Info about Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin:

Official game description:
●Notice of Change in System Requirements
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As a result of NVIDIA announcing the end of support for certain GPUs from October 4, 2021, the minimum and recommended system requirements for this game have changed.  
Please make sure to check the updated requirements before purchase.
About the Game
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\*This content is also available as part of one or more bundles. Please check your previous purchases to avoid duplication.  
Hatch, raise, and live alongside monsters as a Monster Rider in this fun-filled RPG set in the Monster Hunter universe.
**◆ Story**
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**What you've been entrusted with could bring hope or terror…**  
It is the night of a festival in Mahana, the central village of Hakolo Island.  
Rathalos all around the world are vanishing.  
You are the grandchild of Red, whose Monstie was Guardian Ratha, the revered protector of Hakolo Island. Upon setting out to gain experience as a Rider, you encounter Ena, a Wyverian girl who once knew Red. In order to protect the egg that Guardian Ratha has entrusted her with, you decide to leave the island together.  
There are strange things happening everywhere. As you try to figure out what is causing these environmental abnormalities, the egg finally hatches.  
A flightless Rathalos with small wings bursts out of the egg.
**◆ Go Egg Collecting and Hatch Some Monstie Travel Companions**
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**Form bonds with monsters as you embark on a Rider's journey!**  
The monsters you befriend during this enthralling adventure become your loyal Monsties.  
There is a diverse range of monsters that inhabit every nook and cranny of this world.  
Throughout your daring escapades, you can become pals with fearsome and unique monsters such as Brachydios, Seregios, Nargacuga, Tigrex, Zinogre, Kushala Daora, and Teostra!  
Find more monsters along the way and add them to your party!  
Eggs can be found in Monster Dens that randomly appear in the field.  
There are even some rare dens that pop up infrequently where you can get your hands on elusive monster eggs and ones that contain hard-to-find genes.  
Once you have made it safely out of the Monster Den, bring the egg to the Stables and hatch it to get a new Monstie for your journey!  
These are special skills that you can perform while riding a Monstie. Depending on the Monstie, you can gain an ability such as dashing, flying, or swimming.  
There are also other actions that allow you to search for items more effectively when out in the field.
**◆ Monstie Growth**
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**Line up genes to level up your Monsties!**  
After hatching Monsties, you can strengthen them through battles and the Rite of Channeling.  
The Rite of Channeling is a ritual that allows you to transfer a gene from one Monstie to another.  
By doing this, you can awaken a new ability in the Monstie receiving the gene, thereby creating your own original Monstie.  
During the ritual, you can choose which slot you will place the gene in. This gives you the opportunity to enhance your Monsties by awakening new skills and abilities in interesting combinations.
**◆ Turn-Based Battles**
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**Master the three attack types to gain the upper hand during turn-based battles!**  
The improved turn-based combat system allows you to experience the excitement of the main Monster Hunter titles while engaging in epic, strategic fights with monsters you encounter during your adventure.  
There are three attack types: Power, Speed, and Technical. By predicting your opponent's attack type and winning a Head-to-Head, you can inflict massive damage as well as greatly fill your Kinship Gauge.  
**Duke it out using the weapons and armor that the Monster Hunter series is known for!**  
Six weapon types from the familiar Monster Hunter series lineup are available in this game too. Master each of their unique characteristics and forge equipment to fit your individual playing style. Layered armor is also available, so you can hunt in style while wearing your favorite equipment.
**◆ Multiplayer**
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In Multiplayer, you can connect with players from around the world! Team up in Co-Op Expedition Quests or face off against each other in Versus Battles.  
If one of you engages a monster while out in the field, the other player can enter the fray and lend a helping hand.  
Join forces with other Riders from all over the globe to search for rare eggs and take down fearsome monsters together.
**◆ Downloadable Content**
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From hairstyles for your Rider to outfits for Ena and Navirou, there is a wide assortment of exciting downloadable content available.  
You can purchase downloadable content individually or in packs. You can even get all of the available downloadable content at once for a bargain with the All-In Extra Content Pack!  
Give the characters a fresh look and take your adventure to new heights!

