The developers of Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection have found inspiration in some of the biggest RPGs of the last decade, specifically Metaphor: ReFantazio and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.
Like its predecessors, this entry is a clear break from the mainline Monster Hunter games, with a much heavier emphasis on story and a more robust turn-based combat system. And that’s exactly why Capcom looked to those aforementioned games for inspiration.
In an interview with Automaton, Monster Hunter Stories 3 lead gameplay designer Daisuke Wakahara says the new gameplay systems were built based on insights from “high-profile turn-based RPGs” that incorporate unique ideas.
“We feel there’s a clear preference toward games that let players progress smoothly and quickly, without levelling feeling like a chore. The idea that players should receive some kind of reward for specific actions they take has become quite refined across the industry, and we made a point of incorporating that approach ourselves,” Wakahara says.
It’s not a huge surprise considering the overwhelming success of both Metaphor and Clair Obscur, but what’s interesting is the Monster Hunter Stories 3 team seemed to really get that there’s a difference between “making things convenient and making them easy.” You can see a bit of this in the game’s recent demo, with how you can speed through low-level battles right on the map itself, but the team also wanted to make sure the game still had teeth and sufficient challenge.
“While the game provides ample hints for overcoming challenges, we didn’t aim to artificially simplify things just to speed up the pace. We focused on level design that delivers battles with a sense of accomplishment,” Wakahara says.
While the first two Monster Hunter Stories games had a lot of positives, the combat systems were relatively simple compared to other games in the genre. Pretty soon we’ll see if the third game can up the complexity, but still retain the heart of the “Stories” games.
Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection launches on March 13 for PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC.
