

    10 benefits of online gaming

    10 Benefits of Online Gaming

    The 5 Most Popular Video Games that Feature Casinos and Gambling to Play

    Trending Tags

    • Is It A Classic?
    • Remember When
    • Do We Even Care Anymore?
    • Humpday Haikus
    • Top Series
    • Thirsty Thursday
    • Aging Gamer
    • On The Way To E3
  • Podcasts
    • All
    • The BagoCast
    • TSR BagoCast

    Bagocast: Interview with Upper Echelon Gamers – The Future of Game Journalism

    Bagocast: Interview with Upper Echelon Gamers – Social Media & Esports

    Bagocast: Interview with Upper Echelon Gamers – Politics in Video Games Games

    Bagocast: Interview with Upper Echelon Gamers – Content Creators vs Game Journalist 2

    Bagocast: Interview with Upper Echelon Gamers – Titan Fall and Apex: Legends Hacked

    Bagocast: Interview with Upper Echelon Gamers – Content Creators vs Game Journalist

    BagoCast EP: 12 – Code Vein and the DLC

    Debate/Discussion: Bad Video Games That We Love

    Discussion/Debate: Is Bioware Gone?

    Trending Tags

    • Film Fallout
    • 8Bit Proof
    • Gaming Historia
    • Bago Anime Cast
    • Gamers In Beta
    • Gamers Unscripted
  • Videos
    178614

    So, You Wanna Play Junker Queen?

    178081

    Matchpoint Tennis Championships Live Review

    176052

    Void Slayer – Review

    174993

    The IDEAL Spider-Man VR Game

    174963

    Crunchyroll Panel Full Video @ Anime Frontier

    174259

    BPM: Bullets Per Minute – Shooting to The Beat (Review)

    173523

    She Will Punish Them – Warning: Mature Content (Early Access Review)

    172416

    Bagocast: Interview with Upper Echelon Gamers – The Future of Game Journalism

    172189

    Bagocast: Interview with Upper Echelon Gamers – Social Media & Esports

  • Geek Culture
    • All
    • Anime and Manga
    • Anime/Manga Review
    • Collectibles
    • Comic Books
    • Cosplay
    • Movies
    • Tech
    • TV Shows

    Manga Review: Summertime Rendering Volumes 2 & 3

    Pwnage Releases New Info On Stormbreaker, The Magnesium Alloy Gaming Mouse

    Eminence in Shadow Mobile RPG Gets New Trailer, Available Now

    Crunchyroll Announces Anime Frontier Panels and Premieres

    Crunchyroll Announces Hell’s Paradise, The Ancient Magus’ Bride S2, and More Upcoming Anime

    The Quintessential Quintuplets Movie Gets New Key Visual, Tickets Now on Sale

    Crunchyroll Rich Presence Now Available on Discord

    Udon Entertainment Announces Persona 4 Arena & Ultimax Manga Coming 2023

    Steve Aoki Releases All-New Remix for the “One Piece Film Red” Original Soundtrack

    Trending Tags

    • Movie Reviews
    • Movie News
    • TV News
    • TV Episode Review
    • Episode Guide
    • Competitive Gaming
    • Tech News
    • Tech Review
    • Anime and Manga News
    • Anime and Manga Review
    • Comic Book News
    • Comic Book Review
  • Forum
No Result
View All Result
Social icon element need JNews Essential plugin to be activated.
Social icon element need JNews Essential plugin to be activated.
  • News
    • All
    • Esports
    • Interviews

    Wanted: Dead Enemies and Bosses Explained Video

    8 Minutes of New Atomic Heart Gameplay

    Chance to make money with valorant?

    Valorant, CS: GO, Dota 2 – Just Online Games or an Opportunity to Make Money on Bets?

    Amazon Luna Games Coming in February

    Wanted: Dead Finishers Explained Video

    Current CS:GO Team Rankings! What’s the Best Team at the Moment?

    Wanted: Dead Shows New Combat Gameplay For A Bloody Valentines Day

    Eminence in Shadow Mobile RPG Gets New Trailer, Available Now

    Crunchyroll Announces 8-Bit Adventure Gam Hime’s Quest

    Trending Tags

    • Top Stories
    • PlayStation
    • Xbox
    • Nintendo
    • Retro Games
    • Mobile Games
    • Indie Games
    • Square Enix
    • Sony
    • Microsoft
    • PAX
    • EGX
    • Gamescom
    • Rockstar Games
    • Electronic Arts
    • Activision Blizzard
    • E3 Expo
  • Reviews
    • All
    • Flash Game Reviews
    • Google Stadia
    • Indie Game Reviews
    • Mobile Game Reviews
    • Nintendo 3DS Reviews
    • Nintendo Switch Reviews
    • PC Reviews
    • PS Vita Reviews
    • PS3 Reviews
    • PS4 Reviews
    • PS5 Reviews
    • Retro Game Reviews
    • Reviews RoundUP
    • Xbox 360 Reviews
    • Xbox One Reviews