Release date: Jul 8, 2021

Categories: RPG, Monster Collecting, Turn-based Combat, Character Customization, Character Progression, Cooperative Multiplayer, Competitive Multiplayer, Single-player Story


- Hardware Profile: No data
Feature extractions:
- Community Price: No data
- Playtime Metrics: No data
- Time-to-fun: No data
- Player Archetypes: No data


Below are summaries of things people say about the game per category.
Each point is assigned a weight that represents how often it is mentioned across all reviews.
What players like:
- Significant Overall Improvement & Fun (weight 0.99): Players overwhelmingly praise the game as a highly enjoyable and addictive experience, representing a substantial improvement over its predecessor in almost every aspect. It offers robust gameplay, significant quality-of-life enhancements, and provides many hours of engaging content with high replayability.
- Ideal Monster Hunter/Pokémon blend (weight 0.56): The game expertly combines the Monster Hunter universe with Pokémon-like creature collection and turn-based combat, making it accessible for newcomers while delighting veterans. Many reviews highlight it as a superior monster-collecting experience compared to recent Pokémon titles and a refreshing take on Monster Hunter lore.
- Rich and engaging Monstie mechanics (weight 0.45): The monster taming, collecting, riding, and breeding systems are a major highlight, with particular acclaim for the deep gene customization and the addictive egg-hatching loop. Players appreciate the wide variety of Monsties, the strong sense of companionship, and the strategic depth they add to combat.
- Strategic and dynamic turn-based combat (weight 0.41): The turn-based combat system, built on a well-implemented rock-paper-scissors mechanic, is praised for its strategic depth, dynamic presentation, and excellent animations. It strikes a good balance between accessibility and complexity, requiring tactical thought about monster weaknesses and weapon types.
- Stunning visual and monster design (weight 0.29): Reviewers noted a substantial upgrade in graphical quality, featuring beautiful cel-shaded aesthetics, vibrant environments, and highly detailed character and monster models. The monster designs and their fluid animations are particularly praised for their charm and personality, enhancing the game's immersive world.
- Relaxing gameplay with extensive side content (weight 0.2): The game provides a tranquil and accessible experience suitable for a broad audience, characterized by charming aesthetics and a balanced difficulty. Beyond the main story, there is a wealth of engaging side quests, post-game activities, and high replayability that ensure long-term player engagement.

Common complaints:
- Poor, Repetitive Story & Writing (weight 0.68): The overall narrative is widely criticized as bad, boring, illogical, childish, and inferior to the first game. Players found the plot repetitive, often skipping cutscenes, and felt it lacked depth, emotional connection, and engaging characters.
- Protagonist Lacks Agency (weight 0.56): Players felt the protagonist was constantly overshadowed by their legendary grandfather, 'Red', being treated more as a tool or 'Red's DNA carrier' than an individual. NPCs, and even the character Ena, excessively referenced the grandfather, undermining the protagonist's importance and growth.
- Uninspired Map Design (weight 0.5): The map design is criticized for being shallow, unnecessarily large, empty, and repetitive, with many areas feeling like reskins. Players found exploration unrewarding due to linear progression, confusing layouts, and tedious back-and-forth travel.
- Critical Performance & Crashes (weight 0.45): Numerous players reported severe technical problems, including frequent crashes, freezing, and persistent black screen issues upon launch. These problems often rendered the game unplayable, even on high-spec PCs, leading to lost progress and immense frustration.
- Simple, Repetitive Combat (weight 0.35): The turn-based combat, heavily reliant on a basic 'rock-paper-scissors' system, is criticized for lacking depth and becoming predictable and boring over time. Battles are described as tedious and unengaging, especially in later stages or boss fights.
- Downgrade from First Game (weight 0.33): Many players felt the game was an overall downgrade from Monster Hunter Stories 1, citing weaker story, less engaging endgame content, simpler mechanics, and altered or less endearing returning characters. The sense of novelty and richness was perceived as reduced.
- Dated Graphics & Art Style (weight 0.24): The game's graphics and visual presentation are often described as dated, mobile-style, and lacking the polish of contemporary '3A games'. The art style and dialogue were perceived as overly childish, detracting from immersion for adult players.
- Monotonous Gameplay & Grind (weight 0.23): The game suffers from a repetitive gameplay loop, involving extensive grinding, tedious back-and-forth travel, and uninspired side quests. Many players found the overall pace slow, leading to boredom and a lack of motivation to complete the game or pursue achievements.
- Navirou is Irritating (weight 0.16): The companion character, Navirou, is widely disliked for being annoying, useless, constantly interjecting unwanted commentary, and lacking character progression. Players found his personality clashed with the game's tone and wished for an option to silence him.
- Rathalos Plot Overemphasis (weight 0.11): The narrative's heavy emphasis on the Razewing Rathalos ('Ratha') is criticized. Players felt Ratha was forced into the party, underdeveloped as a character, and often portrayed as weak or misbehaving, undermining the supposed bond with the protagonist.
- Dormant Online Multiplayer (weight 0.08): The online multiplayer mode is largely inactive, making it difficult for players to find partners for co-op missions or PvP battles, especially for later high-difficulty quests. This lack of active players diminishes the value of the multiplayer content.

