In my preview of Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection, I expressed that I was less excited for it because it wasn’t a “mainline” entry in the series on the Nintendo Switch 2. It’s weird that a sentiment of wanting would come from so deep in the heart, because it’s not like I didn’t want Monster Hunter; I just wanted a more traditional experience.
However, those sentiments quickly faded when I started playing Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection, not simply because, jokes aside, I’ve quite liked the Monster Hunter Stories series, but because of just how much bigger, faster and more interesting the newest entry dives into things. It genuinely feels like Capcom took the best parts of both the main series and this RPG spin-off and combined them for the penultimate experience.
I mentioned it in my preview, but the story puts players in the role of the Prince or Princess of the land of Azuria, who, as a child, witnesses the birth of twin red Rathalos. As an adult, they become both an expert Rider and the Captain of an elite group of Riders known as Rangers. Tensions with the bordering Kingdom of Vermiel have been rising as a phenomenon known as The Encroachment has been spreading across the land—destroying nature and causing Monsters to frenzy.
Things get even more dire when the Princess of Vermiel, who offers herself as a hostage to the Azurian Kingdom to quell diplomatic tensions, is effectively betrayed by her sister, the Queen of Vermeil. Together, the two, alongside the Rangers, set out to find a way to end the Encroachment and solve the mystery of the twin Rathalos. As I said in my preview, I was genuinely shocked by just how different the tone of the narrative is in Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection.
It doesn’t waste any time throwing the player into a deep and engaging story centred around warring nations, doing what’s right vs. doing what’s best, and the lengths people will go to when pushed to the absolute limit. It’s much more grounded in the complex motivations of individuals and feels much more emotional and impactful than its predecessors, while still broken up by small moments of Monster Hunter silliness.
And similar to the story, I was genuinely surprised by just how fast Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection kicks everything off, even in terms of gameplay. The game really trims the fat of its predecessors, wasting no time establishing its core gameplay premises and introducing potential newcomers to its systems in a way that’s quick and understandable.
If you’ve played either of the previous Monster Hunter Stories, then you’ll pretty much know the drill. As players advance the story and set out across the land, they’ll engage in turn-based battles with Monsters, while also finding Monster Eggs to raise their own Monsties to assist them in battle and exploration. It’s the same basic gameplay you know and love, but delivered in a way that feels far more expanded and polished.
“I was genuinely shocked by just how different the tone of the narrative is in Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection.”
Battles maintain the series’ iconic rock-paper-scissors mechanic, where players need to pay attention to Monsters’ attack patterns and use Power, Speed and Technical attacks to counter Head-to-Heads. On top of Monsters becoming enraged and changing their behaviour during fights, Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection adds Blighted Monsters to the mix, whose crystalline affliction makes them much more powerful and unpredictable.
And like I said in my Monster Hunter Wilds review, fans of the Longsword are eating good this time around, since, while Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection maintains the majority of weapon types players can access, it replaces the Sword and Shield with the Longsword, adding a completely new dynamic to battles.
The Longsword is a much more technical weapon, requiring players to win Head-to-Heads or use the Spirit Slash ability to fill the Spirit Gauge and gain access to special stances that can add follow-up attacks to allies, or counterattacks to Monsters. It adds a much-needed layer of dynamism to Slashing weapons, since the Great Sword and Sword and Shield from previous games were fairly similar in functionality.
Outside of combat, Monster Management has received some pretty substantial quality of life improvements, namely in terms of the Rite of Channelling. In previous games, players needed to “sacrifice” a Monstie in order to apply its Genes to other Monsties. This is no longer the case in Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection, allowing players to experiment with Gene manipulation as much as they want to find the best possible combos.
Furthermore, there’s a new feature that not only adds a lot to the mechanics of finding Monster Eggs, but also adds to the game’s narrative as well. Because of the Encroachment, several Monster species are on the brink of extinction, and Blighted Monsters have moved into their dens. If players defeat these monsters, they can find special eggs to hatch endangered Monsters. This plays into the game’s new feature “Environment Restoration.”
In Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection, players are able to choose sections of the map and release Monsties into that environment, essentially rebuilding the population. If players introduce endangered Monsties to a location, their species rank will rise, allowing greater access for hunting, new eggs, Monster parts, and improved Monster genes. Not only that, as species comingle, new variant types may start to appear, allowing for exciting Monstie combinations.
“Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection is easily the best this series has been (thus far).”
It adds an interesting new dynamic to the simple process of releasing Monsties—something we’ve all had to do as our Stables become crowded—that not only allows players access to stronger Monstie possibilities, but informs the narrative connection that Rangers are meant to help heal the land and protect Monster habitats. And the sheer number of Monsters available in Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection makes this prospect incredibly exciting for long-time fans of the series.
Visually, Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection is a bit of a mixed bag—although I want to preface this with the fact that I reviewed the Nintendo Switch 2 version. The game’s aesthetic is gorgeous, maintaining its semi-cel shaded artstyle that adds a lot of bright colours to the world and gives it a unique anime look similar to that of Ni no Kuni. Characters, Monsters and environments are richly detailed and have a lot of dynamic elements.
Not only that, but battle animations, while quite fast in terms of execution, have a decent sense of fluidity and go a long way to emulate the animations of attacks from the main series—I was personally picking out a lot of the Longsword animations, and every time it made me smile. However, on a technical level, the Nintendo Switch 2 version of Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection leaves a lot to be desired.
There’s a lot of very noticeable texture and object pop-in that makes the game feel amateurish, and I noticed some pretty apparent framerate dips—particularly during a cutscene, which seemed kind of weird since it would’ve been pre-rendered. While it’s pretty good most of the time, it’s those little things that really weren’t making a solid case for the supposed power of the Nintendo Switch 2—especially coming off Resident Evil: Requiem, which wasn’t perfect but was certainly more ambitious.
In the audio department, Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection maintains the series stellar voice work, but what really stands out is the game’s music. But the real standouts are the game’s new battle themes, which have an upbeat and exciting arrangement for standard battles, and a desperate, almost horror-like intensity for boss fights. It gives the game a much grander sense of adventure on an audible level.
Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection is easily the best this series has been (thus far). It takes almost every good idea and improvement the main series has implemented and adopts them into a turn-based RPG that is both approachable for newcomers and mature enough for longtime fans. Even disconnected from the Monster Hunter series, it is an exceptional RPG in its own right, but it continues to show just how malleable the franchise is.