    No More Heroes 3 PS4 Review

    Neptunia: Sisters vs Sisters PS4 Review

    Wanted: Dead Review

    The Legend of Heroes Trails From Zero

    The Legend of Heroes: Trails From Zero PC Review

    Amnesia: Memories + Later x Crowd Review

    Dusk Diver 2 PS5 Review

    Yurukill: The Culmination Games

    Yurukill: The Calumniation Games Nintendo Switch Review

    Matchpoint Tennis Championships Live Review

    Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II Nintendo Switch Review

    Trending Tags

    • Resident Evil
    • Call of Duty
    • Final Fantasy
    • Destiny
    • Borderlands
    • Halo
    • The Elder Scrolls
    • Fortnite
    • PUBG
    • Bioshock
    • The Witcher
  • Opinion
    • All
    • Second Opinion

    Manga Review: Summertime Rendering Volumes 2 & 3

    buying, szelling, and trading csgo skins

    What To Expect When Buying, Selling, & Trading CS: GO Skins

    What Are the Best Ways to Gear Up in Retail WOW?

    Chance to make money with valorant?

    Valorant, CS: GO, Dota 2 – Just Online Games or an Opportunity to Make Money on Bets?

    megaways vs regular slot machines

    Are Megaways Better Than Regular Slots?

    Current CS:GO Team Rankings! What’s the Best Team at the Moment?

    game night with friends tips for success

    Top Tips for Games Night Success

    10 benefits of online gaming

    10 Benefits of Online Gaming

    The 5 Most Popular Video Games that Feature Casinos and Gambling to Play

    Trending Tags

    • Is It A Classic?
    • Remember When
    • Do We Even Care Anymore?
    • Humpday Haikus
    • Top Series
    • Thirsty Thursday
    • Aging Gamer
    • On The Way To E3
  • Podcasts
    • All
    • The BagoCast
    • TSR BagoCast

    Bagocast: Interview with Upper Echelon Gamers – The Future of Game Journalism

    Bagocast: Interview with Upper Echelon Gamers – Social Media & Esports

    Bagocast: Interview with Upper Echelon Gamers – Politics in Video Games Games

    Bagocast: Interview with Upper Echelon Gamers – Content Creators vs Game Journalist 2

    Bagocast: Interview with Upper Echelon Gamers – Titan Fall and Apex: Legends Hacked

    Bagocast: Interview with Upper Echelon Gamers – Content Creators vs Game Journalist

    BagoCast EP: 12 – Code Vein and the DLC

    Debate/Discussion: Bad Video Games That We Love

    Discussion/Debate: Is Bioware Gone?

    Trending Tags

    • Film Fallout
    • 8Bit Proof
    • Gaming Historia
    • Bago Anime Cast
    • Gamers In Beta
    • Gamers Unscripted
  • Videos
    178614

    So, You Wanna Play Junker Queen?

    178081

    Matchpoint Tennis Championships Live Review

    176052

    Void Slayer – Review

    174993

    The IDEAL Spider-Man VR Game

    174963

    Crunchyroll Panel Full Video @ Anime Frontier

    174259

    BPM: Bullets Per Minute – Shooting to The Beat (Review)

    173523

    She Will Punish Them – Warning: Mature Content (Early Access Review)

    172416

    Bagocast: Interview with Upper Echelon Gamers – The Future of Game Journalism

    172189

    Bagocast: Interview with Upper Echelon Gamers – Social Media & Esports

  • Geek Culture
    • All
    • Anime and Manga
    • Anime/Manga Review
    • Collectibles
    • Comic Books
    • Cosplay
    • Movies
    • Tech
    • TV Shows

    Manga Review: Summertime Rendering Volumes 2 & 3

    Pwnage Releases New Info On Stormbreaker, The Magnesium Alloy Gaming Mouse

    Eminence in Shadow Mobile RPG Gets New Trailer, Available Now

    Crunchyroll Announces Anime Frontier Panels and Premieres

    Crunchyroll Announces Hell’s Paradise, The Ancient Magus’ Bride S2, and More Upcoming Anime

    The Quintessential Quintuplets Movie Gets New Key Visual, Tickets Now on Sale

    Crunchyroll Rich Presence Now Available on Discord

    Udon Entertainment Announces Persona 4 Arena & Ultimax Manga Coming 2023

    Steve Aoki Releases All-New Remix for the “One Piece Film Red” Original Soundtrack

