Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin
A turn-based Monster Hunter spinoff about Riders and Monsties.
Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin is a role-playing game released in 2021, developed by Capcom and Marvelous and published by Capcom for the Nintendo Switch and Windows. It is a spinoff in the Monster Hunter series and follows up on 2016's Monster Hunter Stories. The game launched worldwide on July 9, 2021. A sequel, Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection, came out in March 2026.
In the game, players take on the role of a Rider who befriends monsters by stealing and hatching their eggs. The player character and their companion monster, called a Monstie, fight in turn-based battles against wild monsters. New to this entry is the "Buddies" system, which lets an additional character and their Monstie join the player and their Monstie in combat.
During a player's turn, both the Rider and their Monstie can attack. Attacks come in three types: Power, Speed, and Technical. These work like rock-paper-scissors: Power beats Technical, Technical beats Speed, and Speed beats Power. When an enemy monster targets a character and that character attacks, a Head-to-Head occurs, pitting the two attack types against each other. If the player and their Monstie both use the same attack type and have the advantage, they perform a Double Attack, preventing the enemy from countering. Winning battles earns experience points and items. Beyond the main story, players can take on sidequests called subquests.
The story starts with Rathalos disappearing worldwide during a festival on Hakolo Island, alongside the appearance of large pits emitting a pinkish light. The player character, a descendant of the legendary Rider Red, meets a white-haired Wyverian girl named Ena, who carries a Rathalos egg entrusted by Guardian Ratha. A Rathalos with small black wings hatches from the egg, said to bring ruin to the world. As the story unfolds, the player encounters monsters with glowing pink eyes. These "rage-rayed" monsters attack everything, and the source seems to be the pits. Hunters believe the player's Rathalos, called Razewing Ratha, is the cause and capture it. It is later revealed that the Hunters work with a mysterious group wanting Ratha. The player retrieves Ratha and escapes with Ena, and Ratha spreads its wings. Later, a giant worm-like creature emerges from a pit and devours a Rathalos.
Quick Facts
- Title
- Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin
- Developer
- Capcom · Marvelous
- Publisher
- Capcom
- Series
- Monster Hunter
- Engine
- MT Framework
- Platforms
- Nintendo Switch · Windows · PlayStation 4 · Xbox One
- Released
- Nintendo Switch, WindowsWW · July 9, 2021PlayStation 4WW · June 14, 2024Xbox OneWW · November 14, 2025
- Genre
- Role-playing
- Modes
- Single-player, multiplayer
- Director
- Kenji Oguro · Katsuhisa Higuchi
- Producer
- Ryozo Tsujimoto · Hiroshi Ito · Kenichiro Tsukuda
- Designer
- Hiromi Sakamoto · Kenji Oguro · Saina Aoki · Nao Hashimoto
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
The story begins with the mass disappearance of Rathalos around the world seen at a festival on Hakolo island, as well as large pits emitting a strange, pinkish light appearing everywhere. The player character, a descendant of the legendary Rider named Red, encounters a white-haired Wyverian girl, Ena, who has been entrusted with a Rathalos egg by Guardian Ratha. A Rathalos with small black wings bursts out of the egg, said to bring ruin to the world. As the story progresses, the player faces many monsters with pink, glowing eyes called "rage-rayed" monsters that attack and destroy everything, with the source seeming to come from the pits. Hunters believe the birth of "Razewing Ratha" is the source and capture it.
Eventually, it is discovered that the Hunters are working with a mysterious group that wants Ratha for themselves. The player recaptures Ratha and escapes with Ena, with Ratha spreading his wings. Later, an enormous worm-like creature emerges from one of the pits and devours a Rathalos. This monster is later discovered to be a powerful Elder Dragon called Oltura, which has been creating the pits and luring Rathalos to consume them for power. The player and Ena track Oltura to Hakolo Island, its birthplace, and confront Zellard, the leader of the mysterious group, who intends to awaken Oltura to destroy the world and create a new one, disillusioned after Red's death. Zellard nearly sacrifices Ratha to Oltura, which instead consumes Guardian Ratha, fully awakening Oltura. Kyle discovers Oltura's weak points are its wings and uses two relics Ena wore as a pendant to destroy them. The player and Ratha then kill the weakened Oltura, saving the world.
Reader's Guide
Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin received generally favorable reviews according to Metacritic. PCGamesN noted that while the repetitiveness of its turn-based battle system can become frustrating, the game is more than a novel twist on the main series' core components. The game sold 137,676 copies at retail in its first week in Japan, ranking as the best-selling game of the week. In the United Kingdom, it debuted in third place, selling more than twice what the original game had done in its first week. In the United States, NPD Group reported it ranked as the third best-selling release of the month, with sales tripling that of the previous entry's lifetime sales. It topped the global Steam charts in its first week, setting a new peak player count for a Japanese role-playing game's launch on the platform, surpassing Persona 4 Golden. Capcom announced on July 20, 2021, that the game had shipped more than one million units worldwide, and by May 2022 confirmed sales of 1.5 million copies. The game's legacy includes a PlayStation 4 port announced on March 11, 2024 and released on June 14, 2024, along with the remastered version of Monster Hunter Stories. Xbox One versions of both games released on November 14, 2025. A sequel, Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection, was released in March 2026.
Did You Know?
- The game was revealed on September 17, 2020 during a Nintendo Direct Mini: Partner Showcase.
- A set of three Amiibo figures (Ena, Razewing Ratha and Tsukino) launched on the same day as the game.
More in Role-Playing Games of the 2020s, Part 3 1-24
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