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Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin Performance Analysis

Exciting turf wars, simple graphics. Three years after the release of Monster Hunter World, the fans of the series get a new PC release. There are many differences in terms of technology and visuals. We conducted a performance analysis of the new title.

Technology

When compared to Monster Hunter World, which we examined back in 2018, Monster Hunter Stories looks more colourful and punchy. As is usual with games that opt for a comic-book style, the textures often do not look good up close. Despite this blemish, the game still looks quite stylish.

Monster Hunter Stories 2
Monster Hunter Stories 2
Monster Hunter Stories 2
Monster Hunter Stories 2
Monster Hunter Stories 2
Monster Hunter Stories 2

The draw distance is not impressive. First of all, there is a lot of very obvious pop-in, and second, many objects disappear off the screen completely or revert to a low-polygon state even at reasonable distances. This spoils the atmosphere somewhat.

Unsurprisingly, Monster Hunter Stories 2 has very low system requirements—unlike Monster Hunter World. It can run well even on low-end systems. The game also does not take up a lot of storage space (game size: 27 GB; download size: 16 GB).

Monster Hunter Stories 2
Monster Hunter Stories 2
Monster Hunter Stories 2
Monster Hunter Stories 2
Monster Hunter Stories 2
Monster Hunter Stories 2

The graphics menu can only be described as spartan. While in the Basic Settings tab (see screenshots below), users can change the resolution, set the frame rate cap (30 to 144 FPS), select the screen mode or enable/disable vertical synchronisation, the Graphics Quality tab offers 3 presets and 4 visual settings. The four graphics settings (Anti-Aliasing, LOD, Texture Quality and Shadow Quality) have very little effect on the performance and the visual presentation. However, graphics changes do not require a restart to take effect.

Monster Hunter Stories 2
Monster Hunter Stories 2
Monster Hunter Stories 2
Monster Hunter Stories 2
Monster Hunter Stories 2
Monster Hunter Stories 2

We did not encounter any issues with stability in our time with Monster Hunter Stories 2. Just like with Monster Hunter World, PC gamers will have to deal with console-like menus. The title was designed with console controllers in mind, which is why using the mouse and keyboard is not the most optimal solution.

All in all, Monster Hunter Stories 2 has made a good impression. The world is set up very nicely and a great soundtrack adds a lot to the overall atmosphere.

Monster Hunter Stories 2
Monster Hunter Stories 2
Monster Hunter Stories 2

Benchmark

Because Monster Hunter Stories 2 does not have an in-game benchmark, we had to create our own benchmark sequence. As you can see from the video below, our benchmark takes place in Mahana Village, which has a few NPSs and huts along the shore.

In each benchmark run, we recorded the frame rates for 25 seconds with the help of CapFrameX. Because this is a third-person title, we feel that 40 FPS is sufficient for an enjoyable gaming experience.

Results

For our benchmarks, we usually use laptops from our partners Schenker Technologies and MSI.

FHD (1920x1080)

As we have mentioned earlier, Monster Hunter Stories 2 has very low system requirements. Even an entry-level GPU such as the GeForce MX350 can handle the title at 1080p on high settings. More powerful mid-range and high-end GPUs come up against the 144-FPS ceiling at 1080p.

