Monster Hunter Stories 2 Review-in-progress: A Jaw Dropping World

Monster Hunter Stories 2 is out now for the Nintendo Switch. Thanks to Nintendo Canada we received a review code of the game. And in our first review-in-progress, we’ll talk about the game’s jaw-dropping graphics.

The regular Monster Hunter games have people and monsters that look fairly “realistic” and cool. They’re really nice looking games…but…

I prefer Monster Hunter Stories 2’s graphics.

Monster Hunter Stories 2 is cel-shaded with a very animated/anime look to it. Fans of Pokémon might think it looks a bit like those games. As some of you know, I’m not a Pokémon fan. I think Monster Hunter Stories 2 looks a lot better than any of those games.

The monsters, the people, and especially the environments are jaw dropping. This is a game you should play on your TV. The game looks fine in portable mode but on an HD television set the graphics really pop and look amazing.

The first area I visited was a tropical island with jungle areas and mysterious caves. There isn’t a lot of variety in the way the dungeons look, especially the caves, but they still look very nice and full of cool creatures to discover.

The second area is even better though. An autumn island full of orange leaves and some darker green areas. The cave dungeons look similar to the first islands, however the more open dungeons look a bit different. And there is an absolutely beautiful open area to explore!

Monster Hunter Stories 2 isn’t as open as say, Breath of the Wild, but it can still be pretty open at times. And you can find all kinds of enemies and items in these open areas. Its really fantastic! And the towns for both areas are very neat and fun to explore. The second town is..well…I won’t spoil it. Its so cool. Monster Hunter Stories 2 is just a great game so far.

Next time, I’ll talk about Monster Hunter Stories 2’s combat. As impressive as the graphics are…well…more about the combat next time!

Monster Hunter Stories 2 is now available on the Nintendo Switch via retail and the eshop. Thank you to Nintendo Canada for providing a digital code for this review.