Gameplay feedback:
- Monster collecting JRPG core (weight 0.39): The game blends Monster Hunter and Pokémon, focusing on players as 'Riders' who collect, tame, ride, and battle with 'Monsties.' The core gameplay loop involves finding monster eggs, hatching them, and raising a customizable team.
- Extensive Monstie gene customization (weight 0.21): A deep gene system allows players to customize Monstie abilities, skills, and elemental types through a 3x3 grid. Transferring genes, creating 'bingo' bonuses, and investing in unique builds are central to developing powerful and personalized Monsties.
- Multiplayer and endgame grind (weight 0.1): The game offers online co-op missions for exploration and boss fights, as well as PvP. The endgame primarily consists of extensive grinding to optimize Monstie builds for competitive online play.
- Kinship Gauge powers skills (weight 0.06): The Kinship Gauge is a vital in-battle resource that fills through combat actions, especially 'Head-to-Head' wins. A full gauge allows players to ride their Monstie and unleash powerful Kinship Skills, enhancing the bond between Rider and Monstie.
- Material-based crafting, part-breaking (weight 0.04): Players gather materials from defeated monsters to craft weapons and armor, a system reminiscent of classic Monster Hunter. Breaking specific monster parts during combat yields extra materials and can temporarily stun the enemy.
- Helpful NPC combat companions (weight 0.04): Various NPC companions join the player, providing crucial combat support such as soaking damage, healing, buffs, and setting up powerful double attacks. These companions add strategic depth to battles.

Performance notes:
- Runs Perfectly for Some Users (weight 0.02): Despite prevalent technical complaints, a segment of the player base reports a perfectly stable and bug-free experience on their PC, with no crashes, black screens, or visual glitches. This suggests that the reported issues may be configuration-specific rather than universal.
- Character Creation Multiplayer Bug (weight 0.01): A critical bug during character creation can inadvertently lock a save file out of multiplayer if a specific skin tone from the palette option is chosen. This significantly impacts the intended social and cooperative aspect of the game for affected players.
- Controller Compatibility Issues (weight 0.01): The game exhibits issues with recognizing inputs from certain modern controllers, specifically mentioning the DualSense. This limits input options for players who prefer gamepads and can hinder their gameplay experience.
- Borderless Mode UI Bug (weight 0.01): A specific user interface bug prevents damage numbers from displaying when the game is played in borderless mode. This impacts combat feedback and clarity for players utilizing this display option.

