Capcom refuses to chill in 2026. Fans online may still be raving about Leon Kennedy's "big guns" in Resident Evil Requiem, but those craving a charming, engaging story will find plenty to love in Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection (even if the Nintendo Switch 2 version leaves a lot to be desired in the technical department).
Let's get the most disappointing aspect out of the way first: the Switch 2 version of Monster Hunter Stories 3 has a bunch of performance issues.
Twisted Reflection is a gorgeous-looking game. The cel-shaded visuals really make each biome stand out, from the mountainous region of Azuria, which hosts a sprawling lake adjacent to the imposing Azuria Castle, to the lush foliage and wetlands of Canalta Timberland, to name a couple. These open-ended areas are filled to the brim with resources to gather, dens to explore, and monsters to fight. Sadly, the visual spectacle is marred by the Nintendo Switch 2's performance.
On Switch 2, Stories 3 is a bit of an eyesore. The game looks pretty enough, but the optimization found in a game like Resident Evil Requiem is nowhere to be seen here. The game has a very inconsistent framerate, as it doesn't have an option to lock it at a solid 30FPS, with noticeable dips, especially in towns and when you're out and about exploring each biome. Another constant issue is the egregious pop-in I ran into. It reached a point that monsties and characters were spawning right in front of my character. Textures in the open hubs sometimes fail to load, resulting in very low-quality surfaces that took me out of the game. Even a few cutscenes seem to struggle to render everything that's happening, with some light stuttering.
If you think you can mess around with any visual settings to improve performance, think again. In fact, the only option available to players in the settings menu is to modify the game's brightness. So settings like motion blur will have to stay on at all times.
I was wary after trying the demo, and it's disappointing to see that Capcom didn't optimize the full release. We've reached out to the developers to see whether a performance patch is in the works, so I'm hopeful these issues can be ironed out.
Technical gibberish aside, Twisted Reflection is undeniably the series at its best from a narrative perspective. In it, you take control of a created character that serves as the prince or princess of Azuria, a kingdom at odds with the neighboring Vermeil kingdom, both suffering the effects of a ravaging environmental shift referred to as the Crystal Encroachment. The Encroachment crystallizes everything it touches, including living beings, endangering the entire population of both kingdoms and the natural habitats across both lands.
Beyond that, the story also centers around the main protagonist's past, and the mystery surrounding the birth of two Rathalos hatched from a single egg. All combined, it makes for a very compelling story, even if the game is filled with tried-and-true character tropes that can make it a bit bland at times. You have the squeaky, plucky protegee in Thea, the stoic, hardened by battle Gaul, and the perennially optimistic, naive, and curious Princess Eleanor.
The story has its fair share of serious and gloomy moments that make this game much more mature than previous MH Stories narratives, with actual, surprising twists that made me drop every side activity just to see how the story progressed. Still, there's plenty of lighthearted beats that, when accompanied by the game's overall aesthetic, create a very pleasant balance and accentuate the urgency of the threats both Azuria and Vermeil are facing.
It's very high fantasy with an optimistic outlook. The artistic decision to make the game shine as bright as it does works wonderfully with the serious undertones, as it just inherently gives you a reason to care for what's happening to such a gorgeous world.
While not exactly breaking new ground, Twisted Reflection's side stories do offer a much-needed sense of depth to each character. Without dwelling too much in spoiler territory, one of my favorites involves Eleanor's. It starts as a very basic side quest with comedic undertones, as the princess whips out sus ingredients to demonstrate the cuisine of Vermeil. Later, you'll find that the reason for Eleanor's peculiar choice of barely edible ingredients is that her kingdom is in a perilous situation, with its inhabitants forced to adapt, having to scrape the bottom of the barrel just to survive.
I highly recommend you tackle these; they very much feel like perfect companion pieces to the rest of the story, where the secondary characters don't have much room to break out of their unidimensional shells. I'd go as far as to say some of the most compelling writing is found in these side-stories.
The real meat of MH Stories 3 is, naturally, the highly addictive gameplay loop. I could go on for hours, minutely discussing all the systems at play, but I fear I might not finish this review until MH Stories 4 drops, so I'll keep it as brief as possible.
Everything at first glance might seem easy enough: you get your standard crafting of weapons and armor using resources gathered from defeating monsties in the wild or via exploration. There are a total of six weapon types, a relatively low number that gets upset by the fact that not every weapon within the same type works the same way. Take, for instance, the Frilled Blow and the Cluster Hammer; each has unique skills and passive abilities.
You can add extra abilities to a weapon via the decorations system, which act as itemized versions of specific moves or passive abilities you wish to put on a certain weapon or piece of armor.
Coming up with your very own team of monsties is where the fun of buildcrafting really comes from. You can have a total of six in your party, letting you come up with a team that has all the bases covered in terms of elemental affinities.
Finding companions to add to your collection will make you lose track of time consistently as you peel the layers of customization. It starts fairly simple, with monster rarities and your usual assortment of stats such as HP, Attack, Speed, or Defense. Once the floodgates open and you start tinkering with mechanics, you'll realize how much depth there is here.
You can start a monsties Habitat Restoration, which lets you release them into the wild, increasing their ecosystem rating and giving subsequent eggs environment skills, S-Rank Genes, and even gaining the ability to hatch monsties with dual-element capabilities and unique exclusive skills pertaining to the new element they've acquired, enhancing what they can offer in battle. There are rare instances in which a monstie will outright mutate if you fulfill certain conditions as well.
