Verdict
Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection is the most engaging game in the series so far, with great battles, a riveting narrative, and a fantastic new feature in the form of habitat restoration. Handheld performance on Nintendo Switch 2 has its iffy moments, and some of the side missions can muddy the pacing as you wait for the main plot to progress, but outside of that, this is an absolute beast of a game just waiting for you to take it on.
Here's something you might not know about me. I hate complicated mechanics. I hate it when I pick up a game, and it spends hours walking me through endless menus, explanations, and tutorials as I follow along, sullen and bored like a kid on a trip to the box factory. I hate it when a developer expects me to develop an almost encyclopedic knowledge of the minutiae and occasionally mundane just to feel as if I've got even the slightest hope of seeing the final act. That's why it makes almost absolutely no sense whatsoever that I love Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection. But still, I do.
Okay, so I got ahead of myself there. Let's take it from the top. Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection is the latest in Capcom's RPG spin-off series, following on from 2021's Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin. It's set in the same world as the last game, but 200 years in the future, so don't expect much in the way of familiar faces. As for what's changed, it's out with the sort of tribal-style society and in with more of a classic fantasy kings-and-queens type of fare, for the most part. I'll also note here that this game has no multiplayer functionality, but as I'll get into, it doesn't really need it.
The story is a classic RPG in that your player character is the chosen one. Not only are you the child of the king of Azuria, a nation on the brink of war with its neighbor Vermeil, but you're also the only ranger with a Skyscale Rathalos in the kingdom. That last bit is particularly important, as Rathalos are considered essentially extinct, which makes your not-so-friendly wyvern companion quite the talking point. It's kind of like Clifford the Big Red Dog, but if Clifford were capable of incinerating towns and villages at a moment's notice.
Oh, and what's a game like this without an existential threat? In Twisted Reflection, you're dealing with the Crystal Encroachment, a mysterious plague that creates powerful feral monsters that are causing havoc throughout the in-game world. To me, the Crystal Encroachment seems to be a not-so-subtle nod to climate change, and just like the real-world phenomena, the threat of devastation is one of the primary causes of distrust and animosity between the different factions living through the crisis. With all that said, the story doesn't feel massively original in terms of politics or climate analogy in the way something like Final Fantasy XII does, but it is well written, and the stakes are pretty high right from the outset.
Just like with the previous games, the meat of Monster Hunter Stories 3's gameplay is in its turn-based combat gameplay. It's pretty familiar if you've played the other games, but if you haven't, allow me to explain the core mechanics briefly. The most important thing to get your head around is the rock-paper-scissors-type attack triangle: power beats technical, technical beats speed, and speed beats power. I know I said earlier that I hate complex mechanics, but this gameplay core is simple enough to get used to within the first hour or so. It gets more complicated than that with individual moves and monster typings, but for the most part, that's all you need to remember to be able to get up and running.
Moving on to monster types, and that's where Twisted Reflection gets a bit more expansive than previous games. First off, there are your regular, run-of-the-mill overworld encounters, which come in handy when you're trying to farm resources and experience, especially as, if you're overleveled, you can defeat them by charging at them or selecting the 'quick finish' option in a battle. On occasion, a defeated monster will retreat to a den, and you can follow it to grab an egg of the same species.
The real challenge in this game, though, is in the feral monster and invasive monster battles. I mentioned feral monsters earlier, and these battles are the highlight of the gameplay experience. Each feral monster has a body part infected by the Crystal Encroachment, making it more powerful and capable of devastating counters if you attack the part adorned with crystals. That means you have to get a bit creative in these encounters to avoid losing all three of your lives before even depleting the monster's health to halfway. Each region has a couple of feral monsters to take on, and it's worth doing, as once defeated, you can reappropriate the area to make a campsite and, as I'll get into before long, do some habitat restoration.
I also have to mention invasive monsters, another fresh concept for this third series entry. Like their feral counterparts, invasive monsters are wicked strong and usually have a specific weakness that you have to figure out by picking up tracks in their environment before taking them on. The goal here isn't to defeat the monster, though; it's simply just to survive long enough and deal enough damage to make the beast retreat. If you can achieve that, you'll get an engaged monster species egg, and as we're about to get into, that's a pretty big deal in this game. There are a couple more monster types, but they don't show up until a bit later on, so I won't spoil them here.
One of the new mechanics for MHS 3 is habitat restoration, which is exactly what it sounds like. Each habitat is already home to four monsters, but you can add another four for a total of eight. Each species starts at a D-rank in the habitat, and to raise it to an S-rank, you need to find specific monster eggs, hatch them, and release them back into the wild. What makes all that effort worth it? Well, the higher the rank of the monster, the more powerful the eggs you find in terms of stats and levels, so if you want to put together a particularly potent team, you first have to spend a bit of time sorting out your habitats.