Monster Hunter Stories 2
    1920x1080 Low Preset     1920x1080 Medium Preset     1920x1080 High Preset
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090, i9-9900K
MSI GeForce RTX 3090 Suprim X
144 (70.9min, 110P0.1, 122P1) fps ∼61%
144 (65.1min, 109P0.1, 123P1) fps ∼57%
144 (61.9min, 108P0.1, 121P1) fps ∼62%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080, i9-9900K
MSI GeForce RTX 3080 Gaming X Trio
144 (81.7min, 113P0.1, 122P1) fps ∼61%
144 (67.1min, 109P0.1, 121P1) fps ∼57%
144 (64.7min, 98.7P0.1, 111P1) fps ∼62%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070, i9-9900K
MSI GeForce RTX 3070 Ventus 3X
144 (80.4min, 109P0.1, 123P1) fps ∼61%
144 (78.6min, 112P0.1, 122P1) fps ∼57%
144 (77.9min, 100P0.1, 121P1) fps ∼62%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU, i7-11800H
XMG Neo 17 @140 W TGP
144 (86.9min, 104P0.1, 112P1) fps ∼61%
144 (60.8min, 99P0.1, 112P1) fps ∼57%
144 (60.7min, 105P0.1, 114P1) fps ∼62%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Laptop GPU, i7-11800H
XMG Neo 15 @165 W TGP
144 (74.2min, 101P0.1, 110P1) fps ∼61%
144 (65.4min, 97.5P0.1, 113P1) fps ∼57%
144 (62.4min, 91.1P0.1, 113P1) fps ∼62%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Laptop GPU, i7-11800H
XMG Core 15 @130 W TGP
144 (76.2min, 106P0.1, 113P1) fps ∼61%
144 (68.9min, 103P0.1, 113P1) fps ∼57%
144 (48.5min, 97.3P0.1, 112P1) fps ∼62%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti Mobile, i7-10750H
MSI GP75
143 (91.7min, 104P0.1, 110P1) fps ∼60%
132 (68.7min, 81P0.1, 98.7P1) fps ∼52%
120 (81.9min, 84.9P0.1, 93.8P1) fps ∼51%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Mobile, i7-9750H
MSI GP65 Leopard 9SD
136 (72.7min, 95P0.1, 112P1) fps ∼57%
135 (63.8min, 89.4P0.1, 100P1) fps ∼53%
134 (55.4min, 89.9P0.1, 98.5P1) fps ∼57%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Mobile, i7-10750H
MSI GL75
132 (86.3min, 89.1P0.1, 95.2P1) fps ∼56%
118 (60.7min, 81.6P0.1, 87.9P1) fps ∼46%
107 (73.9min, 76P0.1, 80.4P1) fps ∼46%
AMD Radeon RX 5600M, R7 4800H
Dell G5 15 SE
116 (78.6min, 80.7P0.1, 87.4P1) fps ∼49%
116 (74.7min, 76.8P0.1, 84.7P1) fps ∼46%
110 (64.2min, 72.5P0.1, 78.8P1) fps ∼47%
NVIDIA GeForce MX350, i5-10210U
Honor Magicbook Pro
72.7 (51min, 51.8P0.1, 56.1P1) fps ∼31%
62.8 (45.1min, 46.2P0.1, 49.4P1) fps ∼25%
56.8 (41.6min, 42.9P0.1, 44.8P1) fps ∼24%
NVIDIA GeForce MX450, i7-11370H
Xiaomi RedmiBook Pro 15
72.2 (50.3min, 50.4P0.1, 54.5P1) fps ∼30%
63.4 (29.3min, 43.9P0.1, 47.8P1) fps ∼25%
56.7 (40.6min, 40.8P0.1, 43.2P1) fps ∼24%
AMD Radeon RX 5500M, R7 3750H
MSI Alpha 15
60.8 (40.5min, 40.8P0.1, 45P1) fps ∼26%
55.1 (37.7min, 37.9P0.1, 41.7P1) fps ∼22%
51.9 (33.6min, 34.6P0.1, 39.3P1) fps ∼22%

QHD (2560x1440)

Even at 1440p, Monster Hunter Stories 2 is not that demanding. Here, a low-end GPU will suffice. However, to consistently hit 60 FPS gamers will need a true mid-range graphics card.

Monster Hunter Stories 2
    2560x1440 High Preset
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080, i9-9900K
MSI GeForce RTX 3080 Gaming X Trio
144 (61.2min, 110P0.1, 123P1) fps ∼59%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Laptop GPU, i7-11800H
XMG Core 15 @130 W TGP
144 (39.3min, 75.1P0.1, 113P1) fps ∼59%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU, i7-11800H
XMG Neo 17 @140 W TGP
144 (58.4min, 92.2P0.1, 112P1) fps ∼59%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070, i9-9900K
MSI GeForce RTX 3070 Ventus 3X
144 (48.1min, 92.2P0.1, 100P1) fps ∼59%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090, i9-9900K
MSI GeForce RTX 3090 Suprim X
144 (57.7min, 109P0.1, 121P1) fps ∼59%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Laptop GPU, i7-11800H
XMG Neo 15 @165 W TGP
144 (47.1min, 106P0.1, 115P1) fps ∼59%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Mobile, i7-9750H
MSI GP65 Leopard 9SD
117 (32.4min, 51.3P0.1, 80.8P1) fps ∼48%
AMD Radeon RX 5600M, R7 4800H
Dell G5 15 SE
100 (60.9min, 62.1P0.1, 71.6P1) fps ∼41%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti Mobile, i7-10750H
MSI GP75
93.9 (53.7min, 69P0.1, 75.6P1) fps ∼39%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Mobile, i7-10750H
MSI GL75
82.4 (56.5min, 60.4P0.1, 65.1P1) fps ∼34%
NVIDIA GeForce MX450, i7-11370H
Xiaomi RedmiBook Pro 15
44.9 (32.5min, 33P0.1, 34.1P1) fps ∼18%
NVIDIA GeForce MX350, i5-10210U
Honor Magicbook Pro
44.1 (34.3min, 34.5P0.1, 36.2P1) fps ∼18%
AMD Radeon RX 5500M, R7 3750H
MSI Alpha 15
40 (27min, 29P0.1, 31.1P1) fps ∼16%

