Ride on, Rangers: Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection, the third entry in the monster-collecting JRPG spin-off series, is here! Can humans and monsters unite to save the world? Bonds of kinship prevail in a fantastical tale revealing how past sins echo through time. Heartwarming and poignant, Monster Hunter Stories 3 builds on an already impressive formula and reaches even greater heights.
The story begins in a kingdom called Azuria with the birth of exceedingly rare twin Skyscale Rathalos (think giant dragons). This birth portends a great calamity, causing the king to make a tragic decision in an attempt to prevent future hardships. Flash forward years later, and much has changed in Azuria. You play as the prince or princess of the kingdom who happens to be the newly minted captain of Azuria’s Rangers: a specialized unit of Monster Riders with a mission to protect the fragile environmental balance between humans, monsters, and nature.
Together with your staunchly loyal Palico attendant Rudy and “Monstie” Ratha, you and the other Rangers face the inexplicable threat of crystallization that is laying waste to monster and human territories alike. Not to mention the increased tensions with the neighboring kingdom of Vermeil, which has been hit even harder by the disaster and is growing ever more desperate. With war on the horizon, can the Rangers, their Monsties, and Eleanor, the second princess of Vermeil, figure out the truth behind the disastrous crystallization and save everyone?
I won’t delve too deeply into the story, as it contains emotional twists and turns. There’s one predictable twist, but it still works narratively. While I’m not as familiar with the mainline Monster Hunter action RPGs, I appreciate Monster Hunter Stories’ focus on humans aiming for harmonious coexistence with monsters. The Monsties aren’t treated as harmless, and Monster Hunters still play a pivotal role in society; however, the monsters are shown with surprising depth and sentience, making their bonds with humans believable.
Monster Hunter Stories 3 is the best in the trilogy at developing party members beyond the protagonist and Rudy. The other Rangers and Eleanor each have their own backstories and motivations. Supporting characters gain depth, and I even wanted more scenes with standouts like Corbin and PK. The game tells a surprisingly epic tale, veering into mature, bittersweet territory.
This leads me into my first “gripe”: the first two MHS games leaned more toward family-friendly, wholesome territory. Monster Hunter Stories 3 attempts to tread that same water while also telling a more grown-up tale of acceptance and coming-of-age. Occasionally, it comes across as not knowing which audience it is trying to cater to. There are some scenes that could be troubling for younger gamers, yet the narrative then pulls back by still retaining “childish/cutesy” elements. For instance, it’s hard to take a scene describing the horrors of war as seriously as was no doubt intended when terms like “Monstie” are used in the same breath.
The cat-like Felynes that populate the world are far too cute, even when in serious narrative roles, given the cat puns they throw around (not that I don’t think they aren’t “purr-fectly” charming and clever myself). Throw in a side quest that involves finding missing Poogies (essentially little piglets), who are often dressed up in colorful attire for some reason, alongside actually racing some of the little guys in mushroom-dotted race tracks, and you’ve got an RPG that seems deceptively kiddy on the surface. But breaking through the egg quartz to find the hidden bounty within reveals a plot with some pretty dark and mature undertones.
In a way, Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection symbolizes the “awkward teen” phase of this spinoff series as it finds its footing alongside its more daring cousin. Still more mature and evolving than its predecessors, yet only taking those forays with tentative, regressive steps at certain points. That isn’t a slight against the plot at all, though! There’s a superb environmental message at its core. I also appreciate how the main character (whom I’ll refer to as “the princess” from here on out since that’s who I picked) is so much more than just a blank slate player insert in this tale, as they have a pivotal role and personality that’s front and center throughout.
Gameplay-wise, Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection replaces the main MH games’ action RPG mechanics with a more traditional turn-based approach. The princess equips three weapon types, each with unique strengths, weaknesses, and skills. You switch weapons to suit your current enemies and choose the most effective element or type. I preferred heavy blades, hammers, and bows, but all weapon types are versatile. After selecting a weapon, combat involves choosing an attack and entering a rock-paper-scissors exchange: technical beats speed; speed overcomes power; power trumps technical. Winning Head-to-Head lets you deal more damage, or the reverse if you lose.
As a Rider or Ranger, you’re never fighting alone. The princess teams up with a Monstie companion, and both share a “heart” meter to monitor and avoid a game over. In battle, you can use up to six monsters, each with unique behaviors, abilities, and elemental properties. Keeping a mixed roster to match foes is vital.
By default, Monsties pick their moves, but you can override this when you need a certain attack type. If you and a party member target the same enemy part with the same attack type and win a Head-to-Head, your kinship gauge increases faster. This lets you ride your Monstie, combining your health and unlocking a powerful Kinship move. Your AI-controlled Ranger companion and their Monstie function identically, and syncing the ride phase enables a more devastating Double Kinship attack.
