Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruinhad a pretty big presence at E3 this year, showing up at both developer Capcom’s presentation and the Nintendo Direct at E3. Capcom is clearly proud of the next installation in this story-focused RPG spinoff ofMonster Hunter. These games are a great way to build up lore of theMonster Hunterworld since they’re so focused on plot and character development, too, so they certainly contribute a lot. One thing thatMonster Hunter Stories 2and its predecessor do to expand the world is offer a different perspective on a human’s relationship with monsters.Monster Hunter Stories 2is all about working together with monsters –referred to as Monsties – to battle other monsters, rather than just killing all of them.
That premise might sound a little familiar to some. It’s definitely not too far off ofPokemonin a certain sense. Although thePokemonfranchise isn’t nearly as violent asMonster Hunteris, it’s all about the same kind of monster friendship saga thatMonster Hunter Stories 2is all about. Interestingly, one ofthe latestMonster Hunter Stories 2trailersbegs a question thatPokemondoesn’t really explore: how exactly do humans forge the kinds of trusting relationships that make it possible for humans and monsters to work together? The trailers suggest that that question, found rarely in thePokemonworld, is central to the plot ofMonster Hunter Stories 2.
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Comparing Pokemon and Monster Hunter’s Philosophies
In thePokemonseries, both the games and the shows, the willingness of Pokemon to work with trainers is never really questioned. The closest that the games come is questioning how different trainers treat their Pokemon, comparing warm-hearted and loving trainers like Ash Ketchum to callouspeople who manipulate Pokemon like Team Rocket. That’s about the end of it, though. Across thePokemonworld, it’s generally accepted that Pokemon and humans live and work together. Human life is dependent on Pokemon’s help to function, but it’s never thoroughly explored exactly why Pokemon like to live and work with humans.
Monster Hunter Stories 2seems interested in treating that question differently. In fact, the trailer that Capcom showed at E3 involved a character directly questioning how the protagonist controls their monsters. Although another character responds with a speech about teamwork over control, it doesn’t seem likely that that’ll be the end of the question. In fact,Monster Hunter Stories 2will probably talk a lot about the different perspectives humans have on their relationship with monsters. It’s stillheavily set inMonster Huntertraditionsof battling monsters rather than taming them, and there’s also a looming antagonistic force that seems interested in catching and controlling monsters.Monster Hunter Stories 2will probably be all about what it means for humans and monsters to work together.
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Monster Hunter Stories 2 Has Plot Potential
On the whole,Pokemongames aren’t known for their plots. Although some of them have told strong stories, the plot generally isn’t very complicated or asks any heavy questions, save for characters like N fromPokemon BlackandWhite.Even thoughMonster Hunter Stories 2has a premise pretty similar toPokemon,Capcom’s willingness to tell an intricate storyis a big reason that it stands out fromPokemon. Even thoughPokemonis supposed to be all about friendship and developing bonds with a trainer’s team, the more emotionally impactful narrative at the heart ofMonster Hunter Stories 2might mean that Capcom tells the same kind of story, but better.
At the end of the day, this question isn’t whatPokemonis supposed to be about.The relationship that Pokemon and humans haveis vastly different from the relationship betweenMonster Huntermonsters and humans in the grand scheme of things. Even so, it’s the kind of question thatPokemonfans can’t help ask themselves. The longer fans spend in one universe, the more questions they’ll have about how that world works.Monster Hunter Stories 2has a chance at a solid plot thanks to asking this question of itself. Fans can look forward to working together with their Monsties while simultaneously learning what that kind of monster training means.
Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruinreleases July 9 for Nintendo Switch.
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