UHD (3840x2160)

If you want to achieve playable frame rates at 4K on high settings, then you will need at least a GeForce GTX 1650 (AMD’s Radeon RX 5500M is not as capable in this title). Here, top-end graphics cards such as the RTX 3070 or the RTX 3080 will be able to hit the frame rate cap.

Monster Hunter Stories 2
    3840x2160 High Preset
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080, i9-9900K
MSI GeForce RTX 3080 Gaming X Trio
144 (56.1min, 101P0.1, 122P1) fps ∼78%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070, i9-9900K
MSI GeForce RTX 3070 Ventus 3X
144 (37.3min, 108P0.1, 121P1) fps ∼78%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090, i9-9900K
MSI GeForce RTX 3090 Suprim X
144 (55.6min, 95.9P0.1, 110P1) fps ∼78%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Laptop GPU, i7-11800H
XMG Neo 15 @165 W TGP
144 (32.6min, 84.9P0.1, 112P1) fps ∼78%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU, i7-11800H
XMG Neo 17 @140 W TGP
142 (57.6min, 76.1P0.1, 109P1) fps ∼77%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Laptop GPU, i7-11800H
XMG Core 15 @130 W TGP
126 (55.5min, 74.1P0.1, 97.2P1) fps ∼68%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Mobile, i7-9750H
MSI GP65 Leopard 9SD
68.2 (18.9min, 24.2P0.1, 28.5P1) fps ∼37%
AMD Radeon RX 5600M, R7 4800H
Dell G5 15 SE
64.9 (42.8min, 45.7P0.1, 50.4P1) fps ∼35%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti Mobile, i7-10750H
MSI GP75
57.9 (45.5min, 46P0.1, 47.6P1) fps ∼31%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Mobile, i7-10750H
MSI GL75
50.4 (38.9min, 39.6P0.1, 41.2P1) fps ∼27%
AMD Radeon RX 5500M, R7 3750H
MSI Alpha 15
39.3 (21.7min, 23.3P0.1, 25P1) fps ∼21%
NVIDIA GeForce MX450, i7-11370H
Xiaomi RedmiBook Pro 15
28.4 (20.8min, 21.2P0.1, 23.1P1) fps ∼15%
NVIDIA GeForce MX350, i5-10210U
Honor Magicbook Pro
26.9 (21.2min, 21.6P0.1, 22.9P1) fps ∼15%

Note

Because benchmarking video games is very time consuming and is often constrained by installation/activation limits, at the time of publishing, we were able to provide only a part of our performance analysis of Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin. Other graphics cards will be added in the coming days and weeks.