Combat requires strategy. When first fighting a new enemy, you’re left to initially guess at their penchant for attack types and counter accordingly. After that initial phase, you have to remember which attack types enemies prefer if you want to do the most damage. There are also status effects and a limited number of inventory items to consider, so plan carefully. Many enemy monsters have multiple body parts to target, often with different weapon weaknesses that’ll have you switching out between different ones as needed. Breaking body parts can stagger monsters or weaken their attacks, but it can make the fights drag on.
It doesn’t help that, aside from choosing your own Monsties’ attacks, you have no control over what your Ranger ally and their Monstie do during fights. Every party member and their monsters have different abilities and equipment, but merely serviceable AI. But they might prefer power attacks even when an enemy targets them with a speed one, or they might not heal you or themselves, even when you’re out of your restorative items and desperately need the support. The ability to direct their actions would speed prolonged battles along.
I often relied on the handy Quick Finish option to instantly KO lower-level enemies or attacked and destroyed monsters on the field before a fight even began, but that only works if you’re sufficiently leveled.
Outside combat, exploration is central to Monster Hunter Stories 3. Monsties have unique abilities for navigating areas. For example, Royal Ludroths’ Swim lets you cross lakes quickly, while Barroths’ Ground Dive grants access to otherwise unreachable regions. Having a party with varied skills opens up more of the terrain, and you can switch Monsties at any time. Exploring reveals dens with monster eggs to bolster your ranks, or you can use a recently hatched monster in reclaimed areas after defeating a Feral Monster and setting up a campground to increase a specific monster’s population.
Habitat restoration enables you to not only strengthen the monster populations of an area, but also “restore” endangered species. First, you must combat invasive monsters. These souped-up monster battles take more strategy to overcome as they require clue gathering and specific tactics to not so much “defeat” the enemy as to make it retreat, at which point you can retrieve an endangered species egg and hatch it.
Returning the newly hatched monster to the ecosystem then starts populating the grounds with more eggs for that species. Continuing to do so can even cause mutations, resulting in powerful monster variations. The fearsome Tigrex, for example, has two such mutant subspecies you acquire by playing along with habitat restoration.
Beyond merely collecting eggs and hatching them, you can also add skills and abilities to your Monsties through the Rite of Channeling. This allows you to transfer specific genes between monsters. There are bonuses to stats should you line genes up a certain way, and the sheer number of abilities you can give a monster is astounding. Genes let monsters access attacks they normally wouldn’t have, like a technical or speed attack skill on a monster mostly known for power, which helps further diversify the roles they take in combat. Narga, my Green Nargacuga variant, became an MVP due to all of the different skills and defensive/resistance bonuses I gave him.
Monster Hunter Stories 3‘s optional side content occasionally opens up, generally of the basic fetch variety, with you having to track down specific monsters or materials. They’re definitely good for resource gathering purposes for crafting or for level grinding, but they aren’t memorable.
The character side stories for the Ranger companions and Eleanor are far more interesting. Not only can you strengthen your comrades’ and their Monsties’ abilities and gear by undertaking them, which in turn improves their combat strength, but you also learn more about their individual backstories and reasons for tagging along with the princess. The side stories further strengthening your companions’ narrative ties and reactions to the main plot. I just wish the rest of the side content were as detailed!
Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection is a gorgeous and vibrantly colorful game. The environments are lively and memorable with a ton to uncover, and I love the expressive characters. The monsters all have interesting designs, though I do wish there were more variety. For all of the different color variations, you do run into monsters that look quite similar to one another, even if their behaviors are different. I also love the different looks the armor getups have, even though some of them have accessories that could prove distracting during cutscenes, like shoulder horns that block another character’s face during dialogue.
I played the game on a PS5 and didn’t encounter any of the graphical hiccups Ben Love reported in his awesome Switch 2 version preview, so I think the graphics interpretation also depends on the console.
The sound effects and voice work for the English language version are nicely done. Monsters sound thoroughly wild and intimidating when necessary, and the voice actors really give it their all in their performances. The soundtrack is also amazing. The vocal ending theme is lovely and fits the narrative theme nicely, and I loved the catchy intensity of the battle and monster themes such as this one. The script localization is pretty well done, with easy-to-read subtitles throughout all cutscenes.
Overall, I appreciate that Monster Hunter Stories 3 is largely a standalone adventure that RPGFans can pick up and play even if their knowledge of the main Monster Hunter series or the previous two MHS games is nonexistent (though there are some delightful callbacks for fans). The foundation for Monster Hunter Stories was already solid, and this third game largely builds upon this. Most of my issues with the game are relatively minor and nitpicky in hindsight, especially given how much I enjoyed playing it even after fifty hours.
I think Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection is a great introduction to this spin-off series, especially to those with a fondness for detail and strategy-heavy monster collecting and explorable fantasy adventures. Given how fantastic Monster Hunter Stories 3 is, if the next game in the series can provide an even stronger outing, I’ll be paws-itively impressed!
