Nintendo’s relationship with the Monster Hunter series is an intriguing one – in one sense it’s at the heart of the IP with timed exclusives, but it’s also missed out on two blockbuster mainline entries in World and Wilds; perhaps Switch 2 will remedy that shortcoming. The spin-off Stories series, however, started out as a late-gen 3DS game and the series has kept on coming to Nintendo hardware ever since.
The first two games offer a good time for those new to the IP, or fans that want an adventure a little less intense and challenging. They were largely (though not exclusively) cutesy in style, and while that’s still partially true with Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection, this does feel like an entry that’s following its audience. If you were young when you played the original, this may now fit well into your older sensibilities. It’s still charming and easygoing at times, but the tone has shifted a little.
In terms of narrative, Twisted Reflection, like the two games before it, goes off on its own; you don’t need to be familiar with its predecessors to dive in here. The storytelling at times feels a little like modern Fire Emblem – gorgeous cutscenes in the preview section (the first 6-8 hours of the game) tell the tale of tensions between two nations, a world of endangered monster species and ecological collapse. There are some heavy themes, but they’re told with dashes of hope, and your role as a Prince and Ranger sees you working to improve the world in multiple ways.
Right from the start, the storytelling, gorgeous orchestral music and cast of characters will draw you in. As a Monster Hunter RPG, it has a slow-ish opening hour, but after that I felt in a similar flow as I have in big-name genre IPs from the likes of Square Enix, Atlus, and Monolith Soft; Capcom’s team has evidently continued to mature in its approach to making an RPG that devours hours in each play session.
What’s also encouraging is that it’s done this while retaining the Stories style, at least in the early going. As in previous entries, you gradually build up a team of ‘Monsties’, cute takes on iconic franchise beasts that you can ride and team up with in battle, along with a companion and their Monstie.
Battles themselves retain the rock-paper-scissors approach, though with impressive depth. Initially, I have stuck to the same three weapon types, each of which can target specific monster parts with each move, but there are various others I haven’t yet touched.
Even in the early running, there looks to be a dizzying amount of detail for those that seek it, and it’ll be interesting to see if — like its predecessors — this is at least partially optional. Ways to customise and evolve Monsties return, gathering eggs to rear creatures to then release and revive regional ecologies seems prevalent, and already stores and armourers are offering a lot of tools to eventually get you through a presumably tough end-game. I’ll be intrigued to see how deep these mechanics go, how necessary they are to surviving towards the end, and just how fabulous our fashion can get as we encounter more monster types in the world.
In the opening sections it also seems that, beyond mechanical depth, this game is setting up for a decent amount of pure content. The story itself has — so far — introduced some key threads and then reached a dramatic denouement to set the scene for ‘Chapter 2’, but I’ve also enjoyed diving into side quests and side stories. The former are mostly basic ‘collect these things’ or ‘defeat this monster’, but the latter take you into little standalone vignettes with each companion in which you learn a little more about them. Even early on with only ‘Chapter 1’ for each side story available so far, there’s been a fair bit of gameplay variety and oodles of charm.
So far, so good. That said, I do have a mix of praise and minor issues around performance in this current version 1.0 build. As mentioned before, cutscenes — including those delivered in-engine — look and sound fantastic; I would also like to give a nod to the voice acting so far. While praise is generally given to RE Engine, this title is still clearly working on the foundations from the previous games; often it looks gorgeous, but sometimes it goes the other way.
Frame rate is okay, too. It's generally reasonable but appears to be unlocked and can veer from around 30fps at most times to occasional 60fps flashes in cutscenes (like combat special moves) or enclosed areas like caves. Docked play is better than handheld at present, as the image is certainly a good deal softer in the portable configuration. There are also regular blemishes, such as textures loading in late after scene cuts, which are hard to ignore. At times, it’s a little scruffy.
Aggressive motion blur and frame rate inconsistencies in crowded areas, as well as some dives in resolution on handheld especially, seem like areas that can hopefully be tidied up in the final weeks before launch.
I should also highlight that, overall, the game does look pretty good, but just because it is miles above the fidelity of a certain bestselling monster-catching IP doesn't negate it falling below other impressive RPGs early on in the Switch 2 lifecycle. However, this 1.0 build isn’t bad by any stretch, and at times the game has a bit of a wow factor. With a little refinement, it could certainly stand out further.
All told, our opening dalliances with Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection are full of positives. Time will tell in the many hours to come whether this ultimately sets a new bar for this rather quirky but worthwhile spin-off series.