Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection: The Kotaku Review

7 hours ago 2

I respect hunters. I pick up meat at a grocery store, so I figure I have no right to get on the ass of anyone who lawfully and humanely picks off their food themselves. But I’m too soft-hearted to kill an animal outside of an actual life-and-death struggle. (When my tumbly gets rumbly, I will throttle a bear in a fight over wild honey.)

That might be why Capcom’s Monster Hunter Stories spin-off series has always appealed to me more than the core Monster Hunter games. Monster Hunter Stories revolves around “Riders” who aim to raise, ride, and understand monsters rather than immediately blow them away with a gunlance. You still chop up a fair number of monsters and make overalls out of them a la the main series, but Stories‘ themes tend to revolve around the idea that “Monsties” are friends, not food.

It sounds a touch childish, and to be fair Monster Hunter Stories (initially released in 2017 for the Nintendo 3DS) and Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin (initially released in 2021 for the Switch) have less edge than mainline Monster Hunter games. Their graphics are brighter and more cartoony, and the turn-based battles are driven in part by a rock-paper-scissors system that makes it harder to be casually stomped by a Rathian. But while Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection still carries a softer, more cel-shaded aesthetic than regular MonHun games, it’s far more complex and layered than any Stories release to date.

Twisted Brother

The fights in Monster Hunter Stories 3 are still turn-based and still incorporate the rock-paper-scissors element, but results are less about luck and more about making sure you’re well-armed and well-studied against the monsters you interact with. Outside of battle, you set up camps to hatch monsters and re-introduce them to a diminished world.

I’ve been a fan of Monster Hunter Stories since day one, and Monster Hunter Stories 3 is ultimately what I long hoped the series would mature into. Its revamped visual style alone makes me think Capcom wants to ensure the world notices Monster Hunter Stories 3, not just the dedicated weirdos like myself. It has layers of depth that aren’t present in the previous games, giving Monster Hunter Stories 3 the weight it needs to be recognized alongside triple-A RPG franchises.

Monster Hunter Stories 3 also bumps up the series’ storytelling. The games are connected and certain characters re-appear, but they occur far apart from each other timeline-wise. It’s no problem to start with the third chapter, which casts us as the young heir or heiress to a prosperous kingdom in a verdant valley. You ride a “Skyscale” Rathalos, a cursed wyvern born alongside a twin that was subsequently spirited away by your turncoat mother. Meanwhile, a strange plague that crystalizes the environment and monsters is ravaging the world. Certain events thrust you out into that world, and you decide you ought to do something about the poor state of things.

The strong environmental themes that run through Monster Hunter Stories 3 are deliberate. Kingdoms war over dwindling resources, Guilds extort the common folk, and monarchs squabble with each other like dickheads while the environment gets sicker—and living things, including humans, get sick in turn. It’s all depressingly familiar, but Monster Hunter Stories 3 lets you take direct action to improve the world around you, which feels increasingly nice the longer you work at it.

Fight, fight, fight! Or don’t.

Exploration, restoration, and combat take place across several zone maps, a setup that should feel familiar for all Monster Hunter fans. These maps are packed with gatherable items, treasures, hidden cave systems, and monsters. Lots of monsters. When you engage with one, you and your Monstie are whisked into a turn-based fight along with one of your comrades and their Monstie.

Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection

Back-of-the-box quote:

"Capcom went a-huntin' and they did right, uh-huh."
Developer:

Capcom
Type of game:

RPG
Liked:

Huge, deep world with tons of research to conduct, colorful and expressive graphics, good story and voice acting, a successful maturation of the Monster Hunter Stories RPG series.

disliked:

30 FPS on Switch 2, dogs hatch from eggs.
platforms:

Nintendo Switch 2 (played on), PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PC.
release date:

March 16, 2026
played:

45 hours, done lots of frolicking and fighting on the overworld in the name of environmental restoration and cool glam, but haven't finished the story yet.

