Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin, preview
Monster Hunter Stories 2
Finally Capcom has revealed some details on the gameplay of Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin, JRPG to be released in July on Nintendo Switch and PC which is inspired by the world of Monster Hunter but which had disappeared from the radar for a while after being announced last September. The time to return to the question was certainly propitious: Monster Hunter Rise was a huge success with critics and audiences, and Capcom took advantage of the first Digital Event after the launch to announce, in addition to all the news of the 2.0 update of its latest masterpiece, even some features of Monster Hunter Stories.The game, in fact, differs from the mother series in the genre: it is a role-playing game with turn-based combat along the lines of Final Fantasy, a not-so-spiritual sequel to the excellent Monster Hunter Stories released for Nintendo 3DS in 2017. Let's see what's cooking after the new trailer below.
A new beginning?
It seems you don't need to have played the previous episode to dive into the world of Monster Hunter Stories: Apparently, the only direct link between the two titles should be Navirou, a talkative Felyne who joins the protagonist's adventure. The latter can be customized at will: we can choose its gender, appearance and name, but the fact that it descends from Red, the legendary Rider who had taken as Monstie the guardian Rathalos of the village of Mahana, on the island of Hakolo, does not change. In the world of Monster Hunter Stories there are not only hunters, but also Riders who prefer to establish a relationship of mutual trust with the miniature monsters called, precisely Monstie: a word game that combines the words "monster" and "beasts", that is best friend. The kinship relationship with Red will lead our protagonist to Ena, a young Wyvernian to whom the old Rider had entrusted a Rathalos egg to protect.Monster Hunter Stories 2: Ena guards Ratha's egg. The official synopsis mentions the disappearance of the Rathalos around the world: we do not know if they are only migrating like the Legiana in Monster Hunter World: Iceborne or if they are really going extinct, the fact is that the dangerous environmental anomalies that are occurring almost everywhere they seem to be related to the egg of Ena. At some point this egg will hatch and the protagonist, Ena and a colorful cast of supporting characters will have to find out if the newborn Rathalos puppy, unable to fly, is the one prophesied that will destroy the whole world. We will therefore have to go on a journey in the footsteps of grandfather Red to solve the mystery of the Wings of Ruin and protect the little sharp Ratha from hunters who want to kill him like the scribe Lilia and her partner Reverto or the determined Kyle who travels in the company of a mysterious Felyne called Tsukino.
Monster Hunter Stories 2: Lilia and Reverto will give us a hard time. Judging by the trailers that Capcom has released so far, Monster Hunter Stories 2 will tell an even more complex and engaging story than its predecessor, full of fully voiced interludes that will rely on a more dynamic and cinematic direction. The impression is that of being faced with an even more "anime" turning point, above all because the Capcom artists have opted for a less super deformed style than in the past, with more adult, slender and more characterized characters that vaguely resemble feature films by Studio Ghibli. Monster Hunter Stories 2 begins in a region that is inspired by Hawaiian tradition, but promises a varied fictional world that mixes the characteristic traits of fantasy, such as in the bucolic village of Rutoh where the Wyvernians live or in the sprawling industrial city of Lulucion. >
The combat system
Monster Hunter Stories 2: clash between Anjanath and Nargacuga. Capcom hasn't really gone too far on gameplay features, outside of the combat system. We can assume, from what little we have seen, that Monster Hunter Stories 2 will work just like its predecessor also in terms of exploration: the trailers reveal vast and geometrically complex environments in which we can move on foot or on the back of our Monstie. In the Monster Hunter Stories of 2017 the Monstie guaranteed different movement abilities depending on the species ridden: some allowed us to climb rocky walls, others to make huge leaps and so on. There is no reason to believe that Monster Hunter Stories 2 doesn't work the same way.Monster Hunter Stories 2: turn-based combat. For now we only know that the Japanese developer has perfected the turn-based combat system, which follows that of the original with a few more innovations. It will still be necessary to choose the Rider's weapon from six different ones, based on type and elements, to inflict more damage on the enemy, but Capcom has promised a leaner and clearer interface, as well as new features that should influence the strategic component of the clashes. The latter still focus on a system like scissors, stone and paper, with attacks and special abilities that belong to three types: Power, Speed and Technique. Once a certain attack has been selected, the relationship between the three types determines the result of the clash between the Monstie deployed on the field, which often translates into spectacular cinematics. If the Rider and his Monstie use the same type of attack, and win the head-to-head confrontation with the enemy, they can even deliver a super combo hit that deals tons of additional damage.
