Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection Review – A Dragon tale like no other

Monster Hunter Stories 3 is here, and everybody is talking about it. A turn-based game based on the Monster Hunter world becoming so instantly addictive was not at all on my radar this year. Games like these truly come around once in a while, and as a gamer first and foremost, I was almost in tears during the first hour of the game itself. Let’s explore what this tile of twin Rathalos has to offer.

Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection is now available on all major platforms, including PC (Steam), PS5 (reviewed on), Xbox Series X | S, and Nintendo Switch 2. Developed and published by Capcom, this title from a beloved franchise has much more to offer than what the title may suggest. Here is Gameffine’s official review for Monster Hunter Stories 3.

One arrow, two sparrows

The tale is as royal and straightforward as it can get, so your entire focus can be on raising dragons and hatching their eggs. How did we end up with dragon eggs in the first place? We’ll get on that later. You play as the prince of Azuria, and as a child, you witness your mother rescue a dragon egg from a species deemed extinct. But while the egg was hatched through the bonding ceremony, the egg revealed not one but two Rathalos. While it may sound like an exciting phenomenon, it wasn’t so for the royal court of Azuria. Azuria once went through a merciless war 200 years ago that resulted in one large kingdom being split into two, now known as Azuria and Vermeil.

Time passes, and your mother abandons you. And no, she didn’t give you a reason either, and also took one of the Rathalos brothers with her. Broken, abandoned, and only focused on royal duties, you now serve the kingdom as a rider alongside a squad of experienced riders. Each of your friends who respects you as royalty but treats you as one of their own has unique capabilities and experiences that you can utilize as needed.

But the force of nature as we know it is shifting, and feral monsters have started showing up everywhere. Uncontrollable and more ruthless than other dragons in the region, humanity is under threat, and the kingdom worries about the future. This acts as the final nail in the coffin for our prince, and he rebels against his royal duties to find the truth and seek answers about this destruction. Will the war from 200 years ago strike the lands of the colossal dragon once again? It’s up to you to find out.

Bestie, Iced-Tea, and Monstie

As a kid, I used to always wonder where my GTA protagonist was keeping all his weapons. Now, as an adult, I wonder how six of my own dragons are always following me around, ready to throw hands.

Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection is a turn-based game with a party of four engaging in a battle at any given time. But instead of four individual characters, it’s a pairing of you and your monstie alongside your preferred party member and their dragon. This means, at any given time, there are two dragons and two riders fighting against any given beast. But you can also swap between your six active dragons in your party. You yourself can carry up to three weapons from the choices of sword, katana, hammer, blunt tools, arrows, or lance and shield. All of these weapons can be custom-crafted based on recipes. It’s up to you to decide which element-based weapon you want as per your playstyle and party mix.

The world itself is open and yours to explore at any given time. It does much more than being just an enormous patch of land that you are exploring just for the sake of defogging the map. Every map is divided into sub-regions, offering their own mix of monsters that you can defeat for resources or raid dens to collect their eggs. And if you’re wondering that, we are rescuing endangered species or eggs being kept hostile by alpha dragons; you’re not far off the mark. But that’s only 5% of the time, and that too mostly in the main story. For the rest of the time, we are walking in dragon dens and committing daylight robbery. Sometimes carrying up to two shiny eggs at once.

Once you’ve captured an egg and hatched it to be your partner, you can either raise it or store it at a stable. Although your stables are visibly small, they can store up to 700 monies. I think there is a secret Pokémon PC at work behind this unexplained phenomenon. But you can also release them and raise the monster to increase their presence in the environment and bring back nature to how it was before human encroachment happened.

The combat itself is well-tuned and offers two ways to fight, just like any other turn-based title. You have a stamina bar that acts like MP but recharges every few turns. You can either perform skill moves based on your weapons and decorations or commit a basic attack. You can choose your attacks to be one of three types: attack, speed, and technical. These work in a rock, paper, scissors format quite literally. Your monsters also have their own fixed attack types apart from elemental types. So try to sync your attacks with them or switch your monsters as per your enemy.

Overall, the game leaves no stone unturned. The mechanics are on par with modern-day turn-based combat systems and do a little more to add their own flair. The world itself is designed in a way to be explored alongside collectibles like the poogies. Side stories are also extremely well written and designed; that adds much-needed depth to the party characters, making them feel more connected to the storyline.

Soaring through the skies, just soaring.

You’re allowed to glide through the open map as much as you want with your dragons but not flap your wings. I didn’t make the rules; it is what it is. But you can catch updraft air currents to continue soaring and reach new places. And while soaring, you will often notice the top-notch work the developers have done to bring about a polished and bug-free experience. It’s rare to see the game pushing 60 FPS without asking if I need to play on performance or quality on a PS5. The graphics are undeniably breathtaking, alongside OSTs that keep the entire experience fresh.

Sometimes the music is never there, and the nights can be a bit too bland without the supporting music. But the overall SFX and voice acting are top-notch. For VA, we played on Japanese dub and can 100% vouch for a tremendous experience with cutscenes and dialogue.

Real Talk

Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection is an undeniably fun and instantly addictive turn-based title based on the world of Monster Hunter. This title follows a unique storyline with the ability to raise dragons and restore the natural balance of their presence in the entire world. The open world gives a lot of opportunities to be lost for hours exploring, but the story is well delivered to keep you hooked until the end