Stepping into Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection is like trying someone else’s take on your favourite recipe. The pieces are the same, but it’s got a bit of extra zing, or something new. It’s not better or worse — just different. But if variety is the spice of life, I’ll take my Rathians in whatever flavour they come in.
I’m a huge fan of the mainline Monster Hunter games, just read my review of Monster Hunter Wilds. But I was the first to admit that Monster Hunter Stories was a new step for me. I like my Monster Hunter on a big screen and a comfy couch, and the Stories spin-offs always felt built for a handheld. Like Monster Hunter meets Pokémon. But diving into the third game has been a really great experience, and I’m excited to play more.
Same Same, But different — Jumping Into A Different Kind of Monster Hunter
Getting the biggest swings out of the way first, Monster Hunter Stories 3 is a whole different genre to mainline Monster Hunter. That’s no surprise to fans of the earlier games. But with Monster Hunter Wilds making waves last year, I’d wager there are a few, like me, stepping over to these games for the first time. Monster Hunter Stories 3 is part turn-based RPG, part monster taming game.
If the traditional Monster Hunter games are about people who have evolved to hunt monsters, Monster Hunter Stories instead asks — what if we worked with them instead? And that shift in tone and perspective does wonders to reframe how the entire narrative feels.
Alongside the tone shift, the presentation shift the direction entirely. This world is bright and colourful, almost cartoonish. It leans heavily into the comedy of Palicoes and tells a story that’s full of anime rug-pulls and soap opera drama.
Sharpen Your Great Sword — Turn-Based Battles and Fresh Abilities
Monster Hunter Stories 3 is a turn-based battler. You collect and train your individual team of Monsties (the game’s cute nickname for monster buddies). You’ll then battle wild creatures as well as NPCs.
Each fight is like a little puzzle. You need to understand the element and abilities of each monster, and choose your own attacks that will counter them. You have limited control over your Monsties, as well as an AI companion to fight alongside you. The AI seems to be pretty capable so far. I’ve seen them use the right abilities to damage monsters, and heal themselves and their own monsters when they are damaged.
In battles, the Monster Hunter formula of damaging individual monster parts to cripple Monster abilities is here as well. When monsters become enraged or affected by various elements, you can target these specific body parts to break them and stop the monster from using these abilities. There’s plenty of tactical depth in this system so far.
Many of the monsters I’ve encountered so far have different abilities from their usual game counterparts. I fought a Chatacabra (usually a simple bruiser that uses strength attacks), which had access to lightning abilities — which I loved. This change to the norm is really interesting for a returning Monster Hunter fan; it made me think of Subspecies in previous Monster Hunter titles, which introduced different abilities and elements to their ordinary counterparts.
From Here To The Horizon — Exploration and Monstie Riding
The open world of Monster Hunter Stories 3 is fun to explore. Each map is large and dotted with points of interest such as camps, monster dens, and quest-givers. You ride around on different monsters, which gives you new abilities. So building your team based on the abilities you need is essential. Rathalos can fly, Tobi-Kadachi can climb sheer cliffs, and other monsters can swim.
Throughout the map, you’ll find NPCs and quest-givers looking for help in the local region. There are also monster nests where you can sneak in to steal eggs to hatch into your own companion monsters.
READ MORE: Monster Hunter Wilds: ‘A Glorious Food Journey’
A Whole New World — Impressions After 10 Hours
If the first ten hours are any indication, this might be the most confident Stories entry yet — I’m very excited. It takes elements that I know and love — monsters, elemental abilities, understanding weaknesses — and it reshapes them in a new way.
For existing fans of Monster Hunter Stories, I think there’s plenty here, from a fresh narrative to updated content and mechanics. But for those jumping over from mainline Monster Hunter, this is a whole new world to explore.
Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection is coming to Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and PC via Steam on March 13th. There’s a demo available on PC too.
Look out for our full review soon.
Early access to Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection was supplied to Quest Daily for the purpose of this preview.
