Trivia / Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin

• Author's Saving Throw:
  • The developers specifically identified three issues with the first game that they worked to address in this one:
    • A lot of people, including the kids who were the ostensible target audience (and the adults who ended up actually playing the thing), thought that the art style of the first game was too cutesy and childish, especially for the subject matter. The new game keeps the cel-shaded style, but stars characters that are a little older and gives everyone more realistic proportions. The final effect is more than a bit comparable to Breath of the Wild, Xenoblade Chronicles 2 or Genshin Impact.
    • The Tactical Rock–Paper–Scissors system in the first game was too reliant on guesswork (monsters would generally favor one type of move, but that would punish the player on the turns they used a different type), so enemy attack patterns were made more consistent and it also became clearer when enemies enter "rage states" that more heavily change up their attack patterns. To make up for the simplified system, strategy was re-added by adding the weapon-type system.
    • Monstie customization via the Rite of Channeling was originally pretty limited until the postgame; this game opens things up sooner and allows genes to be moved into any slot instead of always taking the same space on the board.
• Invisible Advertising: Subverted. There was plenty of promotion for the Nintendo Switch version, but surprisingly very little for the PC version, to a point where you'd be forgiven for not knowing said PC version exists in the first place. The only way you'd know about the PC version's existence was if you'd happen to visit the official website, the Monster Hunter Twitter account, or stumble upon the game's Steam page.
• The Other Darrin: While all the characters returning from the Japanese version reprise their roles from Monster Hunter Stories: Ride On, the English dub uses a completely different set of voice actors.
• What Could Have Been: An August interview with developers revealed that they originally intended for all large monsters to be available as monsties in the game. Unfortunately, for an unknown "variety of reasons" this did not pan out, leaving the likes Tetsucabra, Duramboros, Plesioth and more only as wild monsters.