Like many of you, I’ve been hunting monsters in Capcom’s beloved action series for several generations—but I’ll admit I’ve skimped on riding those monsters. The turn-based, more cutesy Monster Hunter subseries, Monster Hunter Stories, recently expanded its audience beyond the 3DS with the enhanced re-releases of 1 and 2 on Switch, PS4, PC, and, soon, Xbox, but Stories is nowhere near done growing. At Tokyo Game Show 2025 I finally got to ride through Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection ahead of its release in Spring 2026 and let me tell you: you’re gonna want to saddle up, too.
Visually, Monster Hunter Stories 3 is magnificent. I played for nearly forty minutes in the Switch 2’s handheld mode and it ran smoothly even in its open world. The slightly chibi character designs are gone but the cel-shading remains, similar to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild or cutscenes in recent Fire Emblem games. It’s married nicely here with Monster Hunters’ signature charms and whimsy—see, you only kill and carve up the bad monsters throwing off the ecosystem, the ones beyond taming! The tamable ones are lovingly called “monsties,” ostensibly raised from eggs before the demo’s start. In the lush expanse of green fields and rocky mountains revealed in July’s Nintendo Direct, I could gallop and climb on a Tobi-Kadachi, fly on the back of a Rathalos, and knock the bejeezus out of some wild Velociprey.
As the Rider, Leo, I was constantly joined in battle by any one of a roster of tamed monsties. Like Leo, monsties can use their turns for a handful of abilities under the category of Power, Technical, or Speed. These categories act like the Rock-Paper-Scissors weapon triangle of Fire Emblem, in that Power beats Tech beats Speed beats Power. This is extra important, because should an enemy you’re targeting target you back, you enter a “Head-to-Head” animation where the winner of the RPS triangle does all the damage (with draws letting both sides attack). Match attack types with your monstie and you do flashier Double Attacks. There’s some prior knowledge of enemy monster movesets required, and a little bit of luck, but it made even simple encounters feel strategic.
Monster Hunter Stories 3‘s battle system became far deeper and more interesting in the boss fight I had against a rampaging, electrified Chatacabra (uh oh, those are supposed to be weak to electricity…). As the beast grew more enraged, its moveset and properties changed, forcing me to target different parts of its body so as to trigger or not trigger effects like counter-attacks. This also forced me to use different attacks tied to weapon types from the main Monster Hunter series. I whacked away at the thing’s knees with a giant, blunt hammer while my battle-compatriot, a plucky girl with a giant bow, did piercing damage. Through this, there’s many staggering opportunities mid-battle which can lead to Persona-like gang-up attacks. Then, when a meter is filled, you can ride and fight from atop your chosen monster.
I’m sure longtime fans of the Stories series are more familiar with these combat minutiae, but for me as a newcomer, Monster Hunter Stories 3 felt crisp, impactful, and stimulating, and I looked forward to seeing my favourite monsters spun into even more clever boss battles (though it is a bit sad I can no longer simply Big Bang hammer everything to death).
My time with Monster Hunter Stories 3 was spent mostly dashing through the environment, snatching up familiar items like honeycombs along the way, and battling, of course. The floor demo showcased very little of the story, though trailers have revealed more in that regard. I can tell you that Monster Hunter fans who love the ecology and complexity of this series will find a lot to love in the freer exploration and the more thoughtful combat against your old favourite creatures.
Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection drops on March 13th, 2026, for PS5, Switch 2, PC, and Xbox Series X|S. See below for more brand-new screenshots of the game from Tokyo Game Show:
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