Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin is out on trial version on Switch

On 14th of June, Capcom revealed during its E3 2021 event, that trial version of Monster Hunter Stories 2 would be released near the end of June for players on Switch. Starting from Europe, it will be available throughout world by end of June 25.

The trial version will allow transfer of saved data to the full version of game. This will allow players to fully experience the game and if they like it they can order the full game and later on transfer the data to the full version.

For the purpose of transfer of data from trial version to full version, player need to save the gameplay. In trail version, only one slot is provided whereas three are allotted in full version. After completion of trial version, a pop up window will ask player whether to save the game or not. Either of these option will not allow player to play from the same point. Player would be redirected to the main menu. Here player need to select data in the auto-save slot from the load option to continue playing the game after completion of trail version.

On clicking save option, saved data will be stored at slot available in game. Player can also choose "New Game" to start game from beginning.

It will require player to have a Nintendo account which is mandatory to get access to Nintendo eshop. Player can grow till level 11 in trial version after which the level of player will not rise due to no gain in EXP of player.

The game would require 2.5 GB space in Nintendo Switch for downloading which can also be obtained using microSD card.

Trail version will not have multiplayer modes, be it online mode or local mode.

Story:

Story surrounds the grandchild of Red, whose Monstie was Guardian Ratha. Guardian Ratha was protector of Hakolo Islands, where protagonist lives. Protagonist lives in central village of Mahana located in Hakolo Island. Situation is not good around Hakolo Island as Ratha is no more protector of island as well as Rathalos are vanishing from the island. Anomalies have surrounded these island and it has become dangerous to live in these islands. 

Game brings us to the festival night at Mahana village from where we track the journey of protagonist to become a rider. Here, protagonist meet Ena, a Wyverian girl. Both along with egg that was entrusted by Guardian Ratha leave Island. When the egg hatches, a small Rathalos is born which accompany protagonist on journey. Here, the game picks up the story towards protecting the islands from upcoming dangers.

Gameplay:

Player will play role of rider where each rider has a Monstie. Monstie can be gained from eggs found in Monster Dens. Player can collect only one egg from dens however, player need to be alert to not awake sleeping monster or watch out for monster returning back to their den. Player can exchange an egg with another found in den. 

Once player own a Monstie, it can be customize through ritual of channeling where genes of a Monstie is transferred to another Monstie. New genes in Monstie allow it to learn new skills and abilities. During riding, Monstie can display different abilities such as dashing, swimming depending on Monstie.

Battles with other Monster can start either by back attack, surprise attack or if spotted by monster. The attacks are turn based event. 

Player can select between Power, Speed and Technical attacks. For attack preferences, Speed beats Power, Power beats Technical and Technical beats Speed.

Different Charms:

Player can pray near Prayer Pot to gain blessings which can raise EXP of player. This EXP can be extended for a time by offering charm to the mysterious pot.

Player can get one time bonus on scanning Stories 2 amiibo named Ena, Tsukino and Razewing Ratha. These bonuses are only one for each kind. Similarly, on scanning Monster Hunter Rise amiibo, stickers related to Rise game can be obtained.

Ten amiibo can be scanned every day to get access to Tsukino's Lunar Luck, which gives fortune-telling service for each amiibo. Depending on future predictions, items are generated that can be useful to player.

Multiplayer allow players to team up for expedition quests or battle with other players to gain score. In versus battles, four players can fight each other in a single battle. For expedition, player will need special expedition tickets. Different expedition tickets allow different eggs to explore. Players can also play slaying missions where players and team track down monster to slay them. Many of the areas are restricted to only Multiplayer mode only. 

More information can be obtained at Official Website of Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin.