Review – Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection for Switch 2

My first real foray into Monster Hunter was back in 2017 with Monster Hunter Stories. I had been gifted a copy of Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate by a family member who wanted to get me hooked on the series, but I bounced off of it pretty quickly, despite my interest in the world it set up and all the great monster designs. Stories eased me into things a little better by being an RPG that let me take things at my own pace more than the faster action of the mainline titles, and I ended up getting hooked on the series from there. I have since spent hundreds of hours both hunting and raising monsters across titles like Monster Hunter Stories 2, Monster Hunter Rise, and Monster Hunter Wilds, and I was bursting with excitement about the announcement of Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection.

 

A Tale of Two Rathas

 

This third Monster Hunter Stories entry begins with a short cutscene depicting an expedition discovering a mysterious egg encased in crystal. This expedition, led by Queen Amara of Azuria, returns with the egg to Azuria’s palace to initiate a hatching ritual. What hatches from the egg is not one, but two Rathalos, thought to be extinct by the people of Azuria. Marring the excitement of the rediscovery of a long-lost species are cries that twin Rathalos being born is an ill-omen, and one of the twins is ordered to be executed as the screen fades to black.

What follows is an introduction to your character, previously seen as a child in the opening cutscene, now grown into a full-fledged monster Rider in their own right. Following in their mother’s (Queen Amara) footsteps, your character is busy investigating a crystalized monster before returning to the castle atop one of the Rathalos we saw hatch in the opening cutscene. It’s a nice change of pace that you begin Monster Hunter Stories 3 as an accomplished Rider with several monsters under their care already, rather than a fledgling Rider learning the ins and outs of raising monsters before embarking on their journey as it was in the first two Monster Hunter Stories games. You’re the captain of a group of Riders called the Rangers, tasked by the kingdom of Azuria with surveying and researching the monsters of the kingdom and their habitats. New players aren’t expected to know everything from the get-go either, as the game’s tutorial section is handled impeccably despite your character already being great at what they do. They’re tasked with taking the Rangers’ newest member out on her first expedition to show her the ropes, teaching players all the ins and outs of riding, battling, and researching monsters as they go along.

 

 

Hitting the ground running as an experienced Rider from the get-go sets the stage for Monster Hunter Stories 3 to tell a more mature story, as your character and their companions are established as an existing, professional presence in a world already rife with conflict. The kingdom of Azuria is on the brink of war with the neighboring kingdom of Vermeil as they both struggle to deal with The Encroachment, the crystalizing phenomenon we’ve seen the player character and their mother investigating. With adult characters, talk of executions, and scenes of armies clashing, Monster Hunter Stories 3 is definitively less silly and playful than its predecessors, and I think that’s to its benefit. It’s allowed to tell a more engaging and grounded story, and I wasn’t distracted by constant hijinks or jokes undercutting the seriousness of the situation that was unfolding. The story also benefits greatly from a wonderful voice cast, including a fully voiced main character, a first for Monster Hunter Stories. Giving your player character a voice is just another way this game puts the story it wants to tell front and center, as they can properly react to the things happening around them and convey their emotions clearly rather than just stand there with vague expressions on their face like has been the case in past games.

 

Combat Complexities

 

Each new entry in the Monster Hunter Story series has added a bit more depth to the combat formula, and Stories 3 is no different. In the first Stories game, combat was a simple rock-paper-scissors system with a few bits of Monster Hunter flair like each monster having an assigned element or using well-known tricks against certain monsters, like throwing a Sonic Bomb at a Diablos that has hidden underground to bring it back out. Stories 2 added battle partners into the mix so that your character and their monster were no longer fighting alone, and added even more Monster Hunter flair, allowing for the targeting of specific monster parts in order to break them. Stories 3 adds even more, giving each of the six available weapon types a more complex system to work with, pulled straight from their mechanics in the mainline Monster Hunter games, as well as new variants of monsters to fight that behave a bit differently and require players to adjust their tried and true strategies. All of the new complexities of the combat were a little overwhelming at first, and even once I got used to them, the fights in Stories 3 continued to pack a punch. The difficulty level here seems much higher than in the first two games, requiring you to be well-stocked on items and knowledgeable and strategic about monster matchups.