    Trending Tags

    • Movie Reviews
    • Movie News
    • TV News
    • TV Episode Review
    • Episode Guide
    • Competitive Gaming
    • Tech News
    • Tech Review
    • Anime and Manga News
    • Anime and Manga Review
    • Comic Book News
    • Comic Book Review
  • Forum
No Result
View All Result
BagoGames
No Result
View All Result

BagoGames > Articles > Game Reviews > Nintendo Switch Reviews > Monster Hunter Stories 2 Review

Monster Hunter Stories 2 Review

Journey through Hakolo Island

Christopher Falcon by Christopher Falcon
2 years ago
in Game Reviews, Nintendo Switch Reviews, PC Reviews
Reading Time: 6 mins read
0
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

RelatedStories

No More Heroes 3 PS4 Review

3 weeks ago

Neptunia: Sisters vs Sisters PS4 Review

3 weeks ago

Monster Hunter; one of Capcom’s highest-selling series. Originally starting on the PlayStation 2 back in September 2004, the series has evolved, including new mechanics, new weapons, new monsters, and more ways to play the game. Eventually, the series came to rival consoles, such as the Wii U and Xbox One.

Monster Hunter has also had a slew of spin-offs and other titles, including an RPG series known as Monster Hunter Stories. Today, we’ll be looking at its sequel, Wings of Ruin, and piecing together how it works and if it’s a good spin-off title in its own right. Welcome to BagoGames, and this is our review of Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin.

Enter Hakolo Island

The game starts in Mahana Village (shown above) and serves as the player’s hometown, similar to other games. Rathalos have been disappearing from the island throughout the game, and it’s up to you and your Monster companions, known as Monsties, to find out why.

Gameplay follows a similar beat throughout the adventure. Main Quests have to do with the story mode and involve you taking your Monsties as you explore various regions of the island. Some quests may involve you hunting specific monsters for materials to upgrade your armor and weapons, You also go around retrieving items that NPCs want. Sidequests are permeated with tasks like these, in traditional RPG fashion.

Exploring dungeons is also another key part of the game’s exploration and your primary source for unlocking new Monsties to use. At certain areas of a dungeon, you’ll find Monster Dens, which house a pile of eggs. You can pick any one egg and when you leave the area, the egg is sent back home, and then you can return to the dungeon you were in.

Otherwise, dungeons behave largely like they do in any other RPG; you enter, fight any roaming enemies, get EXP and level up, the usual paces. That said, let’s talk about the combat some more.

Monster Hunter Stories 2’s Combat

Stories 2’s combat hinges on being a turn-based interactive experience, akin to classic games like Final Fantasy I or II. The game’s unique mechanic in battle is the Kinship system. Kinship works similarly to the Personas of, well, Persona. Each Monstie has its own skills, elements, resistances, stats, etc., and you can swap them out freely in battle or back at home.

Every single attack in Monster Hunter Stories 2 has an attribute and it behaves like a weapon “triangle”. Power, Speed, and Technical. Power beats Technical, Technical beats Speed, and Speed beats Power, and when you connect with an attack that beats the defender’s type, you deal bonus damage.

Monster Hunter Stories 2 Review

How All These Mechanics Come Together

Taking advantage of these traits will be integral in completing battles with the least amount of trouble. Double Attacks are another piece of the puzzle and triggers when you and your Monstie pick an attack of the same type and it wins in the Weapon Triangle. On a successful use (indicated above), you deal even more damage and have a chance of knocking the Monster over, allowing you to score critical hits and break Monster Parts easier.

Kinship also comes in the form of riding your Monstie to perform additional attacks. Attacking while on your Monstie will allow you to use unique skills and when your Kinship Gauge, indicated to the right of your health, is maxed out, you can unleash a super attack that does massive damage.

Combat is also very merciful in comparison to other RPGs on the market, as every unit has three hearts underneath their health bar. Not only are healing items in abundance here, but if your health bar reaches zero, it consumes a heart and you get right back up. Hell, it even increases the charge rate of your Kinship Gauge after the fact, too. When all three hearts are depleted and you get K.O.’ed again, that’s when the battle will be considered a loss. During our Monster Hunter Stories 2 review time, it’s happened only once.

Monsties and Their Abilities

Aside from the generic tools Monsties own, like attacking, access to the weapon triangle, among other things, most of them are unique to one another. Upon hatching a Monstie, they’re assigned random Genes that augment their abilities, and then you can take them on your adventure.

Genes can range from various categories, like boosting attack, to giving new skills, and raising stats. There are also Rainbow Genes that grant hidden effects, but they’re significantly rarer than other Genes. Partway through the game, you can unlock the Rite of Channeling, which allows you to transfer Genes and skills from one Monstie to another.

