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Say what you will about Capcom, but they’ve never been scared of exploring offshoot series of their main franchises. They did it on the PlayStation with the Mega Man Legends (I’m still waiting for a remake, a remaster or a sequel!) games and they’ve done it with Monster Hunter, by creating the Monster Hunter Stories games… which Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection is the latest.
You might think that out of all their properties, Monster Hunter is the weirdest to turn into a JRPG. I mean when you think of the series, you think of real-time combat, multiplayer fights and massive battles.
Yet, the Monster Hunter Stories series is the opposite of that. Turn-based fighting, solo questing and small, intimate fracas.
Does that mean that you should skip Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection if you’re a mainline Monster Hunter fan?
What is Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection?
Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection is a JRPG developed and published by Capcom. It is available right now on the PC, PlayStation, Xbox Series and Nintendo Switch 2 consoles.
Our copy was graciously provided by Capcom. Thanks so much!
As always, I’ll be reviewing the game on three machines.
Here are their specs:
Desktop 1 –
– MSI B550M Mortar WIFI
– AMD Ryzen 9 5900X with NZXT Kraken X73 RGB Liquid Cooler
– MSI GeForce RTX 4090 Suprim X 24G
– Teamgroup T-Force Dark Z 64GB DDR4 RAM
– Samsung 980 PRO 2TB SSD
– NZXT C1200 Gold ATX 3.1
– Lian Li LANCOOL III RGB case
Desktop 2 –
– MSI MPG X870E Carbon WiFi
– AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D with Cooler Master MasterLiquid 360L Core ARGB cooler
– Sapphire Pulse AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX 24GB
– G.SKILL Trident Z5 NEO 32GB DDR5-6400 RAM
– Samsung 990 PRO 2TB SSD
– Corsair RM850x PSU
– Lian Li LANCOOL 207 Digital
Notebook –
MSI Raider GE78 HX 14V
– Intel Core i9 14900HX
– NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090
– 32GB DDR5 RAM
– 1TB SSD
Technically, there’s not much to complain about.
Everything runs well, there are no noticeable hitches or stuttering, and loads are fairly quick. The only issue I have is that even on max settings, the pop-up distance for objects (especially when you’re gliding in the air) can be pretty bad. Foliage can just spawn in your face, which breaks immersion somewhat. Apart from that though, it’s pretty good.
In Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection, two kingdoms are on the brink of war. Vermail and Azuria, formerly a single kingdom, are now firmly opposed to each other. While hostilities are sporadic at the beginning of the game, full-blown war is inevitable.
Vermail is under assault by a phenomenon where the land is slowly being crystallized. Animals die, crops wither and the kingdom is rapidly facing its downfall. Vermail’s ruler, the Queen, thinks the solution to all this can be found in the forbidden Northlands, and petitions Azuria for cooperation.
It’s here that the you’ll start the game, in the shoes of the Heir of Azuria. The Heir isn’t just the prince/ princess of the realm, they’re also part of the Rangers. Part hunter, part conservationist, the Rangers cull encroaching monsters and rescue endangered species to maintain a balance in the ecosystem.
The plot is actually one of the stronger aspects of the game. I like the art style and the characters are pretty likeable, which makes for a fun time. The animation’s rather well done too, so that’s also another plus in my book.
You can customize your character at any time, freely swapping between male and female. The canon Heir is female though, as Capcom’s launch trailer shows. Character customization is rather basic, but serviceable. I’d have loved more options, but what’s available isn’t too bad.
Unfortunately, customization isn’t as robust as it is in the main games. While Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection adopts certain aspects of the Monster Hunter series, it’s usually done in a much more simplified way. Armor, for example, is just relegated to a single piece of equipment. You can’t mix and match armor sets, which locks you into a more rigid structure.
Weapons fare better, as you can upgrade various types. One thing I’d love for Capcom to tweak is the amount of materials needed to craft or upgrade, especially in the early going. Some items are hard enough to come by, and the game might require loads of them just to make a weapon.
There are six different weapon classes, with three different damage types. You can bring along three different weapons with you, though it’s up to you what those are. I’ve always preferred the default makeup of Greatsword (for dealing damage), Bow (for ranged attacks and buffs/ debuffs) and the Hunting Horn (for support).