Recommendations:
- Strongly recommended for genre fans (weight 0.62): The game receives high recommendations, especially for enthusiasts of turn-based RPGs, monster collecting games akin to Pokémon, or the Monster Hunter franchise. It's seen as an accessible entry point to the Monster Hunter universe, and a free demo is available for curious players to try before buying.
- Core appeal: monster collecting (weight 0.51): A major draw for many players is the robust system of monster collecting, taming, and egg breeding, frequently drawing comparisons to Pokémon. This mechanic is often cited as the game's strongest feature, with some players even prioritizing it over the story content.
- Best value on sale (weight 0.47): Many players recommend purchasing the game during a sale, noting that it offers good value at a discounted price (e.g., around $20 or less). Conversely, it is often advised against buying at full price, with some reviewers suggesting the game might not be worth the initial cost.
- Debate on MHS1 vs MHS2 (weight 0.09): There is an ongoing discussion among the fanbase regarding the merits of Monster Hunter Stories 1 versus its sequel. Some players recommend playing the first game for a better understanding of the universe, while others suggest skipping it entirely. There are also requests for a PC release of MHS1.
- Mixed input method preferences (weight 0.02): Player opinions are divided regarding the optimal input method for the PC version. Some recommend playing with a gamepad, while others prefer the mouse and keyboard setup, with a suggestion to buy on console if a controller is preferred.

Other player notes:
- High Anticipation for MHS3 (weight 0.25): Players express significant eagerness for a third Monster Hunter Stories game, with many specifically hoping for more monsties, improved multiplayer options, and refinements to systems like egg hatching. There's an expectation that a third entry is coming, with some mentioning a potential 2026 release.
- High Replayability & Value (weight 0.16): Players frequently mention completing the game multiple times, investing hundreds of hours across different platforms, and engaging with endgame content and achievements. This indicates a high level of player engagement and value for money, with average completion times ranging from 50-60 hours for the story to over 400 hours for 100% completion.
- Unique Monster Hunter Spinoff (weight 0.13): The game is widely recognized as a relaxed, turn-based spin-off of the main Monster Hunter series, often compared to Pokémon. It appeals to players who enjoy creature collection RPGs and offers a different, more accessible entry point to the Monster Hunter universe.
- Family-Friendly Cartoon Aesthetic (weight 0.1): The game's cartoonish art style and story cater to a younger audience, making it suitable for children, but it remains enjoyable for teens and adults alike. Graphics are generally described as decent or serviceable, complementing its family-friendly presentation without being visually groundbreaking.
- Expansive Monstie Roster (weight 0.03): The game boasts a significant roster of 81 Monsties (excluding DLC), incorporating all from the first game, new additions from Monster Hunter World, and variations from Generations. Players appreciate this large selection, with some expressing a desire for even more Monsties in future installments.
- Enigma Protector DRM Use (weight 0.02): The game includes Enigma Protector DRM, which some players specifically point out as an issue. This DRM is noted for potentially preventing modding and can be a point of concern for the PC player base.