The amount of time I spent trying to come up with unique combinations was genuinely one of my favorite things to do in Twisted Reflection. One of my greatest creations involved the water-based Somnacanth, which I bred into a dual-element electric beast that carried an amazing egg skill: it elevated my status ailment inflict rate.
Now, since this particular monstie relies on applying the Sleep debuff, this unique skill was a godsend. Plus, having electric skills buffed meant my Somnacanth became a torture machine that put enemies to sleep and then paralyzed them to death.
Adding more customization, you have the Bingo system. Set in a 3x3 grid, each one of your companions has a set of genes you can arrange as you please. You get rewarded for hitting bingo bonuses, either by matching a certain element or attack type (Technical, Power, and Speed). You can transfer genes from one monstie to another, making for a very engaging mini-game that gives a purpose to each of the monsties you collect, incentivizing constant egg gathering.
As you progress through the story, you'll also unlock Excursions, which allow you to send monsties on training sessions that will allow them to obtain environment skills of their own, perfect for when you've grown attached to a particular early game beast you feel is lacking in certain areas. I would know, as I still rock a very early Tobi-Kadachi deep into the game's final hours.
It's a neat way to build bonds with these creatures; the more hours you sink into the game, the more you see them as disposable companions that you ditch as soon as you breed a better, faster, stronger version.
In any case, if you want to be a heartless Ranger, eggs can be found by exploring dens. There are different types of dens, from common to rare. The higher the rarity, the greater the chance you'll get a monstie with better skills.
I really cannot emphasize how much I'm glossing over the systems, but I assure you, they're something I wish a certain other monster-catching franchise implemented, as it's a fascinatingly addictive process.
Back to the exploration side of things, there are various open-ended areas that you can roam freely while looking for resources, dens, and complete a few mundane side quests. You can use various monsties you catch as rides, with Ratha doing the heavy lifting, as he can fly, sprint, and even throw fireballs and melee attacks to stun enemies, letting you enter combat with a Preemptive Strike.
Speaking of which, combat is excellent. Mimicking the mainline games, Twisted Reflection offers a system in which you need to target specific monster parts to weaken them. Depending on the type of part you're targeting, the benefits will vary. For instance, breaking a monster's tail might stun it, canceling its next action. Alternatively, you can target a body part that inflicts massive Wyvernsoul Damage, greatly depleting the Wyvernsoul Gauge.
What's that, you ask? The Wyvernsoul Gauge acts like a stun meter; deplete it, and the enemy will enter a Toppled state in which you can unleash a powerful Synchro Rush attack that inflicts massive damage from all party members while filling the Kinship Gauge.
"Another gauge?" Why yes, the Kinship Gauge is tied to how well you perform in combat alongside a certain monstie. Monsters will try to hit back, with the trifecta of the aforementioned Power, Speed, and Technical attacks coming into play here. If you lock horns with a monster (this happens when you are targeting one another) and end up coming on top (a Power will beat a Technical attack, for instance), your gauge will fill. Once the bar is full, you'll be able to ride your monstie in combat, bringing a ton of benefits. To keep it short: you'll hit harder and gain access to Kinship Skills, over-the-top, cinematic, and absurdly fun, powerful attacks.
This systems upon systems upon systems type of RPG could've come crashing down hard had they fumbled any aspect of its combat. They didn't. People will quickly equate the combat in Twisted Reflection to rock, paper, scissors, a tried and true baseline that many other turn-based RPGs still use. It's actually more like chess or a very intricate puzzle.
Monsters will transform mid-battle, changing attack types, forcing you to prioritize different aspects that you had in mind. Will you pivot to try and break the blighted tail or keep chipping away at its claws to trigger a stun? Is it better to go for a Synchro Rush attack quickly or target a body part that will severely nerf incoming damage for the rest of the battle? Is there a way to target both before the next transformation comes in?
One last thing I'll mention is that there are no parries or active systems in place; this is as classic turn-based combat as it comes. You'll get hit constantly, which is why your HP recovers fully after each combat. It's also not a particularly easy game; you'll be forced to engage with the majority of its systems. You can try to brute-force it by overleveling the old-fashioned way, although I can't recommend wasting time on this game if you simply don't feel compelled by the many moving pieces it has before you even get to a battle.
There's so much more I didn't even discuss, like cooking, battle allies that help you out, how Feral Monsters (those that are in the process of getting crystalized) add an unexpected layer of depth, or the ultimate challenge that are Invasive Monsters, battles you technically can't win (you have to force the monsters to retreat) and where the game will truly test your knowledge of every mechanic at your disposal. I found out in a hilarious turn of events that there's a way to rematch each of these beasts, and to say they're meant for endgame is putting it lightly. They got hands, or rather, claws.
My experience with Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection is an odd one. I love the vast majority of the gameplay it offers, but having played a clearly inferior version on Nintendo Switch 2 really soured me on its otherwise incredible visual presentation. The story and its characters are better than you'd expect if you've played or even glanced at previous Stories games, but it's not the sort of tale you'll be reminiscing about once you put the game down.
I still think MH Stories 3 is worth your time, just maybe consider playing it on other platforms if you have the opportunity.
A review copy was provided by the publisher for the purpose of this review.
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