You’ll be able to use these, alongside your monster companions (or Monsties as the game calls them) in battle. Fights are turn-based, with a rock-paper-scissors system in place. Speed attacks beat Power moves, while Power overwhelms Technical blows, which in turn can defeat Speed attacks.
However, these only come into play if your player character and the enemy are directly targeting one and another. If not, you can pretty much use any attack and skill. Due to this, I felt the battle system was much more stilted than necessary.
It just doesn’t flow as smoothly as other turn-based ones like in the Persona games or Metaphor.
Yes, the animations look great but the gameplay doesn’t feel intuitive. In fact, I’d even go as far as to say that it’s much too bogged down with so many different mechanics that it borders on confusing. Complicating matters is that damage dealing isn’t as intuitive as it should be, what with resistances and weaknesses and weapon types to keep track of.
I know these are carryovers from the main games but that doesn’t mean transplanting those mechanics into a JRPG makes for an enjoyable experience. At the very least, a rethink is in order to make the battles flow better. It should be less of a slog and more of a quick fracas. It gets absurd when regular battles take a few minutes each to clear. Grinding for levels (though you also gain XP from doing quests and item pickups) is a horrendous experience because of this.
There are shortcuts (like you can just skip battles completely for enemies you’ve out leveled) but to get to the state that makes them available still takes a while.
The Monster Hunter Stories series has always tried to set themselves apart from the mainline games right from the get-go. From the cartoony art style, to the ponderous, turn-based fights, the series doesn’t shy away in embracing the opposite of what made the main Monster Hunter series great.
In its third iteration, Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection is perhaps the best in the line. No longer shackled by weak hardware (though it’s debatable whether the Nintendo Switch 2 can be called decent), the game features an impressive overworld map that’s reminiscent of games like Skyrim or World of Warcraft.
The beginning areas are lush and bright with a cheery and upbeat color palette. It gets much darker as the game progresses. I do love the synergy between the monsties you have and the main character. Monsties all have their own archetypes (some can swim, some can climb) so you’ll always want a balanced roster to accompany you.
I also like how you attain these monsties.
You literally steal eggs from nests to bring back home to rear. Eggs have their own rarity too, but are randomly doled out when you search a nest. If you don’t want a particular egg (or want a rarer one), you can always re-search the nest. Doing so however, raises the risk of the parent monster returning. If you take too much time and the parent does return, you’ll have to fight. Win and you get to keep your egg. Lose and it’s forfeited.
There are also a lot of recognizable monsters to raise and some series favorites. I don’t really play Monster Hunter that much, but even I recognize the Rathalos and Yian Kut-Ku. I do wish there were more felynes though. As a cat lover, they’re pretty much the sole reason I play Monster Hunter games.
They’re sooooooooooo cuuuuuuuute…especially the chef from Monster Hunter World.
The Bottom Line.
A decent plot, fancy visuals and familiar mechanics make Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection a fun play.
However, it’s bogged down by one of its core mechanics – the battle system. Unwieldy and overly complicated, the battle system sucks the joy out of the visceral combat. Fights take too long (even if you speed them up), which makes grinding more of a chore than it has to be.
While the fights do get bearable as you get more monsties and become more powerful, it’s still a slog at best.
Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection gets a lot right. The world is vibrant, the monstie system is addictive, and the story does enough to keep you invested from start to finish.
But it’s all dragged down by a battle system that feels needlessly bloated. What should be quick, satisfying encounters turn into drawn-out slogs, and that friction never really goes away—even as you grow stronger.
If you can push past that, there’s a genuinely good game here. But that “if” is doing a lot of heavy lifting.
For Monster Hunter fans, it’s worth a look.
For everyone else, this might be one hunt that’s harder to recommend.
TLDR:
Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection looks great and has a fun plot but it’s held back by its combat.
The Good:
- Interesting plot.
- Huge maps to explore.
- Raising monsties.
- Colorful art design.
The Bad:
- Battles are too complicated.
- Battles take too long.
- Customization options are lacking compared to main Monster Hunter series.
Salehuddin Husin, EIC
Sal's been in the industry since the early 2000s. He's written for a ton of gaming and tech publications including Playworks, Hardwarezone, HWM and GameAxis. Recently, Sal served as a juror for the Indie Game Awards at Taipei Game Show 2020. A geek and hardcore gamer, Sal will play everything, on any platform.
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