This basically means that to put it simply, take a fire-based Monstie like Glavenus; you can use the Rite of Channeling to give it elements it normally cannot have access to, like Thunder element, for instance. It leads to a ton of potential set-building and creativity with your companions.

Go It Alone, Or Travel Together

Midway through the game, you’re given access to multiplayer, and you may wonder, how does Multiplayer work in this game, exactly? Well, after reaching the second village and completing a few story missions, you can go on Expeditions with friends and other online players, which is actually great.

You can also battle other players, where you and three Monsties go up against another player in similar conditions. Level balancing is ALSO there, meaning you aren’t gonna be held back unless you explicitly aren’t training your Monsties. The multiplayer, to be frank, feels like it’s exactly how Pokemon Sword and Shield’s multiplayer should have been.

Co-op Expeditions can also be completely broken, and don’t worry, it’s not in the fashion of “the game fails to function”. No, it’s more so that farming can be extremely easy, borderline effortless if you and another player are hunting a monster with a type disadvantage relative to your party for XP and material grinding.

Monster Hunter Stories 2 Review

The Verdict

Given what we know about Monster Hunter Stories 2, what can we call it? Well, in my opinion, I think it’s everything Pokemon Sword should have been, and I say that having sunk tons of hours into Sword unapologetically. However, I say that not as an insult to Sword, and more as a reflection of what that game could have been, had it more time to develop.

The game’s pretty neatly tied together, and it’s just really solid. However, it can kind of drag sometimes when it comes to level grinding, but that’s just a metric of tons of JRPGs, you have to grind sometimes. That sentiment aside, should you buy this game? Absolutely, it’s a very solid experience to just kill time on.

The game is actively receiving updates, which makes it clear that Capcom, or some team at Capcom, very much cares about this game. And in this industry, that’s a nice thing to see and hear.

Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin is available now on Nintendo Switch and PC via Steam.

What did you think of our Monster Hunter Stories 2 review? Did you like the game? Is there anything you didn’t like? What would you want to be added or changed for the game? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.

If you liked this review, you can read our review of the previous Monster Hunter Stories game here.

Tags: CapcomMonster HunterNintendoNintendo SwitchPCSteam
ShareTweetShare
Previous Post

Aksys Games Bringing Major Otome Games State Side

Next Post

PistonBuds True Wireless In-Ear Headphones Review

Subscribe
Connect with
Login
I allow to create an account
When you login first time using a Social Login button, we collect your account public profile information shared by Social Login provider, based on your privacy settings. We also get your email address to automatically create an account for you in our website. Once your account is created, you'll be logged-in to this account.
DisagreeAgree
Notify of
guest
The comment form collects your name, email and content to allow us to keep track of the comments placed on the website. Please read and accept our website Terms and Privacy Policy to post a comment.
Save my name, email, and website in this browser cookies for the next time I comment.

I allow to create an account
When you login first time using a Social Login button, we collect your account public profile information shared by Social Login provider, based on your privacy settings. We also get your email address to automatically create an account for you in our website. Once your account is created, you'll be logged-in to this account.
DisagreeAgree
guest
The comment form collects your name, email and content to allow us to keep track of the comments placed on the website. Please read and accept our website Terms and Privacy Policy to post a comment.
Save my name, email, and website in this browser cookies for the next time I comment.

0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

BAGOGAMES WEEKLY NEWSLETTER

Get this week's top news, reviews, guides, videos and opinion for your favorite games, movies, TV and tech in your email every Friday.

Don't worry, we don't spam.

BagoGames

BagoGames.com © 2020 BagoGames LLC. All rights reserved.

Navigate Site

  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Staff Directory
  • Join Our Team
  • Privacy Policy
  • Advertise
  • Newsletter
  • RSS Feeds
  • Discord Server
  • BG Store
  • OpenCritic
  • green man gaming
  • Logitech G
  • GAMIVO.com
  • ASTRO Gaming
  • Logitech
  • Namecheap Hosting
  • Nord VPN
  • Best Buy
  • Blue Mic
  • Reviews
  • News
  • Opinion
  • Guides

Follow Us

Social icon element need JNews Essential plugin to be activated.
  • Login
  • Sign Up
No Result
View All Result
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Opinion
  • Podcasts
  • Videos
  • Geek Culture
  • Previews
  • Guides
  • Short Videos
  • Forum
  • Site Info
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Join Our Team
    • Staff Directory
    • Privacy Policy
    • Newsletter
    • RSS Feeds

BagoGames.com © 2020 BagoGames LLC. All rights reserved.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password? Sign Up

Create New Account!

Fill the forms below to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
wpDiscuz