We went hands-on with the upcoming RPG.
I’ll be honest with you: regular ol’ Monster Hunter isn’t really my thing, as I find myself running around chasing monsters more than I actually get to hunt them. With this in mind, I jumped at the chance to preview Monster Hunter Stories 3 as it’s a traditional turn-based RPG as compared to whatever flavour its bigger cousin is.
Given the opportunity to play through most of Monster Hunter Stories 3‘s first two chapters, I had to sit through a lot of exposition. Truthfully, it was too much exposition. Regardless, I’m now very well aware of the plight that the kingdoms of Azuria and Vermeil face — just like hundreds of years prior, mysterious and ominous crystal eggs are appearing throughout the world, and will likely hatch to spell disaster for the world.
Players will customise the appearance, then fill the shoes of a ranger from Azuria, one who sets off to investigate what danger the crystals pose. You quickly find out.
Before that, though still riddled with cutscenes and exposition, you are set upon Azuria to get the basics. This is Monster Hunter, after all, so it’s all about the Monsties. You begin the game with a majestic Ratha, one that you can mount and one that enables limited flight throughout the world. You can switch between a handful of Monsties under your command seemingly at will; the Kagachi in particular is better suited to climb walls to get to observation points, as an example.
Your Monsties aren’t just for show, of course, with your active one joining you in battle alongside another, human NPC combatant and their own Monstie. There’s a lot to learn when it comes to combat; the baseline is easy enough, but the rest will take a bit of time to truly master. First, combatants can attack with one of three bases — speed, technical, or power — and it’s like rock, paper, scissors in the determination of who comes out on top during head-to-head altercations.
On top of this, you’re not only able to swap out Monsties, but weapons yourself. A large sword is better suited for garden variety Monsters, but I was soon prompted to switch to a bow and arrow for pinpoint precision and targeting whilst fighting a Feral Monster (more on those later). You can combine this all with special abilities that draw from a stamina meter, and joint attacks depending on other gauges or whether or not you’ve staggered an opponent. If I said I fully understand how each of Twisted Reflections‘ combat systems work as a result of my hands-on playthrough, I’d be lying.
Nevertheless, I did alright, coming up with an S ranking against an aforementioned Feral Monster, one that’s been corrupted by the mysterious crystals you’re investigating. In this instance, the Feral Characabra had crystal growths on its back; they not only enhanced its lethality, but made the fight chaotic and sporadic. The crystals would at times change-up the type of attack the monster would perform, throwing the rock, paper, scissors structure into disarray.
Targeting the crystals at the wrong point in the fight was also quite hazardous; doing so would cause the Feral Monster to retaliate out of turn, and with devastating impact.
While doing my best to avoid peril, I also couldn’t help but notice just how colourful and vibrant Twisted Reflections looked. It’s art style is very pleasing to the eye, and combined attack animations look ripped from the screens of an anime TV show. I say this far too often, but I’m very impressed with the variety of games Capcom is able to create from its RE Engine.
While I hope the exposition starts to take more of a back seat as Twisted Reflections continues, I found a lot of enjoyment in the RPG, and far more than I have playing the likes of Wilds (sorry Wilds fans — not meaning to yuck your yum here). Combat is chaotic and challenging, and I’m keen to jump in to get a better handle on what my team of rangers and Monsties can do.
I won’t have long to wait to do that — we can expect Monster Hunter Stories 3 Twisted Reflection on Windows PC via Steam, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X, PS5, and Switch 2 from 13 March.
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Monster Hunter Stories 3 Twisted Reflection13 March 2026PC PS5 Switch 2 Xbox Series S & X
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