Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection Hands-On Preview (PS5) – The Story So Far

Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection Hands-On Preview (PS5) – Since the conception of the series, the Monster Hunter Stories subseries has set out to explore a different facet of Capcom’s influential Monster Hunter franchise, being an aforementioned focus on story when compared to the main series.

Where Monster Hunter Wilds did dabble in expanding the main narrative of the series, Monster Hunter Stories 3 leans fully in and delivers a completely different type of game built on the strong foundations already laid for it. The result is, at least initially, a strong opening act to a game that challenges the very best in monster-collecting RPGs, leveraging its eclectic cast of monsters to far greater effect than just slaying them.

Even if there is still plenty of slaying.

Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection Hands-On Preview (PS5) – The Story So Far

An Earnest Beginning

The early hours of Monster Hunter Stories 3 is spent establishing the status quo for the protagonist and the characters that you’re going to spend time with during the journey. In a somewhat refreshing twist on an established formula, you take on a semi-mentorship role as you teach a newcomer how to be a good ranger out in the field, in so teaching the player as well.

This covers all of the basics; exploration, combat and general progression are presented in understandable vignettes that never feel too intrusive for returning players, and are still informative for players jumping into the series at this point. Saying that, it does take a while for some of the intrigue of the story to start pulling.

The game begins with the birth of twin Rathalos, and the supposed danger of such a phenomenon happening. Rather than focusing on the physical threat of the monsters themselves, though, Stories 3 seems a bit more interested in exploring political tensions between two distinct countries, with the protagonist being the heir apparent to Azuria.

Compared to previous games in the series, our protagonist is given a decent amount of sway to contribute to forward progression, rather than being a silent stand-in for the player. Whether or not this pays off is yet to really be clear to me at this early stage, but it certainly is a refreshing change and avoids the pratfalls that silent protagonists can often stumble into. What remains to be seen is if Stories 3 can avoid the equivalent pratfalls of a voiced protagonist.

Despite this only being the early hours of the game, I do find myself worrying about how much familiar territory is being trodden, if not through the perspective of other characters. It’s all well and good being the expert protagonist, but I do roll my eyes slightly that we are the ones being saddled with teaching others. It’s a different perspective, but the function is the same.

In Spirit Of Exploration

If there’s one thing that has stood out to me in the opening hours of Stories 3, it’s the renewed focus on exploration and the freedom to traverse the world as you see fit. Monster riding isn’t new to the Stories series, but it certainly feels more pronounced here than it did previously. Within the first five minutes of gameplay you’re soaring through the sky on a Rathalos of your own, into the main castle town.

The impression is one of confidence, and trust. It never felt like the game was arbitrarily telling me “no.” The protagonist of Stories 3 is an experienced rider, it only makes sense that we’re given the chance to embody that. That doubles for every other monster that you raise, with each having their own abilities to use. Where plenty of monsters can fly on gusts of wind, others can scale walls and see you exploring new areas.

In an RPG all about raising monsters – or ‘monsties’ – it feels good to be able to work with them outside of battle.

If It Isn’t Broken…

The foundations of Monster Hunter Stories 3 very much draws on what came before, and that goes from battle system to how you’ll grow your team of ‘monsties.’ You’ll explore monster dens and rummage for eggs that you can hatch at your home base, without knowing what you’ll get before you hatch them.

You’ll get a hint as to how ‘rare’ a Monstie might be, but that’s about it. In essence, it’s playing with gacha mechanics without any kind of monetisation. I’m not sure if I prefer this system over the more traditional “capturing”, but it lends a different flavour to building a team that I did appreciate.

I was growing each of my monsters from scratch, I imagine I’ll grow ever more attached to them as I keep journeying. There is a reason why so many RPGs use this method of party-building, and it’s tried and tested to be a surefire way to get us to be invested in how they grow. Take the eclectic cast of Monster Hunter across nearly two decades of releases, and I can see why Capcom have gone for a third time around.

Monster Fighter

For players who aren’t already familiar with the Stories subseries, combat manages to smartly implement the learning aspect of the core Monster Hunter series, and translate it to a turn-based equivalent that rewards you liberally for learning about the monsters you’re fighting.

Some monsters are going to want to attack you with speed attacks, meaning you should overwhelm them with power ones. If you and a monster attack at the same time, the result of this rock-paper-scissors conundrum will determine who takes the brunt of the attack.

You’ll steadily learn how each enemy behaves and how to deal with them, which is a bit more engaging than just pressing the right move. This is supplemented by each weapon type being advantageous for damaging particular monster parts, and being capable of offering specific attacks with the use of stamina.

So far, Monster Hunter Stories 3 is ticking all the right boxes for an RPG of this ilk. It captures the spirit of Monster Hunter, while still managing to stand out by itself and not feel like a mere spin-off and throwaway title. Stories 3 is a fully-featured release that deserves the attention of anyone interested in either Monster Hunter, or RPGs.

The real questions lie in seeing where this story actually goes in the meantime. I have faith that this setup will be explored at least somewhat competently, even if the early hours of the game do trade in some pretty conventional RPG setups.

Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection is due out on March 13, 2026 on PS5, PC, Nintendo Switch 2 and Xbox Series X/S.