Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection Preview

I say this as a Pokémon fan: Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin has the best creature-battling system out there. It had you strategically swapping between weapons and your own monsters to attack different body parts and weaknesses while also engaging in a rock-paper-scissors mechanic. Battles against some of the more iconic monsters from Monster Hunter lore required patience as they could last over 10 minutes, and as a result, it felt like a system worthy of my full engagement.

That’s exactly why I was most excited to play Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection upon arriving at the Tokyo Game Show, held in the massive halls of Makuhari Messe that, ironically enough, aren’t in Tokyo at all but in neighboring Chiba. Capcom thankfully had a quieter conference room for press to try out this latest Monster Hunter title, so I got to sit down with the Nintendo Switch 2 handheld version and watch a colleague play through on a PlayStation 5 without the oppressive din of the show floor giving me a headache.

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Monster Hunter Stories 3 looks visually stunning, especially as you soar through the sky.

The demo began with Leo, Captain of the Rangers, showing a young recruit named Thea the monster huntin’ ropes. Along for the ride was another Ranger named Simon and a Palico called Ruby. I do believe Leo is the default name for series’ protagonists and that you might be able to change it; furthermore, Ruby frequently called him Your Highness, which leads me to believe he has some sort of connection to a massive castle I saw far in the background.

Anyway, the only time I wasn’t in direct control of Leo and his team of three Monsties—a Rathalos, Yian Kut-Ku, and Tobi-Kadachi—was a brief moment where I controlled Thea to learn how to counter a monster’s attack. I’m happy to say the battle system is perhaps even more complex here, so I’m going to break it down in bullet-point form:

• In the demo, you can switch between three weapons freely: Giant Sword, Hammer, and Bow
• Each weapon comes with several different skills
• Leo can switch between this three Monsties during battle
• Each Monstie has its own set of skills
• Monsters have several parts that are weak to certain weapons and Monstie skills
• You have to manage rock-paper-scissors attack types to build Kinship in order to use these skills
• If you use the same advantageous attack type as your Monstie, you perform a double attack
• Breaking a monster’s Wyvernsoul Gauge topples them and triggers a powerful Synchro Rush attack
• With a full Kinship gauge, you can ride your Monstie in battle and deal even more damage
• Monsters sometimes have specific conditions that make them hard to defeat
• And more I’m sure I didn’t experience in the demo

For me, all this is exciting. However, this might be a bit overwhelming for those looking for a more chill, kid-friendly experience.

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Synchro Rush attacks deal massive damage to your enemy.

So, after Leo shows Thea how to take down some Velociprey, it’s off to a nearby tower that I climbed by riding Tobi-Kadachi to get a better view of the area. From up here, I could use a Palico’s spyglass to note points of interest in the sprawling map with the massive castle in the middle. Here, I had to wonder how much of the world is actually open and how much branches off into more linear areas.

As if in answer, the tutorial quest took us into a linear forest area in search of monster eggs. Along the way, picking up resources allowed Leo and his Monsties to level up, granting some incentive to nab everything you see. I even spotted a Poogie in a tree that I had to use Rathalos to glide over to and grab as a collectible.

As I progressed through this area, a crystallized effect began to overtake the lush green environment: Leo and Simon called this the Crystal Encroachment and educated Thea on how it frenzies monsters that come into contact with it. They even saw a Khezu—one of my least favourite monsters—frozen completely within some crystal. Its presence triggered a discussion on how the Rangers balance out the ecosystem by taking out frenzied monsters or culling overpopulation.

Clearly, environmentalism is going to play a major role in the narrative, but I didn’t get to learn more before the party came upon some Paolumu eggs and, wouldn’t you know it, an angry mama Paolumu to battle.

During this fight, the Paolumu took to the air by inflating the sack around its neck, and suddenly piercing attacks from the bow were much more effective than Leo’s greatsword. ‘Breaking’ the neck pouch brought the Paolumu to the ground, allowing Leo to perform a Synchro attack with his Monsties, making short work of it.

But the demo wasn’t over. A Frenzied Chatacabra appeared with crystals all along its back. This was a much more difficult fight where the crystals granted the frog creature lightning strike abilities; however, striking the crystals to stop these attacks caused it to immediately counterattack. This meant Leo & friends had to wait for the opportune moment to break the crystals.

This opportunity came when I stunned the monster; however, the Chatacabra had grown crystalized claws. Simon stated we could either break the claws to lessen its basic attacks or attack the crystals while we could do so safely. I chose the latter, switching between weapons and Monsties the entire time while managing gauges and being mindful of who the Chatacabra targeted.

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Battles feel better than ever.

Thea inexplicably had an attack that summoned a stampede of Poogies that really helped out. Even then, Leo almost died a few times before I could finish it off with a Kinship Sky High Dive attack—a special move that had Rathalos and Tobi-Kadachi flipping through the air to deal high damage.

Not once during the entire demo did I notice poor performance on the Nintendo Switch 2; in fact, it ran incredibly smooth and looked great with its soft, cell-shaded aesthetic that invokes a bit more of a serious vibe than its predecessor’s vibrant hues. However, when seeing someone else play on a 4K television next to me, there were certainly a lot more lightning effects and detail to the world, as one would expect.

That leaves me conflicted: Monster Hunter Stories feels at home on handheld devices, but I’m also excited to see the full visual upgrades that this series deserves on a more powerful system. Monster Hunter Stories 3 seems like a true evolution of the series, after all. Either way, I can’t wait to just see how expansive this new world is and to delve deeper than ever before into what looks like one of the best iterations of creature-battling combat yet.