Monster Hunter Stories 2: The Hit combined called Double Attack. The new interface also allows you to choose which parts of the body to attack, if possible. It is not a simple reference to the mother series like so many others, but a strategic approach: by cutting off or breaking certain parts of the enemy's body, you weaken his future attacks, you stun him by earning extra turns and you get specific materials to use to make weapons and new armor. Another novelty introduced in Monster Hunter Stories 2 are the Battle Companions. If we deploy, in addition to our protagonist and his Monstie, also an ally and the respective Monstie, we will find ourselves fighting in four on the same battlefield. In the demonstration published by Capcom, for example, we saw a Wyvernian named Alwyn fighting alongside the protagonist with his Monstie, a Legiana named Shaulk: despite being a cold and reserved character, Alwyn takes the protagonist under his wing as the nephew of the his first human friend.
Monster Hunter Stories 2: Battlemates are new to the combat system. Not all Battlemates will have a Monstie to ride ... and this suggests that characters like Lilia and Reverto may be joining our crew on the adventure. But be careful: we will not be able to give orders to these allies, who will choose weapons and attacks independently. Despite this, in addition to making our life easier in the most demanding battles, for example against the inevitable bosses, the Battle Companions allow us to load the Bond bar more quickly. The latter fills up a little more each turn, so the more characters act on the field, the more turns follow each other and the faster the indicator loads, which we can then use to use some devastating special attacks of the Rider or Monstie that can turn the tide of the most challenging battles.
The multiplayer mode
Monster Hunter Stories 2: the industrial city of Lulucion. While the Digital Event didn't delve into the previously announced multiplayer issue, we've uncovered some tasty details about content that could make Monster Hunter Stories 2 even more valuable. In the original we were able to hunt for special eggs in the hidden nests in the various maps to unlock new Monstie to ride and customize. Capcom has promised to have worked on the intuitiveness of a system that was really very complex, and at the same time it has intertwined it with the multiplayer mode that will even be double: cooperative and competitive. The cooperative exploration missions will take place in areas specially designed for the online mode that we will be able to explore together with another player. Apparently we will only be able to enter these areas if we have the right tickets, and the quality of these tickets will also determine the rarity of the eggs we find.Monster Hunter Stories 2: on the back of a Glavenus. In some cases we will have to join forces against the same enemies in combat, and some missions will ask us to fulfill specific objectives to earn excellent rewards. Apparently, there are monsters that we will only be able to fight in cooperative multiplayer mode and that will be particularly difficult to defeat without good preparation. Alternatively, Monster Hunter Stories 2 will also offer so-called Challenge Battles. Up to four players can participate in these fights, divided into two teams: before starting a fight it is possible to set a plethora of parameters to customize it, or choose some predefined options such as the Mania rules, which assign only one heart per player to shorten the battles and make matches not only faster, but more exciting as well. Growing your own Monstie will be, in short, a game within the game, especially for those who want to compete with friends and strangers in this competitive mode.
Monster Hunter Stories 2: a challenge battle in multiplayer mode. Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin promises to be a very rich title and from an exquisitely technical point of view it really seems an amazing production. Capcom has worked a real miracle with Monster Hunter Rise on Switch, so there's no reason to believe that the trailers shown so far don't reflect what the game will be on the Nintendo console when it releases in July, although a PC version is also planned. simultaneously. As information about this new RPG multiplies, it becomes clear that the Monster Hunter franchise is experiencing a second youth and we can't wait to see what other surprises Capcom has in store for us.