 

 

I’m of two minds when it comes to the combat difficulty in Monster Hunter Stories 3 – on one hand, it’s great RPG combat that has been more and more based on existing Monster Hunter mechanics in each new entry; on the other hand, it’s difficult to say that this is as good of an entry point into the series as Monster Hunter Stories originally was for me because of the complexity. Maybe that’s by design, as those other two titles still exist for newcomers to sink their teeth into, after all. Everything about this entry says that this is a more mature game than either Stories or Stories 2. The more robust combat pairs nicely with the darker, more grounded story, and there’s also plenty of depth to be found outside of the combat for invested players, both new and old, to really sink their teeth into.

 

Research and Rewards

 

I mentioned above that your character leads the Rangers, a group of Riders working to research monsters and their habitats. Sure they can fight alongside their monsters when needed (and it’s needed quite a bit), but throughout much of the story cutscenes it’s clear that this group is much more interested in the how and why of the monsters around them, rather than how strong they are. This is reflected in my favorite new addition to Monster Hunter Stories 3: Habitat Restoration. As you hunt down Monster Dens to snag eggs from so you can hatch new monsters, you’re pretty much guaranteed to end up with plenty of duplicate monsters of the same species. In past Stories games you could use these monsters for their genes, transferring them to new monsters to teach them new skills or give them new passive abilities, or you could release them into the wild, never to be seen again. In Stories 3, there’s a little more oomph behind releasing monsters into the wild, as you can now use the Habitat Restoration feature to select exactly which part of the world you release the monster into, which can affect the local monster population.

 

 

As you release multiple members of the same species into one area, their Ecosystem Rank will go up, from C to B to A to S, and you’ll be able to find higher rated eggs of that species when you take them from Monster Dens. Each defined area also has a set elemental affinity, and as you introduce monsters to different areas, the monster’s own elemental affinities can change, thereby modifying the element of their attacks and even the color of the monster itself. Some monsters can even mutate into different variant subspecies once their Ecosystem Rank hits S, expanding the types of monsters available to you. Throughout the story you’ll even come across eggs from endangered species eggs and can use the Habitat Restoration feature to reintroduce these endangered monsters to the environment to regrow their population. It’s such a great, fun layer of depth in Stories 3 that not only adds to the complexity of the game as a whole but also fleshes out its world beautifully. I’ve lost several hours of playtime messing around with Environmental Restoration to find optimal element and skill combinations for various strong fights I stumbled across, and I can’t wait to get back to it.

 

A Full Stable

 

Speaking of monsters, the selection of available monsters in Monster Hunter Stories 3 is absolutely massive, and, most importantly for me, includes several monsters introduced in Monster Hunter Rise and its expansion, Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak. There’s also a selection of monsters from Monster Hunter Wilds present in the game, which is a nice surprise considering the lack of Rise monsters in Monster Hunter Stories 2 when it first launched. Throughout the entire game I felt like I was getting my hands on more monsters than ever before, especially when you consider I was gathering up eggs like a madman every time I got distracted by Environment Restoration, which made it hard to keep only six with me at a time to adventure and battle with. It’s a great problem to have though, every monster has to be someone’s favorite, and having so many of them here lets players customize their teams to their hearts’ desires.

 

 

Beauty and Beast

 

The performance of Monster Hunter Stories 3 on Switch 2 is fine. Loading times aren’t bad at all and I didn’t have any noticeable hiccups when playing, though throughout the game I noticed glaring issues with texture pop-in and the presence of blurry textures in general. It doesn’t affect the experience much but it is definitely noticeable. Otherwise the visuals look gorgeous. It’s great seeing so many classic and new Monster Hunter monsters in the slightly cartoonish design of the Stories series, and the selection of different armors and weapons based on the monsters you defeat were a pleasure to look through as always.

 

Ride On!

 

Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection is the most robust entry in this series yet. While it may not be the best entry point for newcomers thanks to more complex systems than the last two titles, there’s plenty here for new fans and veteran Hunters and Riders to discover. Robust combat, a more serious story, and the addition of Environmental Restoration all weave together to make this my favorite Monster Hunter Stories entry so far. I’ve spent several hours playing Monster Hunter Stories 3, and I’m excited to continue to dive back in for hours and hours to come.

 

Leave a Comment