While there can be fun in relying on luck to choose the right skill to use, you do get a clue as the battle is starting, so you’ll have a fairly good idea of how to take the fight on.

As for how it works here, well it is sort of like playing Rock, Paper, Scissors, with you picking between three different powers to use against your foe.

Like the last Stories games, this one too features a very different style of gameplay to the mainline series, with the turn-based play being at the forefront of all the combat. We’ll stay away from story specifics here as much of the fun comes from the numerous surprises you will come against on your travels but, suffice to say, it is a game that gets more interesting and involved as it goes on and it’s one where you’ll still have many things left to do and places to explore when you finish the main story. We are talking about the Felyne companion Navirou, who is there as a guide to offer advice but also to be the comic relief, and it’s the latter where he comes undone – there are only so many cat puns you can hear before it starts to grate. There is, however, one character who can be best described as an acquired taste – a bit of an issue when you will be spending a lot of time with them whether you like it or not. Side characters are great too and there are a ton of them you can interact with. There is almost a sweet naivety to the central character here that remains even when he’s in the middle of a fierce battle. While the story didn’t grab us straight away, the charm of the game and the characters do start to endear themselves to you as you go on, and our investment in their journey went up as a result. It’s a simpler set-up than it sounds and very quickly you find yourself in a long tutorial that shows you the ropes for what to expect.

Red’s grandfather was a legendary rider and he is keen to replicate his successes and help to find out what’s happening – and get some new Monsties to fight alongside him in the process. Red is a young member of a community of riders who train Monsties and the game begins with the news that monsters across the land have begun to act a little bizarrely and Rathalos are disappearing. Your character in this is Red, who you can rename, and you get the level of detailed customisation that you would expect from Nintendo.

Where to buy Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin

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