Thanks to Monster Hunter Stories 3, I now have a completely new and exciting perspective on one of my favourite gaming franchises. Last year, I reviewed Monster Hunter Wilds and scored it a perfect 10/10; it’s one of my favourite games of all time. However, I hadn’t dipped my toes into the toned down Monster Hunter Stories games. Jumping into Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection, I wasn’t sure what to expect. Would it be a dumbed-down version of a game I love? Would I bounce off it?
I’m really chuffed to say it’s awesome. I’m super excited now to go back and replay the earlier two games — and that’s high praise.
Read more: Review | Monster Hunter Wilds: ‘Bigger And Better Than Ever’ (PS5)
Monster Riders, Not Monster Hunters
I was really surprised by how much Monster Hunter Stories 3‘s narrative leans into the world’s politics. It’s a story about finding your place in a wild world, found family and personal identity. Classic RPG stuff.
Monster Hunter games have always been about individual civilisations eking out a life amidst terrifying monsters. But Stories 3 shows how rival countries use monsters in battle against each other, and it includes some really incredible set pieces with armoured monsters acting like siege equipment. This is a whole new side of a world I love, and that’s really exciting.
Similarly, throughout the campaign, you’ll travel across some very cool landscapes and meet the people who live there. These include more traditional monster hunters, as well as a cool tribal group that revere Palamutes from Monster Hunter Rise.
The most exciting part of each region was checking out the new monsters available (Monsties for short). Throughout the world, there are monster nests where, unsurprisingly, monsters nest. You sneak in and steal an egg from the nest and take it back to camp to hatch into a new Monstie. Back in the older Monster Hunter titles, egg-stealing missions were always a nightmare; you had to sneak into a nest and steal an egg without the mother seeing you and attacking. These have mostly gone the way of the dinosaur in the more recent games, so it’s cool to see them return here.
Once you’ve hatched your Monstie, they come with randomised stats and abilities to suit your team. You can even take traits from one monster and add them to another as part of a ritual, which I’m sure will give players plenty to mess with if you like min-maxing.
Combat, Weapons and Armour — These Boots Are Made From Monsters
Monster Hunter Stories 3 is a turn-based RPG, most closely resembling Pokémon, with elements of Persona thrown in for good measure. The combat system is built around a Rock-Paper-Scissors system of Speed, Strength and Technical attacks.
It’s about picking the attack that counters your opponent. This piece of the puzzle suddenly clicked for me when I realised that monsters have patterns, and you can learn them over time. So small, fast monsters might do Speed attacks primarily, and then switch to Strength when they are low on health and getting desperate. Understanding the monster’s attack patterns and using that against them can be crucial in some of the bigger fights, where one hit could knock over your entire team.
Your character has three weapons, each with its own abilities. These follow the standard Monster Hunter weapons. Greatswords deal serious damage, Bows deal status effects, Hunting Horn buffs your team, and Hammer is great for breaking parts. As you progress, you’ll be able to make new weapons from the monsters you fight, and swap around weapons depending on the situation.
Every fight, you’ll have one of your six Monsties with you as well, and you can swap them at will. The big thing is understanding the elements each monster inflicts, and any weaknesses the opponent might have. So a monster that deals water damage might be more effective against a fire monster. Your old-school Pokémon knowledge comes in handy here.
It’s a great system, but did feel a little bloated at times, particularly in some of the bigger fights. Having weapons, status effects, abilities, then layering the Speed, Strength and Technical attacks on top of that felt a little over-complex. But once you find a crew of Monsties that works for you, that’s probably what you’ll stick with for a while.
READ MORE: Monster Hunter Wilds: ‘A Glorious Food Journey’
The Life of a (not so) Lone Ranger — Adventuring Through The Campaign
Throughout the campaign, you’ll bump into monsties from across the Monster Hunter franchise. There is a really strong list of monsters from the recent games, mostly Monster Hunter World, Rise, and Wilds. There are even some very cool late-game monsters drawn from these, such as Rey Dau from Monster Hunter Wilds, and Namielle from Monster Hunter World.
The bulk of the story centres around your main character, the prince or princess, and their bonded Rathian. The Rathian was one of a pair of twins and the twin is a central part of the story, so I won’t spoil that.
However, you’ll quickly gain access to a huge list of other Monsties to fill out your party, and plenty to choose your favourite six. In the overworld, your Monsties provide you with an easy way to get around the map quickly. In most JRPGs, you wouldn’t unlock a flying mount until late in the game, but in Monster Hunter Stories 3, Rathian can fly from the very outset. Flying around this beautiful world never gets old.
As I’ve mentioned, the player character and their allies are Rangers, not Hunters. And though you fight monsters, conservation is the real name of the game here. The Rangers are out to rebuild habitats and save endangered species. So for every monster that you hatch that you don’t have a use for, you can release them into the wild to improve the ecosystem. It’s a great feedback loop that rewards hunting for your perfect party by making the rejects valuable.
This is a really smart thing that I saw in my time with Monster Hunter Stories 3 – many of the disparate RPG systems feed back into the game in really great ways. Another example is the side-quests that your allies give you throughout the game. Through completing these quests, you learn more about the other Rangers and their stories. But you also unlock new weapons for them, new abilities for their monsties, and valuable materials for yourself.
These quests could easily have been just time-sinks for items. But giving them tangible mechanical benefits is a really cool twist.
Should I buy Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection?
If, like me, you’re a big Monster Hunter fan and counting down the days to the expansion of Monster Hunter Wilds — yes, you should buy this game. Monster Hunter Stories 3 gave me a fresh perspective on a series I love, and it makes me more excited to go back and play the previous Stories games.
If you’ve never played one of these games, and you’re a fan of turn-based RPGs — Pokémon, Persona, and Fire Emblem — also yes. Monster Hunter Stories 3 does a lot to shake up the formula. While it won’t reinvent the whole genre, it does a lot right and tells a very compelling story to boot.
Quest Daily scores Monster Hunter 3: Twisted Reflection
9/10
Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection releases on March 13th for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2 and PC via Steam.
Access to Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection was supplied to Quest Daily for the purpose of this review.
