As time has gone on, Monster Hunter has became an absolute juggernaut for Capcom. The sequence had at all times been massively profitable in Japan, however with Monster Hunter World, it broke out and noticed mainstream success worldwide, following which the IP has rapidly grow to be certainly one of Capcom’s largest sellers, if not even the largest, interval. And although the mainline entries have clearly been primarily answerable for that, the sequence has additionally earned a bit of affection for its turn-based Monster Hunter Tales spinoffs.
After seeing a good bit of success with the primary Monster Hunter Tales recreation in 2016 on the 3DS, Capcom adopted up on it with a sequel in 2021 for the Nintendo Swap and PC, which, by and huge, was thought of to be a strong enchancment over what had already been a strong first outing for the turn-based subseries. Now, three years on from is authentic launch, coinciding with a remastered launch of the primary recreation, Capcom has additionally launched a straight port of Monster Hunter Tales 2 for the PS4- and although it’s clearly not the following massive Monster Hunter recreation that many people are so keenly ready for (no, that comes subsequent yr), it’s nonetheless an ideal alternative for PlayStation homeowners to leap into what’s a genuinely well-made and gratifying conventional turn-based JRPG.
“This can be a nice alternative for PlayStation homeowners to leap into what’s a genuinely well-made and gratifying conventional turn-based JRPG.”
Monster Hunter Tales 2: Wings of Break is technically a direct sequel to the primary recreation, however although some narrative components and characters are shared between the 2 video games, the sequel can simply be performed as basically a standalone recreation. You play as a silent, rookie Rider, who, alongside together with your bonded Monsties (which is what Riders name Monsters) and fellow Riders that you just meet and befriend, embarks on a quest to unravel the mysteries of unusual lights within the sky and mass disappearances of Rathalos.
Monster Hunter Tales 2 positively places extra of an emphasis on story than the sequence’ mainline outings have ever finished, and even when it’s not a story masterpiece by any means – gameplay remains to be the first focus right here – the story does a stunning job of preserving you invested. The writing and voice over performances usually are typically strong throughout the board, even when they could be a bit tough from time to time, and although the story is essentially predictable and fairly by-the-numbers, it does have its fair proportion of moments of real emotion.
As I discussed, nevertheless, the star attraction remains to be the gameplay- which, in fact, could be very totally different out of your common Monster Hunter fare. Like its predecessor, as a substitute of the mainline sequence’ action-packed real-time battles, Monster Hunter Tales 2 throws gamers into turn-based affairs, the place you ship out the Monsties that you’ve managed to bond with and practice in battle alongside you. On paper, it sounds much like Pokemon, however from you additionally preventing in battles alongside Monsties to the core mechanics of the fights themselves, it units itself aside in some methods.
On the fight’s coronary heart is a rock-paper-scizzors system that you just’ll be accustomed to in the event you’ve performed the primary recreation. Every flip, you, your Monstie, and your enemies can unleash both a Energy assault, a Pace assault, or a Technical assault, with every selection being stronger to 1 and weaker to the opposite. Continuously, you’ll go head-to-head in opposition to an enemy when the 2 of you’re mutually concentrating on one another, at which level the rock-paper-scizzors system determines which certainly one of you’ll emerge victorious and get to assault to deal increased harm.
“It begins out a bit too simplistic and easy, however Monster Hunter Tales 2’s battle system rapidly provides layer upon later to show into a real deal with.”
Along with that system, the sport additionally throws in a number of wrinkles to maintain issues attention-grabbing, from monsters getting into totally different states the place they will change up their assaults to bigger monsters having components you could break off for benefits in battle and higher rewards on the finish of the struggle, to the Kinship expertise you could unleash along side your Monsties after you have your Kinship gauge crammed up sufficient. Moreover, there’s additionally six totally different weapon sorts to make use of, with every of them dealing various kinds of harm that may be much less or simpler in opposition to sure monsters, monster components, and what have you ever. It begins out a bit too simplistic and easy, however Monster Hunter Tales 2’s battle system rapidly provides layer upon later to show into a real deal with. It’s a little bit of a bummer that overworld battles can generally drag on so long as they will (even if you’re fast-forwarding by means of them), which is rarely enjoyable in a reasonably lengthy JRPG, which is strictly what Monster Hunter Tales 2 is.
Exterior of battles, issues are way more rote. The majority of your time might be exploring the sport’s a number of giant maps and hub areas, and whereas that’s enjoyable to do on account of their strong design and the way visually pleasing and vibrant they’re to take a look at, there are different components that maintain the expertise again in some methods. For starters, motion generally feels a bit too stiff. Whether or not it’s the digital camera controls not being clean sufficient or the motion animations feeling a bit too stilted, the overall act of going from place to put by no means fairly feels as tight as you’ll need in a Monster Hunter recreation.
There’s additionally the truth that exploration typically tends to get repetitive. You’ll be spending a whole lot of your time in Monster Hunter Tales 2 exploring dens, which is the place you discover Monstie eggs (which, in flip, is the way you add Monsties to your social gathering), however the design of those dungeons is nearly at all times too simplistic, whereas all of them additionally typically are likely to look a bit too related to one another. Whereas it’s at all times thrilling to seek out uncommon dens and probably get your arms on rarer and higher Monstie eggs, finally, the exercise does grow to be repetitive.
Then there are the subquests, which tackle the type of the form of rote, by-the-numbers facet quests that we anticipate to see in RPGs so typically. From amassing a sure variety of a sure merchandise to going out and defeating a sure kind of monster a sure variety of instances, Monster Hunter Tales 2 throws a substantial amount of facet quests at you that, due to their bland and inoffensive design, are laborious to recollect even minutes after you’re finished with them. Some subquests may be genuinely enjoyable, however by and huge, there aren’t a whole lot of gems to seek out on this entrance.
“Monster Hunter Tales 2: Wings of Break is an excellent tackle a beloved universe that feels meaningfully totally different from the video games that spawned it, whereas nonetheless feeling prefer it belongs in that bigger sequence.”
On a technical entrance, Monster Hunter Tales 2 is sort of a reasonably game- because it at all times has been. The PS4 model is nearly indistinguishable from its Nintendo Swap and PC counterparts. There’s some texture pop in and body fee drops right here and there, however this recreation’s energy at all times lay with its artwork fashion, which nonetheless seems to be beautiful. An enormous a part of the enjoyable of exploring the sport’s maps is getting to take a look at its beautiful, vibrant, and vibrant environments, whereas there’s additionally loads to be impressed by on an audio-visual stage if you’re speaking concerning the cutscenes, which all boast legitimately wonderful animations and music.
Finally, Monster Hunter Tales 2: Wings of Break is a strong expertise. It’s an exquisite tackle a beloved universe that feels meaningfully totally different from the video games that spawned it, whereas nonetheless feeling prefer it belongs in that bigger sequence. From the beautiful artwork fashion to the endearing and heartwarming story to the mechanically deep and fascinating battles and customization mechanics, Monster Hunter Tales 2 is a strong JRPG that followers of the style ought to positively try.
The PlayStation 4 model of this recreation was reviewed on PlayStation 5 by way of backward compatibility.