Overview

Show Restrictions
PosModel< PrevNext >Monster Hunter Stories 2
 Monster Hunter Stories 2 (2021)
low
1280x720
Low Preset
med.
1920x1080
Medium Preset
high
1920x1080
High Preset
QHD
2560x1440
High Preset
4K
3840x2160
High Preset
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090
144
144n2
144n2
144n2
144n2
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080
144
144
144
144
NVIDIA Titan RTX
144
144
144
144
144
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070
144
144
144
144
AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT
143
144
144
144
131
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Laptop GPU
144
144n2
143.5n2
131n2
AMD Radeon RX 6800M
103
108
111
AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT
143
142
143
143
99.7
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU
144n2
143.5n2
144
142
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060
144
144
144
144
125
AMD Radeon RX 6700M
143
142
NVIDIA Titan X Pascal
144
144
144
144
142
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Super (Desktop)
144
144
144
144
128
AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT (Desktop)
144
143
139
141
115
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Laptop GPU
144
143.5n2
144
126
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Super (Desktop)
144
144
144
143
108
AMD Radeon RX 6600
143
143
143
143
87.3
AMD Radeon RX 5700 (Desktop)
144
144
144
144
106
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64
144
144
143
143
98.4
PosModel< PrevNext >Monster Hunter Stories 2
low med. high QHD 4K
AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT (Desktop)
144
144
144
144
96
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Super (Desktop)
144
143
144
138
84.6
AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT (Desktop)
119
115
109
109
68.8
AMD Radeon RX 5600M
116
110
100
64.9
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Mobile
135
134
117
68.2
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Laptop GPU
144n2
143n2
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 (Desktop)
144
144
143
125
75.1
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Super (Desktop)
144
144
143
118
70.9
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 4GB Laptop GPU
95.6
91.4
78.4
60.5
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 Mobile
101
102
101
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti Mobile
132
120
93.9
57.9
AMD Radeon RX 5500M
55.1
51.9
40
39.3
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2050 Mobile
94.4
91.2
89.7
72.5
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 (Desktop)
144
128
94.3
54.4
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Mobile
118
107
82.4
50.4
NVIDIA GeForce MX450
136
73.2n2
64.8n2
51.5n2
28.4
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Mobile
90.8
79.1
72.2
AMD Radeon RX 560X (Laptop)
91.5
64.1
55.2
Intel Iris Xe MAX Graphics
55.8
58
52.5
Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 96EUs
62.9n3
41.5n3
37.1n3
27.8
15.9
PosModel< PrevNext >Monster Hunter Stories 2
low med. high QHD 4K
NVIDIA GeForce MX350
62.8
56.8
44.1
26.9
AMD Radeon RX 550 (Laptop)
53.4
35.3
31.6
NVIDIA GeForce GT 1030 (Desktop)
102
60
53.4
NVIDIA GeForce MX250
84.2
52.6
47.2
Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 80EUs
57.3n3
30.7n3
25n3
NVIDIA GeForce GT 710
40.2
20.3
17.4
AMD Radeon 540X
53
33
29.1
AMD Radeon RX Vega 10
41.6
23.3
19.3
Intel UHD Graphics Xe G4 48EUs
44.1n2
26n2
20.4n2
Intel UHD Graphics Xe 32EUs (Tiger Lake-H)
70.8
41.3
35
24.8
12.5
AMD Radeon RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 4000/5000)
55.6n4
36.85n4
31.75n4
30
AMD Radeon RX Vega 7
62.3
38.7
32.6
NVIDIA GeForce MX130
60.2
34.4
26.6
AMD Radeon RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 2000/3000)
50.6
28.3
23.8
NVIDIA GeForce 930MX
45.4
25.9
22.2
Intel Iris Graphics 550
47.4
31.1
28.1
AMD Radeon RX Vega 6 (Ryzen 4000/5000)
50.8
30
26.1
AMD Radeon RX Vega 6 (Ryzen 2000/3000)
40.5
21.9
18.1
AMD Radeon RX Vega 5
55.2
29.6
24.1
Intel UHD Graphics G1 (Ice Lake 32 EU)
46.4
27.8
23.1
PosModel< PrevNext >Monster Hunter Stories 2
low med. high QHD 4K
Intel UHD Graphics Xe 16EUs (Tiger Lake-H)
48.9
25.1
21
Intel UHD Graphics 620
36.9
20.2
16.9
AMD Radeon R5 M255
27.4
17.5
15.2
AMD Radeon RX Vega 3
38.5
21.7
18.2
NVIDIA GeForce GT 720M
29.7
15.2
Intel HD Graphics 4600
27.7
13.8
Intel UHD Graphics (Jasper Lake 32 EU)
18.8
Intel HD Graphics 610
22.2
(-) * Smaller values are better. / n123 Number of benchmarks for this median value / * Approximate position

 

Legend
5Stutters – This game is very likely to stutter and have poor frame rates. Based on all known benchmarks using the specified graphical settings, average frame rates are expected to fall below 25fps
May Stutter – This graphics card has not been explicitly tested on this game. Based on interpolated information from surrounding graphics cards of similar performance levels, stutters and poor frame rates are expected.
30Fluent – Based on all known benchmarks using the specified graphical settings, this game should run at or above 25fps
40Fluent – Based on all known benchmarks using the specified graphical settings, this game should run at or above 35fps
60Fluent – Based on all known benchmarks using the specified graphical settings, this game should run at or above 58fps
May Run Fluently – This graphics card has not been explicitly tested on this game. Based on interpolated information from surrounding graphics cards of similar performance levels, fluent frame rates are expected.
?Uncertain – This graphics card experienced unexpected performance issues during testing for this game. A slower card may be able to achieve better and more consistent frame rates than this particular GPU running the same benchmark scene.
Uncertain – This graphics card has not been explicitly tested on this game and no reliable interpolation can be made based on the performances of surrounding cards of the same class or family.
The value in the fields displays the average frame rate of all values in the database. Move your cursor over the value to see individual results.

