Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection Preview: A big graphical update for the RPG spin-off

Monster Hunter Stories was originally born as a 3DS spin-off, a clever way to keep squeezing the popular brand for Nintendo users during the time when the series was preparing the jump onto HD consoles with Monster Hunter World. Its sequel, Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin, released in 2021 for Nintendo Switch and PC, reaffirmed the Stories brand as a parallel subseries, and it was later released for PS4 in 2024 and Xbox in 2025.

Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection will release everywhere for the first time on March 13 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC, and Nintendo Switch 2, ditching the original Switch altogether, and the reason is made clear when you start the game: the graphics have seen a huge upgrade, with character designs looking more realistic and with human-like proportions, while maintaining the cel-shaded feel, bringing them closer to games like Dragon Quest XI or The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

The monsters have also grown in size to more closely match those seen in the mainline games like Monster Hunter Wilds. While still not as big as in the "canon" games, the more realistic scale of human characters and monsters makes traversing through the world of Azuria more fun, especially when you mount your Monsties and fly around on a Rathalos or climb mountains on top of a Tobi-Kadachi. Don't forget: these are not action games, and use the same turn-based combat system from previous entries, but throwing fireballs or headbutting Bnahabras or Izuchis and instantly killing them gives you a feeling of powerfulness rarely seen in traditional RPGs...

How does Monster Hunter Stories 3 runs on Nintendo Switch 2?

We have played the first hours of Monster Hunter Stories 3 on Nintendo Switch 2. Sadly, this version doesn't offer different graphical options, like PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series, where you can choose between Performance, Visual fidelity, or a Balanced mode. On Switch 2, the game seems to be locked to running at no more than 30 fps except in very rare occasions, and sometimes will go down.

The recently released demo that you can still download has divided the community: some see it as a "Pokémon-killer", showing how the modern Pokémon games should look, and it certainly is much more impressive graphically and with much more detail than Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, the most recent Pokémon not set in a boring French city. However, for a Switch 2 exclusive game, we expected it to run a bit better and at least offer the possibility of a smoother framerate in exchange for some visual fidelity that, given the watercolour feel of the game, wouldn't be so dramatic.

After a few hours, Monster Hunter Stories 3's artistic virtues surpass its technical caveats (on Switch 2, at least), and you will love exploring the vast forests of Azuria, filled with life (some of which, the smaller creatures, we oddly cannot interact with in any way), and seeing how the monsters you encounter in your first hours, like Rathalos, Rathian, Gypceros, Yian Kut-Ku, or Royal Ludroths retain all the features that make them fearsome in the mainline games.

Monster Hunter Stories 3: first impressions after the first chapters

As you may already know if you've played the previous entries in the series, Monster Hunter Stories' characters don't act as hunters, but rather as riders or rangers. Their task is to tame monsters that later become "Monsties", which you can then ride and use in battle. It's Capcom's take on the monster-collecting formula, although in Stories you don't capture wild monsters... and instead steal their eggs from the monsters' lairs.

The game features very strong environmental morals, and there's even the option of releasing monsters in order to increase the population of the species in nature. You release monsters that you had previously stolen as eggs, and with the in-game benefit that future eggs you snatch in those regions will give you monsters with better stats: as an animalistic message, it's a bit flawed, but it's a nice idea in a series that constantly needs to justify itself for its monster-killing premise...

The overarching story, about an impending war between two kingdoms, is told in numerous cutscenes and a lot of voice-acted dialogue, filled witch clichés from the JRPG genre. The script won't win any awards for originality, but fulfils its premise, and some side characters show promise as their relationship is explored in non-mandatory, but highly advisable side quests, that unlock rewards, like food recipes and certain objects that sound like they will be absolutely necessary later in the game.

Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection has a new story and world, so you don't need to play any of the previous games to understand it. It also has a lot of tutorials to explain the very chaotic battle system, which can feel overwhelming at first. However, if you are up to date with the substories for the secondary characters and give yourself some time to explore and try new monsters (which level up incredibly fast when you put them in your party, even if they don't fight), you will have no trouble going through the story, leaving the real challenge to the stronger monsters that feature in every location.

The graphical improvements compared to the previous entries have given us a good first impression, but now the question is whether the plot points and new characters can win us over as we continue our trip into Monster Hunter Stories 3.