Monster Hunter Stories 3 delivers charming turn-based adventure with engaging combat loops

Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection is a turn-based RPG that asks you to play as the prince or princess of Azuria, a pastoral kingdom where your day job involves leading the Rangers—a group of warriors tasked with keeping the realm and its creatures in balance. The setup is straightforward enough until the day soldiers from the struggling neighbouring kingdom of Vermeil appear on the horizon, sparking a tense standoff that pulls you into a much larger mystery. Complicating matters further, monsters across the land are falling victim to a strange crystalline sickness that transforms them into violent, uncontrollable beasts. Over the course of the game, these two threads—the political tension and the spreading infection—begin to intertwine, building toward an ending that carries genuine emotional weight.

Capcom's creature-catching series has always thrived on grinding, and Twisted Reflection leans into this openly. You'll spend hours hunting monsters, collecting their parts, and grinding through side quests. The game doesn't apologize for this; instead, it makes the loops engaging enough that the repetition feels purposeful rather than obligatory. The opening hours are heavy with exposition and tutorials, which may test the patience of veterans, but newcomers to the franchise will find themselves well-guided into the experience.

The combat system is where Twisted Reflection distinguishes itself most clearly from the mainline Monster Hunter games. Rather than the real-time frenzy of dodging and positioning, you have time to think through your moves. You control both yourself and a companion monster, often fighting alongside Rangers from your squad. Each ally brings a specific strength—Thea, with her pink hair, boosts your critical hit rate at the cost of lower defence, while Gaul serves as your healer, equipped with items to keep the party standing. Choosing the right companion matters, especially as enemies grow more dangerous, but the game never punishes experimentation too harshly.

The standout mechanic is the attack type system, a rock-paper-scissors framework where you guess whether your opponent will use Power, Technical, or Speed attacks. If you read the monster correctly and counter with the opposing damage type, you deal extra damage. Guess wrong, and you take the hit. This creates a satisfying risk-reward cycle that encourages you to study enemy patterns and trust your instincts. Beyond the expected elemental attacks and status buffs, this system gives combat a nerve-racking head-to-head quality that makes each encounter feel like a genuine contest.

The crafting system transforms monster parts into weapons and armour, and here the game excels at making the process visually rewarding. Gear crafted from a Kut Kut will bear its distinctive orange scales; armour built from a Nerscylla carries that creature's visual signature. This isn't just cosmetic—it gives you a tangible reason to hunt specific monsters beyond story progression and experience points. The outfits you create appear in cutscenes, sometimes leading to unintentionally funny moments that add personality to the experience.

Exploration takes you through jungles, deserts, and other biomes, each populated with creatures that feel native to their environment. Aquatic monsters like the salamander-like Ludthroth inhabit the lakes and rivers, while scrappy scavengers like the Velocidrome roam the plains. The world has a lived-in quality, as though it existed long before you arrived. You'll switch between different mounts to navigate terrain—your winged steed won't dive into water just because you need to collect herbs—which reinforces the sense of a world with its own logic.

The platforming, however, is a weak point. Invisible walls appear without warning, and solid edges give way unexpectedly, sending you tumbling down mountainsides and forcing you to retrace your steps. These moments jar against the game's otherwise immersive design. Side quests help flesh out the world, though many are straightforward fetch tasks. The friendship quests are more rewarding, offering deeper character development and allowing you to build relationships with Rangers like Kora, a warrior carrying a difficult past, and Ogden, an eccentric but warm father figure. These missions feel more thoughtfully written and anchor you in the game's world. The vocal performances across the cast add spirited energy to these moments, though the game's pacing can stumble if you don't complete friendship quests as they appear—you may find yourself warped back to areas that make little narrative sense.

The game was played over fifty hours on PC, with the campaign primarily using an Xbox Wireless Controller. Accessibility options are robust, allowing you to rebind controls, adjust font sizes, toggle quest markers, and receive combat hints if you're struggling. The experience accommodates both newcomers and series veterans, though the early hours demand patience. By the time you reach the late game, the mechanical depth and character-driven storytelling converge into something worth the investment.