Emotions:
- Satisfaction (weight 0.36): Players expressed satisfaction primarily due to significant improvements over the first game, including enhanced graphics, refined combat mechanics, and expanded quality of life features. The engaging monster collecting, customization (especially the gene system), and the captivating story contributed to an overall high-quality RPG experience, often noted for its accessibility and replayability.
- Disappointment (weight 0.22): Disappointment stemmed largely from a perceived weak or childish story, often criticized for its focus on specific characters (Rathalos, 'Red') and the protagonist's lack of agency. Players also expressed dissatisfaction with missing features or content depth compared to the first game, such as limited weapon variety or shallow endgame, alongside some technical problems.
- Frustration (weight 0.19): Frustration primarily arose from severe technical issues like game-breaking bugs and crashes that prevented gameplay for many users. Other significant causes included repetitive gameplay, shallow combat mechanics often criticized for reliance on RNG or simplified 'rock-paper-scissors', and annoying AI companions or unhelpful UI.
- Excitement (weight 0.14): Excitement was driven by the game's high overall quality, with many players labeling it a 'masterpiece' and praising its engaging story, strategic combat, and addictive monster collecting mechanics. The anticipation for future installments, particularly Monster Hunter Stories 3, and the unique blend of Monster Hunter elements with a creature collector genre also fueled positive sentiment.
- Enjoyment (weight 0.09): Players experienced enjoyment from the game's overall fun gameplay, particularly appreciating its turn-based combat system, engaging monster collecting, and riding mechanics. The charming art style, good music, and enjoyable story also contributed to a positive and often addictive gaming experience suitable for its target audience.
- Joy (weight 0.07): Joy was frequently expressed due to the game's phenomenal and engaging gameplay, particularly the addictive process of collecting and breeding Monsties. Players found great pleasure in the overall experience, often citing the fun of stealing eggs, the enjoyable combat, and the emotional connection to the spin-off series.
- Anger (weight 0.04): Anger largely stemmed from the perceived poor quality of the game's story, often criticized for its excessive focus on the protagonist's grandfather and a lack of agency for the player character. Frustration with specific design choices, such as AI companions or monster progression, combined with severe unresolvable technical issues, also contributed to this emotion.
- Boredom (weight 0.03): Boredom was commonly reported due to repetitive gameplay loops, particularly in exploration and late-game farming, coupled with an unengaging or slow-paced story. Predictable combat and a perceived lack of content depth also contributed to players losing interest or feeling the game dragged on.
- Appreciation (weight 0.03): Players showed appreciation for the developers' effort and attention to detail, particularly in the game's art style, monster animations, and successful experimentation with the Monster Hunter IP. Quality of life updates, the game's accessibility, and its good performance on platforms like the Steam Deck were also frequently cited as positive factors.
- Annoyance (weight 0.02): Annoyance was largely concentrated on the character Navirou, whose constant dialogue, unhelpful tutorials, and perceived 'cringey' humor irritated many players. Additionally, issues like repetitive side quests and a dead multiplayer community contributed to this negative sentiment.
- Amusement (weight 0.02): Amusement was derived from the game's unique and often humorous premise, such as its quirky take on monster collection or ironic positive ratings despite flaws. Players also found amusement in specific battle animations, relatable AI ally actions, and creative comparisons to other monster-collecting games.
- Anticipation (weight 0.01): Anticipation primarily revolved around the prospect of a third installment in the Monster Hunter Stories series. Players eagerly looked forward to future games, hoping for continued improvements and new content.
- Love (weight 0.01): Players expressed love for nearly every aspect of the game, including its compelling storyline, charming art style, and the deep companion system. This strong positive sentiment often extended to the entire Monster Hunter Stories series, leading some to repurchase the game on different platforms.
- Enthusiasm (weight 0.01): Enthusiasm was fueled by strong positive feelings for the game's generous content, excellent replayability, and its potential for deep min-maxing, appealing to both Monster Hunter and JRPG fans. Many players highly recommended the game, often praising its overall quality and suitability for its target audience.
- Admiration (weight 0.01): Admiration was directed at the game's high artistic quality, including its beautiful graphics, intricate camera work, and charming monster designs. Players also admired the brilliant gene system, excellent music, and the overall excellence of the story, considering it a standard-setter for monster-catching games.
- Surprise (weight 0.01): Surprise typically stemmed from players enjoying the game much more than anticipated, often despite initial skepticism or a general dislike for turn-based combat. The game frequently exceeded expectations, with players expressing surprise at how fun, engaging, or narratively excellent it turned out to be.
- Hope (weight 0.01): Hope was expressed primarily for future improvements in the game series, such as enhancements to the combat system or graphics in potential new installments. Players also articulated a strong desire for a third game in the Monster Hunter Stories franchise.
- Helpfulness (weight 0.01): Helpfulness was demonstrated by players actively providing structured reviews, sharing detailed gameplay tips, monster weakness charts, or offering solutions to common technical issues like crashes or black screens. These actions aimed to assist other players and improve their gaming experience.
- Confusion (weight 0.01): Confusion arose from various aspects, including Capcom's perceived questionable judgment on story quality and the protagonist's lack of dialogue. Players also expressed confusion regarding technical issues like the black screen bug or why certain beloved monsters were not obtainable as companions.
- Relief (weight 0.01): Relief was felt when players successfully found solutions to persistent technical problems such as black screens, game crashes, or frame drops, allowing them to finally play the game. Additionally, some expressed relief that the game was not overly difficult or excessively grindy, contrasting it positively with other titles.}