I had my doubts about the habitat restoration mechanic, but it quickly became one of my favorite parts of the entire experience. It's a smart move from Capcom to allow you to curate half of all your habitats, as it means you can relatively easily get access to some powerful monsters of your own choosing in the early game. Not only that, but with the introduction of dual-element monsters, there's a reward for testing how different monsters respond to different habitats, as it's possible they can pick up new elemental powers. If you thought an Anjanath was powerful already, just wait until you've got one that can spit thunder.
I have a soft spot for any game that makes me feel like I have some sort of control over not just the player character but also the environment I'm playing in, so, naturally, I've spent a lot of time curating habitats. Capcom has also overhauled the channeling mechanic, so you no longer have to sacrifice a monster but rather a specific gene, which means you're not losing monsters to both habitat restoration and inheriting genes. Combine all this, and you've got a level of control that's rarely seen in monster-taming games, and it makes taking the time to understand all the nuances feel more worthwhile and rewarding.
The variation of monster types, their scattered locations around the map, and the habitat restoration mechanic lend Twisted Reflection a bit of what I refer to as the Skyrim factor. Simply put, it's very easy to get distracted, and I mean that in the best way possible. I'll pick the game up with the intention of continuing the main story, only to find myself two hours later having battled two feral monsters, restored the habitats of five different species, and tracked down a few Poogies - this game's equivalent to Zelda's Korok seeds - without even thinking about the quest I'm supposed to be on.
Speaking of progression, there are three types of missions in this game: main story missions, side quests, and character-specific side stories. Those first two examples are pretty straightforward. Main missions progress the story, while side quests are more often than not five-to-ten-minute excursions that reward you with resources. I'm on board with all of that, but the character-specific side stories are where the game loses me a little.
The thing is, the group of rangers that accompanies you on your quest consists of multiple characters, and each has their own mission in every chapter. I'm a completionist at heart, so I want to take on everything the game throws at me, and this means some of these missions, which do a lot of heavy lifting character-development-wise, start to feel a bit like admin after a while, except for Ogden. I love questing with Ogden. He's that classic old-dude-with-vigor-for-days type character that I can't help but find incredibly endearing. Plus, his partner is a Pukei Pukei, a poison-spewing monster I've got a real soft spot for.
You get special rewards for completing character quests, which is great, but it does put a bit of a dampener on the momentum. Admittedly, I would feel differently about this if I were playing the game casually, rather than on a deadline. It's also worth reiterating that these missions aren't compulsory, but I feel a bit dirty if I skip them, so if you're the same, prepare to lock in. I'll also say that this additional content makes up for the lack of multiplayer if you find yourself looking for even more to do to extend your playtime.
In terms of the visuals, Twisted Reflection is by far the best-looking game in the series so far and the first that truly feels triple-A. Compared to two other monster-taming games I loved in the last year, Digimon Story: Time Stranger and Pokémon Legends: Z-A, this game has the best living, breathing world, with everything from lush vistas to hidden areas that reward you for exploration. Each region also features a bunch of watchtowers, which you can use to scope out areas of interest before marking them on your map and going on an adventure. It's a proper playground of a game, but a colorful playground, not the drab, grey asphalt kind.
My only issue with Twisted Reflection from a design perspective is that it feels a bit derivative of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, especially in the early game. The color palette of the landscape, cinematic scenes, and even the character design are all quite similar to Nintendo's masterpiece. Admittedly, this isn't the first game I've played in the last few years that feels overtly influenced by BotW, but it might be the most egregious. Again, it feels like it finds its own footing as the game goes on, but I thought it was worth noting.
Now, here's the bit I really didn't want to end up writing when I found out I'd be handling our Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection review. There are a couple of performance issues on Nintendo Switch 2, especially in handheld mode. In my playtime, I encountered a few frame rate drops, but the real issue was monsters in the distance. At times, I'd scope out a flying creature or something on land across the horizon, and I'd notice it moving more like a robot on low-power mode than, well, a monster. Fortunately, docked performance is much better, but I'm holding out hope for a post-launch patch to optimize the gameplay for handheld.
All in all, Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection is another fantastic addition to the ever-expanding catalogue of games from Capcom's beastly series. It's not perfect, mainly due to a few performance issues, some slightly sluggish side quests, and the odd bit of deja vu for anyone who's played Zelda: Breath of the Wild, but it's still pretty great and kept me entertained and engaged for countless hours. Now, if you don't mind, I've got some habitats to restore.
There you have it, our Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection review. For more on the latest Switch 2 games, be sure to check out our Pokémon Pokopia review and Resident Evil: Requiem review while you're here. Or, if you're looking for more monster-taming goodness, see our list of the best games like Pokémon.