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| Release Date | Gameplay & Story | Pre-Order & DLC | Review |
Everything We Know About Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection
Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection Plot
Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection plunges players into a world on the brink of war, with two nations, Azuria and Vermeil, facing a catastrophic environmental phenomenon known as the Crystal Encroachment,
a crystalline blight that is destroying their lands. The current Crystal Encroachment was believed to have begun from the discovery of the supposedly extinct Skyscale Rathalos twins. These Rathalos bear the same ominous mark as the Skyscale Rathalos twins creatures originally linked to the first catastrophe from 200 years ago.
Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection Gameplay
Taking much of the gameplay systems that made its predecessors so unique, Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection is a faithful sequel to the previous installment. It features turn-based combat following a rock-paper-scissors mechanic, a semi-open world to explore, and a buddy system that allows another human-monster pair to join you in battle.
The series staple of raiding dens for monster eggs to hatch and raise is also back, making revisits to old areas important for unlocking new monsters.
Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection Release Date
Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection was released on March 13, 2026 for the Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.
Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection Review: Simply Rejuvenating
Monster Hunter for the Creature Collectors
If you’ve ever played any Monster Hunter game, I doubt the thought “wouldn’t it be fun if I could ride these beasts into battle?” hadn’t crossed your mind. After all, the monster designs of the Monster Hunter series was one of its biggest draws, besides the gritty action combat gameplay.
That is (probably) the question the entire Monster Hunter Stories spinoff series tries to answer. Here, instead of being a hunter out to skin everything within a five-mile radius for pretty armor and weapons, you instead play as a character who partners up with them instead… to skin everything else within a five mile radius for pretty armor and weapons…
Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection is the third installment of this series. And just like its predecessors, it’s set within the broader Monster Hunter franchise where monsters are not just quarry, but also partners you bond with. It is incredibly faithful in this to the point where its core mechanics are virtually indistinguishable from its prequels.
However, it does bring a few changes to the equation; changes that not only reframe the entire setting of the game, but also the experience playing it—for better or worse.
More Like Monster Conservationist Stories
Ever wondered how, regardless of the number of monsters you hunt in any Monster Hunter mainline game, there always seem to be a never-ending supply of them on the map? The answer might not be Monster Hunter Stories 3’s setting, but it’s a funny headcanon to consider nonetheless.
Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection puts you in the greaves of the only son/daughter of the king of Azuria. He (or she), due to their upbringing, is a stout defender of the ecosystem that brings vitality to their nation; a system that puts to use the many monsters that roam the countryside as partners of the people to defend their territory and provide much-needed labor for the fields.
As the founder of the Rangers—basically the Monster Hunter equivalent of conservationists—your main task is to maintain said ecosystem. However, due to their especially close ties with their powerful monster partners, they are also dragged to the conflict involving their neighbors, as well as the calamity that serves as the main cause of all the tension.
It’s a fairly standard setup, as you’re basically depicted as a protector of nature who takes up arms to do so. However, at the same time, it’s also new for the series, as the previous two were essentially your even more cliche “hero story.”
Fortunately, it’s pulled off rather well—story-wise, at least. There’s a lot of intrigue and conflict due to thematic clashes between politics (you ARE a prince/princess, after all) and culture. It keeps developments interesting, if not sometimes annoying to witness. Spoilers aside, it’s not uncommon to see events that would either glue you to your seat, or make you want to pull your hair out, that’s for sure.
On the other hand, its implications for gameplay can be… lopsided.
Gotta Release ‘Em All
Unlike other monster-collecting games out there where you’re simply trying to be “the very best, like no one ever was,” Monster Hunter Stories 3’s setting influences its gameplay in a different direction. That is, instead of simply unlocking and collecting the best monsters you can use, you are encouraged to act more like a caretaker of the environment. This includes getting rid of invasive species from the area, rescuing endangered monsters and reintroducing them to the ecosystem, and studying your work’s effects on the environment’s biodiversity.
This is pushed to you through a number of ways. For example, the series' classic activity of stealing eggs from nests not only provides you with new monsters to raise, but also a decent chunk of EXP to level up with. Your work also serves as its progression system beyond plot-based progression. That’s because the main method of unlocking stronger or new variants of monsters involves a lot of looking for specific monster eggs to release back into the wild.
However, while this system is interesting conceptually, practically, it makes progression feel like doing chores.
See, this is an entirely separate layer of grinding beyond committing mass genocide on the local wildlife for straightforward EXP gain. Now, you also have to go into dens to look for eggs you normally wouldn’t pay attention to just so you can increase an area’s biodiversity and trigger monster unlocks or local species mutations.
At the very least, the game actually expects you to act the part of your character during gameplay and not just during important missions. And that matters, because this does have a heavy impact on combat.
Rock, Paper, Scissors, Rock, Paper, Scissors…
Just like its predecessors, Monster Hunter Stories 3’s combat system revolves around a turn-based rock-paper-scissors mechanic; Power attacks force its way through Technique, Technique counters hastily-thrown Speed attacks, and Speed attacks land faster than Power.
This mechanic becomes relevant when an enemy and ally exchange attacks. In such cases, a Head to Head event triggers, and the character with the disadvantageous attack gets their move completely nullified.
Now, at the beginning, your partner monsters tend to be limited in what kind of attacks they can perform. Your partner rathalos, for example, can only really do Power type attacks for a while. The same limitation mostly applies to every other monster you collect. However, as you increase the biodiversity of your area, you will start encountering monsters with different attack types either unlocked by default or at later levels.
This is insanely helpful because of how much this game discourages repeated partner monster swapping. See, bond levels, which allow you to ride your monster in battle and are increased as you fight alongside them, isn’t a shared gauge. In order to max it out as quickly as possible and perform powerful rider skills, not swapping at all is highly recommended.
But considering enemies can switch their attack types, fielding monsters that can only do one thing is typically a recipe for a bad time.
And as you would expect, taking longer to beat enemies will also eat into your time doing conservation chores. It’s a negative feedback loop that’ll only keep inflating if you don’t address it sooner rather than later.
Thankfully, actually “doing your job” is rather fun. There’s a strange satisfaction that comes from successfully stealing eggs right under angry mothers’ and sleeping monsters’ noses, especially if you end up getting a strong hatchling. The developers even added a short cutscene that shows the monsters you release slowly walking away as if they were in a romantic drama anime to add flavor to the experience.
It really treats the release of monsters you hatched into the world differently from the unceremonious ones that most creature collector games do. Immersion is important!
I haven’t seen enough of the game to fully judge it yet, though. But as far as I’m concerned, Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection is already shaping up to be just as good, if not better than its prequels.
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Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection Product Information
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| Title | MONSTER HUNTER STORIES 3: TWISTED REFLECTION |
|---|---|
| Release Date | March 13 |
| Developer | CAPCOM |
| Publisher | CAPCOM |
| Supported Platforms | PC, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X|S, PS5 |
| Genre | RPG, Adventure |
| Number of Players | 1 |
| ESRB Rating | T |
| Official Website | Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection Official Website |
