Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin review – a gorgeous-looking spin-off that's worth your time

But just because it is another in a series does not mean that newbies will be lost if they try it as this feels very much like a standalone game, and one that new and old fans should get equal enjoyment from.

Where to buy Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin

• Buy from Amazon (£54.99)
• Buy from GAME (£49.99)
• Buy from Smyths (£44.99)

Your character in this is Red, who you can rename, and you get the level of detailed customisation that you would expect from Nintendo. 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.

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. 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.

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. There is almost a sweet naivety to the central character here that remains even when he's in the middle of a fierce battle.

Side characters are great too and there are a ton of them you can interact with. 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. 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.

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.

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. 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.

• Speed beats Power
• Power beats Technical
• Technical beats Speed

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. It adds a fun level of unpredictability to fights that goes some way to making up for the lack of tension that attacking in turns tends to have. That being said, the constant animations which take place in the battle do get old very quickly. Happily, you can triple the speed of them though.

Of course, there are far more powers, weapons and moves at your disposal than just the three listed there. You can combine attacks with your Rathalos, Monsties can pick up defensive weapons of their own that will require an extra weapon to destroy (you get a powerful blunt hammer early on to destroy a rock, for example) and more get added to your arsenal as you play. There are also great offensive weapons like flash bombs and many more that help to keep the combat fresh when it could easily start to feel repetitive.

• Read more: Monster Hunter Rise PC release date

You can only control your own character's attack, which does feel like another downside as it leaves you twiddling your thumbs with no involvement in many areas of battles that have others tagging along with you but, again, speed up those animations and it becomes little more than a small niggle.

Back to the Monsties: they are collected via eggs that hatch and, for the most part, you won't know what you are getting when you find an egg – quite a Pokemon feel, then. While a lot of the excitement comes from seeing what you end up with, you should also pay attention to what genes they have as they vary and certainly come in handy.

Abilities such as Pukei-Pukei's Venom Shot will help you out in battle and, if you want to know what eggs will have Monsties with the rarest genes, look for the smelliest. They can have up to nine gene slots and the heavier the egg, the more it will have. Additions like this add so much to the game as, while collecting Monsties to fight alongside you is fun, these extra elements really give it a boost.

While this may sound a little intimidating for newcomers, the tutorial covers a lot of these bases and the rest you will learn naturally as you play, without too much confusion. There can be a lot to think about as a result of having so many different things at your disposal but it is presented in a way that's not overwhelming and it's pleasingly simple to get the hang of most of it.

Fans will also be pleased to know there are many plans for the game beyond its release, with a bunch of new things being added as time goes on. The first, the Palamute Monstie, comes on July 15th and there are more set to drop after that, including a High Difficulty version of the Kulve Troth co-op quest.

There is already a lot to do in the game and to know that will be the case for the foreseeable future certainly means it is a worthwhile one to add to your Switch library, and it'll take you quite some time to complete everything that it has to offer.

Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin launches July 9th for Nintendo Switch

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• Nier Replicant - great game, rubbish name

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