Test Systems

Schenker XMG Neo 15 (RTX 3080)
Schenker XMG Neo 15 (RTX 3080)
Schenker XMG Neo 17 (RTX 3070)
Schenker XMG Neo 17 (RTX 3070)
Schenker XMG Core 15 (RTX 3060)
Schenker XMG Core 15 (RTX 3060)
Device GPU CPU RAM OS
Schenker XMG Neo 15 Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 @165 W TGP (8 GB GDDR6) Intel Core i7-11800H 2x 8 GB DDR4 Windows 10 64 Bit
Schenker XMG Neo 17 Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 @140 W TGP (8 GB GDDR6) Intel Core i7-11800H 2x 8 GB DDR4 Windows 10 64 Bit
Schenker XMG Core 15 Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 @130 W TGP (6 GB GDDR6) Intel Core i7-11800H 2x 8 GB DDR4 Windows 10 64 Bit
MSI GP65 Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 Ti (6 GB GDDR6) Intel Core i7-9750H 2 x 8 GB DDR4 Windows 10 64 Bit
MSI GP75 Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 Ti (4 GB GDDR6) Intel Core i7-10750H 2 x 8 GB DDR4 Windows 10 64 Bit
MSI GL75 Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 (4 GB GDDR6) Intel Core i7-10750H 2 x 8 GB DDR4 Windows 10 64 Bit
Xiaomi RedmiBook Pro 15 Nvidia GeForce MX450 (2 GB GDDR5) Intel Core i7-11370H 1 x 16 GB DDR4 Windows 10 64 Bit
Honor MagicBook Pro Nvidia GeForce MX350 (2 GB GDDR5) Intel Core i7-10210U 1 x 16 GB DDR4 Windows 10 64 Bit
Dell G5 15 SE AMD Radeon RX5600M (6 GB GDDR6) AMD Ryzen 7 4800H 2 x 8 GB DDR4 Windows 10 64 Bit
MSI Alpha 15 AMD Radeon RX5500M (4 GB GDDR6) AMD Ryzen 7 3750H 2 x 8 GB DDR4 Windows 10 64 Bit
MSI Prestige 14 Evo Intel Iris Xe (96 CUs) Intel Core i7-1185G7 1 x 16 GB DDR4 Windows 10 64 Bit
Desktop PC I MSI GeForce RTX 3090 (24 GB GDDR6X)
MSI GeForce RTX 3080 (10 GB GDDR6X)
MSI GeForce RTX 3070 (8 GB GDDR6)
Intel Core i9-9900K 4 x 8 GB DDR4 Windows 10 64 Bit
Desktop PC II Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 FE (24 GB GDDR6X)
Nvidia Titan RTX (24 GB GDDR6)
Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Super (8 GB GDDR6)
Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 Super (8 GB GDDR6)
Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 Super (8 GB GDDR6)
KFA2 GeForce GTX 1660 Super (6 GB GDDR6)
PNY GeForce GTX 1660 (6 GB GDDR5)
KFA2 GeForce GTX 1650 Super (4 GB GDDR6)
KFA2 GeForce GTX 1650 (4 GB GDDR5)
AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT (8 GB GDDR6)
AMD Radeon RX 5700 (8 GB GDDR6)
AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT (6 GB GDDR6)
AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT (8 GB GDDR6)
AMD Ryzen 9 5900X 2 x 16 GB DDR4 Windows 10 64 Bit
4K monitors Nvidia drivers AMD drivers
Asus PB287Q, Philips Brilliance 329P9H, Acer Predator XB321HK ForceWare 471.41 Adrenalin 21.7.2
static version load dynamic
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> Expert Reviews and News on Laptops, Smartphones and Tech Innovations > Reviews > Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin Performance Analysis
Florian Glaser, 2021-08- 3 (Update: 2021-08- 3)