There has been a lot of discourse about turn-based battle systems of late, and I’m excited for Monster Hunter Stories 3‘s battle system to enter the conversation. Even casual encounters are not quick affairs: They resemble traditional Monster Hunter struggles, more so than you might expect. Monsters are often armor-plated and require a good beating across different parts of their bodies. There’s a rainbow of elemental attacks for you and your Monsties to choose from. Breaking off parts of monsters makes them stagger and gives your party an opportunity to administer a serious smackdown.

Fights in Monster Hunter Stories 3 can be long, especially boss fights, but they’re deeply satisfying. It’s unusual to play an RPG that makes you stop and think about the best way to take down a mook that most games would treat as one-hit cannon fodder. It helps that you fight these battles on your own terms: non-boss fights are easy to run away from, and the Monsties you ride across the overworld can help drive away unwanted encounters with a roar. Each Monstie also has traits they can use to make travel easier. Wyverns like your Rathalos can glide, Leviathan-type Monsties can swim, and other Monsties can out-run or out-climb would-be attackers. Flying is usually the way to go. Catching a current and soaring up to the top of the world never gets old.

This segues into my one major complaint about Monster Hunter Stories 3, at least as far as the Switch 2 is concerned: Most of the game runs at 30 FPS, docked and handheld alike. This was a difficult adjustment coming off Ys X: Proud Nordics, which runs faster than a squirrel with a rocket lodged up its butt. Ultimately I got used to the slow life and even came to appreciate the compromise. There is some texture pop-in in busy areas, but the frames are steady. I’m not sure if the other versions of Monster Hunter Stories 3 (PS5, Xbox Series, PC) run at 60 FPS, but as you might expect, this game works well as a handheld experience. It’s up to you. Listen to your [Rathian] heart [armor].

“The power is yours!”

Environmental restoration is a big part of Monster Hunter Stories 3, and it’s one of the mechanics that make it feel like the spin-off series has come into its own. As you explore the maps, you’ll eventually find “invasive” monsters that have driven off the area’s indigenous wildlife. These difficult battles can be made easier if you explore the invasive monsters’ lairs beforehand and gather clues about how they might be defeated. Once the monster is gone, you’ll find an egg from whichever Monstie species was driven to extinction. If it’s returned to its native soil, it’ll be fruitful and you’ll begin to find eggs for that Monstie species when you raid monsters’ nests.

For example, your first re-seeding mission (for lack of a better term) is to return Rathians to the plains. This involves fighting an invasive monster, retrieving the Rathian egg from its lair, and hatching it. Then you’re instructed to let the Rathian go while you and your friends wave and smile like Miracle Max telling Inigo Montoya and Andre the Giant to “have fun storming the castle.” You start finding more Rathian eggs in the wild, which can also be hatched and returned to the plains. Restoring indigenous life to these environments uplifts the whole area, which means better, stronger, faster Monsties can be recruited to your cause.

(Sidenote: I’m aware that Rathians are the female counterparts to Rathalos. I have no idea how the Rathian population therefore restored itself. My guess is that your Rathalos was let loose like a bull in a pen of cows. Go, Ratha! The future depends on you!)

A story worth experiencing

It’s difficult to sum up Monster Hunter Stories 3 within a sane wordcount. There is a lot going on here, all of it deeply engaging. I’ve put north of 45 hours into this game, and I’m still not done because I get lost in the task of restoring maps—and that’s on top of the time it takes to build the weapons and armor your soft human body needs to survive in a world of monsters. Then there’s the story, which hooks you from moment one. If my mom flew off with a forbidden dragon, you damn well better believe I’d want to know what her deal is.

If you’re a Monster Hunter fan of any stripe, you should give Monster Hunter Stories 3 a try. I think RPG players who aren’t Monster Hunter fans should play it, too. The Monster Hunter universe is fascinating, rich, and well-suited for turn-based mechanics. Monster Hunter Stories 3 is its own animal, and that’s all it needs to be.